did i do something with my setup in viewing threads or are others having the same problem? each time i click on a thread, instead of going to the first post i'm taken to the last. should i be resetting something on my profile or what?

Take a look at USER CP>EDIT OPTIONS>THREAD DISPLAY MODE.

There are some options like LINEAR - NEWEST FIRST or LINEAR - OLDEST FIRST. Don't know about the other two options....