I have to say that these topics annoy me quite a bit. Especially when the usual happens and the person just comes back ten minutes later, of course posting a complementary "I'm Back!" topic. However, there is always the question of whether if you have to seriously leave for ages and have been a player forever if it deserves a topic. It would be nice if people would just sort of announce this without having to post an entire topic. It clutters up the General Jazz 2 Talk section. However, I definitely think that any topic about someone leaving or returning should go into Misc. instead of General Jazz 2 Talk.