I do system maintenance while playing good new tunes on the stereo that I want to learn by osmosis. Clean up files, download new software, and so on.

Here at Mudcat, I used to do this, and you can too-- set the time filter for the last week's worth of threads and find the Lyr/Chord/Help requests that never got answered. Look for threads with only 1 or 2 posts, and refresh them. Use your back button after each one to get back where you were and avoid long loading times.

Where the requestor has asked for an e-mail reply, send them one indicating they need to come back to Mudcat to watch for replies. I used to give the Mudcat URL when I did this so they'd find their way back. Sometimes I'd copy and paste the URL for their thread, but usually just the Mudcat one. I had a message draft I'd reuse sitting on my desktop so I could just copy, paste, and fire away. Oh and tell 'em you're a volunteer and member-- so they don't think they have a staffer permanently at their disposal.

The reason for giving the Cat URL is that a lot of times, surfers have left the request in a number of different sites, and have not bookmarked, especially when they think they will get their answer by e-mail.

You can cover it in about an hour and a half and the thing is, discovering how to do it efficiently helps with the boredom. Your mind wakes up and you get other ideas of what to do.

It's also nice at the beginning of each month to look up the Mudcat Birthdays for that month in the Resources section, and copy-paste the info into a thread. (You have to clean up line breaks, etc.) Otherwise only the Catters who have a good friend who knows their birthday get birthday threads. I have heard from a couple of people that they get really hurt feelings that no one birthday'ed them. Not that it's a duty... just that people have a lot of feelings about birthdays. And no one here does it each and every month.

A Welcome New Members thread is also nice-- and when you start one, keep coming back while it's running to acknowledge the people who introduce themselves. This has really made the new members feel welcome enough to post more than they would have otherwise. It often brings lurkers out of the shadows and we all get to discover a new, wonderful friend. I can't think of a single one that has been welcomed like that who became (or was) a flamer, in fact. I guess it's like when a killer is made to realize the humanity of the victim.... the welcome threads re-personalize what gets depersonalized due to the medium of the cyberworld.

Another good thing is to start a playful thread when you see a lot of wrangling going on. Not too many-- if there is a strong play-thread already running, wait for another time, or the flamers will get antsy about the amount of BS and this defeats the purpose. But sometimes, you may be just the one to lighten up the atmosphere. An oddball question about music is usually best.

Sending cheery PMs to people stuck in flame wars or other troubles, or to new members, is always appreciated.

Or you can write posts like this.

~Susan (AKA Praise)