www.ditl.org

Even though I never joined the forum until 2010, I had been aware of, and using DITL for my Star Trek-related projects, since its early days when I was attempting college.

Star Trek was what got me into worldbuilding aged 8, and I have been creating my own universe for over three decades now, but also have several Star Trek projects, and a few other universes on the go.

My universe / worldbuilding is the only reason I am here today, it has got me through so much and I have Star Trek to thank for that.

In any case, a few years ago, before we lost Graham, I had bought a mug and t-shirt from the site's shop.

Today, my new stuff arrived. Black DITL mug and black bum bag. I prefer the darker colours, my previous mug (which is actually the one with my tea in right now) was white.

It's not much, but being on disability there isn't a great deal I can do to support the few sites and such that I always tend to stick with. But an early Christmas present for myself anyway.

This is the old white one I currently use:


And this is the new stuff:

Very cool. I saw the sales go by the other day and wondered who bought them. Now I know. Thank you, it's very good of you.

The shops have never really paid us very much at all. I think in the whole time we've had them it has provided about £20 total. A lot of the money goes to the production company that makes and prints the items.

That said don't worry about the site, although I'm retired and the site costs are quite a lot of money (like £100/month), I'm more than able / willing to afford to keep it going.

Yeah, I had someone tell me a while back that its actually a very smaller amount per item that the site itself gets, and most goes to the producer.

But, in any case, for me, the only important things in my life are my universe and Star Trek (and now my cat). I'd rather give back to the community's / sites that have been part of my life and my projects, than to some company like Amazon or Disney.

I'm glad you are able and willing to keep it going though, because DITL has been an important part of my life for two decades.

Thank you.

IanKennedy wrote: ↑Wed Nov 15, 2023 3:12 pm Very cool. I saw the sales go by the other day and wondered who bought them. Now I know. Thank you, it's very good of you.

The shops have never really paid us very much at all. I think in the whole time we've had them it has provided about £20 total. A lot of the money goes to the production company that makes and prints the items.

That said don't worry about the site, although I'm retired and the site costs are quite a lot of money (like £100/month), I'm more than able / willing to afford to keep it going.

My cousin owns and runs www.njdevs.com. A forum for the Hockey team New Jersey Devils. He used to absorb the cost of the site years ago because at the time he didn't want ads running his site. Got too costly for him to run so he ended up with ads and it is successful. Usually making more money per month than the cost of the site which was never his intention

I think he wants to keep it non-profit because of some legal thing. I think. He tries to keep it low profile due to legal issues he has had before.

It was Graham and my promise from the earliest days of the site that it would never contain ads. Don't worry. I'm retired and currently don't even have a pension, but it doesn't stop us from budgeting £70K for living expenses and holidays, mainly holidays.

IanKennedy wrote: ↑Sat Nov 18, 2023 12:27 pm It was Graham and my promise from the earliest days of the site that it would never contain ads. Don't worry. I'm retired and currently don't even have a pension, but it doesn't stop us from budgeting £70K for living expenses and holidays, mainly holidays.

Well ads would ruin the asthetic of the site. Last thing I want to see is Amazon ads of crap I was looking at yesterday appearing when I am using the ship's calculator to figure out what a Enterprise-F would be like for example.

70k huh? You must have done pretty good in life. Me personally either I have to work till 72 to retire since I did not save at all during my 20's or rely on my 'inheritance' that I will get from my parents.

When I say that it means inheriting my Dad's musical instrument business and his vast collection of guitars. My running joke is that it will take the rest of my life to fully collect it. Imagine my Dad being a hoarder but instead of garbage and useless crap it's rooms filled floor to ceiling of guitars, amplifiers and violins.

Nice... but a pain to value and sell. I suppose you could go to a dealer, but you know they're going to rip you off. The likes of eBay is likely too low brow for such things.

Yeh, we did well enough. We sold a house, without a mortgage, for every £850k.

IanKennedy wrote: ↑Sun Nov 19, 2023 11:35 am Nice... but a pain to value and sell. I suppose you could go to a dealer, but you know they're going to rip you off. The likes of eBay is likely too low brow for such things.

Yeh, we did well enough. We sold a house, without a mortgage, for every £850k.

Actually he does eBay already along with Reverb. Doing either would take a long time and effort. I have done this with my Dad and even packing takes time. Cleaning, taking pictures, listing takes alot of time too. He also answers alot of questions like people wanting to see a better pic of something

It would end up being a second job and my brother would want nothing to do with it.

Sounds like you did good. Retired early too.

What type of violins does he have? Might have some contacts in the classical music world who might have interest.

Another option is to donate to local school music programs and take a tax deduction.

T'Pau wrote: ↑Sun Nov 19, 2023 8:42 pm What type of violins does he have? Might have some contacts in the classical music world who might have interest.

Another option is to donate to local school music programs and take a tax deduction.

All kinds. From cheap to the expensive. From needing work to fully functional. Unlike guitars which are pretty easy to verify if you know what to look for, violins need to be pretty much assessed by professionals on its authenticity.

My Dad jokes it's like getting a blessing from the Mob. Though my Dad's knowledge about them is that he can go to a flea market and look at a violin and know instantly what it is. Whereas me or anyone else they all look alike and could be anywhere between $20 to $20,000.

Well, work's ramping up. The holiday season is getting into full swing. One good thing this year is since i work days, I can see family at Thanksgiving for the first time in about three years!

Thanksgiving is not really a holiday that exists outside of the US (for obvious reasons). We do have some associated add ons like "Black Friday Deals", which typically are only available online and involve no scrimmages you have in the US. I'm pretty sure nobody has ever died over black Friday over here. I kinda believe it's never happened in the US either, but you know movies and tabloid newspapers!

Kinda like the 4th July, very much US only, not that we didn't provide a whole lot of places an independence day, just not always on the 4th July.

IanKennedy wrote: ↑Mon Nov 20, 2023 10:41 pm Thanksgiving is not really a holiday that exists outside of the US (for obvious reasons). We do have some associated add ons like "Black Friday Deals", which typically are only available online and involve no scrimmages you have in the US. I'm pretty sure nobody has ever died over black Friday over here. I kinda believe it's never happened in the US either, but you know movies and tabloid newspapers!

Kinda like the 4th July, very much US only, not that we didn't provide a whole lot of places an independence day, just not always on the 4th July.

You haven't lived when you have to leap over a kid, elbow his father in his ribcage, kick the shins of some girl and then proceed to box the Karen of the store so you can have your $99.99 48" TV that you have no use for but getting if because it is so cheap.

Merry Christmas and happy holidays to you all. I'm glad i found this place.