Absolutely no apology needed, Brad. It's a new feature that many of us may not have noticed before.
To send a private message, just click on the "handshake" icon

that's in the header of every post. When you receive a private message, notification is sent to your registered email address. Read the message and reply by clicking on the "My Profile" link at the top of every page.
You can also ignore a member's private messages or create a "Buddy List", as explained in our
FAQ.