We receive your application and write to you the same day, often within hours of when you applied.  This varies because we are not always online (even we have to sleep ) and because the MSN system has a tendency to go awry once in a while.  But we do answer every application, and if our response to you is delayed for any reason, we will let you know that.  We have many members who have applied, with whom we have exchanged messages and information, have had their application approved, and have posted within an hour or so.

When you apply, we always send a message to the e-mail address that you included in your application.  We do this because we have had a few serious problems with persons who troll around in Groups, trying to join and cause problems.  We have experienced quite enough of that sort of thing in the past, and are working to minimize that sort of attack on our group.

 We will write to you, and you must respond to that e-mail message in order for your application to be approved.  If we don't hear back from you, we simply cannot, in protection of this group, proceed any further.  It is heartbreaking that we have to screen applicants, loathing the possibility of missing anyone who has SOM, but we haven't any choice.  So sad.

Your e-mail account might have put our message to you into a folder other than your Inbox.  Since our e-mail address is unknown to you at this time, our message might have been diverted by your account settings or by your security system.  You might want to check your spam and bulk mail folders.

It doesn't happen often, but sometimes a person who wants to join us will inadvertently mis-type their e-mail address into the application form.  When that happens, you don't know that it happened, and we haven't any way to contact you. 

Because people may forget that we will be writing to them after they make application to our group, they often forget to check their e-mail account for our message.

For the above posibilities, we always write to you a second time.  Sometimes a third or fourth time.  We recognize that many people are relatively inexperienced when using the Internet and all of it's strange, mysterious and often confusing options.  Additionally, people often get busy with other parts of their lives, and simply cannot reply to us immediately.

Safety concerns all of us, and for that reason I assure you that whatever you write to me in response to the query message that we send to you will be held in complete confidentiality.  No exceptions.  Not ever.

• Carefully type your e-mail address so that we are able to contact you.
• Use an e-mail account that you will remember to check for our messages.
• Use a real e-mail address.  We are all concerned about being safe, but we cannot contact you at a bogus address. 
• Check that e-mail account for our response to your application.
• Reply to that message from us. 
• You will then receive a confirmation e-mail from us, as well as one from MSN.
• We will post a Welcome thread for you.

That's about it.  It, truly, is not as complicated as it seems.  If you have any problems trying to join, you might check this page: •HOW TO JOIN US.  If you are having problems posting, check these pages: •How to sign-in and •How to post.