Contacted goatbay and he said he can't find a reason for my inability to reply.  I tried his suggestions and still can't.  Just wanted to let folks know as I think it would be poor form to just disappear.

heh... so obvoiusly you can post elsewhere...
strange!!??

Yup, dang strange.  Did you get two IMs from me?

did...
you get a reply???
im not sure if i sent one or two...
since sent mail isnt saved
colin

Yeah got it.  I've lurked on this board for a while and there are some good folks here.  Guess you could even call it a decent support system.  
Life is crazy with so many strange, weird and dangerous twists and turns.  As the Talking Heads said, "how did I get here?" or something close to that.  I've been searching for a long time for answers.  Haven't found any other than "that's the way God planned it".  It is somewhat impertinent but I wish He would discuss these plans with me first.