# Well, I tried to stay away from this place. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 27, 2007, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-tried-to-stay-away-from-this-place/420682 "2007-09-27T13:30:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2007, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-tried-to-stay-away-from-this-place/420682/1 "2007-09-27T13:30:32Z")
My subscription ran out a few months ago and I thought to myself: “Screw it! I don’t need this place. I’m going to find me a board that doesn’t charge a fee!” Well four month later; here I am again. (trust me ther are no boards out there that compare to this one. My opinion of course.) Guess I’m a Doper for life. Curse you evil admins!! (shakes fist) 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2007, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-tried-to-stay-away-from-this-place/420682/2 "2007-09-27T14:06:39Z")
Awww, you poor you! Do you want another round with the squid? Being your second time around we even give you the choice! ---
**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:** [September 27, 2007, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-tried-to-stay-away-from-this-place/420682/3 "2007-09-27T14:09:04Z")
Welcome. I for one will refrain from making jokes about a goat or any other, er, mascot. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2007, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-tried-to-stay-away-from-this-place/420682/4 "2007-09-27T14:16:19Z")
I did the exact same thing last year; I lasted 3 months. ---
**Author:** ![meek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ce73a5/32.png) [@meek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/meek)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2007, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-tried-to-stay-away-from-this-place/420682/5 "2007-09-27T15:36:13Z")
::Nelson Muntz:: HA HA! Lost your “charter”. . ---
**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:** [September 27, 2007, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-tried-to-stay-away-from-this-place/420682/6 "2007-09-27T15:43:55Z")
Man, that’s cold. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2007, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-tried-to-stay-away-from-this-place/420682/7 "2007-09-27T16:22:37Z")
Yeah I tried that too once when I had a few exams and other stuff happening in my life. I effectively banned myself by changing my password to a long random number that I didn’t memorise or copy. Of course I could still _read_ it, and then sometimes I’d want to _write_ something, so in the end I gave up and asked the Admins to reset my password. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2007, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-tried-to-stay-away-from-this-place/420682/8 "2007-09-27T21:09:53Z")
Just when you thought you were out, we drag you back in. ---
**Author:** ![Jodi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7feea3/32.png) [@Jodi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jodi)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2007, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-tried-to-stay-away-from-this-place/420682/9 "2007-09-27T21:26:31Z")
[QUOTE=meek] ::Nelson Muntz:: HA HA! Lost your “charter”. . [/QUOTE] I lost my charter too, by going away and then coming back. But I’m still a '99’er! They can’t take that away from me! Welcome back, SHAKES! ---
**Author:** ![MacTech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2007, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-tried-to-stay-away-from-this-place/420682/10 "2007-09-27T21:27:10Z")
One of Us…One of Us… Resistance is Futile 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2007, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-tried-to-stay-away-from-this-place/420682/11 "2007-09-27T21:53:02Z")
[QUOTE=meek] ::Nelson Muntz:: HA HA! Lost your “charter”. . [/QUOTE] Wait, I thought you “Charter” folks were members who have been around since the free-bee days of the board, no? ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2007, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-tried-to-stay-away-from-this-place/420682/12 "2007-09-27T21:56:02Z")
[QUOTE=Leaffan] Wait, I thought you “Charter” folks were members who have been around since the free-bee days of the board, no? [/QUOTE] _Au contraire_, Pumpkin. ---
**Author:** ![USCDiver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uscdiver/32/354_2.png) [@USCDiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/USCDiver)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2007, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-tried-to-stay-away-from-this-place/420682/13 "2007-09-27T21:56:11Z")
There was an initial sign up period when the board went to subscription during which time we were given a discounted rate for the life of the subscription model and a title of Charter Member. However, if we let our subscription last we lose both those advantages. So in a sense, all Charter Members are from the Freebee period, but not all freebee period members are Charter. Make sense? ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2007, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-tried-to-stay-away-from-this-place/420682/14 "2007-09-27T21:56:33Z")
[QUOTE=Leaffan] Wait, I thought you “Charter” folks were members who have been around since the free-bee days of the board, no? [/QUOTE] Been around since the free days, and subscribed prior to a cutoff date, with a lifetime discount on the subscription rate, assuming we didn’t let our memberships expire. If you expire, you become a guest, and if you re-up, you have to pay full price, but become a member. ETA: And I even refreshed to see if anyone had answered before posting! ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2007, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-tried-to-stay-away-from-this-place/420682/15 "2007-09-27T21:56:58Z")
Never mind - what they said… ---
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2007, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-tried-to-stay-away-from-this-place/420682/16 "2007-09-27T22:22:07Z")
That’s GREAT, SHAKES! ---
**Author:** ![Mark\_Ryle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8dc957/32.png) [@Mark\_Ryle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mark_Ryle)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2007, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-tried-to-stay-away-from-this-place/420682/17 "2007-09-28T03:37:25Z")
I notice, **SHAKES** , you keep your join date of 2001 as well as your name. Might this explain why some members with join dates around 2000 may have only a few hundred posts. At some point or points maybe they had been away for a while. There would be no way of knowing, for us who came later. I saw your name in another thread today and thought it strange I had never seen it before, judging by your join date and number of posts. As it turns out, the four months I’ve been here, you were gone. ---
**Author:** ![Yumblie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/76d3ee/32.png) [@Yumblie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yumblie)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2007, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-tried-to-stay-away-from-this-place/420682/18 "2007-09-28T04:04:41Z")
A dope addiction can be a hard one to shake indeed. …oh! _Shake_! Ha, that’s two puns in one! Yep, I’m amazing. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2007, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-tried-to-stay-away-from-this-place/420682/19 "2007-09-28T04:14:16Z")
[QUOTE=Mark Ryle] I notice, **SHAKES** , you keep your join date of 2001 as well as your name. Might this explain why some members with join dates around 2000 may have only a few hundred posts. At some point or points maybe they had been away for a while. There would be no way of knowing, for us who came later. I saw your name in another thread today and thought it strange I had never seen it before, judging by your join date and number of posts. As it turns out, the four months I’ve been here, you were gone. [/QUOTE] Heh, look at **meek** in the above posts. For as long as he’s been here; he’s got only a handful of posts, yet he bothered (quite humorously) to take a jab at me. Some folks are just very selective about posting. ---
**Author:** ![E.Thorp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@E.Thorp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E.Thorp)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2007, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-tried-to-stay-away-from-this-place/420682/20 "2007-09-28T05:16:51Z")
[QUOTE=USCDiver] So in a sense, all Charter Members are from the Freebee period, but not all freebee period members are Charter. Make sense? [/QUOTE] Wait…it’s the other way around, right? I’m a Charter Member but not from the freebee period. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-tried-to-stay-away-from-this-place/420682.md?page=2)