Have any of you ever taken a "break" from DU?

[BeachBaby]

I mean, like made a conscious decision to walk away from it for a certain period of time?

If so, how long did you take this break? And if I could also ask, what was the reason?

[TZ]

1. I did shortly after I joined here.

My first few months here I got involved in numerous vaccine related flamewars that both upset and angered me (I had no idea that vaccines were "controversial" here when I joined). I was having problems keeping the anger in check and dwelled on it even when not posting..I took about a three week break. Sometimes its better to get your real world issues straight...
:hug:

[madinmaryland]

10. It didn't help that there was some moran that kept saying "snyder"

:hi:

[TZ]

15. Oh trust me

You have NEVER aggravated me the way the anti-vaxxers have. :hug:

[Swede]

2. I do it all the time.

Days, or weeks at a time. Everybody needs a break sometime.

[AlCzervik]

3. yup, several times for different reasons.

i'm totally burnt out on politics right now. I left for a few weeks after the election as well and that was due to being jumped on and flamed if i dare disagreed with Obama on anything. Good luck to the ones who put him up on that super high pedestal because when he finally does do something they don't agree with it's going to be a long hard fall.

[Left Is Write]

4. Yes, but I never decide in advance how long the "break" will be.

Once I was gone for several weeks, extending probably to months. Other times it's only a week or two. The reasons vary.

[no name no slogan]

12. I hear you there.

I never know how long it will be. Sometimes I'll just go into lurk mode for months on end. Sometimes I'll just go away for awhile. But it's always here when I get back. :)

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

5. Two years

I got TS'd, but I'm back, baby.

[BeachBaby]

7. Yeah.

I had seen you mentioned so many times (usually by your wife), but didn't know what happened.

Glad you're back. :)

[Shell Beau]

68. I never understood that either.

[no name no slogan]

6. Several times, for various reasons

I was gone for nine months one time. Sometimes I leave because I get bored with the current scene, and wait for it to change (and it does change, frequently). Sometimes I leave because I get busy with the rest of my life.

[TZ]

8. and I'm always glad when you come back...

I'm still sorry I didn't get a chance to meet you when I was in MN last year...:hi:

[no name no slogan]

Thanks TZ!

If you ever get down Rochester way, let me know for sure. I'm down there at least once every couple months, sometimes more. My mom lives down there (and so do my cats, temporarily) and I'm always up for a trip. It's only about an hour and fifteen minutes so it's like a commute for somebody in a big city. :D

[AlCzervik]

17. didn't you used to have evil Barney in your sig line?

[no name no slogan]

43. No, it wasn't me

Must've been someone else. I seem to remember it though...

[last_texas_dem]

66. That was a young guy called "name not needed"

(I used to mix up name not needed and no name no slogan, too, so I know what you're talking about.)

I haven't seen a post from him in quite a while, though.

[CreekDog]

9. I consider being in the Lounge a break from DU

I hope you don't take a break. :hug:

[BeachBaby]

30. ....

I'm being messed with, and I am wondering if the only way to escape that is to disappear for at least awhile. :(

:hug:

[CreekDog]

31. oh no

you shouldn't be harassed into a break. that's not really a break at all.

the mods have something called "forced ignore". i think that's for posters who engage in what you are describing.

hmmm. :(

:hug:

[BeachBaby]

32. What's a "forced ignore"?

[TZ]

33. Its where the administrators make two posters

ignore each other PERMANENTLY. Because they can't interact politely. I don't think you'd want that for your situation...

[Radical Activist]

i've asked for that

with no luck. I guess we haven't had a big enough public flame fest yet. I'm amazed she hasn't gotten banned.

[CreekDog]

39. i think either they can't answer or can't see your posts

Only know this second hand.

[madinmaryland]

11. Just because football season is over is not a reason to leave DU!

:hi:

[graywarrior]

13. I usually take a break after I quit here 10 times in a row

[Inchworm]

14. Weeee!

And your re-appearences enlighten meeee!

:*

[graywarrior]

44. Heh, I don't even know I'm gone.

I know when you are tho.

[Inchworm]

48. why do I feel sweaty reading this?

:scared:

[graywarrior]

65. You know what I can do with a roll of duct tape

[Inchworm]

16. I swear off things often

only to lick them in the face and make smooshy noises with my flubbering lips...

just sayin...

