Not wishing to stir things up, so i'll keep it short 
and sweet.
I must say that one of the reasons for my absence recently, has been for the very reasons that our learned friend Shy Talk has so eloquently stated.....i've felt as though i don't really fit in due to my apparent lack (to some it seems to me anyway) of intelligence and verbal ability to 'fit in' on some matters.
Rather than bite back and rant and rage, i simply decided that the best method of dealing with it was to simply keep quiet, and NOT get involved in personal slanging matches. THAT is not the way to resolve disagreements as we all know. No one wins. 
Now i really really really do NOT want to fall out with ANYONE in here, as I had more than a belly full of that elsewhere as many of you will know, but i do sometimes feel quite intimidated, and without wishing to sound overly sensitive, wounded by the apparent ( to me ) stigma that i feel is sometimes placed upon me due to my admitted lower (than most of you) educational background, and apparent bad temper and impatience towards others.
You'd really have to meet me to appreciate that whilst some of this is in fact true, especially the lower than average educational background...many reasons for that as previously documented in other threads ...that i'm not actually that thick in reality, and i'd like to think that those that have met me in person will confirm that you don't actually see the real me on a forum, merely an impression, just like we all have in our own minds what each of us are like.
It has turned into a bit of 'chums' club imho, and i think the suggestion of having a seperate board for the more serious stuff could well be a good idea.
Certainly worth a try for the sake of pressing a few buttons.
No one surely wants to see anyone leave the pub simply beacause of cliquiness, and that includes Shy Talk.
Have i made any sense here? 
Yes you make perfect sense.
We at admin have spent weeks discussing this ... the problem is too few posters which leads to the few who make most posts getting close and sparking off one another ~ and that can be a turn off to some. But without the frivolity and silliness there would be very few posts.
Frankly I doubt that your education was any worse than mine and certainly nobody here thinks poorly of you, if they do they have never said so to me.
Yes some like to put down anyone who makes a typing error or misuses grammar but that happens on most sites and the cracks at Scousers are made everywhere,as indeed are those about the Welsh, Irish and Scots for that matter.
Shy Talk has decided he doesn't want to play here anymore and I respect his wishes in that.
So the problem is too few members.
Ideas as to how we attract more is the question we need to address.
Should we advertise? If so Where & How? Who should be our target?
Should we wait for organic growth (ie let it happen over time)
Should we do what we have tried not to do and over moderate to keep every thread on topic?
Frankly we are in the hands of the posters ~ what you all post is what decides the direction we go in.
You can all see the stats ... we have a lot of posts from a very small membership and some members who never post.
A few stand out as prolific topic starters and prolific posters but they can't carry the whole thing.
Input is what we need if we are to grow the site into something we can all enjoy.
Now there are enough "rooms" for everyone to be as serious or as silly as they wish but we shall need to stop navel gazing and get on with it.
Oh by the way ~ Nice to see you back you old bugger ~ what have you done with Berek?
