Hi. I was never an incredibly prolific or popular poster, a lot of old folks may not even remember me, but I signed up with the original vBulletin boards around … late 2000, I think? Maybe early 2001? My handle was Cheese Monster in the beginning. I was so young then (18/19), and I stuck around through my most formative adult years. But eventually my posting dropped off for no particular reason, and by late 2020 I had stopped coming entirely.
It’s funny how often I still think of this place despite the long absence. Every time I find myself having written a list with two entries I have to stop myself from adding a “hi Opal”, and it comes rushing back. I remember so many names … and it’s kind of heartening in a way to see a lot of those names still posting, still moderating. Though too many have passed, going by the In Memoriam thread. That wasn’t a fun read.
Anyway. I guess I’ve been nostalgic, now that my beard is gray and the world is going to hell. I’m just relieved to learn that this place is still kicking. I feel like if I had typed in “boards.straightdope.com” and saw a 404 or a 500 error – or worse, a server not found error – it would have signaled that a part of me had died and I never even realized it. Maybe that’s why I took so long to come back – if I didn’t check then in my head it would be there, forever, always the same as I had left it.
We’ve had several folks from your join era reappear in recent months. Some of us never left. It’s slower & grayer here, but still both silly and civilized.
Hehe. My avatar shows red hair, which I had for many years (thank you, L’Oreal). During COVID I jumped off the hair coloring hamster wheel (it was not an easy transition), and now my hair is snow white.
I’ll add to the chorus of welcome backs, and agree that the board is a bastion of intelligence, reasoning and fact checking given the state of the world.
Ease yourself in, or jump in with both feet, both options have merits.
Don’t forget to share your experience as well, we can always use a well-reasoned new perspective, or another sympathetic nodding head, or a passionate but polite disagreement if you feel someone is being wrong on the internet!
I’ll also point out the painful In Memoriam thread, were we’ve seen far too many posts over the years. So always good to get a “hey, I’m alive” counter to such.