:9

[Xipe Totec]

18. Yes, I do 48 hours of DU fasting from time to time

to let the flame wars extinguish.

The most recent posts history vanishes.

I think of these as amnesties; It gives me a chance to forget who pissed me off so bad I was seeing cross eyed.

Then, next time I exchange post with them it's a fresh start.

(for me anyway)

[ThomCat]

19. I left for almost a year.

[AwakeAtLast]

20. I limit my time sometimes

and on long vacations.

I probably did around the 2004 Primaries and after the 2004 Election. Neither for very long, though.

[Oeditpus Rex]

21. A long time ago

When I first got here, I hung out in GD. I was still a n00b when there was a thread that just appalled me. I posted something like, "I can't be associated with this" and didn't even hang around long enough to read the responses. I stayed away for like eight months, and when I came back I landed in Teh Longue.

I've had two or three periods of no-posting since — a few days here, a week there — but they were by-products of depressive episodes.

[old mark]

22. Right after Obama won the election, for a few weeks.

Needed to get away from the hostility and factionalism, and get some work done in my studio.

I expect to do this again pretty soon, till I feel like returning.

mark

[THUNDER HANDS]

23. almost a year

that's why I have less than 20,000 posts even though I've been here since 2001.


I got tired of politics for a while. Its good to take a break and focus on other things.

[petronius]

24. I wander away sometimes, but not for any DU-related reasons, just other demands

on my time. I'm not particularly emotionally invested in the online world - most of my posts are casual or jokey, and any genuine frustration or irritation I get from a DU exchange typically evaporates as soon as I look away from the monitor. So, there's no reason for me to take a break, except a pull from an outside interest.

I stay because I tend to learn a lot - many of my posts are shallow, but the posts I read contain scads of insight (whether it's current-event factual or interpersonal behavior)...

[ogneopasno]

25. Yup, a couple times. Mostly for anti-labor stuff.

This is my third incarnation.

[DarkTirade]

26. Not after I found the Lounge.

:)

[Radical Activist]

27. I have.

I did for a while because I was busy and lost interest. Losing interest was related to feeling that I needed to emotionally distance myself from the lounge.

[BeachBaby]

35. Yeah.

Distancing is the issue here, for reasons that I really can't get into. I was wondering if anyone else had done the same thing. Thanks.

[Left Is Write]

41. That's what happened to me a couple of times.

I think I understand exactly what you mean.

I did take a brief break after the election too. I had spent a LOT of time and energy in GD:P and just wanted a short break.

[Lil Missy]

28. Yes. Sometimes a few days, or weeks at a time. When real life intervenes.

I never feel a need to announce it. Nor, does anyone realize I've been missing.

Sometimes I just spend a few days catching up, and don't post at all. I'm especially addicted to Political Videos. I get most news before I even sign into DU.

[FarLeftRage]

29. I have...twice

For 18 to 20 months at a time.

And at the risk of being flamed, it was at a time when I saw a lot of anti-religious crap being spouted out.... that was the first time.

The second time, was when a person or persons was doing the ol' mind-f*ck with me...

I was just so sick of it.

[BeachBaby]

36. Hey.....

give me 10 minutes, and then check your pm. Thanks. :hug:

[FarLeftRage]

37. Certainly...

:hug:

[BarenakedLady]

34. Yes

A few times and for various reasons. I think the longest was about a month or so. Most times life just gets in the way.

[RevolutionaryActs]

38. Yes.

One was because I was working too much, and barely had time for family, let alone playing on the computer, and that was for a couple of months.

The other time was probably three months, and I left because I had become too invested in DU and I needed to step back or lose my mind. :P

[Generic Brad]

40. Not consciously

Some days, weeks, or months I am too busy to even check in. But it is not because I am frustrated with or avoiding anyone here. My wife, daughter, and job come first and I save my energy for them. I consider DU my internet home, but my actual home is my priority.

I know that this community means different things to different people. If someone needs a break, they need a break. Respect their need for time and space and appreciate them that much more when they return.

[shanti]

42. from the lounge

yes, due to a heavy heart these past 8 years under the chimp. but DU in general? nahh, i could never stay away unless i had no access to the net (something i try to avoid. y'all are fam, now:)

[Lucian]

45. No.

I don't know what else I'd do if DU wasn't around.

