To issue a siren and sound a klaxon for those of us that once played together across the boards

[Hullygully]

Perhaps I am...but where are they now?

Come hither lamented playmates and fill my heart with joy and laughter.

I actually wrote that song but it was nicked off me.

Fuckers.

Happy Birthday, pisshead. Looking forward to the drunken birthday rant

Hully, Stratters, BIWI and Honey all on the same thread. All is right with the world.

Ooh Stratters. How lovely to read you.

How is Mortimer and her offspring?

Why have you changed your name, Annie? I loved your Canadian one!

I loved it too BIWI but someone from MN (or someone passing through MN) managed to find out who I was and sent a horrible message to my DH on Facebook. All of my past posts have been deleted as a result. Including my live birth thread. :(

I may go back to AOAML one day, but not yet.

Oh no! That's horrible. Why would someone do that? Sorry

It was entirely my fault. I shared too much information about myself over the years. With a little digging, someone was easily able to get enough information to track me down. It was a very hard lesson to be learned.

Jesus, that is a vile thing to do, what the hell is wrong with people? :(

Mortimer is good, two babies this year. I seem to be taken very seriously by my vets now, they ring me and ask advice. Which is a bit of a lark really, although I do only say if I really do know what I'm talking about. Usually it involves me saying "Tell the stupid fuckers to put it back where they found it, and leave it alone". People never learn.

Are you known locally as the mad bird woman?

We used to have one of those.

Do you want the long or the short list, Stratters? ;)

It was honestly NOT your fault. I said that at the time and stand by it. The person at fault was the one who sent the message.

Several posters have been nastily outed over the years, and it was their experiences that turned me into a serial namechanger after RL people identified me on MN. They are perfectly nice people, and I have nothing to hide, but there are people in my past who made my life a misery, and I don't want to expose myself to them.

Anyway, as MN has grown so massive, you don't really get to know posters any more, so there's no particular benefit to having a consistent name.

Do you know, in moments of boredom and/or nosiness and/or deep suspicion I have spent many a happy hour or three some time doing advanced searches on various posters when something about them intrigued me or got my spidey senses going.

I can safely say that it is not AT ALL difficult to piece together enough info about certain people who share dribs and drabs of very specific personal information to find them in RL, INCLUDING THEIR HOME ADDRESS should I be so inclined. Luckily I am generally a sane, non-stalkerish type of person with better things to do than turn up on any of your doorsteps or message your family on Facebook, but thank the heavens for that.

Some people just do not realise how dangerous to their privacy a seemingly harmless internet trail can be - even just on Mumsnet, and especially with such a big MN/FB crossover.

It has made me extremely careful about Facebook settings, what I do and don't say on any form of social media, and before I de-regged from MN last time I took to name changing like a thing possessed and putting most things in Chat so it could not be searched later.

Because actually I am an ex-government spy with a very exciting and top secret past.

Just the local Mad Woman, birds or no

And now I am worried that the Qatari government who surveil the internet might come for me…

How dare you??
I have a RL for two nights, two fucking nights, and I miss banter. Real, actual banter.
I do so love banter.

Welcome back you lovely people, I have missed you a lot!

Oh I'm not staying long. Nope. Got me some important espionage to do. It's all go round my house. I only popped in to say hello.

Ts lovely isn't it. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. Or maybe that's the meds

Nope, there's definitely warm fuzzies, and I didn't even join in.
I just read the whole thing in one go.

Have you wet herself Stratters?

yerself. YERSELF. Goddamit, how dare autocorrect spoil the timing of my most excellent joke?

Ahhh now this is MN as I remember it.

Autocorrect - fucking up witty repartee since 2003.