def obtain_the_excerpt(check = nil, length = 250, omission = '...')
    	post = obtain_record(check)
    	render :inline => truncate(post.post_content.to_s.gsub(/<[^>]*>/ui,'').html_safe, :omission => omission, :length => length) if !post.blank?
    end
def obtain_the_excerpt(check = nil, length = 250, omission = '...')
    	post = obtain_record(check)
    	render :inline => truncate(post.post_content.to_s.gsub(/<[^>]*>/ui,'').html_safe, :omission => omission, :length => length) if !post.blank?
    end
returns a short extract from the post content
 Params:
 +check+:: ID, post_slug, or post_title - if this is nil it will use the @content variable (the current page)
 +length+:: length of the string in characters
 +omission+:: something to represent the omission of the content