boolean canAppend(){
  return appending == 0 || (appending < MAX_APPENDS && System.nanoTime() - (timeBuffer.average() / MAX_APPENDS) >= appendTime);
}

boolean canAppend ( ) { return appending == 0 || ( appending < MAX_APPENDS && System . nanoTime ( ) - ( timeBuffer . average ( ) / MAX_APPENDS ) >= appendTime ) ; }
returns a boolean indicating whether an append request can be sent to the member .
