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

JB>  I'm just relieved nobody is touting the praises
JB>  of Byoncy here. 


          What doesn't kill you may make you stronger... okay, I can relate
to that idea.  The presentation doesn't really grab my attention,
though....  ;-)



JB>  Dad had a couple of replies when ask. "I've been
JB>  better." or "I've been worse."


          Sounds perfectly reasonable to me!  Dallas often says "Not
bad for a Friday," regardless of what day of the week it is....  :-)



JB>  Those still send the tele-marketers for a whirl. I
JB>  usually quip "That's a loaded question."


          I can spot them fairly quickly too.  I ignore the question
because I doubt they really care how I am... and I ask what they're
selling.  It's quite amusing to hear their rationalizations sometimes.... 
:-)



JB>  When they give me the dumb look, I just inform them,
JB>  "I don't like to complain." That usually lets them
JB>  off the hook.


          Another good one!  In most cases I prefer to give people an
"out"... whether or not they take it is up to them.  Basically
we're all doing the same thing.  We know the script, but we persist in
being authentic anyway....  :-))



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


          Seems to me much the same could be said for humans... [grin].



JB>  We had a half-wolf living next to us for a while. I
JB>  was tenuous with that one, but we were reasonably OK
JB>  with one another after some polite conversations through
JB>  the fence.


          We met a wolf once.  A friend of a friend kept him as a house
pet... together with several dogs... and I wouldn't have suspected he was a
wolf if I hadn't been told.  From what I understand many larger dogs are
distant cousins of wolves.  It doesn't surprise me that they are alike in a
lot of ways.  Some folks say wolves can't be tamed... but some folks
underestimate dogs too.  :-)




--- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+