Cannot access Private Messages...

[MaplebayDave]

I'm a new member, joined on New Year's day. I received the activation e-mail, clicked the link, and got a page notifying me that I had successfully activated my membership. I can log in and out just fine (after adding the site to the list of those I accept cookies from) and can read all the forums. I've been able to add an avatar, a profile picture, and a signature, and everything seems to be working fine -- this is my first post, cross fingers.

The one exception to the above is that I can't get to Private Messages at all. I've read about Private Messages in several posts, and in the FAQ. Everywhere it tells me I should have a link to Private Messages, I do not. When I click the name to the left of a post, the drop-down menu has only three choices, none of which is to send a private message. There is no Private Messages link at the top of a discussion page. In the Quick Links tool, the Miscellaneous section has only three items, none of which is Private Messages.

The only place I can find Private Messages is in the Forum Jump tool at the bottom of a discussion page. When I click that link, I get a page that says "MaplebayDave, you do not have permission to access this page," or words to that effect. It looks to me as though my membership activation somehow failed in this one area, but what do I know? For the record, I have tried using both Internet Explorer and Firefox, in case it was a browser-related issue, but it is the same in both.

I sent an e-mail to the site admin yesterday, but it probably is in the wait queue due to his parents' health issues -- which is totally understandable, and exactly where he should be spending his time and attention right now. If anyone else has an idea about how to fix this, I will very much appreciate the help. Thanks in advance for your assistance.