Not to defend Tom or anything, and certainly not reading anything between the lines Velo, but this forum is a form of business for people like myself and Tom. I see a lot of posts by Tom asking things like "what does everyone think of so and so product?" This is a good place to do polling for opinions etc and has a return in the form of business for Tom. Before this forum I had never heard of Tom before or of his store. Now I know of both and if I am in the area I would certainly make it a point to go by and meet him, see his store and probably buy something. So by being visable here there is a certain long term goodwill and business building aspect to it.
I certainly don't get to post on here as much as I would like to, even though I am in front of this computer full time for work. Sometimes it is the choice between answering a work related e-mail or posting a response here and 99% of the time that e-mail is going to get answered first and if there is time and mental energy left after that, the odd post will slip in from me. It is also sometimes and escape and a break from regular work to peruse what is the hot topic of the day on here.
It would be a boring place to hang out here if everyone just worked all day and didn't come in here to play, kind of like the weekends on this board.
Mike Plumb, TriPower MultiSports
Professional Running, Cycling and Multisport Coaching, F.I.S.T. Certified
http://www.tripower.org