Will,

You should still at least be able to get to your own messages by clicking your name, clicking Messages Summary, clicking the count beside the forum and then the numbers in the month listing.

>In this particular case.. I remembered a thread I participated in a few months ago which was the solution to a question asked today.. but I can't find it because I can't search for it.
>The only people who can search for and maybe find past solutions are now PUTM's.. This then gives them a big advantage in terms of anwering questions.. so they can in theory answer more questions and earn more points. I believe you are reducing the number of "helpers" on UT by blocking this (albeit difficult)search ability.