doc's suggestion was not, as I understand it, intended to criticize our host.

As the old saying goes, "Even God can use help sometimes, that's why he created mothers."

Intentionally or not, this thread that doc dug up does highlight one of the impediments to maintaining civility on this forum. To recap briefly, one weekend one or more FlyerTalkers abused Randy's hospitality by posting under false handles and deliberately attempting to stir up a public fuss. (Had they only wanted to communicate a problem to Randy, they could have done so by e-mail.)

Further, their choice of timing was, shall we say . . . "fortuitous", striking on a weekend when one might expect the moderator of this forum to not be available to promptly quell the disturbance. Because of this, the disruption dragged on, getting worse and worse, for days before Randy was able to step in and restore order.

Since then, there have been other instances when, deliberately or fortuitously, a fuss has broken out on this forum at a time when the sole moderator's attention could be expected to be distracted, either because he was on the road or in the air or engaged in setting up one of the most important events of his year (and if this trend keeps up, I would expect another "fortuitous" outbreak the night of his wedding rehearsal).

So, since he can't give this his undivided attention all of the time, the suggestion is that perhaps he could use some assistance so that this forum does not become "ungoverned territory" every time he leaves the building. Think of it as the functional equivalent of hiring a baby sitter.

If you look at what has transpired over the last couple weeks on this forum, I can understand why the suggestion is made.

I think it merits consideration.