Good evening all, especially Tim and family - I missed the latest upsets today, got in and read the whole batch just now. I am sorry for your hurt feelings, and I am sure the folks who offended you are truely sorry as well. I have visited with several of the "guilty" parties, and found them to be caring and giving individuals. When you are giving freely of your time and energy to help others it especially hurts when those same people seem to not appreciate your actions. I've been there myself - while teaching a judging team in Texas, every available night I had (2 left per month) I overheard one of my 4H mothers cautioning her child not to stand too close to me because she didn't want her to "catch" my disease.... this was shortly before I had to retire, and it still hurts when I think of it...please stay on the list, we are mostly good people who try to support each other - but we are just people, and we make mistakes as well. Now I am certainly not trying to belittle your bad day or anything, but I thought it might help if you heard how my morning went - and I do wish this was a Texas tall-tale, but this is how it REALLY went.... After another night with no sleep due to pain, I decided about 3am that what I really wanted to do was to go fishing, and be on the mississippi river by 6am, to see the sun come up. I very carefully checked the weather, supposed to be warm and sunny, so I started packing my little john boat - when I remembered that someone (me) lost the key to his truck and there was no spare, so no way to hook up the trailer...but Super Tex (me) put on his thinking hat and decided he could haul the truck with his junker farm truck - with out of state plates, no gas gauge, no trailer lights, door doesnt open etc. Not the best ride in the world, but I am only going 30 miles, what could go wrong? Now about 4:30am, I woke my Lady love, and asked if she would like to go fishing with me until it was time for her to go to work...she wasn't real impressed with the idea, being awakened 3 hours before the alarm clock, or the opportunity to ride in a real Texas work truck - she voted we spend the morning in bed, and snuggle and chat... I pouted, and eventually "won" the arguement. So, after packing her work clothes, getting her fishing equipment, finding a light, hooking up the truck, etc, and "winning" the arguement, we finally got on the road around 6am - but it's getting light later, so I could still get to see the dawn from the river... famous last words. Since sweetie had given in and come with me, I decided to be more considerate and take her to a place closer to her work to fish for a couple of hours - nice little spot I had never been to before, just driven by. When we arrived, there were lots of trucks and trailers at a spot in the backwater i had never noticed - new equals good, right? So I whip the truck into the field, and backed it into the water, where I discovered NO ONE else had done so due to the numerous stumps in the water, the very soft mud, and I also discovered about 10 min later that the reason all those trucks were there was that it was the overflow parking lot for the REAL boat ramp up the road 2 miles - and today things were overflowed because everyone was up for the opening weekend of duck season ie, they all had guns shooting at ducks, trees, boats or whatever, and I had a fishing rod and a stuck truck. My sweetie hadn't said a cross word yet, and she tried to help me get the truck out of the hole - but between the stumps in the water, the mud and the boat, we weren't coming out. Super Tex again puts on his thinking hat, and decides to go ahead and unload the boat, lighten the load dont you know. So I did, and after I pushed out into the current, I remembered what I had forgotten at home - the drainage plug was still out, and while it drains fine on land, it leaves something to be desired when you are in the middle of a swamp, having guns go off on all sides, your truck stuck, no phone, and sweetie becoming a mite tiffed with your great ideas.... So I tried to pole over to the bank - remember I mentioned stumps? A bunch of stumps? and its sinemet time now, so my hands are a tad shaky trying to put the plug back in....so sweetie tries to pull me in, and goes up to her knees in the water - and Super Tex had NOT packed extra socks or shoes for her... When I finally got the boat to shore, I got out to get the truck unstuck, only to find out that the battery had gone dead - no problem, I have a trolling motor.... no wrenches, screwdrivers, nada, but I do have another battery....did me about as much good as the plug had when it was in the front of the boat (so I wouldn't forget to put it in). I finally got the truck started, and went to drive sweetie to call in and say she would be a little late, when I discovered that all that reversing and spinning had emptied the clutch reservoir - so I was stuck in grannie gear, still 20 miles or so from her work, if she wanted to work in wet shoes..... This is when I told sweetie I changed my mine, and would LOVE to spend the morning in bed... she wasn't too keen on the idea by now. She didn't get to work, but she did forgive me (I hope the roses, candy, poems etc I am getting will hasten the forget process too) and she ended up catching the biggest bass which also helped. Tim, the above is all true, and I do hope you find some humor in it. This list has been a god-send to me, and I know it can do wonderful things for you and your family, if you will let it. Thank you on my behalf for the work you are doing to find a cure for this damn disease, and please stick around. Sincerely yours Bob aka Tex Armentrout, CEA-AG retired (county extension agent, dx98/age41/ agriculture) 102A Syverson Dr Westby Wi 54667 608-634-6491 _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at http://profiles.msn.com.