# So, what did I miss? (Been away for a few years...) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 4, 2022, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-did-i-miss-been-away-for-a-few-years/972663 "2022-10-04T00:21:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2022, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-did-i-miss-been-away-for-a-few-years/972663/1 "2022-10-04T00:21:27Z")
Hi, everyone. I haven’t been on the SDMB for a while now - who’s still here, and how’s it going for everyone? ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2022, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-did-i-miss-been-away-for-a-few-years/972663/2 "2022-10-04T00:24:41Z")
Hello, **Le\_Ministre**! Welcome back! Some have left, and some have arrived, and some are still here. You know, typical SDMB. Anyway, great to see you again, and I hope you can stick around! ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2022, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-did-i-miss-been-away-for-a-few-years/972663/3 "2022-10-04T01:01:00Z")
Welcome back piano man! I still play your CD! ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2022, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-did-i-miss-been-away-for-a-few-years/972663/4 "2022-10-04T01:07:11Z")
We’ve had some losses. Check the memorial thread for details. Two big ones were **TubaDiva** and **Colibri**. There were others we’ll also miss a lot. Welcome back. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2022, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-did-i-miss-been-away-for-a-few-years/972663/5 "2022-10-04T01:52:35Z")
Chacoguy is another one who left us too soon. Who’s the man who was Beckdawrek’s friend, who was very sick for several years and finally died a few months ago? Him too. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2022, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-did-i-miss-been-away-for-a-few-years/972663/6 "2022-10-04T01:53:00Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Who’s the man who was Beckdawrek’s friend, who was very sick for several years and finally died a few months ago? Him too. Dropzone. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2022, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-did-i-miss-been-away-for-a-few-years/972663/7 "2022-10-04T01:56:50Z")
That’s him! Thanks. RIP, Dropzone. He went through more than most people could begin to imagine. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2022, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-did-i-miss-been-away-for-a-few-years/972663/8 "2022-10-04T02:03:30Z")
Another moderator Jonathan Chance has died. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2022, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-did-i-miss-been-away-for-a-few-years/972663/9 "2022-10-04T02:42:10Z")
Where have you been? 🙂 The nice writing contests we had before, organized by you, disappeared! Someone was planning to start again, and there has been some interest, but we need some organization. I did agree with some that the restarting years ago was not as interesting as there was no other thread with announcement/rules, and the main thread remained a sticky… that is missed by many, even the moderators that still left it as a sticky! > [@SDMB Flash Fiction Sweatshop](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-flash-fiction-sweatshop/812795): > > Attention Dopers! The Resurrected Flash Fiction Sweatshop has begun! Here are the rules. Email [SDMBSweatshop@gmail.com](mailto:SDMBSweatshop@gmail.com) to get your three content words. These words must be used somewhere in your work; verbs can be used in any tense. Write your flash fiction! The work must be no longer than 500 words and it must be prose. Reply to the email containing your three content words within 2 hours. In that reply, include your work in the body of the email. Do not send attachments. All submission… ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2022, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-did-i-miss-been-away-for-a-few-years/972663/10 "2022-10-04T17:26:30Z")
I’ve always enjoyed your contributions to music or literature threads, so I’m glad you’re back. ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2022, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-did-i-miss-been-away-for-a-few-years/972663/11 "2022-10-04T17:33:19Z")
> [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](#): > > I haven’t been on the SDMB for a while now - I don’t comprehend this --once you’ve been here, how can anybody leave the SDMB? This place is an addiction…once you try the Dope, you get hooked. How did you survive the past 4 years without us? Huh? I sometimes suffer for a day or two when I don’t have time to check in here, and it makes me weak with cold-turkey shivers. But then I grab a chance to log on, and get the fix I need to regain my sanity. Welcome Back! ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2022, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-did-i-miss-been-away-for-a-few-years/972663/12 "2022-10-04T18:33:35Z")
Hell. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2022, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-did-i-miss-been-away-for-a-few-years/972663/13 "2022-10-04T18:51:55Z")
Nice to see you! ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2022, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-did-i-miss-been-away-for-a-few-years/972663/14 "2022-10-04T18:53:00Z")
Welcome back. Everything is the same except for all the different stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2022, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-did-i-miss-been-away-for-a-few-years/972663/15 "2022-10-04T20:01:54Z")
Welcome back. As you probably noticed, we finally moved off of vBulletin a couple of years ago. (And as noted above, TubaDiva worked her ass off to get us where we are then unexpectedly passed away like a week later.) What do you think of the new digs? ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2022, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-did-i-miss-been-away-for-a-few-years/972663/16 "2022-10-04T22:47:37Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > I don’t comprehend this --once you’ve been here, how can anybody leave the SDMB? This place is an addiction…once you try the Dope, you get hooked. Well sometimes you have a bad trip whilst 'Doping and you swear off it for a bit while you reconstruct your reality, remember who you are, that sort of thing. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2022, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-did-i-miss-been-away-for-a-few-years/972663/17 "2022-10-05T05:42:27Z")
Hi @Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela, good to see you again! I still feel bad that we couldn’t connect at the Rogers Centre for a Blue Jays game when I was in town several years ago. That was all my fault, not yours. I hope you and yours are all well. Welcome back! ---
**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:** [October 5, 2022, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-did-i-miss-been-away-for-a-few-years/972663/18 "2022-10-05T05:48:47Z")
Welcome back, **Le Ministre**! I was just wondering about you a couple of weeks ago. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2022, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-did-i-miss-been-away-for-a-few-years/972663/19 "2022-10-05T15:58:14Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > **Ministre** **Ministre**!! You’ve been missed! Welcome back! ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2022, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-did-i-miss-been-away-for-a-few-years/972663/20 "2022-10-05T16:08:53Z")
Well, I am finally no longer a Mod. I do still poke in once in a while. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-did-i-miss-been-away-for-a-few-years/972663.md?page=2)