......And you can ask Barbara, I'm usually the king of forum mischief, .......

Well, we learned a lesson here today.
The Shoutbox is a privilege, not a right.We were lucky to have it at all, seeing as that most sites with the size of us don't We're all at fault (excluding mods, they hardly ever talk)here, even I am. All good things come to an end sometime,and so it was destined to be the Shoutbox's turn today.

I'm certain that the Shout Box will be back, but we need to make sure that everyone understands that it's not a substitute for private conversations using such things as instant messaging. I realize that it's a safe, easy place to chat, especially for the kids, since parents often don't allow them to use IM or chat rooms. However everyone, even people who are not even logged in, can see what's said there. And filling the Shout Box with junk blocks people who really want to ask a question or have an actual conversation.

The Shout Box gets out of hand far too often. I can't tell you how many people have complained about what goes on in the Shout Box, and the moderators can't be here 24 hours a day to keep things in line.