ghoti_mhic_uait

When I was a teenager, I listened to the Archers. I don't so much anymore, unless someone is talking about it and i want to hear, but I listened from about 16 (because all my friends did) for maybe 10 years or so.

When I got to the point where I was doing most of my socialising online, therefore, it was reasonable for me to seek out a news group about the Archers.

And what a news group it is! Other groups are slowly fading, but umra remains. A friendly and high traffic group, full of old jokes but always willing to explain.
Some of us even still listen to the archers - the rest of us get the gossip from the group, like relatives who've moved away but still want to read a letter about e silly thing Aunt Helen did now or the news of this year's pantomime.

I got a few of you there, and I'm very grateful for you. I love that it's still there after my recipe groups and my knitting groups have turned to dust. Usenet had a special feel to it, distinct from other forms of socialising. When Monica Ferris talked about rec, craft.trxtiles. needlework i understood despite not reading the group, because i knew how Usenet works. Were it not for umra, I would miss that.