Quoting a small amount of relevant material is always a good idea, but
viewing the messages as a thread in a threaded newsreader makes it clear
what post was being referred to.

Only if the preceding message has actually =arrived= at that particular
server (they often arrive out of sequence for technical reasons). Also,
not all newsreaders thread properly (this includes the newsreader used
by the responder, whose response may not be attached to the same post he
thinks he's responding to)

And while I'm on the subject, if you separate your post from the sig
line (if any) by two dashes and a space followed by a carriage return,
many (most?) newsreaders will recognize what follows as a sig line and
treat it appropriately (different typeface, indentation, or whatever)
which lets the actual message stand out.

Jose
--
You may not get what you pay for, but you sure as hell pay for what you get.
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.