Ardith Hinton wrote to James Bradley, "Introductions...  1."

 AH> Hi, James!  Recently you wrote in a message to Ardith Hinton:

I'm just relieved nobody is touting the praises of Byoncy here. 
 AH>  Assuming this is a question, not just a polite
 AH>  greeting...

 JB>  Well... I guess it is some of both. I'm not so
 JB>  bombastic all the time. <-;


 AH>          I'm not particularly concerned about the formality
 AH> level... people do the same with "How are you?"  But you
 AH> recognize that such expressions can be a bit of both, so it
 AH> seems we're on the same wave length there....  :-)

Dad had a couple of replies when ask. "I've been better." or
"I've been worse."
Those still send the tele-marketers for a whirl. I usually quip "That's a
loaded question." When they give me the dumb look, I just inform them,
"I don't
like to complain." That usually lets them off the hook. 

 JB>  I too have to chuckle when asked if I've spent time
 JB>  in a hospital. Besides the time as an infant, [I was
 JB>  frightened by (The dream of...?) a dog.]


 AH>          You too?  I had an experience when I was a child which
 AH> resulted in my being afraid of dogs for some time.  I was

I guess besides the time I was a screaming child, I never was too afraid of
dogs. Even after being bitten by one. Sure, there was a time or two when a dog
was protecting his territory that I knew not to walk any further, but mostly we
find some common ground. 

Friends had a Boxer that I had to get acquainted with, and I never did trust
that one too much, but we did get along OK. Oddly, a few years ago I was
introduced to the son of a champ Pit-Bull. The first few seconds were tenuous,
but after that we were fast friends. 
 AH> having a nightmare, but realized it was only a dream & tried to
 AH> wake myself by opening my eyes.  The first thing I saw upon
 AH> waking, unfortunately, was one of those patriotic prints
 AH> from WWII of the British bulldog defending the Union Jack.  Now
 AH> I understand more about the temperament of bulldogs... they're
 AH> devoted to home & family, and they never go around an obstacle
 AH> if there's a way over or under or through it.  They're very
 AH> gentle & tolerant with young children, although they may
 AH> have to be restrained from knocking adults down & licking
 AH> them to death, and they have a great sense of humour.  A
 AH> rough exterior... a heart of gold.  I didn't know that
 AH> until I'd actually met some & shared my own home with a
 AH> couple of them, however....  :-)

Sans a Wolf, or some nasty in-breading, a dog can usually be reasoned with,
I've found. We had a half-wolf living next to us for a while. I was tenuous
with that one, but we were reasonably OK with one another after some polite
conversations through the fence. He just needed to know that barking at a bag
blowing down the ally was different that a kid teasing him. Once he understood
that I was on his side, after giving heck to his pesterers, we were right as
rain.

 AH>          I didn't have a bicycle & my parents didn't have a
 AH> car, so I walked a lot.  When I was ten or eleven I slipped
 AH> on a steep woodland slope, but didn't realize until years
 AH> later that I'd broken my tailbone & rearranged my spine in
 AH> the process.  Now, unlike you, I sit on anything *except*
 AH> my tailbone....  ;-)

Consider yourself relatively lucky. 
 JB>  From the operation that followed up the removal of
 JB>  it, my pain is constant, and only being managed by
 JB>  non-narcotic medications at this time.


 AH>          I'm a minimalist as far as drugs are concerned.  I've
 AH> heard some very sad stories from people who used the heavy-duty
 AH> stuff, only to find themselves in worse shape later without it.
 AH>  I also understand, however, that many of the alternatives may
 AH> seem somewhat less than adequate when one is in pain....  :-
 AH> /

The poor MD had to lie to me that he was prescribing a "Non-addictive form"
just to get me out of his office. Still doesn't mean I wouldn't tear a strip
off him if we ever met again.  I understand his need to keep me on my feet
now, but the narcotics sure caused more problems than they solved for me.

Before a sinus infection, and two tough wisdom teeth being pulled, I rarely
even took ASA. Regardless how much I tell people how much better pain
management is when you can actually feel the pain, I have to understand that
their idea of "managing" and mine may be different.

Heck... I don't even like the stuff they have me on now, and there is nothing
opiate about *them!*
 AH>          There hasn't been a lot of traffic lately & I
 AH> didn't know whether you had access to older messages.  I do
 AH> because I'm the co-moderator... [chuckle].

I might have missed the previous messages, but as a new NEC took over here, (No
ideas on when he took over.) I just assumed that there was no idle threads on
this system.

As a co-moderator, you run your own board then? 

 AH>          Uh-huh... or they're busy "doing the Aged Parent
 AH> bit", as some of our contemporaries put it, or looking
 AH> after kids with special needs, or struggling with various
 AH> problems of their own, or all of the above.  I think we
 AH> have many regular readers who tend not to say much, but I
 AH> can certainly relate....  :-))

Ya... They're flooding the I-Net trying to keep Windows running long enough so
their kids can write their reports that are overdue. 

 JB>  I was trained in drums and percussion a bit, and did
 JB>  exhibit some skill in my days.

 AH>          Ah... Nora plays percussion with Dallas & me in a
 AH> community band too. At first she played maraca (singular).  She
 AH> had a stroke 2 1/2 years ago which left her completely
 AH> paralyzed on one side, but now she's progressed to a point
 AH> where she can use a modified drumstick to make some reasonably
 AH> musical sort of noise with both hands.  Fortunately, the
 AH> conductor is very understanding... he lets Nora sit beside
 AH> me, and that way I can provide assistance as needed.  :-)

Sounds symbiotic to me. <-;

Like I keep telling highly trained musicians that want to pound the bejeabers
out-a some of my tools, "They are always abrasive, and it takes a special touch
to make them sound musical." Some of them get it. O-8=


... Making it "idiot-proof" will just encourage 'em.
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