Most ISPs dropped their USENET services long ago. There are lots of other places to chat that are laden with spam, tracking and potentially malware, while USENET when combined with appropriate filters is wonderfully free of that garbage.
As for SEJW activity, I expect much of the cyclic activity is a function of who is doing what project. I'll hopefully be starting a large scale structural steel project perhaps Q1 (a steel shop building) and will probably be looking for some advice then. Until then the odd projects I'm doing are within my knowledge / skill level so I haven't had questions to ask.