I removed it. I think they meant to give a hint. I don't like it either, but it makes some limited sense as that.

At least it follows some tradition (which is not great but it is what it is. )

Poor questions, whence no answer but at least a hint to be welcoming.

@quid Yes, I understand, sort of. But one can welcome along with suggesting how they can improve their question, and a helpful link to How to ask a good question.

@amWhy yes I agree. They ought to have said something more than "welcome"

@quid Thanks for looking into it!

@amWhy Did I mention that one of my classes of students was not around today because their school got shut down because a large group of students was exposed to the 'rona while on release from their public high school in order to attend Mormon seminary classes?

@amWhy I don't generally do costumes.

One year, I went as V. I. Lenin. I already look a bit like him, some my costume consisted of carrying around a copy of the Communist Manifesto.

And in 2004, I wore a noose and a nametag with the name "CHAD".

@XanderHenderson OMG!

Love the costume descriptions!

Call home, e.t.! Call home, @quid! Stop by if and when you can. :-)

Come out, come out, wherever you are, @Xander! ;D

Has anyone seen @ParamanandSingh around? It seems he's been on site, this month, but I hope he returns to chat, too. He has proven to be quite an asset to this site.

@amWhy hello

Hi, quiddie, @quid!

What's up? How are the coffee sales going?

@quid I have a favor to ask. I posted a comment not long ago in the mod's office that I would like to remove, but I can't: my last comment to Matt. I should have kept my "mouth" zipped, or my fingers constrained.

@quid All coffee and orange juice, hot cocoa and chocolate, etc, that I've served has thus far been "on the house" ;D

Thanks, @quid! Maybe we should have a sandbox for chat and math.se and meta comments!

@amWhy too generous.

@amWhy no problem

@quid Will SE allow payment through paypal, or payment by credit card? ;D

@amWhy I think such things did come up.

@quid I don't doubt that. I was quite surprised during my last suspension, that it is now a privilege to have "reduced ads"; I rarely see any, but while suspended, I was caught off-guard by some of the ads.

Did you see my question above, @quid, about Parmanand Singh? I miss him! He would make a great mod, I think. I left a comment below his most recent answer; it might just be that he's busy, but I truly believe he will be the next best mod candidate.

@quid He hasn't posted since Sept 3, on main. And I haven't seen him since then in chat, but he logged in, in early October. I just hope we don't lose him.

@amWhy Sorry. It's been a long day.

@XanderHenderson NP. What can I serve you, from the cafe, or the tavern? :-)

I'm about 10 minutes away from making a martini.

@XanderHenderson Well, enjoy!

It is a little early yet, but I've put in a solid 11 hours of work, and am about to fall out of my chair.

@amWhy yes, I don't know anything about that.

@XanderHenderson Time to unwind, and then get a good night's sleep. What would you like for dinner?

@amWhy I'm making heuvos rancheros

I just put the beans on the stove---they should be ready in an hour or so.

@XanderHenderson Ah, me gusto mucho!

Then I have to decide if I'm going to make tortillas, or just raid the freezer.

Probably I'll just raid the freezer.

@XanderHenderson raid the freezer tonight, make it as simple as you can!

I introduced my calc students to some very basic complex analysis today.

That was fun.

I couldn't resist talking about Newton fractals while introducing them to Newton's method.

@quid I wasn't asking thinking you knew, it was more like a "Has anyone seen "x"??" I feel bad that it just occurred to me I haven't seen him around, and got worried.

@XanderHenderson You go, buddy! (What does one say to a man, equivalent to "You go, girl!")?

@amWhy I don't object to "You go, girl!"

@XanderHenderson Alright: You go, girl!

:D

@quid, @Xander Please review some posts today in CURED. This was indeed, like RRL suggests, a day in which we saw the floodgates burst open with PSQs. I'm not asking for action, but just so you can feel "the pulse" of this site. I only suggest that I suspect the biggest impediment to deterring PSQs are "the usual suspects who answer anything and everything."

@amWhy what? Where did my aura of omniscience go?!

@amWhy does it line up with the term in the US in some way?

@quid :P Hah! ;D No, you are more omniscient than I, but I know even if you knew what was up, you wouldn't be able to tell me.

@amWhy My general "pulse keeping" is in the form of checking in on the number of close queue tasks.

Which, to be fair, indicates that the last month has been pretty bad.

@XanderHenderson Dat true!

@quid Does what line up with the term in the US? Floodgates?

@quid Literally, it means: "a gate (or gates) that can be opened or closed to admit or exclude water, especially the lower gate of a lock."

@amWhy I meant to ask if the uptick in question lined up with the teaching schedule in some way

Okay, time to go make dinner.

@quid Midterms.

For courses which give two exams in a semester, the second exam is likely happening around now.

And for kiddos on the quarter system, we are about half-way through.

And now I'm...

...gone!

See you and thanks

@XanderHenderson See you!

@quid Oh, okay. Like Xander suggested: on the semester schedule, this is what they call "mid term" time. But I also think we have new "rising stars"(?) in the class of users that thrive on answering VLQ questions, plus those long-term users who continue to do so.

^^^^We used to be able to refer to them as "rep whores". At least that was an honest assessment.

@amWhy thanks for the explanation.

@amWhy I never like that term.

@quid No, I never did either, but it appropriately indicates an exchange of service for the sake of rep. I'm fine with "Rep Sellouts" ... That's better than Rep Hunters.