You got me good. I just finished writing a 5 minute reply to someone and forgot to look at the clock before hitting send.  I forgot all about the maintenance mode time.

Behold the magic of the "Back" button.

Behold the magic of the "Back" button.

now i feel even stupider.  STUPIDER, now there's a word for dummies.

You may want to type your reply on a Word Document, spell check it, and then paste it in the reply box.

You can't lose it by accident and if you save it you can repost it if necessary.

I have encountered your problem before and have learned to use a Word Document when typing a long reply or when I know the maintenance time is about to kick in.

Give it a shot.  You will not be sorry.  

Worst case I think you can type and as you go along you can periodicly highlight, select & copy your text. At least if something happens you've still got it on your clip board to cut and paste into word or something

 The info you've typed will always be a "control v" or right mouse click away

I'm on here late at night after work also.I just hit back button,copy,wait 5 minutes,Then paste whatever i just typed out.

I forget about it every night that the board shuts down for a few minutes. ;D