A cornerstone of the forum and one of it’s more consistent voices has seemed silent for a while. Anyone know if Archie is doing okay? Are you out there @Archie?
Checking in on Archie
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I have messaged him myself over the last few weeks . Being in the UK I sort of feel nearer but know as much of him as you do. Any clues from anyone would be treated in confidence as have family in Scotland that might be able to drop by (Still a big place though). Did send him my telephone number but nothing heard!
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See message above
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He told me he’s doing fine, he’s taking a break. Thanks for checking on him! I hope to see him around soon.
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Thank you!
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Thanks @BanjoBen for the reassurance. Archie is such an active member that his absence is felt. Glad to hear that he is doing okay.
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Yes, I was just thinking the same thing, wondering if he was ok. Thanks for the info!!!
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I was also really wondering were he was. Good to hear he’s okay. i hope he shows his facing around here again soon.
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Yeah we’re all missing the emoji’s or whatever that is! Glad to know Archie’s doing ok.
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Geez, I hope he hasn’t taken up golf again! Talk about a good walk spoiled. Looking forward to Archie’s return to the forum.
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Hi Guys
Sorry that my absence from the forum has raised some level of concern for my welfare. Let me assure you I am fine. Fact is I was spending way too much time on the forum and decided it was time to follow some of my own advice as it became clear I needed a break to recharge my batteries.
In my down time, I’ve added a Twanger to my banjo collection. My trusty old Fender needs some refurbishment and since I wasn’t lucky enough to win one in the banjo contest drawing I decided to purchase one of the few remaining Twangers from the last batch. The guy’s at the General Store were fantastic and shipped it to me via FedEx in the middle of the Covid lockdown, There were some issues with FedEx UK / Customs in that I needed to pay Import Duty & VAT to enable the banjo to pass through customs but no one at FedEx Offices was available to take my calls and their instructions on how to make payment was pretty vague. Eventually this got sorted and my Twanger arrived a few weeks before my 73 birthday in mid August, So for the past few months I have been working on learning some Celtic Banjo tunes from Heath Joyce as well as some of Ben’s Advanced Melodic tunes ( which I have avoided tackling till now) and hope to record some vids in the coming weeks.
During a lull in the lockdown I attended hospital and had some minor eye surgery, got a haircut. spend some time with the family went out for a meal and waved off my eldest grand daughter who moved to Spain this week on a temporary assistant teaching post for eight months as part of her university degree.
It would seem the virus is having a resurgence over here in Europe and it looks like we are heading back to some measure of lockdown over winter. We are nowhere near the scale of the problem you guy’s are having in the US. It’s hard to comprehend the scale of the fatalities. I do hope a vaccine is found soon. I just received a letter of appointment for my annual flu jab.
Stay safe, wear a mask, lets neutralise this pandemic so that we can get back to some level of normal.
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I think everyone needs an annual “battery charging” to keep life in balance. Enjoy that Twanger @Archie!
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Glad to see you back on the forum Arch!
Congrats on your new Twanger (and your haircut)!!!
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Good to see you back on the forum. You were missed.
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Thanks Jack, good to be back
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Sweet! He’s Back!!!
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Glad to see you back on the forum @Archie. But I’m also glad to read that you’ve been enjoying life outside of these digital walls. Congrats on the new banjo.
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Thank you Chris
Thanks Justus
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Good to see you back in action, Archie! 
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