Two years ago, the board went down. So I went to Boardhost.com and registered "thisisyesterday". Amazingly, it worked. The only difference is that you get "members5" in the URL now (but if you put the URL without the "5" it still brings you here) and there are ads (I don't think there were ads before but I can't tell either way because I use AdBlock like everyone else on earth).

It's all documented in the second thread of this forum. Mr Hatfield said it was okay and he also emailed me about this.

http://members5.boardhost.com/thisisyesterday/msg/1426796074.html

I don't remember the password for the forum, though. Let's see if I can log in. No, the normal ones don't work. Did I at least register using my real email address? Oh, I did. So that's no problem. I can just request a password change at any time.

I suspect that the board went down the first time because Hatfield didn't respond to numerous emails warning him that the forum was going to go down. Maybe he no longer had access to the email account that he registered the forum with.

You know, you hear a lot about forums being no longer relevant. IMDB recently got rid of their forums. I found them to be very useful and informative and always went there whenever I was watching some old Western on Film4 to see what people had to say about the film. I also went to see what people had to say about obscure television actors from the 80s. It's all gone.

Another example of a forum closing due to a perceived shift in internet usage is a work-related forum I used to go to. It had a lot of good information and people were always helpful, if a bit anally retentive. Then the forum closed due to "people use Facebook now".

Well, I don't have Facebook. And I don't want to use Facebook.

I mean, imagine going on Facebook and talking about your bowel movements. People would say, "This is disgusting. What's wrong with you? I don't want to read this."

But with the relative anonymity that message boards afford, I can talk about my poop all day without worry. There's no social stigma.

I got another email about this upcoming court case. Let's do a recap. I never really explained what it's about.

I had a shit letting agent and landlord. A lot of problems with the property and the lettings agent, I won't get into it. So I didn't pay my last two months' rent. He was awarded the deposit for rent arrears.

Then one day, I get a court summons. They want this last two months' of rent. But they already got the deposit which almost covered the arrears. And they didn't give me two months' notice to leave so they're not even owed two months of rent. They're owed about six weeks of rent. So in total, they're owed less than £100.

Then there's my counterclaim. I'm out of pocket about £100 for improvements I had to make to the property of a fundamental nature which they refused to do. There was also a background check that I had to pay for. These fees are illegal in Scotland. That was £50. Then there's the harassment and stuff to do with the deposit not being protected properly.

So after I get the summons, I contact the solicitor for the other side and explain to him why I don't owe this money and what my counterclaim will be. I say, "If you contact me in the next two weeks, I'll agree to the case being discharged." He says, "Pay us the money plus legal fees and only then will be be in a position to discharge the case." I decline.

I know full well that this guy doesn't have a case and that this lettings agent is human garbage who's just continuing this bizarre, possibly homosexually-motivated harassment campaign.

I go to court for the initial hearing. I had earlier submitted my defence and counterclaim. There's a whole bunch of people there with small claims cases. Actually, I told this story. So short version: the judge looks at my defence and says, "Can't this be settled between the parties?". I say, "I just got the summons and they weren't agreeable to settlement." So a date was set for the next hearing.

Weeks later, I'm sending my CV to all the solicitors in Scotland. One of them happened to be the solicitors who are acting for this lettings agent. I didn't mean to send it to him but it was a different firm that I guess he runs. Maybe a trading name or a different firm entirely, I don't know.

So the email I'm sending out says that I work in the courts and if you need somebody who does the work that I do, let me know. I also attach my CV which shows that I've been doing the job for 10 years including in London's most well-known criminal court.

The next day I get an email from this guy. "Thanks for your email. I'll consider you for future jobs. But as far as this case is concerned, I've spoken to my client and he's agreeable to only £800 for settling." I decline.

Next day. "Okay, only £600."

I go ballistic. "I don't owe this man a cent. He owes me money. Potentially thousands. You're wasting my time."

Don't hear anything for a long time. Then I realise that my original counterclaim wasn't marked as a counterclaim. It was marked as a defence. So I go about writing a counter-claim. A whole big to do with that because there's this woman at the court who's a real rude and incompetent bitch but eventually it gets done. I'm asking for almost £3000, apparently the maximum for small claims.

So yesterday, I get an email from this guy. The case is set to call next week for a review (as opposed to what you think of as the actual hearing). Now that they have the counter-claim they suggest dropping the case entirely. I decline.

The most I can realistical lose is less than £100. I can potentially get £3000.

The man has absolutely no case, as I've said from the start, and I'm going to tear him a new anus. I can't wait for that case. What will the judge possibly say when he presents that ridiculous non-case?

And once I get a judgement, I'm posting it all over the known universe. The council will get a copy, his governing body, every message board that local people read, every property message board, I'm going to print out copies and put them on car windscreens all over the city, it's going to be the most well-known small claims case since that episode of Judge Mathis where the black woman was in a "booty shaking contest", the MC said "everyone's a winner!", she actually lost, but sued the club for the prize money because of the MC's claim.

So anyway, back to Slann. The man has written maybe three semi-coherent messages on this forum in his entire life. If he wants to move on with his life, that's okay. No hard feelings. Message boards aren't a lifetime committment. I wish Slann good luck and happiness in all his future endevours.

I mean, Boardhost won't be around 50 years from now. They're going to close at some point. So I'm taking advantage of the opportunity to post now. I like being able to post on the message board. Even if it's just me posting. Make use of the resource while you have it. I'm really living in the moment.