Hello list, Just a note to let you know that I shall be in darkest Cornwall from Friday afternoon until Wednesday evening. It's my annual pilgrimage to lots of exciting things in the Penzance area, including Mazey Day (don't ask, check Google), and my last opportunity to go anywhere before I'm officially banned (temporarily) from driving after my hip replacement. I shall still have access to a computer, the list tools, and email, so most of you won't be affected. You will only see a difference if one of your messages to the list gets trapped in the list tools for my attention, because I will only be able to check them once a day, so they may be trapped for as much as a day before I can attend to them. If one of your messages gets delayed, please don't send it again until at least 24 hours have passed, because it's an odds-on favourite that the second attempt will be trapped for the same reason that the first one was. With very few exceptions the messages which get trapped by the list tools are a certain brand of pork luncheon meat, and messages which are "too big". No message is "too big", provided that it is genuine information, and not a reply with one or more messages left intact without deletion of the bits we've already seen, and don't need to see again. So if you keep just enough to make sense in your reply it should sail through without any problems. Read, learn, and inwardly digest the footers to this (and every) message and you won't go far wrong. I'm very pleased to say that since I've instituted the process of bouncing unsnipped messages back to the sender, as a gentle reminder to replace a bad habit (or forgetfulness) with better practice, the number of unsnipped messages has reduced dramatically. This is good for all of us, since you're not sending us what we've already seen, and more importantly, for the archives, which don't have a delete button. However, it is worth noting that there is another reason, which is rapidly becoming the major reason, why messages get trapped in the list tools for being "too big", and that is that they contain HTML, RTF, or stationery. I'm sure most of you know that all messages sent via the RootsWeb servers MUST be plain text only, but if you're in any doubt, check that the options in your email client (Outlook Express, Eudora, or whatever) are set to PLAIN TEXT, at least when sending to any email address ending in "rootsweb.com". Sometimes this problem is caused by your ISP after you've hit the "Send" button, by their adding taglines which are unacceptable to RootsWeb's servers, and there is little you can do about it. All you can do is to check your available settings, or ask your ISP to provide you with the opportunity to send messages in the format of your choice. Incidentally, anyone using AOL version 5 or earlier has a separate problem, which can be solved by upgrading to a newer version. Contact me on the admin address if you want further details. So, as someone in Hollywood once said, "That's It, Folks!" I'm assuming that it will be "business as usual" while I'm away, and that you will not be telling us why we should buy your snake oil, why you vote Tory /Raving Monster Loony, why your are a devout Jew, Hindu, Jain, Zoroastrian or Taliban leader, start any flaming wars, or anything else which will violate RootsWeb's Accepted Usage Policy. As usual, this message is NOT for discussion on the list. Any comments or queries will be welcome, as ever, OFF-LIST, at DORSET-admin@rootsweb.com. Regards, Davy Cannon, Dorchester, Dorset. List Admin, Hampshire-Life List.