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

DS>  I wanted to let everyone know that after 5 1/2 months
DS>  of waiting, I finally got what I had been praying for
DS>  ...a FULLY FAVORABLE ruling in my claim for disability
DS>  from the Social Security Administration.


          Glad to hear it!  Thanks for the update....  :-)



DS>  It is a "mixed blessing" of sorts. While they did certify
DS>  me as disabled all the way back to when I last was able
DS>  to work over 2 years ago, there is a "chance" that the
DS>  ruling could be "appealed"...I pray that doesn't happen...
DS>  it certainly won't be me who initiates the process!! But,
DS>  now I have to wait up to 60 days for a letter from them to
DS>  tell of the monthly benefits (I may get both disability
DS>  and SSI), before the money actually shows up.


          Seems to me these things are never easy.  The benefits may be
referred to as "social security", but they're not quite as secure
as others imagine.  :-Q



DS>  But, it has become increasingly difficult to walk short
DS>  distances, to sit or stand in one place for a long period
DS>  of time, and to remember what was said 15 seconds ago.


          Now there's the mixed blessing, IMHO... it's precisely because of
such factors that you cannot realistically be expected to hold down a job. 
"What you gain on the swings, you lose on the roundabouts".... 
:-)



DS>  My loving wife, Janice, who I affectionately call "the
DS>  databank with legs" , has been disabled all her life,
DS>  but she has been a great help to me. We knew each other
DS>  as friends for 17 years, and never thought of marriage
DS>  ...let alone to each other.


          So you were friends first & you both took your time about
deciding you wanted to spend the rest of your lives together.  It worked
for Dallas & me!  We have had people question this... but I note with
interest that none of them were still married to the same person they
started with at the time they asked.  :-))



DS>  On our 40 month anniversary, Sep. 18, the favorable
DS>  ruling was issued.


          A good omen, maybe.  Hold that thought....  :-)



DS>  No other woman has affected me as much as she has...
DS>  and we are so bonded, that it's scary at times.


          Yes, I can relate....  :-)



DS>  Both before we were married and after...we've competed
DS>  against each other fiercely on the doorgames on my BBS.
DS>  I told her one day that "I'm ahead of you in all these
DS>  games"...and then I thought to myself "that means no you-
DS>  know-what for me tonight". She came right out and said
DS>  EXACTLY what I was thinking...word for word...and that
DS>  has happened more than once. I knew right then that we
DS>  were made for each other.


          I see a number of possible interpretations here.  What really
matters, though, is that while you're both quite competitive she doesn't
mind being #2 as long as you don't brag about it too much... and because
you are on the same wave length you realize what she's probably going to
say before she says it.  I don't believe she is withholding sex to control
or punish you, in view of other things you've said about her.  I imagine
she's communicating, by the use of irony, that she needs to feel good about
herself in order to be responsive.  IMHO a sense of humour can also go a
long way in the discussion of such delicate issues....  ;-)




--- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+