Seem to recall my own award came about a year or two after joining. Having benefited myself from the site's resources, improving my line's performance, I also became fascinated by the old BT DLM and the secrecy and myths that surrounded it. It seemed only polite, in the months that followed, to look out for new members seeking help, then dive in and see them through. After a year or so, I was very flattered to be deemed helpful, as were a couple of others at the same time.
One big thing has changed since then... In these days I was in an IT development job that did not inspire me. Sitting at my desk, whilst maintaining the 'appearance' of working, I could get a lot more fun from a lot more fun helping folks' dsl issues.
But since then the boredom of job I disliked got the better of me, and I quit full time work. Now in 'early retirement', I find I have rather more things to do, so rarely find the time to engage in anything beyond banter.
If you ever feel like adding a new status for the likes of me, '
used to be helpful', I'd understand.
