Stroll down Tug Memory Lane

[DaveNV]

Just for gits and shiggles, I worked my way back on Tug to find what I think is my very first post here - from 2006, and more than 10,000 posts ago. Not sure it's the first, but probably among the very first posts I'd made, anyway. I read Tug for a long time before ever posting here, but it's kind of fun to look back and see where my timeshare babyhood began. I was such a rank newbie, and you folks were all so nice to me. It's like looking at your childhood school pictures.

I'd just bought my first timeshare, a resale Hawaii week on eBay (because of what I'd read on Tug), and I was trying to use a freebie week the resort gave me to match up with a second week on another Hawaiian island. Surprisingly, it worked out. Even more surprisingly, all these years later, my most recent timeshare exchange was another two-week trip to Hawaii for next year, also on two islands. If nothing else, I'm consistent.

Here's the thread: https://tugbbs.com/forums/index.php?threads/best-month-to-search-for-exchanges.27390/

Can you find your first posting on Tug? Share it. I'd like to see it.

Dave

 

[slip]

My first was asking a question about Pono Kai, imagine that.

Everyone is so helpful on this site!

https://www.tugbbs.com/forums/index.php?threads/pono-kai-questions.142815/

 

[Luanne]

The first one I could find was in 2006 and had to do with Napa day spas.

However, I remember the first post I made actually had to do with one of the "pay upfront" companies to get rid of a timeshare. Dh and I had already paid, and with the help and advice of those on TUG we were able to get our money back by disputing the charge. That was well before 2006.

 

[TUGBrian]

looks like the wayback machine goes back to june of 05....

http://web.archive.org/web/20050610031045/http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/

 

[dioxide45]

I posted a similar look back in 2013 posting in one of my first newbie threads asking about Orlando resales. Those resale prices sure have changed.

https://tugbbs.com/forums/index.php?threads/horizons-orlando-resale.29968/

 

[clifffaith]

We were looking to get rid of some Diamond Resorts contracts in I think 2016. This was before their formal transitions program. I think I must have googled timeshare exit and found TUG as well as Timeshare Exit Team — I stuck with TUG!

 

[Passepartout]

I was first a paid member of TUG back when it was on the Prodigy System. I didn't own a TS back then, but was intrigued by the timeshare concept. TUG turned me on to the magic of resale. I was working- trucking and had a Tandy TRS80 with no hard drive and a (I think) 1200 baud modem that I'd dial into local numbers from phones on tables in truck stop restaurants.

Anyway, I think all those early Prodigy posts are lost to the ether.

Jim

 

[Glynda]

The first I can find was posted in February of 2006. It was about the drinking water in Costa Rica. I thought I joined TUG earlier than that though.

 

[Sandy VDH]

Is this the 3rd, 4th or ?? platform for the Tug boards. This is the 3rd that I have been one. So my first post on this board is likely the June 6, 2005 date that many will have, as that is the date we transitioned to this new format.

I have no idea what my first one was, but I do know it was Sept/Oct-ish 1997. Some 22 years ago. Yikes. Where did the time go.

 

[DrQ]

I was member when it was a Bulletin Board Service (BBS) (text based) back in the days of dialup. I also made the transition to this board in 2005 when they had everyone reregister.

 

[TUGBrian]

 

[joestein]

You made me look as well. The earliest post I can find is about RCI offering Military and Gov't Employees discounted weeks at a lower price than RCI members. Back in Oct 2005.

I commented that I am all for the Military offering, but why the regular gov't employees (stating that gov't employees had it cushy already). My comment apparently didn't go over all that well.

I guess nothing has changed.

Joe

 

[WinniWoman]

How do you find your first post?

 

[jme]

Joined in 1998, and those BBS posts are not accessible since it was modified, reworked, and re-introduced in 2005.
My "beginning" goes well back before 2005, and believe me, there were some real characters back then, to say the least.
First post? no clue, but I'd take a wild guess and say it was most likely a praise of my new-found Marriott "home resort"
and the Marriott system in general.
In that regard I haven't changed much, except we now have 10 Marriotts, and 16 timeshares in all.
Changed our lives as to travel, and opened the world to us and our children.

