Over five hundred posts in two days. Wow. And I read every one of them; it's a fair capsule of my board experience over the past nine to twelve months.

I'm going to say this once, and I'm going to say it quietly. It isn't that I don't care passionately about it, it's that I have enough other stress in my life going on that I don't have the time or the energy to spend on endless back-and-forth here.

A lot of people have asked for an example of a long-time poster who has been driven away by the lack of compassion here, in comparison to times past. (Emphasis added so that Sean won't jump me for asserting that there's none now.)

Rafmun doesn't know me, very likely; we haven't crossed paths. But I'd like to raise my hand.

It's not that I love any of you any less. It's just that my usual brand of monkey-grooming gestures seemed increasingly ... out of place. Almost inappropriate.

Listen to Rafmun, and consider what he has to say. I don't agree with all of it, but I am extremely happy that he had the chutzpah to speak up. He is not alone in his observations. Robin and Betsy are also wise, but you knew that already.

Be good to each other, lovely Buffistas.

I almost never post here, but I'm gonna just pop up to back Jesse, that she stated the personal annoyances were the catalyst and not the whole shebang.

Rafmun, do us all a favor and actually read and digest a post before quoting in and holding it up as some form of insult.

Chill pills, anyone?

{{hugs Karl}}

Chill pills, anyone?

Do they come in chocolate, or booze form?

They come in booze filled chocolate, of course. Something's got to take the edge off the caffeine jag.

Oh, hey... coffee... g'bye...

Hi Karl!

Vote booze! Choose booze!

yes, Beverly, you may.

so short of saying, let's all think and look at how the board works, there's not much to do.

I am going to be so bold as to suggest a time honored idea. If you (anyone) see someone being what you (anyone) consider to be pissy, but they aren't breaking any rules (insulting, offensive, spamming, harrassing), ignore them. Do not engage them. If they address something to you directly answer as briefly and as boring as possible. If they continue say you don't wish to discuss it with them. If they continue, I, for one would say that might be harrassment.

Another thing we could all do is teach ourselves to code.

I feel pretty much the same as Karl. I'm not sure I would have been witty enough to work monkey-grooming into my post.

no one here, I think, comes in here screaming at the moon until a Stompy walks by

This made me giggle. Now I'll have something to do on those late nights when the board is dead.

I had a big 'ol meara, but I think most of it really isn't relevant any more (or has at least been covered by other folks). I will join in the Scrappy is wise chorus.

A couple of things I'll keep in:

What is GO14?

But if you believe that you're not only right, but it's the right thing for the community then you should stick it out.

Okay, but sometimes the issue is less than dire and just isn't worth the energy. Other issues may be worth the effort. Everyone has to choose their own battles.

I'm gonna doblerize on the 'who the hell are you' approach and merely note that I was seriously pinged by that.

I don't post in this thread much for a variety of reasons. Sometimes my opinion has already been stated by someone else and sometimes the discussion has already hit the same points several times over. Mostly if I feel I have something constructive to add, I will. And often, if I feel my opinion will be less than constructive, I just keep quiet. In other words I use my best judgement, which I think is all that can be asked of anyone.

And now I'm running away, but only because I really need to get some work done.