Gary Robson (formerly WombatGary, if memory serves) has unretired and returned to us as a moderator.
I’ve stuck him in General Questions for now, but he may travel around a bit over time.
Let’s all give him a Straight Dope welcome back!
Jenny
your humble TubaDiva
Administrator
You can check out any time you like but you can never leave.
Thanks, Jenny! It was originally InvisibleWombat back in 2003 before I decided to rip loose the veil of anonymity and just be me.
It’s good to be back. (Idle Thoughts, I’m watching you 
)
What’s wrong, Gary, you got tired of poop? 
Welcome back!
There is no shortage of poop on the SDMB 
Oh, so you * weren’t* gone then?
Welcome back Gaz.
Ignore snfaulkner. It’s not really him. Well, it is him, but it could also be snfaulkner (no relation).
There’s no wrong reason to ignore me.
If you need more poop, wolfman now has a bag of crap.
Congrats!
Welcome back!
Welcome back!
Good to have you back.
If you didn’t already know, Idle Thoughts was fired in disgrace and no longer publicly participates here. Which bring up a question…
Why does someone that left, if not abandoned, the boards for years get a Moderatorship almost immediately upon return? I’m not asking from a position of ‘Gary is bad’ as I do think I recall him being a good mod. Rather, it’s from the ‘wouldn’t someone more currently active be both better informed about the current state of things as well as more deserving of the privilege of elevation to Moderator?’ point of view.
Oh, yeah. I forgot about that.
There are some upcoming mod vacations. I’ve kept in touch with Tuba, and mentioned I was coming back. She asked if I could pitch in. Nothing nefarious.
Welcome back, ex-Wombat. I was traveling and didn’t have a chance to post before.
Being a Moderator is much more about having a proven track record of good judgement than being up on the issues of the moment. Since Gary has amply demonstrated the former, I have no doubt he will quickly get up to speed on any policy or rules changes since he was last modding. (There haven’t been that many, anyway.)
And “deserving the privilege of elevation to moderator”? :dubious: Being a moderator has its drawbacks as well. Many potential candidates would rather not deal with the hassles.
snerk
Square brackets mine.
Yay! Best news I’ve read in days and days!
All decisions of whom to make a moderator are handled on a case-by-case basis, and while the existing moderators typically contribute arguments for and against various candidates, it’s ultimately the sole decision of the Big Boss (formerly Ed, now Tuba).