Oh, yeah. I just realized that the neighbor of the friend of a co-workers third cousin -- the one who lives in LA? -- had either this or something sort of like it. Well, the doctor there recommended surgery and the poor guy, who went in for the removal of this arachnophobia or whatever this thing is called, ended up being having a capilliatomy! I mean, a total one! Everything was removed. And it didn't cure the problem! He still had it! His own doctor, who had gone to the best schools matchbook covers can advertise, gave up on him and said that he'd never play either the bassoon OR the gutbucket again, that in fact the guy would never again be able to do honest work at all. Well, of course this shook the poor guy up a lot and he resolved to beat this thing. He sat around in a circle all by himself, grunting and groaning as he concentrated on repairing the damage done by the surgery. And he overcame it! He has a wonderful head of hair! Of course, he still couldn't do honest work, so he took up the fiddle and now works at Renfairs and folk festivals and various bars, but he's the same as he ever was before, almost as mentally competent again as he ever was before this awful experience.

So don't worry about it. Besides, fiddles are played with the fingers and hands, not the brain, so they're operating on something fiddlers don't need anyway.

Seriously, I think I'll send you something that will help. It helps lots of folks out here just cope with living in Idaho, so it oughta help a Wyomingette? Wyomingite? Wyomingan? whatever they call them folks get over a simple thing like this operation.

Mike