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Grex > Coop11 > #50: Cyberspace Communications, Inc. finances through 11/30/98 |  |
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| Author |
Message |
aruba
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Cyberspace Communications, Inc. finances through 11/30/98
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Dec 3 22:03 UTC 1998 |
Here is the treasurer's report on Cyberspace Communications, Inc. finances
through November 30th, 1998.
Beginning Balance $3,460.33
Credits $210.00 Member contributions
$137.50 Auction proceeds
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$347.50
Debits $60.00 Pumpkin Rent for December
$66.36 Electricity for November
$390.47 Phone Bill
$8.35 Bank service charge
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$525.18
Ending Balance $3,282.65
Our current balance breaks down as follows:
$2,286.07 General Fund
$816.00 Spare parts / 501(c)3 / Mail machine fund
$108.86 Silly Hat Fund
$65.00 UPS Fund
$6.72 Sales tax collected
There was no activity in the Grex store, so the balances remain at:
Cash Stock
--------- ---------
Balances: ($123.60) $340.90
We had two new members in November (dpfitzen and dob) and two returning
members (jep and steve). We are currently at 99 members, 88 of whom are paid
through at least December 15th. (The others expired recently and are in a
grace period.)
Looks like we came about $175 short of meeting expenses this month. Partly
that is because I have been a little slow about sending out reminders lately.
I opened our new checking account at Great Lakes Bank, but unfortunately there
is still one outstanding check on the old account at MNB, so I can't close it
yet. We may have one more service charge next month, but that should be it.
Thanks to everyone who contributed in November:
aruba, coyote, dob, dphitzen, eeyore, jep, kami, mziemba, psun, quail, steve,
and valerie.
Thanks everyone!
If you or your institution would like to become a member of Grex, it only
costs $6/month or $60/year. Send money to:
Cyberspace Communications
P. O. Box 4432
Ann Arbor, MI 48106-4432
If you pay by cash or money order, please include a photocopy of some form
of ID. I can't add you to the rolls without ID. (If you pay by personal
check, we consider that a good enough ID.) Type !support for more info.
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| 56 responses total. |
richard
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response 1 of 56:
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Dec 3 22:36 UTC 1998 |
$8.35 bank service charge? I thought grex was switching banks or had
switched banks to get out of paying such fees...that adds up to a hundred
bucks a year!
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janc
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response 2 of 56:
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Dec 3 22:45 UTC 1998 |
The bank switch is in process.
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aruba
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response 3 of 56:
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Dec 4 04:04 UTC 1998 |
As I said in #0, we need to wait for one more check to clear, and then we can
close our old account and never pay service charges again.
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valerie
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response 4 of 56:
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Dec 6 18:05 UTC 1998 |
This response has been erased.
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keesan
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response 5 of 56:
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Dec 7 03:12 UTC 1998 |
Was that a typical phone bill?
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aruba
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response 6 of 56:
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Dec 7 17:25 UTC 1998 |
Yes, that's a typical phone bill, but the period covered ended before we
dropped the two dialin lines, and only partially overlapped the dropping of
the ICNET dial-out line. So I expect it to go down some this month and some
more next month, settling at about $340.
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krj
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response 7 of 56:
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Dec 7 17:28 UTC 1998 |
((If we have dropped the ICnet connection, should the ICnet message
in the MOTD also come out?))
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mta
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response 8 of 56:
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Dec 7 17:34 UTC 1998 |
Yeah, probably.
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keesan
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response 9 of 56:
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Dec 11 21:25 UTC 1998 |
It sounds like most of the membership dues go towards keeing the phone lines
open. WOuld it be fair to ask nonmembers who phone in to consider making
a small donation towards phone bills?
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mta
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response 10 of 56:
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Dec 11 22:01 UTC 1998 |
Nope. Or rather, not explicitly. The phone line users are very often our
most poverty stricken users...of course any phone line user who can afford
to make a donation would be thanked enthusiastically.
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steve
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response 11 of 56:
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Dec 11 23:08 UTC 1998 |
I don't want to see Grex try and differenciate between the ways different
users get on Grex, or what they use, or what.
I say this, because splitting things out is a never ending concept, with
almost no end in sight. It would also be harder to administrate, and the
treasurer would only have more work to do.
Grex is a community, and each part plays its role. Thoe dialin lines
become awfully useful when four or five staff members are working together
after a bad vandal attack and we don't want the net link up, as an example
of how useful something can be undert unusual circumstances. If we break
things up according to who uses what I fear the resultant midnset would be
very bad for us.
However, its always a useful thing to let people know that their
contributions
are useful, even small ones. I don't think we're doing a very good job of that
right now.
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aruba
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response 12 of 56:
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Dec 12 03:06 UTC 1998 |
Right, I agree that we could do a better job of soliciting money, but I don't
want to send mass mailings out to dialers in, if that's what you're
suggesting, Sindi.
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mcnally
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response 13 of 56:
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Dec 12 05:52 UTC 1998 |
I think the dial-in lines are important for keeping the local/international
balance on Grex within its current healthy range..
I assume that someone on staff takes a look at dial-in usage from time to
time to decide whether we're making good use of all of the lines but other
than keeping an eye out to make sure suppoly and demand are reasonably
balanced I don't think that the dial-in policy should be substantially
changed..
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aruba
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response 14 of 56:
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Dec 13 23:38 UTC 1998 |
I learned today that the last check has cleared from our old account, so I
will go and close it tomorrow.
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keesan
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response 15 of 56:
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Dec 14 01:52 UTC 1998 |
I am a dial-in user myself. I was not thinking of pestering other dial-in
users, but merely mentioning in the motd that the phone bills are $340 a month
(or whatever it is) and that all contributions would be welcome, whether or
not they come to $6/month. Contributors might also enjoy having their names
mentioned online along with paying members.
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mdw
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response 16 of 56:
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Dec 14 03:14 UTC 1998 |
Why not mention electricity & rent?
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steve
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response 17 of 56:
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Dec 14 03:36 UTC 1998 |
I think her point is that a large percentage of our expenses,
more than most realize, goes to phonefood.
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mta
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response 18 of 56:
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Dec 14 13:47 UTC 1998 |
And Sindi's suggestion fits in with a previous suggestion I made -- that we
mention the various costs of running Grex in the MOTD on an FYI basis...
If we're talking about getting word out about our expenses to the community
at large, I'm all for it.
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aruba
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response 19 of 56:
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Dec 14 16:35 UTC 1998 |
Sure, I don't have a problem with that. Anyone want to volunteer to put
regular messages in the MOTD? Various people have done it at verious times,
but the messages always seem to peter out after a while.
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remmers
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response 20 of 56:
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Dec 14 17:28 UTC 1998 |
I suppose the messages could be automated, like the birthday wishes are.
I'll volunteer to have a look at the automation process.
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hhsrat
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response 21 of 56:
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Dec 17 02:11 UTC 1998 |
I'd be willing to put stuff in the MOTD if I knew how to ...
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aruba
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response 22 of 56:
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Dec 17 05:40 UTC 1998 |
All you have to know how to do is edit a file.
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hhsrat
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response 23 of 56:
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Dec 17 16:01 UTC 1998 |
ok, that's something I know how to do. :)
But, that's probably a file that I don't have access to edit.
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aruba
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response 24 of 56:
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Dec 17 17:06 UTC 1998 |
True, but that can be remedied. How long do people think messages should
last, and how often should they go up?
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