# Did Zenster lose another thread, or am I losing my mind? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [September 27, 2003, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-zenster-lose-another-thread-or-am-i-losing-my-mind/204154 "2003-09-27T13:27:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laughing_Lagomorph)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2003, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-zenster-lose-another-thread-or-am-i-losing-my-mind/204154/1 "2003-09-27T13:27:54Z")
A couple of days ago I could swear there was a thread somewhere on these boards about grandparents. It was started, I think, by **Zenster**. Several other people including **tanookie** and **SnoopyFan** contributed, as did I. When I went to check on it later, I couldn’t find it, and still can’t. Did I imagine this? I remember **Zenster** having a problem a while back with his recipe threads disappearing…is this more of the same? ---
**Author:** ![Jaade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/dfb087/32.png) [@Jaade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaade)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2003, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-zenster-lose-another-thread-or-am-i-losing-my-mind/204154/2 "2003-09-27T15:56:44Z")
Try going though your profile and viewing all of your posts… ---
**Author:** ![tanookie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/48db29/32.png) [@tanookie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tanookie)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2003, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-zenster-lose-another-thread-or-am-i-losing-my-mind/204154/3 "2003-09-27T16:07:39Z")
I got an alert that Laughing Lagomorph posted to that thread and when I clicked to view I got an invalid link specified error… then when I checked my subscribed threads it was gone. I think the hamsters like to eat Zenster’s threads ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Zenster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/cdc98d/32.png) [@Zenster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zenster)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2003, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-zenster-lose-another-thread-or-am-i-losing-my-mind/204154/4 "2003-09-27T16:25:31Z")
I was wondering about that one. I haven’t searched IMHO for it. I still have my OP on file and may have to restart it. Thank you for noticing, **Riant Rabbit**. A quick search indeed indicates that it has been hamstered in the finest of styles. I shall restart it later today. I noticed a Chinese food post of mine was nibbled into the cheek pouches of oblivion last night. Maybe it is time to reset the old serveroonie! And, now, if a mod would kindly move this thread to ATMB … I’ll finish by saying that, “The Cheek Pouches of Oblivion” would make a sterling band name. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2003, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-zenster-lose-another-thread-or-am-i-losing-my-mind/204154/5 "2003-09-27T18:00:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tanookie \* > \*\* > I think the hamsters like to eat Zenster’s threads ☹ \*\* It’s the damn _mornay_ sauce. ---
**Author:** ![Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laughing_Lagomorph)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2003, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-zenster-lose-another-thread-or-am-i-losing-my-mind/204154/6 "2003-09-27T18:21:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jaade \* > \*\*Try going though your profile and viewing all of your posts… \*\* Well, yeah. And all of **Zenster’s**. And all of **tanookie** ’s and **SnoopyFan** ’s. All done, and nothing there. **tanookie** my comment that day was just how good it was to read some nice memories from your childhood. I’m glad it wasn’t all bad. ---
**Author:** ![lel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8797f3/32.png) [@lel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lel)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2003, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-zenster-lose-another-thread-or-am-i-losing-my-mind/204154/7 "2003-09-27T18:27:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tanookie \* > \*\*I think the hamsters like to eat Zenster’s threads ☹ \*\* I probably shouldn’t say it, and I’m sure it’s going to get me the conspiracy theorist label, but if it’s just **Zenster** ’s threads, I’d be thinking more human intervention and less hamster intervention. I don’t know why anyone would specifically remove only **Zenster** ’s threads, but has anyone seen other threads removed which had replies aside from spam/other obvious rule violations? ---
**Author:** ![Papaveraceae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e8c25b/32.png) [@Papaveraceae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Papaveraceae)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2003, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-zenster-lose-another-thread-or-am-i-losing-my-mind/204154/8 "2003-09-27T18:37:51Z")
I dont know why, but most days I can see more than three pages of threads. After that, there aren’t any. I figured it was to keep down the bandwidth, but once someone bumped a thread that was 3 years or so old I started wondering. ---
**Author:** ![Syntropy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/65b543/32.png) [@Syntropy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Syntropy)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2003, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-zenster-lose-another-thread-or-am-i-losing-my-mind/204154/9 "2003-09-27T18:43:01Z")
I asked a mod to research it once, and it was put down to hamsters. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Griffin-Kentzel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_griffin-kentzel/32/14787_2.png) [@Larry\_Griffin-Kentzel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Griffin-Kentzel)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2003, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-zenster-lose-another-thread-or-am-i-losing-my-mind/204154/10 "2003-09-27T18:45:17Z")
This thread is better suited for **ATMB**. I’ll move it for you. * * * **Cajun Man** ~ SDMB Moderator ---
**Author:** ![lel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8797f3/32.png) [@lel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lel)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2003, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-zenster-lose-another-thread-or-am-i-losing-my-mind/204154/11 "2003-09-27T18:52:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Maureen \* > \*\*I asked a mod to research it once, and it was put down to hamsters. \*\* Tinfoil hat on… If it was human intervention and the mod you asked to research it wasn’t doing it, probably the person who was selectively moving **Zenster** ’s threads wouldn’t just make a big announcement that they were doing it. Is there any way a mod can see if a thread has been deleted versus if it has disappeared? Do the artifacts look different? I’ve seen hamsters occasionally eat threads on other boards, it’s just that they all seem to belong to one person. I think I’d better get out my aluminum foil to shield my head from the brain waves being sent out from outer space. ---
**Author:** ![tanookie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/48db29/32.png) [@tanookie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tanookie)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2003, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-zenster-lose-another-thread-or-am-i-losing-my-mind/204154/12 "2003-09-27T20:41:47Z")
Laughing Lagomorph, I attribute my sanity to the wonderful, if short, influence my Nana and Pa had in my life 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Zenster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/cdc98d/32.png) [@Zenster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zenster)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2003, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-zenster-lose-another-thread-or-am-i-losing-my-mind/204154/13 "2003-09-28T05:20:51Z")
