Our situations seem quite similar. I did join years ago, but I have only been really active for less than a year now.
That has definitely been a positive however. The posts I made in my introductory thread were pretty... I can't really find a word that is adequate enough to describe it.
Meh. But enough about me, you're a noob and that isn't a bad thing per say. I hope that you plan on staying around this time, no more Houdini acts, yeah?