I like getting comments on my stories. It's nice to know that someone read it and maybe got something out of it. Like you, I also try to respond to every comment, but I can imagine how overwhelming it could be if you received hundreds of comments a day. I'm nowhere close to that. If I ever get there, I might change my mind about comments. : )

Unfortunately, I don't know what happens if you leave a story open too long on your computer - that's a good question.