For the second time in less than six months I (and my laptop) are recovering from a major hard drive crash. The waves of tribulation from that event knocked out our magazine and newsletter update schedule so we were ten days late with the mid-month update. I apologize for that but this truly was due to 'technical difficulties beyond our control.' Being a techie, I suppose I should not have taken for granted that a new hard drive would self destruct in less than 6 months. But we are operational now and will spend the next month trying to make up for lost time, not to mention lost data which is another issue that my lawyer is handling.

Since our magazine is not about the latest discovery in nuclear science or curing cancer, a great deal of harm has not been done, other than to my need to be timely with what I do. I will handle this too, as part of my new behavior modification I am attempting through our SAM's Lambs (Single Adult Ministry) discussion group at my church, the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd in Webster NY. One of our current discussion groups is based on Boundaries in Dating by Drs. Cloud and Townsend < www.cloudtownsend.com >, but is also about boundaries and expectations in general. This is a follow up to another of their books that I read recently, 'Boundaries - When to Say Yes and When to Say No'. If you ever have any issues with yourself or others on setting boundaries and expectations, this is a very good book to read, and the authors tie their opinions back to the Bible.

Mainly today I just wanted to explain what happened to the mid-month update that should have gone out, and to let you know that we have some changes coming up.

Just like the big guys, I need to add ways to add revenue to the site so I cannot continue to offer free membership to the members area of the site. As of April 1, 2003, our free membership to The Singles Center will cease, and new members will pay a small monthly subscription. The Singles Courier newsletter will continue as a free newsletter.  Existing free members at The Singles Center will be given a special offer in the February 1 issue, to convert to paid membership, and in the meantime you can convert your free Singles Courier newsletter subscription to a free membership at The Singles Center, if you haven't already done that. The free conversion and upgrade offers will end as of April 1. The new paid membership will bring new benefits as well, like a Perks Card with discounts at merchants all over the country. You can see what the card covers at the Perks Card site www.perkscard.com  and the membership cost which is $99. per year. Of course, as a paid member at The Singles Center you will receive the card for free as a benefit of membership, which costs much less than $99.

Our current benefits, like the free vacation certificate and freebies from the members freebie site will continue, and we will continue to add benefits in the future. The larger our membership the more benefits we will be able to identify and offer. Singles represent 50% and more of the adult population and we want to make that majority work for us and do for the Singles community what businesses have done with discounts and benefits for the Seniors community, like AARP for instance.

The computer crash has caused a glitch in the schedule of new features and benefits but you will receive announcements in The Singles Courier, or by individual email distribution, so watch for emails from the Singles Courier or The Singles Center in your inbox. Like the special mailing for our Galleria of Gifts where you can find a special present for your special someone for Valentine's Day. Singles Center free members can save 15% off the public version of this gift shop.

Until next time [a few days from now :) ]

'with gladness and singleness of heart'

Betty Van Volkenburg