Dear Posters and Posers -
Glad to see so many people, especially our newbies, jumping off into the fray, and asking Tom questions in our Question & Answer Forum. Generally, your questions are very well thought out and interesting. But one CAVEAT (warning!), our rules state that you are permitted to ask Tom one question, in your one post, each month. We have given members some leeway in this because we don’t want to be too strict, but the guidelines – or rules – are there for a reason and we need to revisit them.
Many of you thank Tom for answering your questions and show how much you appreciate the time and thought he spends on them. However, we thought we should ask Tom for his own feedback on the Question & Answer Forum as we have noticed that some questions are beginning to take the form of little letters and are asking for personal advice.
We MODS wanted to know how Tom felt about this, and as we suspected, he had noticed it, too. As a result, he has asked if members could make their questions more concise. Some members are very good at this already, but he has noticed that others are slipping in more than one question, jokes and also personal information which is sometimes really not relevant to the question. It takes him quite a bit of time to read through and answer 30 questions a month and this is not the place for serious essays on his opinions – it’s more about the fun and entertainment of chat (but no jokes, please) around Tom’s dinner table.
It’s very difficult to make hard and fast rules, as there always seems to be some sort of exception. But the important thing for members to keep in mind, as you ask your questions, is not to overwhelm Tom with detail and personal information, which adds to the time that it takes him to read, and actually find the real question being asked! So, conciseness is THE KEY TO what Tom is looking for this TIME!
Have you any other questions or comments on anything I have put in this Post? Please feel free to respond to Dirk right here in this Topic. Or if you prefer, PM me.
If you need help in modifying your Question Post, I can do that too, remember I am a MOD.
So, any way I can be of service, please just let me know. I am here first and foremost to help any and all the Members of Tom.
Best,
Dirk
once again thank you tom for answering my question for this month. very interesting answers to all the questions.if ever im in biddenden again i will have to try out the italian restraunt that tom mentioned and take biddenden sue with me too 
