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

JB>  You know, the "Led Zeppelin RULES" or "Guns n Roses
JB>  FOREVER" echoes. I was just hoping this wasn't one
JB>  of those.


           Nah... my taste in popular music leans more toward the Beatles.  ;-)



AH>  Dallas often says "Not bad for a Friday," regardless
AH>  of what day of the week it is....  :-)

JB>  LOL! You tell Dallas I'm going to use it.


           I may adopt your "That's a loaded question," too....  :-))



JB>  [Telemarketers]
JB>  I'm sure there can be genuine and concerned people
JB>  who have to do those cold calls.


           Agreed... in fact we once knew a guy who had to do that type of
work for awhile after he'd lost his previous job.  I'm not always quite so
mean.  If they call while I'm trying to get Nora ready for school, address
me as "Ms. [or Mr.] Hilton", and ask with exaggerated
cheerfulness how I am without telling me who they are... that's the sort of
incident I'm referring to.  No, I don't want to transfer my outstanding
debts to the XYZ company [as I told the last umpteen people who called on
behalf of the same company].  The sooner we can get to the crux of the
matter, the less of my time... *and* theirs... will be wasted.  :-)



JB>  If I feel they are wishing a speedy recovery, then ask
JB>  if they can call back next year, I'll inform them I've
JB>  been "recovering" for twelve years, and another twelve
JB>  months are not likely to make that much difference. 


           Uh-huh.  Many people, although they may have the best of
intentions, seem completely unaware that not all medical problems are
resolved within a few weeks.  Dallas & I observed the same phenomenon
when Nora had leukemia....  :-/



AH>  Basically we're all doing the same thing.  We know the
AH>  script, but we persist in being authentic anyway....  :-))

JB>  Curious about this human nature, isn't it?


           Yes, I find it quite fascinating sometimes.  :-)



JB>  I wonder if a domesticated dog might have more genetic
JB>  relations to a coyote or fox.


           I read somewhere once that domestic dogs are related most
closely to wolves or to jackals, depending on the breed.  I don't remember
now where I saw it... so I'm open to argument.  However, I have noticed
some differences in the personalities of the dogs we've met which lend
credence to this theory....  :-)



JB>  I also wonder about some of the other continents
JB>  wild dogs, like in Africa, or Australia's' Dingo.


           Likewise....  :-)



JB>  It all boils down to which animal was smart enough
JB>  to adopt two legged mammals as their family, and it
JB>  wouldn't be a far stretch to imagine any one of them
JB>  domesticating man. Err, I mean... 


           Uh-huh.  I also ran across a comment to the effect that although
the humans in Fido's household may think they've trained Fido to do his
business in the back yard, he may think he's trained them to open the door
for him....  ;-)




--- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+