First time I've been here since the reformatting of the page. It's a little easier to operate by and large. Anyway, why am I here today? Well, I'm glad you asked. Got a little housekeeping to take care of, to wit:

Cletis, you have my blanket permission, till rescinded, to reprint anything of mine you wish, as long as you credit me. Use your judgment as to how many pieces you should do this with. This permission does NOT apply to any other site. If you want reprint permission, please ask for it. The reason I've been away for so long, almost 6 months by my count, is that my medical condition has gotten worse. In some regards, however, better. My daily function level is higher, and I am able to remember things better in SOME cases. I have discovered a process in which I must try to "shove" items from short-term memory into long-term memory, where they will be more readily retained. My LTM is pretty much intact - I can remember things that happened 55 years ago - but the STM is in tatters! It's a most unpleasant sensation sometimes. Secondly, my apologies to all the commenters whose comments have sat in the waiting queue for months. I hope I've got them all public now. Thirdly, my diagnosis has changed entirely - I am now suspected of having had a low-level stroke, instead of all that other nonsense like Hashimoto's encephalopathy and fronto-temporal dementia etc. I haven't had a brain scan in over 3 years, and am going to try to get one soon. I just want to know what's going on in there, ya know what I mean? And finally, it's come to my attention that the Republicans have this most disconcerting habit: they WARN us of what they're going to do to the country, but they do it in such a way - so far - that it's hard to tell whether to take them seriously or not.