yes, i've seen these before and they have always annoyed me because i don't feel they add anything to any discussion.

i just don't think anything that isn't either sharing information that might be useful for people on the board generally or a request for information or advice on a problem many people might also be having is not appropriate for a public forum.

perhaps we could ask doc john to add another section specifically for posts like this so that people can still do public displays of concern for each other without detracting from the informative natrure of the other boards.