The new format is obviously better, but the old one was fun, and being smaller it seemed more like a gathering of friends.

Today's BBS is a monster of information, and that makes it easier to get specific information within seconds from folks
all over the world.

"NEW" is generally better, not always, but for the most part, and we are very lucky to have a site that is not only informative
but also monitored extremely well and appropriately, so that it seldom gets out of hand.......in today's world, I appreciate that.

The greatest thing about the TUG BBS is that my wife and I have formed MANY endearing friendships with a variety
of other TUG members, dozens actually over time, and we continue to meet up regularly with many of them,
communicate with them often, follow their excursions, and also keep up with the dynamics of their families
as they evolve and grow. THAT is priceless.
(Hello guys, my dear friends, and you know who you are!!!!!)

 

[Timeshare Von]

March 19, 2006

TUG on National News

The other day (Thursday I think), I caught part of a timeshare discussion on Headlines News Network. The expert was dicussing how to "safely" enter timeshare ownership, recommending against purchasing directly from developers. She then cited this group as a valuable resource for buying timeshares from the secondary market. They also provided the internet address for the group.

It was nice to see some positive media on timeshare ownership and how to get greater value from it through rationale purchasing decisions.
###

I don't think I knew about TUG before the news story . . . and I must have joined shortly thereafter.

 

[klpca]

I'm not sure when I actually started posting on TUG - sometime in mid 2011 because that's when I finally bought our first timeshare. I had originally joined in 2006 either shortly before or after we went to a presentation at WKORV and purchased/rescinded - which I knew about before we even left on our trip because I had been reading TUG. I wasn't really motivated to purchase until we started paying some hefty rental prices on VRBO. Suddenly maintenance fees didn't look too bad and of course, resale prices had hit rock bottom. The rest is history.

The first post that I could find is about Italy and had nothing to do with timeshares.
https://tugbbs.com/forums/index.php?threads/where-to-visit-in-italy.152654/

 

[Luanne]

I'm not sure when I actually started posting on TUG - sometime in mid 2011 because that's when I finally bought our first timeshare. I had originally joined in 2006 either shortly before or after we went to a presentation at WKORV and purchased/rescinded - which I knew about before we even left on our trip because I had been reading TUG. I wasn't really motivated to purchase until we started paying some hefty rental prices on VRBO. Suddenly maintenance fees didn't look too bad and of course, resale prices had hit rock bottom. The rest is history.

The first post that I could find is about Italy and had nothing to do with timeshares.
https://tugbbs.com/forums/index.php?threads/where-to-visit-in-italy.152654/

My first few posts [that I could find] had nothing to do with timeshares either.

 

[AwayWeGo]

The original entries sent in by some of us oldsters are lost in the electronic mists of the past, owing to evolutionary TUG-BBS software changes & upgrades that wiped out all the pre-upgrade content.

So it goes.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[Makai Guy]

Some TUGBBS history, near as I can construct it (adapted and updated from a post from several years ago):

Unfortunately, I lost a lot of my records in a hard disk crash several years ago so I don't have a lot of good reference dates for the early stuff.

Brian Rogers' father Bill started TUG in 1993. I joined back when TUG only existed as a printed newsletter and the internet had not yet taken the world by storm. I'm not sure if this was before or after things got going on the old dial-up Prodigy system, which I never used. When we got our own first website, people submitted advice articles and resort reviews via email and/or online forms that then had to be transcoded into individual HTML pages by a handful of volunteers.

Laurence Chan was a very active early volunteer who helped Bill with lots of the early page writing. Laurence took a primitive available open source bulletin board script and massaged it into our first message board. I think I started helping Laurence out as co-moderator of the Hawaii section of the bbs and Hawaii review co-manager around 1995, taking these over completely in 1997.

