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

JB>  "There she goes again!" (IOW, "At-a girl!" P-)

AH>  Glad you like it....  :-)  :-)  :-)

JB>  Would I come back if I didn't? 


          Good point!  Nevertheless, you warmed the cockles of my heart.  :-))



JB>  I heard in a movie that Freud said - and I'll paraphrase,
JB>  "The Irish are the only race immune to psychotherapy."

                             [...]

JB>  I wonder if Freud took into account the extent of
JB>  stubborn alcoholics had on his subjects. (Don't know
JB>  the extent an MD diploma was required in his burgeoning
JB>  profession at the time.) Perhaps generations of oppression
JB>  garnered something in the Irish upbringing?


          I'm also curious about what prompted him to make such a remark...
if indeed he did.  Some Irish people may have regarded him as just another
bl**dy foreigner trying to tell them what to do & failed to give his
work the respect he thought it deserved.  The irony is that without him
& others who came after him it wouldn't have occurred to me that he
sounds a bit defensive there.  :-)



AH>  Seen recently in a music classroom, on the teacher's desk
AH>  ... a box of kleenex labelled "ROOM (222) FLU KIT".
AH>  Offhand, I can't think of any Scottish comedians.  But I
AH>  know this teacher & I know he's of Scottish extraction.  :-)

JB>  I wonder if the "FLUE KIT" was for the sniveling, or the
JB>  other end. (IOW, not sure I get it.)


          I'd say for the sniveling.  I reckon this may be an example of
"you- had-to-be-there" humour and/or gallows humour, however! 
Around these parts we keep hearing we're overdue for a major earthquake
& we're at risk for whatever dreadful disease has recently appeared in
SomePlace Else.  The efforts made to take charge of such things are often
of such nature that if I didn't laugh I'd probably cry.  Years ago people
used to say "Coughs & sneezes spread diseases; use your
handkerchief."  While it is certainly SJ logic it makes more sense to
me than the official notices in public places instructing me to use
disposable paper towel where no paper towel is available, or requiring
everybody to use a "hand sanitizer"... with a label which makes
no claims about its effectiveness in controlling any living organism except
bacteria... when the real concern is about a virus.  SARS & H1N1 are
viruses.  Dallas & I caught another variant of the latter some years
ago, when the press didn't make a big deal of it.  We do find the
aftereffects challenging.  But we are alive to tell the tale....  :-)



JB>  Unfortunately, life is still muckin' up the works, so
JB>  I'll have to take a "rain check" on [the invitation to
JB>  stay at out place]. You're used to rain, right?


          Uh-huh.  Many years before we had an opportunity to visit
Ketchikan, Alaska, Dallas & I were aware that Ketchikan gets at least
twice as much rain per annum as we do.  We brought our usual rain gear with
us, and we laughed at the local teenagers who laughed at tourists with
$1.49 plastic raincoats.  ;-)



JB>  I was hoping for more snow to insulate the early bedding.
JB>  What're you gonna do, eh? |-)


          Beats me!  Here in the Pacific Northwest the Victoria Day weekend
is the traditional "rule of thumb" landmark after which we can be
reasonably sure the temperature won't drop below freezing overnight.  In
Calgary YMMV....  :-)




--- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+