Mrrzy:
You've probably been on here long enough to know, but I thought I'd just comment.
If a thread is too long to load/retain, you can load just the first 50 comments by clicking on the blue 'number of messages' number opposite the title.
Better yet, clicking on the blue 'd' beside that number gives you the most recent 50 messages (in descending order).
These options were introduced to make it easier for people whose systems had problems loading long discussions.
Hope this helps, and that I'm not 'preaching to the converted'.
Cheers.