Laurence put together a new version of his bbs several years later, as more advanced scripts became available. This was the "indented post" version some of you long-timers recall. Then at some point he convinced Bill Rogers to spring for commercial bulletin board software that was available by then, going with Universal Bulletin Board (UBB). I believe this was around 1999 or 2000. Laurence sort of faded away after that, leaving me the main bbs administrator. We were still running UBB in 2003 when the "no politics" policy went into effect, after a very painful contentious period that almost tore the entire TUG community apart and caused us to lose several active and valuable volunteers.

We became a victim of our own success as our UBB became hopelessly out of date and just could not handle the volume of messages we were generating. Messages and user records were stored as individual files taking up much too much then-expensive disk space, and exceeded UBB's ability to keep track of all those files, which resulted in a need to keep the board purged of older messages. This caused us to lose a lot of valuable history. We purchased vBulletin software in 2004 that efficiently stored its data in compact database files, but it took us (i.e. me) about a year to learn the system and get it customized to meet our needs. We spend several of those months trying to find ways to convert the existing UBB user information and existing posts into vBulletin, but finally threw in the towel and just went live with vBulletin software in June 2005. Everybody had to re-register as a new user. That's why you see so many people with June 2005 registration dates. Only a few volunteers who helped test the system before going live have registration dates a few months before this. Old messages could not be carried over and only a few that were deemed essential were manually copy/pasted from the old board to the new -- any of them that still exist are probably in the archive files.

We outgrew the shared server space we were renting almost immediately and moved the hosting of the bbs several times, attempting to find a host that could handle our high volume of traffic, bandwidth needs, and increasingly large database of posts. We still had to purge older messages once in a while until, in August 2006 we bit the bullet and went to our own dedicated server which runs nothing but TUG and we have not been forced to purge older posts since then. We're still using the same host, through several hardware updates.

Our heavy customization of vBulletin made it increasingly hard to update as new vB versions came out, and it too became hopelessly out of date. We transitioned to XenForo bulletin board software just before Thanksgiving 2016 and we're still there now. Fortunately, we didn't lose any user information or messages in this transition.

 

[klpca]

Some TUGBBS history, near as I can construct it (adapted and updated from a post from several years ago):

Unfortunately, I lost a lot of my records in a hard disk crash several years ago so I don't have a lot of good reference dates for the early stuff.

Brian Rogers' father Bill started TUG in 1993. I joined back when TUG only existed as a printed newsletter and the internet had not yet taken the world by storm. I'm not sure if this was before or after things got going on the old dial-up Prodigy system, which I never used. When we got our own first website, people submitted advice articles and resort reviews via email and/or online forms that then had to be transcoded into individual HTML pages by a handful of volunteers.

Laurence Chan was a very active early volunteer who helped Bill with lots of the early page writing. Laurence took a primitive available open source bulletin board script and massaged it into our first message board. I think I started helping Laurence out as co-moderator of the Hawaii section of the bbs and Hawaii review co-manager around 1995, taking these over completely in 1997.

Laurence put together a new version of his bbs several years later, as more advanced scripts became available. This was the "indented post" version some of you long-timers recall. Then at some point he convinced Bill Rogers to spring for commercial bulletin board software that was available by then, going with Universal Bulletin Board (UBB). I believe this was around 1999 or 2000. Laurence sort of faded away after that, leaving me the main bbs administrator. We were still running UBB in 2003 when the "no politics" policy went into effect, after a very painful contentious period that almost tore the entire TUG community apart and caused us to lose several active and valuable volunteers.

