I'm thankful for Free Republic for that reason also. It was a great thing for me to become involved on Free Republic when I did because so *few* people really know anything that's going on. It's truly refreshing to be able to check in here every day and converse with like-minded folks! That's just something I've never had enough of in my normal course of life.
I know what you mean, but oh boy, FR is addictive.