[av8rdave]

46. Frequently

I sometimes don't have internet access on trips. In those cases, I take a break from DU.

[Aristus]

47. I did. For a while, anyway. I was up to about three hundred posts or so.

My conservative Republican wife discovered that I posted on DU. She was furious with me. Said: "That stuff is making you crazy!" She didn't come right out and say that I should stop; just that she had the power to make my life miserable unless I did. So, I took a sabbatical for almost a year. After that, I couldn't stay away any more. The war in Iraq had started, and THAT was making me crazy. I figured DU could just help make me sane again. So I returned and have never left again. The first DU-er to welcome me back was DemoTex. He's been a buddy ever since. B-)

In my wife's defense, this was back before even Republicans discovered what a dangerously incompetent fuck-nozzle the Chimp was.

[madinmaryland]

49. Thanks, Alex!!!

:hi:

[Aristus]

51. Hey gorgeous!...Hey! Wait! I forgot! GUY!

:eyes::rofl:

Who's Alex? And thanks for what? Leaving? Or coming back?





...who's Alex?... :shrug:

[madinmaryland]

53. Nice post, Shakespeare!

I'll ask, Alex!

:hi:

[BeachBaby]

54. Yikes!

"Conservative Republican wife"? I salute you, babe. :patriot: :rofl:

Does she know you're back at DU now?

:hi: :hug:

[madinmaryland]

55. Hey!

Is TZ ok? I stirred up a shitstorm in the sports forum, and she got caught up in it. Well, that's me!

:hi:

[BeachBaby]

56. You wore her out, babe.

She fell asleep. :P

:hi:

[madinmaryland]

58. It was that last shower!!

:P

:hi:

[Aristus]

57. Nope. It's my dirty secret.

Anyway, I fell in love with her before I knew her politics, and by then, it was too late. She looked like a cross between Dana Delaney and Mimi Rogers, and how could I resist that? :hi::hug:

[bobthedrummer]

50. Sure did. A couple of months later I was vitalized again and returned.

[soleiri]

52. Never!

I've been on here for 54,973 hours straight. I'll never leave!!!

:woohoo:

[Dr. Strange]

59. I try...

but every time I think I'm out, they pull me back in!

:hug:

[TZ]

60. FWIW....

If you ever did leave, I would probably not hang out here much either...:hug:

[madinmaryland]

61. FWIW...

If you ever did leave, I would probably not hang out here much either..

just my 2 cetnrs wothr!

[Jim Warren]

62. Funny you ask

This is my second post today but I haven't been here in over a year.

[Skittles]

63. fuck no

I will torment DUers until time ends :D

[JVS]

64. I've left for lent tradtionally.

Although primaries last year made me not even try that.

[mdmc]

67. DU is one of my fav. sites

but it is a place where alternative political opinions cannot be discussed.
Sometimes the drawing lines are not as clear as GOP vs. Dem.
There are times when I want to discuss Bloomberg, Nader, or Ron Paul. There are times when I want to organize locally.
At these times I seek out other sites.

I take breaks for days.

The sad thing is that DU is far more progressive then the Dem party. And even DU is still too establishment for me at times.

[Dem2theMax]

69. Heck yeah, I stayed away for most of 2008.

WHY? The infighting. I had enough stress in my life in 2008. I wanted to do anything I could to get rid of as much stress as possible. I changed my homepage from DU to something else, and before you know it, I was forgetting to come here. I'd stop by once in a while and check the home page, but I never went past that point.

It's amazing how much it helped to reduce stress in my life by avoiding this place for a while.

I was here to enjoy the 'afterglow' of Obama's election. but once the infighting started again, over his appointments, off I went.
I spend much less time at DU than I used to.

Life is just too short to spend it watching grown adults acting like five year olds. LOL.

[jonnyblitz]

70. I haven't been very successful at taking breaks from here since

I signed up in January of 2003. I often go for periods of time barely posting and participating but, if i am near the internets, you can bet i have DU up on my screen even if minimized. I am too much of a politics and news whore and this is a fast moving site that always gets the news as soon as it happens even if I feel out of place politically here(i am too far to the left for DU, IMHO). So the most I have been able to do is refrain from posting but I never can stay away long from perusing and reading. :hi: