I received a phone call last night asking if I was still alive. The answer is yes.

Took about a week off in mid-to-late September and then the computer I normally use to monitor this board failed. It's difficult to moderate posts via smart phone, so I haven't done much lately. My custom spam filtering was lost when the computer went down and I now have 12,000 unread emails on the server, 99 percent of which are spam. That's why I haven't seen or replied to your emails, they're buried at the moment.

I really wish the trolls would see the damage they cause here.

And while I do appreciate the concern, please don't overthink my absence from time to time. There's a handful of Altamont readers who also know my family. I would hate for my relatives to receive a call that I'm dead on the basis of unsubstantiated speculation. Thanks.