We became a victim of our own success as our UBB became hopelessly out of date and just could not handle the volume of messages we were generating. Messages and user records were stored as individual files taking up much too much then-expensive disk space, and exceeded UBB's ability to keep track of all those files, which resulted in a need to keep the board purged of older messages. This caused us to lose a lot of valuable history. We purchased vBulletin software in 2004 that efficiently stored its data in compact database files, but it took us (i.e. me) about a year to learn the system and get it customized to meet our needs. We spend several of those months trying to find ways to convert the existing UBB user information and existing posts into vBulletin, but finally threw in the towel and just went live with vBulletin software in June 2005. Everybody had to re-register as a new user. That's why you see so many people with June 2005 registration dates. Only a few volunteers who helped test the system before going live have registration dates a few months before this. Old messages could not be carried over and only a few that were deemed essential were manually copy/pasted from the old board to the new -- any of them that still exist are probably in the archive files.

We outgrew the shared server space we were renting almost immediately and moved the hosting of the bbs several times, attempting to find a host that could handle our high volume of traffic, bandwidth needs, and increasingly large database of posts. We still had to purge older messages once in a while until, in August 2006 we bit the bullet and went to our own dedicated server which runs nothing but TUG and we have not been forced to purge older posts since then. We're still using the same host, through several hardware updates.

Our heavy customization of vBulletin made it increasingly hard to update as new vB versions came out, and it too became hopelessly out of date. We transitioned to XenForo bulletin board software just before Thanksgiving 2016 and we're still there now. Fortunately, we didn't lose any user information or messages in this transition.

Impressive. Were you ever able to take any timesharing vacations, lol? That sounds like a ton of work. Thanks to you, Brian, and all of the other volunteers who kept things running smoothly for the rest of us.

 

[jme]

Some TUGBBS history, near as I can construct it (adapted and updated from a post from several years ago):

Unfortunately, I lost a lot of my records in a hard disk crash several years ago so I don't have a lot of good reference dates for the early stuff.

Brian Rogers' father Bill started TUG in 1993. I joined back when TUG only existed as a printed newsletter and the internet had not yet taken the world by storm. I'm not sure if this was before or after things got going on the old dial-up Prodigy system, which I never used. When we got our own first website, people submitted advice articles and resort reviews via email and/or online forms that then had to be transcoded into individual HTML pages by a handful of volunteers.

Laurence Chan was a very active early volunteer who helped Bill with lots of the early page writing. Laurence took a primitive available open source bulletin board script and massaged it into our first message board. I think I started helping Laurence out as co-moderator of the Hawaii section of the bbs and Hawaii review co-manager around 1995, taking these over completely in 1997.

Laurence put together a new version of his bbs several years later, as more advanced scripts became available. This was the "indented post" version some of you long-timers recall. Then at some point he convinced Bill Rogers to spring for commercial bulletin board software that was available by then, going with Universal Bulletin Board (UBB). I believe this was around 1999 or 2000. Laurence sort of faded away after that, leaving me the main bbs administrator. We were still running UBB in 2003 when the "no politics" policy went into effect, after a very painful contentious period that almost tore the entire TUG community apart and caused us to lose several active and valuable volunteers.

We became a victim of our own success as our UBB became hopelessly out of date and just could not handle the volume of messages we were generating. Messages and user records were stored as individual files taking up much too much then-expensive disk space, and exceeded UBB's ability to keep track of all those files, which resulted in a need to keep the board purged of older messages. This caused us to lose a lot of valuable history. We purchased vBulletin software in 2004 that efficiently stored its data in compact database files, but it took us (i.e. me) about a year to learn the system and get it customized to meet our needs. We spend several of those months trying to find ways to convert the existing UBB user information and existing posts into vBulletin, but finally threw in the towel and just went live with vBulletin software in June 2005. Everybody had to re-register as a new user. That's why you see so many people with June 2005 registration dates. Only a few volunteers who helped test the system before going live have registration dates a few months before this. Old messages could not be carried over and only a few that were deemed essential were manually copy/pasted from the old board to the new -- any of them that still exist are probably in the archive files.

We outgrew the shared server space we were renting almost immediately and moved the hosting of the bbs several times, attempting to find a host that could handle our high volume of traffic, bandwidth needs, and increasingly large database of posts. We still had to purge older messages once in a while until, in August 2006 we bit the bullet and went to our own dedicated server which runs nothing but TUG and we have not been forced to purge older posts since then. We're still using the same host, through several hardware updates.

