I arrived at RinkWorks through Computer Stupidities; I followed a link from somewhere else, don't ask me where (but I do remember the page being awful green on a black background). Said link was probably brought to my attention on an IM group I was actively involved with at the time.

My bookmark is dated Jan 7 1999, 15:02:04. Considering my browsing habits at the time, it's very possible I'd actually arrived the previous evening. :)

I remember poking around some more at the time, but I probably wouldn't have been captured by things such as BAM. I think I did do a bit of the Brain Food then, because I remember doing it in my old office. I wouldn't have initially been very interested in "reader areas" such as the Message Forum, because I was already trying to keep up with too many mailing lists and so forth from connections to when I was in college. So as it happened, I stumbled in every month or two to check on updates to CS and Things People Said.

Around the end of 2000, I had a tough assignment at work, and when my brain got tired out, I'd take a break for a while. To fill the time, I explored my bookmarks more thoroughly. This is when I re-visited Brain Food, which I devoured. I printed out the little letter-placement grids and did them on the bus (though I admit I didn't *quite* finish them all), because those I couldn't do those in my head. This held my interest long enough that I visited lots o' stuff, including Story Hunt and the RinkChat Archives. Over the next two to three months I read through those because they were very enjoyable.

The archives were enjoyable, not just for their funny moments, but because by this time I'd drifted away somewhat from my school connections. I no longer spent so much time paying attention to that version of chatting, because I had tired of the same old arguments about the same old things. :-) The archives presented to me another group of people who talked about... well... more varied topics, and that was nice to see. I also realized that I could probably get along well with some of the people in the archives, and I knew they'd still be in chat, because the archives spanned many years.

Thus in the Spring of 2001 when I was pretty lonely, I finally overcame my paranoia of internet chat systems (i.e. all full of trash like most of IRC) and decided to join up. (This is also when I started answering the polls.) It took a couple of months to choose my name. I wasn't in any hurry, so I'd do my research in little bits when I felt like it. Finally I had decided on a name when I had a really bad day with the carpenter ants (not the first, but I digress) and I was frustrated, so I hopped into chat late Sunday night, July 8.

I remember little about it except for the trick candles. I couldn't even tell you who was there. The important thing, though, was within two weeks I was debating attending the RinkUnion, and eventually I decided to, and that's why I'm where I am now, instead of six months or more later. :)

-ahmoacah