Re: Update on the Reservations System

John, While I appreciate having some information about waht happened, I have a few questions and a few observations.
First of all, the mass of verbiage about the previous systems doesn't explain anything. The decision to go to a relational database and re-thinking the whole system was a no-brainer. Ditto the fact that you need interfaces to other systems.
The statement about telecom and power infrastructure in Chama is interesting. The phone system works for me. The ISP here is superb. Today we had a short outage. All in all I've had fewer outages here than I ever had in Charlotte, on a VERY good server. The web cam site is ALL on a local server. If you want a web-based system, I'll give you one. I know how and you don't, which is why you rejected the idea.
I take some issue with your statement '.. haven't charged ...". You were previously listed on the RGRPC board as a "paid consultant". OK, so you aren't paid. So I notice today that on the RGRPC site, that has changed. From your statements, however, I infer that the programmer was paid. The local support person was also paid $30 an hour. How much did it cost? In other words, by trying to do something that you didn't know how to do in the first place, and by rejecting all offers to help, you may well have wound up costing the RGRPC a lot more than if you had simply accepted my offer to help, or asked someone else to help, or let somebody else do it, or at LEAST subjected it to a QA and peer review.
Version differences in the platform software are no excuse. One develops for the target platform.
I'll also take issue with your statements about the 'complexity' of the whole thing. It's not simple but it's certainly not rocket science.
I'm much more inclined to believe what I think are the actual events that caused the system to finally (we can only hope) get fixed, than with your explanation of it. Up until last Saturday, at least two BOD members scoffed at my suggestion that there were system problems. The difficulties were charged to laziness and stupidity on the part of the staff. I know some of the staff. They are not stupid. It was not until last Saturday that, after I had personally confronted two BOD members about it, that Geoff Gordon spent the day amd evening with the staff, and confirmed my statements.
In simple terms John, I cannot really find myself able to appreciate this boondoggle as your selfless contribution. I think you're bullshitting us.
I would hope that you and Mr. Cowles have learned something from this, but your answer makes me wonder.