Well, now I am going to tell you a deep dark secret . . < shhhhhhh >
Once upon a time, the EJIP server was having problems, and the "dark sorcerers" over there

started threatening incantations and such. Well, in an effort to protect the treasures of JavaRanch from certain doom . . . .
Paul Wheaton . . . < sob > deleted some of the older posts from MD < wailing > IT's JUST NOT FAIR!!!
So in reality the post count for MD is probably somewhere in the 100,000's by now. But we will never know < sigh >.
But don't let that stop you from trying to reach the heights of our former glory.