For context purposes, here is my original rant taken from the Disney Essence thread:
You love to close; it's all you ever do anymore!
You know why it is all I ever do anymore? I will tell you why, it is because moderating comes before my personal posting. That is the responsibility I took on when I signed up for the job. And it is a suck-all- the- life out you job. One where I am damned if I do, and damned if I don’t. I can’t make everyone happy all the time, that is never going to happen. There will always be someone who will think I made a poor judgment call on any given discussion I make. Thankfully, I don’t have to answer to anyone, but Luke. And I have always said, “If you are unhappy with my moderation, take it up with Luke directly.” I’m not perfect, I make mistakes.
I don’t have an endless amount of time to devote to posting on the forum. I have had a very limited amount of time each day for posting. The sad thing is, by the time I get through answering the pms and emails I receive daily, there is no time for me to post the about the fun things anymore. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t have to take care of a thread that is spiraling out of control, one that is going wildly off-topic, a forum member who has broken one of the rules, or someone has inadvertently hurt someone’s feelings. So yeah, I get to be the lame mod who sucks all the joy out of the forums, instead of the easy going poster who at one time got to participate in actual discussions.
Oh I know what some of you are thinking, “There goes CJ ranting about the lack of her precious time again.” (some of you are now scratching your heads on that one, yes people I am female) In a perfect world, I would have the time I so desperately crave to get back to the easy going poster. Unfortunately, a perfect world doesn’t exist, real life gets in the way sometimes. Real life is full of time sucking responsibilities (such as a job) and unexpected health problems. Some of you may have noticed a few stretches of time, where I disappeared from the forums. I wasn’t taking a break or being a laid back mod, who let everything slide.
No, those periods of time were spent in and out of the hospital. At the first of the year, I experienced the wonderful joys of stress. Stress so severe, that it led to sky high blood pressure, and the possibilities of having a heart attack or stroke before I turn 30. No sooner than I get that under control, then I get the ultimate crappy birthday present of a leg tumor. Yah Me! A leg tumor that hurt like hell, just what I always wanted. The disappearing act I pulled recently was for my surgery to remove said annoying tumor, and for me to recover. Oh, but wait there is more fun to be had in medical hell. Lucky CJ, gets to spend one more night in the hospital, after all what does one more disaster matter at this point. The universe throws in a curveball she never saw coming, CJ gets attacked by a dog yesterday. Not just any dog mind you, no her neighbor’s aggressive ass pit bull, who surprises the hell out of everyone by jumping the four foot high fence into her backyard. What was CJ doing when said dog takes a chunk out of her? Why she is having a conversation with said neighbor. Was CJ touching the fence at any time? Nope, CJ was a good foot away from the fence when Kujo decided he wanted to snack on a boob. That's right folks, Kujo took a chunk out of my boob. Nice to see the Universe has a sense of humor. Kinda makes the leg tumor not seem so bad. So the fun just keeps happening for me, at this rate I will look like Frankenstein’s monster without the need for a costume or make-up by Halloween. Stitches and scars everywhere. Hell, the universe may even tire of screwing with me, and just out right kill me before the year ends.
So what is the first post CJ sees upon her release from this latest hospital stay? Why it is Goliath taking a dump all over her for being a joy-sucking moderator on a perceived locking frenzy (my words, not his). I knew the universe wouldn’t disappoint me, more crap for CJ to deal with. So, no, I don’t have to “go looking for problems that aren’t there”, I have no shortage of problems. I am a problem magnet, they find me everywhere I go, in real life and online.
So this is how my posting has been going lately: get thrown in the hospital, recover from real life crap, come back to forum to deal with all the forum crap that occurs during absence. Rinse, Wash, Repeat. Has CJ gone mad with her moderating all at once, locking every thread she can just for the fun of it? Nope just playing forum catch up, and I really am tired of playing this game. There are certainly no winners. Just once I would like to come back to a problem-free forum after a hospital stay. Is it really too much to ask? Don’t bother answering this one people, I know it is too much to ask.
Well, how do we fix the forum problems, without myself and the other mods coming off as forum kill joys? I’m honestly open to any and all suggestions at this point. I have tried everything I can think of here. I have begged, pleaded, threatened, and warned (as Goliath stated this doesn’t work on anyone past high school age). I even tried the not locking threads, but splitting the problem parts out method. That was such a rousing success, yes? Nope, an epic failure on all levels and a colossal waste of my time. No one was happy with that one. So how do problem threads get resolved then? Do we leave them open to become knock-down, drag-out fights between members? Nope, that doesn’t work either, (while fun for me, not so much for those who accidentally get sucked into mess) far too many people get upset with this option. Emails and Pms demanding thread closure come in every two minutes. We could try suspending and banning members every time a complaint is received, no that wouldn’t work either, the only member left would be “Lee” who never posted a single word after signing up. Well that leaves us with the dreaded forum lock. To lock or not to lock that is the question. A perfect solution? Not even close. Unfortunately, it is the only practical solution left at this time, one that I personally hate. That’s alright though, I will take one for the team and be the forum kill joy. After all I am already knee deep in the crap of the universe, no need for everyone to get crap on their boots. Though who knows, maybe, just maybe tomorrow will be the day the universe resets itself and there will be no more forum problems. Aw hell, who am I trying to kid, I will go get the shovel and wait for more crap to appear.
With that fellow members, I must end my post on a sad, sad note. I am ashamed to admit that I am now forced to give myself a warning (it sucks to be a mod sometimes):
CJ you are guilty of the further derailing of a thread and for the use of foul language. Get the thread back on-topic or I will be forced to report you to Luke, and to recommend a one week suspension.
*Hangs Head in Shame*…………….
*Moderator note: All joking aside, I am being completely serious on the warning to myself. I will probably regret this post in the morning, when the pain meds wear off.*