There are a number of ranges that are anon-blocked, and a few IPs that are hardblocked, in Palo Alto, California. These blocks should not be modified in any way without consulting another checkuser and unblocking these ranges could have serious repercussions. These blocks are typically identified with Template:Checkuserblock-Alto.

My other rangeblocks are for more garden-variety vandals and trolls. On these rangeblocks, and any other block marked "checkuserblock" or "per checkuser" consultation with another checkuser is strongly recommended.

Please remove my admin and checkuser access. Thatcher 02:06, 5 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I am taking a holiday from all responsibility on Wikipedia. You won't see me running naked through the dandelions (thank God) but as close as I can come.

Since becoming checkuser I have been involved with more disputes, messes, and just plain bizarre situations than I care to remember. Peter Damian is just the latest. I almost resigned over the SlimVirgin-Lar business, but tried a wikibreak instead. Hah.

I have serious concerns with the lack of oversight of the Oversight and Checkuser functions. I may say more about this later.

I may come back at any time...tomorrow after a good night's sleep, or next week after I finish a manuscript, or after Christmas. I don't intend to retire, and I don't intend (at this time) to permanently resign my sysop and checkuser. But I make no specific commitments.

Note regarding non-public data

During my term as checkuser I have occasionally saved certain information for future reference. I have also occasionally saved IRC transcripts, and I have certainly received emails containing non-public information in my role as checkuser. I affirm and confirm that I have destroyed all such information in my possession.

To any IRC chanop

Please remove my access to #wikimedia-checkuser, #wikipedia-checkuser-clerks, #wikipedia-en-checkuser and #wikipedia-en-admins. My cloak is wikipedia/Thatcher131.

Oh dear; I had no idea this was in the offing. You have always held my esteem and respect, regardless of one evening's events. Best wishes for a good wikibreak. Looking forward to your return. Durova^Charge! 02:31, 5 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

It's not just one evening. For a long time I've felt like Agent D at the beginning of Men in Black. I never look at the stars anymore, you know, just to look at them. Thatcher 02:39, 5 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Whew; if only I'd known. Rest up. Come back tanned and ready. Warmest regards. Durova^Charge! 02:40, 5 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I've taken care of the -en-admins access. Truly sorry to see you go. Hope you return soon refreshed. --MZMcBride (talk) 02:43, 5 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

This saddens me deeply. You seemed to be voice of reason in the wilderness. I hope that you will return soon and continue to use the various tools the community has entrusted you with with the same degree of responsibility and good thinking that you have always used. JoshuaZ (talk) 02:45, 5 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Thatcher, you know the obvious advice in this situation: give up the tools or start a new account and rediscover the joys of article writing. Anyway, as far as your concerns about oversight, I hope you'll speak your mind openly, honestly, and frankly so that they can help address some of the issues involved with this project's administration. Cla68 (talk) 02:45, 5 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

By the way, your hard work and contributions have been noticed and appreciated, even if no one mentioned it to you. Cla68 (talk) 02:57, 5 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I agree with Joshua. You seemed to be voice of reason in the wilderness. Well stated. This is an unfortunate loss for the project, but I hope you find yourself well. I stated once that getting adminship was like getting the key to the cellar where all the dark secrets are kept. It killed my passion for the project for a few months, along with some other stuff. Anyway, I'm rambling... hopefully we'll see your return, sooner than later, and perhaps you can find some enjoyment from the article space, avoiding the drama and ugliness too often found in the project space. Best wishes and kindest regards, لennavecia 04:15, 5 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Take a good break - you deserve it.

You weren't the Wikipedian that Wikipedia deserves - just the one we need. I hope you come back for our sake, and hope if you do you do so happily for yours.--Tznkai (talk) 03:19, 5 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Hi I hope you find your break pleasant, however don't feel you've done anything wrong with the last couple of cases or something, because IMHO you haven't. And I agree with you 100% about checkuser etc- who guards the guardians on wiki? Anyway, have an ok time if you feel you have too go for a bit. Sticky Parkin 03:22, 5 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Hey, come back soon buddy, you are too valuable to lose. MBisanz ^talk 05:00, 5 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Agree with the above. Enigma ^message 06:23, 5 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

This sucks. You are one of the few who are actually honest and sane, while still willing to take on hard cases. Take care. --Apoc2400 (talk) 13:12, 5 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Thatcher, you were my gold standard, the kind of Wikipedia admin that I looked to as a rolemodel, in many things. I am very sorry to hear this news, and hope you will come back soon. --Elonka 19:59, 5 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Hi,

I see that you resigned, but only after comitting what many see as big mistake. Acording to your CU findings, you decided to unblock Pax, who was block based on the opinion of little bit more people that you alone. Also, you wrote that his sock used only university's IP address. Pax started to complain only after 3 months, so we can do CU check again - how convinient! But, since I'm CU on coratian wikipedia, and I have some saved data from this August, I can tell you that this sock used both university and home IPs, so Pax is obviously befooled you.

But, now you are gone, who will take responsibility and correct this error? You can't just make a mess and dissapear! --Ante Perkovic (talk) 05:33, 5 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

• Ah yes. My response to your earlier post is archived. Since he was blocked largely on my word as a checkuser, why not unblock him if I think I might have made a mistake. And there are checkusers on highly partisan nationalistic wikis? Wonderful. Thatcher 07:29, 5 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Partisan? Nationalistic? Are you suggesting that I lied about my logged results? But, what did you based your unblocking of Pax on? On your personal opinion or on opinion of small number of highly partisan nationalistic suporters? Either is nonsense.

Someone has stolen Pax's identity, and he waited for 3 months (doing nothing, not caring a bit about his very important hobby!) to claim innocence, and he claimed that it can be proved by looking in CU data, the same data that expired after 3 months. How convenient! Aren't you being a little naive? Just a little? --Ante Perkovic (talk) 09:11, 5 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I thank you for the work you've done during your time on Wikipedia. I hope you will decide to come back sometime in the near future. Best of luck :) Nishkid64 _{(Make articles, not wikidrama)} 05:36, 5 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

You gave me some flowers a year ago that meant a lot to me, so I'll return the favor with a hopefully less feminine version. Please enjoy whatever time off you take, and I hope we'll see you back refreshed and renewed. Turning off the darn box for a couple of weeks always works wonders, and there are good people and articles worth coming back for. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 08:16, 5 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

...don't come back for any other reason than you really really want to. The world out there is much bigger (and I have to say, fulfilling) than this website. Good luck, have fun. Viridae^Talk 10:33, 5 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

You deserved it, Thatcher.— Dædαlus ^Contribs 12:16, 5 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

After Peter Damian's block for editing mainspace - outside of your agreement, I've put a request in to ArbCom license improving the encyclopedia in addition to your restrictions here. This should be sufficiently small beer for you to enjoy your break in peace. Regards --Joopercoopers (talk) 21:24, 5 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]