I was seeing in one threat where George Papavgeris responded in this kind of situation by saying he was going off to write a song instead of a post. Which he did. And I've done teh same.

But of course, inevitably, the urge is to come back to post the song -   - but of course George did (and it was a pretty good song too). So as a way of leaving a thread to wither on the vine it doesn't really work. But it does move the discussion to a different place, and it means something positive comes out of it.