Hi folks:
Somewhere in the process of raising young kids, I fell away from posting here. But now I’m back! Catch me up.
Sincerely,
With Highest Regards,
Best,
Richard Parker
Welcome Back.
@miller is still modding The BBQ Pit.
@Left_Hand_of_Dorkness & @iiandyiiii are still around.
@Bricker never returned.
Opal is one of far too many that have passed away.
We lost TubaDiva shortly after the move to Discourse and recently lost Guinastasia among others.
I’ll link in the memorium thread.
No comment on the long-simmer beefs, I see. Very diplomatic.
Probably not the forum for it and besides I’m on the Mod staff, so it feels like it would be wrong.
Oh, there is one I can safely comment on. There are a group of posters unhappy with the current moderation, especially in Politics & Elections. We’re actually probably going to try something there though to hopefully relieve the issue a bit. I think that is happening this week.
Most of the long simmering issues can be seen by glancing through the Pit threads I guess. The BBQ Pit and look for the ones about posters.
ETA: If it isn’t obvious, you can type @ and the first few letters of a user’s name to call for their attention. Less obvious, you can type # and any letters of the forum or tag to create a link to the forum or tag.
Still around, and still the most dangerous poster on this board (as he will tell you himself, though this appears to be the source of the label).
How fancy. And threaded replies, it seems. Much to learn. Thanks, @What_Exit!
All that and today is your 22nd Doperversary. Talk about the prodigal son returned from the cold.
Welcome back!
I was wondering what that cake meant! Must be some deeper pattern in neural my response to springtime pollen…
Glad to have you back! 
On your birthday you get an entire cake. On your Doperversary it’s just a slice.
Welcome back @Richard_Parker! I’m very pleased to see you back and honored that you asked about me.
Coincidentally, I have a 5 year old now. Best wishes to you and your family as well!
Shodan is banned. So is Clothahump and HurricaneDitka.
Happy Doperversary.
And now you’ve met me.
Don’t believe the rumors.
I’m only 3xbad. Could be worse. 
If you want to review the bannings this search link will help:
https://boards.straightdope.com/search?expanded=true&q=%23suspension-banning%20%23about-this-message-board%20Banned%20after%3A2018-01-01
Though this includes quite a few that were Trocks and not just posters that couldn’t follow the rules.
Oh, no, sorry. I was talking about the poster iiandyiii, a completely different person. (Congrats on the kid! Cherish those snuggle years.)
Another April 19…but 22 years later. What a different time 2004 was. Movie theaters filled with superhero nonsense. The early period of a war with a country starting with “IRA-.” Facebook was just a website a few weirdos use. Republicans were just a couple weeks away from developing a comprehensive health policy. Clarence Thomas was saying insane things on the Supreme Court. (I’ll see myself to the appropriate forum…)
[moved to PM]
Welcome back!
(Kotter).
There really isnt a better board to be discussing profound matters only to have a nitpick break out about, say, toenail sizes.( has that ever been discussed?)
I think a small minority. That is the issue, sometimes about reading the comments. I will bet most poster here either dont care or are okay with it.
Well, the new option is live. We hope it will help, and it’s up to the creators of new OPs to decide if they want to use it.
Back to this topic, greetings and a welcome back to @Richard_Parker from one of your juniors. Happy to see people coming back in search of erudite lore, fine language, cutting snark, and combinations of all of the above!