When threads get too long, I don't open them.

For those in which I haven't participated at all, it obviously takes too long to catch up. Why bother? And even in the case of discussions with which I'm already familiar, there comes a time when it takes too long to scroll down to find where I left off last time, and to read the most recent additions. So when the message count approaches four figures, I take it as a "Do Not Enter" sign.

I even quit the very enjoyable "You Must Leave Now!" thread (where we simply added favorite lines from lyrics ~ great stream-of-consciousness fun) when it became unwieldy. And "Mother of All..."? Never peeked in at it, not even once. It was already too bloated by the time I first noticed it. (I think it was born while I was absent for a year or so in the wake of Katrina.)

So, there is a reason to wish a given thread would be allowed to die a natural death. However, I agree that it's a little rude to log in just to say so ~ and, counterproductive. If you want a thread to drop off the page and be forgotten, the very worst thing you can do is add your inane comment and thereby refresh it, sending it to the top of the list to live for another day (a full 24 hours), and so to pique the curiosity of who-knows-how-many other members and lurkers.

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Milk and cookies is indeed traditional, and appropriate, bedtime fare, especially for little kids. For those of us who are "old," and who may or may not be "mature," a shot of whiskey or rum or whatever, perhaps in a hot toddy, isn't a bad idea.

But a big heavy meal of baked macaroni, pork sausages, biscuits with molassses? At bedtime? Do you enjoy heartburn? Nightmares?

That sounds like something you might want to eat after a good night's sleep, as a "full English/Irish breakfast" ~ not before attempting to slip into unconsciousness.