Two months ago I made a posting in the Senate to apologise for my lack of involvement and activity this year: the ludi circenses have come to a halt, I'm not writing any substantial contribution anymore, and generally I haven't been here much. I would like to repeat that apology for the whole membership, not because I want to flog myself out of guilt, but because I want to announce my retirement as censor, and my indefinite retirement as a truly active member.
I've been with SVR since the beginning - I helped founding it - and while it is good to see that we have people holding on and enjoying this community, I'm also tired of being actively involved with this group. As I noted in my reply in the other thread on this Comitia board, I'm certainly not criticising Piscinus, Marius, Cleopatra, Orcus or Scerio - on the contrary. I also don't have anything against the other members, some of whom I count among my closest friends. But, over the course of the years, I have frequently noticed that many things here don't run as they should. People taking up offices or rectorships and not doing anything with them, disappearing without a word, or people getting elected on a platform of a lot of ambition and promise, but making little of it concrete.
I realise that SVR is and remains a voluntary association. But I do remain convinced that if you take up an office, you should at least do the very basic things - and more often than not, this isn't happening. How many rogatores have we had to replace? Another problem that is intertwined with this laid back attitude many of the long-standing members have always taken, is that it doesn't encourage or motivate others to do what has to be done in their place.
By now, elections for rectores should have been announced and prepared some time ago (normally new rectores take office in August). No one took notice of SVR's birthday. Until I mentioned it, no one asked what happened to the ludi circenses. No one asked where my colleague, Fidenas, went until I simply sent him a mail (the poor man has had a heart attack so he's understandably unable to fulfill his duties). I lost the access codes to the censores address but haven't heard back from my request to receive these codes again (about a month ago now). We've had similar problems before, and each time it's the people I previously mentioned by name, plus myself, who have taken steps to try and solve them or make a substantial contribution. But what good is that when the rest remains passive or unreliable?
I will remain here as a regular member and will continue to post (in the RP thread, among others), but until I see SVR is getting better and less dependant on the maintenance of three or four people, I will not take up any future offices or organise activities of any kind.
I think that if the members I didn't mention by name truly care about SVR and what it stands for, they should come into action now and, as Piscinus and Marius proposed, rebuild our foundations entirely and make this a continuous effort, rather than ad hoc problem solving. If we as a community do not adapt and will not refresh ourselves drastically before 2005 is over, we are doomed to fossilise or to be absorbed by the OP, whichever comes first.
Before some of you wonder: I am not angry with any of you, just disappointed. But you are still my friends
![Cool 8)](./images/smilies/icon_cool.gif)
Optime valete!
Draco