Problems with changing my sig

hi guys! lemme just start by saying that i really enjoy being here and it makes me happy that yall do such a great job to make sure its all enjoyable. ok, so obviously im not new here, so i shouldnt have problems with my sig, but yesterday when i tried to change it, it told me it couldnt be more than 1000 characters.. so i cut, and cut, and cut some more off of the sig i wanted to post, next thing, i look at the error message up top and it now said it cant be over 500 characters... I know i was stoned, but it made no sense. if it was gonna let me do less than 1000, then i made it less than that, and it was cut to half the original limit.. a lil help would be greatly appreciated.. thanks yall - Hilder