"Tom Littleton" wrote in message
news:Rbnnk.499$EL2.371@trnddc01...

.....hope you have been well.

The season started off well enough. Then I got a letter informing me that
my kidneys had been found in a hotel bathtub somewhere in central Illinesia
and that they did not appear to be much improved by their sojourn in
southern climes. Then I got a letter informing me that my reputation had
been found in a waste receptacle in a transportation hub of some sort
somewhere in northern Europe and that it only hoped to look as good as my
erstwhile organs some day. Meanwhile, I've been testing the proposition
that the content of this newsgroup would rise steeply and steadily (with
regard to both content and literary merit) in my absence. Alas, it looks
like I am no longer needed here.

Wolfgang
on the other hand, it seems that what few members of my once abundant family
remain extant are all in the process of expiring from one or another
lingering and painful malady.