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

DS>  When we think about what we went through when we were
DS>  younger, concerning hygiene, cleanliness, etc. -- and
DS>  see the excessiveness of what is done today...one has
DS>  to wonder "how did we survive??"!!


          You said a mouthful there!  It seems to me that past generations
had to be tough to survive their childhood.  Now, as a menopausal friend
commented recently, "I'm turning into my mother".  I'm not
entirely happy about that any more than she is.  OTOH, we met our friend's
mother before she died & we still have fond memories of her.  A lot of
people have fond memories of my mother as well.  And considering how many
relatives Dallas & I have who made it at least to the mid-eighties in
fairly good condition, I can't help but think they must
have been doing something right.  We owe a lot to advances in modern medicine.
I reckon there is more to the story than that, however.

          Years ago, when folks who had reached the age of 100+ were more
rare than they are nowadays, they were often asked how they did it.  I
noticed they all had different answers... but the one which stuck in my
mind was the answer offered by a resident of a sparsely populated area of
eastern Europe.  He said he smoked a cigar & drank a fifth of vodka
every day.  He neglected to mention that he was still working in the
fields, and that the fields were located on a mountainside at some distance
from where he lived.  I guess he took the latter for granted because he
didn't see anything particularly unusual about it.  :-)



DS>  I normally wouldn't be answering BBS mail at this hour...


          One of the things which attracted me to Fidonet years ago was
that I could say what I wanted to say whenever I had both the time &
the inclination. IMHO I do some of my best work while the majority of
others are sleeping.  ;-)



DS>  but I just got back from a trip to the local Emergency
DS>  Room...another kidney stone attack.


          Hmm.  Sounds to me as if you've been having such attacks for
awhile. Can you get your kidney stones analyzed?  The reason I ask is that
when Dallas had such an attack the hospital provided a funnel with a fine
mesh screen.  He collected a stone & delivered it to the doctor, the
doctor told us what it was made of, he made a few minor changes in his
diet... and then he had no further recurrence for over twenty years.  The
situation may be more difficult to deal with as far as you are concerned. 
IIRC you also have Irritable Bowel Syndrome
... or something of the sort... which may have an effect on your absorption
of certain nutrients.  But as you probably know by now I feel very strongly
about the importance of learning as much as we can about whatever is ailing
us.  :-)



DS>  Thank God I don't work a regular job anymore, because
DS>  of being fully disabled (it is a mixed blessing).


          Yes, similar thoughts have occurred to me from time to time....  :-)




--- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+