Ebbie, Mary, Jeri: I thank each of you with all my heart for your thoughtful words of kindness. I didn't mean to cause alarm. I mostly am upset with the passivity shown by most of officialdom in the face of such things as AD. I didn't anticipate you reading so much else between the lines. But then I neglected to reckon with the amount of experience you all have had in doing just that. I think mudcatters are professionals to the n/th in that realm.

Yes, I do worry about AD in my own case. I try to keep up with the current research as much as my dimwitted facility allows. I mostly do that by frequently visiting the web site of the Altzheimer's Association. (www.alz.org). Currently I am interested in research going on at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne in England regarding "The Impact of Stroke in Alzheimer's Disease: Cellular and Molecular Studies" because of my own situation. I was impressed by the University of Kentucky site, Mary. I will use it in the future.

I am an activist, and have been one from the start of my residency here at the Home. I don't cotton well to the follies and vagaries of the bureaucracy so I became perforce a sometimes advocate for veteran's issues as they affect the Home. I guess the Home Administration was of like mind with General Longstreet on the occasion of his infamous utterance, because they eventually invited me 'inside the tent' and now I am a lobbyist on behalf of the Home in its quest for funds to finance an Altzheimer's Unit to house our several members who are needful of specialized care.

Jeri, thank you not only for your encouraging words but also for the swell tip on the tracer thing. How stupid of me not to notice. And also for shaping up my little song to make it stand straight and tall. I couldn't believe how the minute my back was turned, it flopped down and spread all over the place.

And Ebbie, your song was great and so was your advice. By the way, when Wally Hickel was governor of Alaska, I was his Commissioner of Public Works. Public Works included the Division of Aviation, The Marine Highway (ferry system), Division of Waters and Harbors and a few other agencies. We lived in Totem Park, up toward Mendenhall Glacier.

Spud