Dear All!

Kat...I took the troublr to pack a little something in my bag knowing I would probably have to tootle a few cobras...this is far preferable to trying to blow up their asses! (though I suppose I COULD try tootling up their asses...that might be a world first and would certainly out-Spaw the below-mentioned Spaw!)

Letty...I thought about that and was very nearly tempted to bring my banjo. But like nearly everyone else in the world I thought they might take exception to a long handled egg slicer so thought better of it.

Noreen...I'm teaching biology (as much as I can in three weeks ranging from basic form and function (someone else already did all the biochemistry-type bits), through ecological systems, food chains and trophic levels (such as we have here in Mudcat with the bottom feeders and all that sometimes...) through to plant and medical biotechnology and nanotechnology. Language is one of the main problems but I luckily have a charming Tibetan PhD-level biologist assisting me. No the real main problem is the different conceptual frameworks west and east approach problems from but fortunately I prepared with that in mind. Haven't sold any microscopes but I gave a few to the project and their mad about them!

Thanks CarolC...your good thoughts, as always, are much appreciated and I'll be certainly posting more over the next few weeks and will put up a section about the trip on my site when I get back.

Suzanne, are you trying to gret the right side of me or what! Really, thanks a very kind thing to say but I DO hope to comre back more serene (and enlightened perhaps as I have managed to persuade two very senior monks to give me an intensive personal course of the philosophy and practice underlying meditation which I already try to do in a humble sort of way.

'Spaw...so already having ruined my life once you're trying to do it again! I swear I'll throttle that Thile character if I ever see him for setting my mando playing back 40 years! Great stuff! I'll send a message to Lady McMoo to preorder it for me!

Right...now where's my cobra tootler (a new line for the makers of the Aussie-Amish moustache tuner 'Spaw?)!

Peace to all

mooman (tootle, tootle...ouch..you nasty little snake, that hurt!)