# Clearly, I've been gone too long... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 10, 2019, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clearly-ive-been-gone-too-long/827511 "2019-01-10T06:13:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MrKnowItAll](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrknowitall/32/87_2.png) [@MrKnowItAll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrKnowItAll)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2019, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clearly-ive-been-gone-too-long/827511/1 "2019-01-10T06:13:58Z")
I’ve ventured back hoping to see some old friends. Except for a handful of familiar names, most of you are unfamiliar to me. As far as I’m concerned, that essentially makes me a newbie. Be gentle. This evening I chanced upon the In Memoriam thread, and unfortunately I saw a lot of old familiar names there. Some I knew and expected, and others that I didn’t realize were gone. Anyway, just wanted to say, “hi” and let anyone that remembers me know that I’m back. If you don’t know me, let me just clear this up up-front. The screen name is meant self-deprecatingly. I’m really not that full of myself. Usually. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2019, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clearly-ive-been-gone-too-long/827511/2 "2019-01-10T06:15:54Z")
Hi. Nice to meet you. ---
**Author:** ![MrKnowItAll](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrknowitall/32/87_2.png) [@MrKnowItAll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrKnowItAll)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2019, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clearly-ive-been-gone-too-long/827511/3 "2019-01-10T07:36:14Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Hi. Nice to meet you. Likewise! ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2019, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clearly-ive-been-gone-too-long/827511/4 "2019-01-10T07:52:15Z")
I like your avatar. Any stories for that? I see you’re in the thread games a few times, I’ll see you around there, for sure. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2019, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clearly-ive-been-gone-too-long/827511/5 "2019-01-10T08:35:47Z")
Hello, fellow '99er. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2019, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clearly-ive-been-gone-too-long/827511/6 "2019-01-10T10:11:27Z")
I remember seeing your screen name, although I don’t have a really vivid sense of what your posts were like. ---
**Author:** ![MrKnowItAll](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrknowitall/32/87_2.png) [@MrKnowItAll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrKnowItAll)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2019, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clearly-ive-been-gone-too-long/827511/7 "2019-01-10T12:03:12Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > I like your avatar. Any stories for that? He’s the title character from the Edward Gorey story _The Doubtful Guest_. I’m a bit of a Gorey fan. ---
**Author:** ![MrKnowItAll](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrknowitall/32/87_2.png) [@MrKnowItAll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrKnowItAll)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2019, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clearly-ive-been-gone-too-long/827511/8 "2019-01-10T12:05:28Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > I remember seeing your screen name, although I don’t have a really vivid sense of what your posts were like. It has been a while. And I was never as gregarious as some of our other contemporaries. ---
**Author:** ![MrKnowItAll](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrknowitall/32/87_2.png) [@MrKnowItAll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrKnowItAll)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2019, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clearly-ive-been-gone-too-long/827511/9 "2019-01-10T12:06:30Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > Hello, fellow '99er. Hi, Sky! ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2019, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clearly-ive-been-gone-too-long/827511/10 "2019-01-10T12:21:53Z")
Well, I’m terribly disappointed that you don’t really know it all, but hello anyway. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2019, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clearly-ive-been-gone-too-long/827511/11 "2019-01-10T12:41:14Z")
Welcome back. Since you’ve been away the messageboard has evolved into a forum for sophisticated and erudite discussion, filled with whimsical rhetorical badinage and intellectual debate. Just kidding - it’s still the same arena for puerile blathering and rampant abuse of strangers as the rest of the internet, only with better spelling and fewer kitten pictures. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2019, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clearly-ive-been-gone-too-long/827511/12 "2019-01-10T13:38:13Z")
Welcome back! Would you like some ice cream? I promise we won’t have any problems with it this time. ---
**Author:** ![Jumpbass](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jumpbass/32/147_2.png) [@Jumpbass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jumpbass)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2019, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clearly-ive-been-gone-too-long/827511/13 "2019-01-10T15:59:12Z")
Did you bring pie? ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2019, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clearly-ive-been-gone-too-long/827511/14 "2019-01-10T16:09:03Z")
Be careful; we have another **gnoitall** and you know what will happen if the two of you post in the same thread? “Annihilation, Jim. Total, complete, absolute annihilation.” (The answer: claim you’re Bullwinkle.) ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2019, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clearly-ive-been-gone-too-long/827511/15 "2019-01-10T16:10:29Z")
> [@MrKnowItAll](#): > > He’s the title character from the Edward Gorey story _The Doubtful Guest_. I’m a bit of a Gorey fan. So we’re stuck with you until at least 2036 then? ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2019, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clearly-ive-been-gone-too-long/827511/16 "2019-01-10T16:12:46Z")
> [@MrKnowItAll](#): > > He’s the title character from the Edward Gorey story _The Doubtful Guest_. I’m a bit of a Gorey fan. I recognized it immediately. I’m another fan. My favorite is _The Gashlycrumb Tinies_. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2019, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clearly-ive-been-gone-too-long/827511/17 "2019-01-10T16:20:41Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > Just kidding - it’s still the same arena for puerile blathering and rampant abuse of strangers as the rest of the internet, only with better spelling and **fewer kitten pictures**. Only because we can’t post [images](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/100-unbelievably-cute-pictures-of-kittens/ss-BBlnA6R)! ---
**Author:** ![MrKnowItAll](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrknowitall/32/87_2.png) [@MrKnowItAll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrKnowItAll)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2019, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clearly-ive-been-gone-too-long/827511/18 "2019-01-10T16:25:33Z")
Ah, what a warm welcome. I have to admit, though, that I forgot the pie. Maybe next time I go away and come back. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2019, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clearly-ive-been-gone-too-long/827511/19 "2019-01-10T16:32:47Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > Hello, fellow '99er. March of 99. I’m just a kid being from May of 99 and all… ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2019, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clearly-ive-been-gone-too-long/827511/20 "2019-01-10T16:39:16Z")
Pi? I’m a Tau-ist. 🙂 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clearly-ive-been-gone-too-long/827511.md?page=2)