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

JB>  I have to ponder what I am going to do when this cat
JB>  departs. I suspect the pet is good for my health, but
JB>  I would like to be able to devote more for their health,
JB>  before I subject another pet to my care.


          Uh-huh.  There is a fair amount of research indicating that pets
are beneficial to human health, but we are responsible for the health &
welfare of these creatures too.  All three of us miss the cats & dogs
who once shared our living quarters.  Dallas & I made little or no
effort to replace them, though, as Nora's medical condition began to take
up more bandwidth.



JB>  Sometimes, ignorance really *is* blissful. Equally, I
JB>  have a collection of sound engineering periodicals I
JB>  should find a new home for.


          Yeah... if you didn't realize these periodicals might be of value
to somebody, you could just chuck them out & go to sleep with a clear
conscience.
I have some old music magazines I should find a new home for... (sigh).



JB>  I can't talk from a pulpit, but you knew that.


          That's one of the things I appreciate about you!  You recognize
your own shortcomings, thus making it easier for me to admit I have
difficulty with similar issues.  I've met more than enough people who
believe they know better although they may not have the faintest idea what
is going on in my life.  :-)



JB>  "skein >noun
JB>  1 a length of thread or yarn, loosely coiled and
JB>  knotted.
JB>  2 a flock of wild geese or swans in flight.
JB>  -ORIGIN Old French escaigne."

JB>  That's from Oxford University Press, as released with Corel
JB>  Word Perfect. It sounds like "loosely coiled and knotted."
JB>  is a reoccurring requirement.


          Loosely coiled, yes... that makes sense to me.  I vaguely
remember a cartoon in which Blondie gets Dagwood to hold both arms in the
air, then winds her knitting wool around the outer half of each wrist &
across the gap between his arms.  I suppose if a person did that they might
tie the resulting coil in the middle, probably by using the bit at the end.
 I've done that on a smaller scale with odd lengths of string.  Embroidery
thread & suchlike are often sold in loose coils with a strip of paper
across the middle.  I would refer to such
a coil as a "skein"... and I'd also use this term to refer to a
bundle of wool
wound diagonally by machine & wrapped with a strip of paper.

          That bit about geese & swans is fascinating, isn't it?  Now
you know why I enjoy reading the dictionary!  I'd never heard the word used
to apply to birds... but I'd seen geese in flight & noticed how they
swap positions.  When one leader gets tired, s/he rests in the slipstream
& another takes over.  :-)




--- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+