This board is not.....

... a place to post innuendo, rumor, paranoid rantings or other such non-information. Get a life.

... a place for children to play when school is out. Call the truant officer.

Having said that any posting of first hand information, of fact, or of broad general interest (within the posted guidelines, of course) is certainly welcomed and appreciated. Given some recent problems the board will be moderated much more tightly in the following weeks. After that it will return to its mostly hands-off normal mode of operation.

This TBD site contains 25+ message boards. All are moderated and maintained with the same consistent sense of fair play, civility, and common sense.

In so far as the chastisement posted here by Big Dog is directed at any posts I made (including the one recently deleted), I can only say I'm sorry. I evidently misunderstood the character of this board and the degree of "flippancy" appropriate to it, as defined (rightly) by Mr. Big Dog himself. Naturally, I can have no quibble with his preferences: it's his board, it's a great service to the internet community as a whole, and it's therefore entirely his prerogative to choose what stays and what doesn't.

I hope I can fit into the tone of the board better in the future. I didn't know, that what I was posting was inappropriate. Now that I do, and now that I'm more familiar with what's expected, I'll do my best to fulfill only those expectations.

In defense of my posting, and my general "flip" attitude, I'd like to say, simply, that I didn't mean to offend. More important, I don't see anything in the guidelines that precludes the sort of post I wrote. I still don't consider my post "childish" or "paranoid" (I'm left to assume that some other pejorative adjectives in Big Dog's comments refer to other people who also needed scolding) and, therefore, I seek more specific and constructive criticism. Big Dog, since you haven't been very specific about what I did wrong, I'm still a little unclear about what you would prefer for me to do in the future. Because I didn't know it would be considered naughty, I only did it in the spirit of being (and being considered) nice. I'm surprised it's considered naughty, so I hope you can help me to be better at being your definition of nice.

Again, I'm sorry to offend; I didn't know that it would offend; I hope to "fit into the ethos" of this board better in the future; and I would welcome specific criticism from the master of this board, if he's got the time or inclination. My e-mail is back upand running, explicitly for that purpose.

I want to thank the people who continued to show some restraint as well as the people who tried to assist with self-policing the mayhem. But please, please, please....heed TBD's words for my sake, for the adult providers' sake and for your sake. There is no other source of information like this one, and if we foul the nest, there'll be none.