Cool, so I'm not losing my mind!

and since I actually got --'d for that, I guess I should ask: was there something about my question or how I asked it that was inappropriate or that was not in keeping with the spirit of PM? I certainly don't wish to offend anyone; my impression is that asking questions is OK. There are entire sections of the site devoted to it...

Any guidance would be appreciated. It also might help curb whatever tendencies of mine are being frowned upon, thus minimizing the offensive behavior in the future.