At the end of the strike...

...I must admit, I have had seriously mixed feelings about whether to engage before and throughout the strike. Bottom line, I love MOG. Truly, madly, deeply. Among everything ’out there’ on the net, MOG is a treasure, a true gem. Much of this has to do with the wealth of fabulous contributors, many of whom have turned MOG into a fabulous platform that has introduced me to a variety of music, news, reviews, opinions and debate that I probably would not have found elsewhere.Although I have not been as prolific as a poster as I wished to have been, I have been an avid reader and listener. Trusted MOGgers have kept me up to date on the music that I like, while introducing me to rich pickings of new music. There came a point where this lead me to indulging in too many (legal!) music downloads, and I had to seriously self-inflict restrictions on my buying behaviour (music, books, concert tickets) to curb my enthusiasm, so I have currently banned myself from entering book shops, music shops and online retailers, just to protect me from myself. Instead, I have built up a wish list of items that I will allow myself to slowly purchase, one at a time, budget permitting, and it has literally hundreds of entries which should keep me going for years to come.So now… about that strike… I still don’t know if I did the right thing in joining. I went against my personal principles and beliefs that strikes, generally, are counterproductive to whatever they aim to achieve, but I don’t regret what I have done (or, perhaps, better said: haven’t done) because I was genuinely feeling that this beautiful platform lacks the technological stability it deserves. Gadgets, widgets and other inventive functionalities on any site are great, but personally I’d much prefer a more basic, simplistic, ’dressed-down’ sort of site that operates smoothly and perfectly, than something ’cutting-edge’ that doesn’t operate well (if at all) and/or takes forever to load.Still, I didn’t want to express myself in ways that could be perceived as hypocrite, arrogant, unjustly self-important/self-aggrandising or aggressive, and as much as I hope I haven’t, I realise I may have, to some, and do apologise for that.I very much appreciate all efforts made through the blood, sweat and tears of MOG staff, but I very much hope that concerns are shared and perhaps focus isn’t widened on further ’extension’ of site functionality until its current state is perfected.My reason to participate came from sadness, not anger. (And frustration over posts I made that disappeared completely.) That said, I am glad it is about to be over now and I can put it behind me.I love you all!