Amos wrote, in part, 22 hours ago:

I have just returned from a loverly weekend in the wilding hills of West Virginia where a clan of song-loving folkies gather to spend the days and evenings swapping songs at a rustic inn called The Brazen Head. A long long drive. But well worth it for the chance to get my fix of people in song. :D

On the 8th of May I will be delving into the unknown as the amazing technology of modern medicine again converges on my mortal shell to tweak and remodel it. This time it will be a robotic surgeon with six arms which will be moving in through six very small incisions to remove my trusty bladder and some auxiliary bits including the seminal vesicles and prostate gland, so that when I awake I will have to re-learn the rare art of urination all anew, but this time en plastique. As far as I can recall I was an average student of micturition in my first training on the course back in the 1940's, and improved steadily to the point where I could write my name in the snow. I am not sure how well that will work with this new system, but the nurse who was trying to coach me on what to expect reassured me cheerfully that I would still be able to point the stream. Preserve the small pleasures, that's what I say.