Well, **lel** , I suppose I should be glad that I’m not alone in my concerns. I have gotten just enough really nasty flack from some of the staff at this place to make me concerned about it. At this point, I guess that I’m obliged to thank you for your support. That said, this is one of the first _entire threads_ to vaporize in some time. I have also only had about three posts (that I’ve noticed) skedaddle in the last week or two. All of these events are the first of their sort in over a month. The boards’ staff told me it was due to my high volume of posting that I lose so many of them. I’ve have only seen one or two other people check in about losing posts. I’m having a really hard time remembering if anyone mentioned losing _entire threads_. The biggest problem is that, even when I have reduced my posting volume, the problem has sometimes persisted. Be sure that I have also asked if there is any way to detect whether a server address or pointer was lost instead of specifically deleted. I have yet to receive any definitive answer to this query. However, I was assured that the server had been reset and that, indeed, seemed to have helped immensely. For all of these reasons, I’ve yet to be able to convince myself of intentional deleting going on here. I do remain highly suspicious of how it is so often my threads and posts alone that take the big hit. I’ve done my best to provide the staff with the original post ID numbers of threads that were later deleted. Unfortunately, no one has ever bothered to respond as to whether that has been of help. PS: I’ve restarted the Grandparents Thread. Please post to it. ---
**Author:** ![Lisa-go-Blind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Lisa-go-Blind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lisa-go-Blind)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2003, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-zenster-lose-another-thread-or-am-i-losing-my-mind/204154/14 "2003-09-28T06:42:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Papaveraceae \* > \*\*I dont know why, but most days I can see more than three pages of threads. After that, there aren’t any. I figured it was to keep down the bandwidth, but once someone bumped a thread that was 3 years or so old I started wondering. \*\* It’s probably your settings. At the bottom of the main page for each forum, there’s a drop-down menu that asks you how long you want posts displayed for: the last 24 hours, the last 2 days, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2003, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-zenster-lose-another-thread-or-am-i-losing-my-mind/204154/15 "2003-09-28T22:05:27Z")
I noticed a link to the Grandparents Thread in another thread, and I found it missing, too. But I hadn’t realized that it was another of **Zenster** ’s, which is admittedly odd. But it’s also peculiar to suppose that one of the mods has some sort of vendetta against **Zenster** and is targetting innocuous threads/posts to “get him”. One explanation is that it’s just a matter of him noticing more, but that’s starting to look a little stretched, too. Perhaps he habitually posts at troublesome times of day? About when would the grandparents thread have been posted? ---
**Author:** ![Papaveraceae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e8c25b/32.png) [@Papaveraceae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Papaveraceae)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2003, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-zenster-lose-another-thread-or-am-i-losing-my-mind/204154/16 "2003-09-28T23:13:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lisa-go-Blind \* > \*\*It’s probably your settings. At the bottom of the main page for each forum, there’s a drop-down menu that asks you how long you want posts displayed for: the last 24 hours, the last 2 days, etc. \*\* D’oh. :smack: Thanks! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Zenster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/cdc98d/32.png) [@Zenster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zenster)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2003, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-zenster-lose-another-thread-or-am-i-losing-my-mind/204154/17 "2003-09-28T23:38:29Z")
**Chronos** , I wish it were that easy. I’ve had deletes occur during heavy _and_ low traffic intervals at the boards. According to the text file’s properties, the original Grandparents thread was submitted around: Thursday, September 25, 2003, 1:36:33 PM While that is on a cusp of the East coast’s “get home from work” deluge, it is nowhere near the maximum traffic periods like primetime. Perhaps someone in the server room :: _cough_ **Jerry** _cough_ :: can check and see what the traffic levels were like at that time on the date in question. That might provide some insight. ---
**Author:** ![lel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8797f3/32.png) [@lel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lel)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2003, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-zenster-lose-another-thread-or-am-i-losing-my-mind/204154/18 "2003-09-29T04:48:34Z")
**Chronos** , that’s definitely a good point. Has anyone else noticed any of their posts or threads being hamstered? I haven’t noticed anything of mine being hamstered. That’s not saying much given that I don’t post many threads, but still, I can’t recall a thing of mine being hamstered. Anyone, especially those who post in greater volume than myself? ---
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2003, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-zenster-lose-another-thread-or-am-i-losing-my-mind/204154/19 "2003-09-29T15:53:09Z")
> [@](#): > > Try going though your profile and viewing all of your posts… Please don’t do this unless absolutely necesary. Searches, according to those who should know, consume an inordinate quantity of our limited server resources. In order to reduce this demand, you should attempt to constrain your searches to the narrowest possible limits. The search that’s spoken of in the OP for example, could be limited to posts only made in the past week, rather than those made _anytime_. ---
**Author:** ![Zenster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/cdc98d/32.png) [@Zenster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zenster)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2003, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-zenster-lose-another-thread-or-am-i-losing-my-mind/204154/20 "2003-09-29T18:36:02Z")
Another good reason to _never_ do vanity searches. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-zenster-lose-another-thread-or-am-i-losing-my-mind/204154.md?page=2)