Our heavy customization of vBulletin made it increasingly hard to update as new vB versions came out, and it too became hopelessly out of date. We transitioned to XenForo bulletin board software just before Thanksgiving 2016 and we're still there now. Fortunately, we didn't lose any user information or messages in this transition.

GREAT write-up, Doug!!!
I do remember the good ole days, but am also enjoying the good new days.

TUG is a marvel, and perhaps a model for other sites.....we have a good thing and most of us know it!!!
Great job & kudos to the administration and volunteers. It's truly a pleasure to be here weekly, if not daily.

 

[pittle]

I was also on the older system. I found out about TUG from Fern Modena sometime in the late 90's. I was searching for information for Imperial Hawaii and timesharing in general since we had purchased a cheap resale of 2 weeks from an ad in Timesharing Today. We wanted to know more about how to use our 3 weeks other than what we read in RCI & II mailings.

Fern was such a wealth of information and when she directed me to TUG, I found it and learned even more. When I retired at the end of 2001, it was easier because the internet was better and I had more time! By then we had jumped into time sharing big time as we had bought Mayan Palace and loved Mexico.

From TUG we learned about buying resale and whenever we exchanged someplace that we liked, I started perusing eBay. We bought 10 resale units on eBay between 2002 - 2007. 7 were MP units and 3 were Buganvilias units. The total cost for the 10 units was less than what we paid for our first MP 2-bedroom unit in 1999. We have sold our original Imperial Hawaii, the two we bought from the ad in Timesharing Today, and now just have 2 Grand Luxxe weeks that we leveraged all the resale purchases and one original one to get for a whole lot less than most other GL owners have paid. We used our 3 Buganvilias weeks to help get us into the Sky Suite level in the nicest unit they have. Our best resale on eBay was bought sitting on the beach at the Buganvilias. We got a 2-bed 3-bath Imperial suite for $5.50 including closing. They had tried to sell us a 1 bedroom ocean-front unit 2 days before for $13,000.

We still made mistakes - in 2008, hubs fell in love with 2 properties that he just had to have. Both have gone belly up, so we lost our money. Two years ago, one raised the MF to a level that was higher than our Sky Suite unit and we chose not to send them the money. The next year, I got an email asking if we were still a part of their "family" and I said that we could no longer afford it. They said they understood. This one is trying to sell all the units as full-ownership condos and is happy when more and more owners are dropping out. The other one has an awesome location, but we knew that the fixed MF would not sustain it. The deferred maintenance has taken its toll. A few years ago, they offered us a Senior Certificate that would allow us to go our entire month with no MF for the rest of our lives for a prepayment of 3 years MF. Hubs went down there last year intending to stay 2 weeks - he arrived on Saturday and called me Monday morning telling me to change his ticket and get him home ASAP. It was awful. Now they have sold it and the new owners have cancelled our fixed time reservation and quadrupled the MF. Since they are not honoring our contract, we are under no obligation to pay the amount they are asking.

While I seldom start threads, I hop in when something gets my attention or if I can share a similar experience to help out someone. My main interest does fall with Mayan World (all levels of Vidanta) and Buganvilias as these are were we own now. We did use the resale timeshares for exchanges for many years, but now have learned that what I read on TUG early on - "exchanging is nice, but buy where you want to go!"

TUG is at the top of my toolbar and I check it several times a day. It is a safe happy place in this wild and crazy world.

 

[DaveNV]

As I’ve said many times: “Tuggers rock!”

Dave

 

[DrQ]

I was also on the older system. I found out about TUG from Fern Modena sometime in the late 90's.

That's another path down TUG memory lane.

 

[Sandy VDH]

I missed the dial-up Prodigy days thankfully. But I was here for the indented list days.

Where did the time go. Oh yeah, many many timeshare vacations.