I meant to send this earlier, but something came up at the last minute and I had to put it off a couple of days. I wanted to thank all the people who sent notes regarding my eyes problems. Also, I think I need to clarify (and remark upon) a few rumors regarding my health. First, thank you to everyone who sent the nice get-well notes. They are very much appreciated and I thank you very much. Second, I am NOT dead; I only smell that way. My kids have been begging me to eat onions and garlic and switch to a manure deodorant so I would smell better. Long time FMLer's know I have been fighting a medical problem for years. Finding a diagnosis of that illness was very difficult, but eventually it was diagnosed as a serious autoimmune disorder. The impact of the disease was so severe that -- after several years of denial -- I was forced to take a medical leave from my post-graduate programs (I had retired from photojournalism and went back to school). The disorder causes my immune system to attack connective tissue, so I have had quite a number of surgeries to correct various problems. I have also been on a number of drugs during that time that have had some severe side effects. One of the drugs I was given is normally a very benign agent in most people. Apparently I don't make an enzyme required to break it down, so it caused some very nasty side effects. One of the less serious side effects of that drug has been the sudden onset of acute cataracts. I realized the cataracts were a problem when I processed some film and realized perhaps half of the images were out of focus. The kicker was when Dr. Susan Brown said for the umpteenth time, "Bob, that ferret is a chocolate, not a sandy." My eye doc agreed, so shortly I will have the lenses sucked out of my eyes and replaced with color-corrected plastic ones. No big deal and if I am lucky, I'll be able to toss out the glasses I have worn since high school. You know, back in the stone age when lenses were made out of chipped obsidian. If lucky, I'll just slip into a pair for reading. Ironically, I was on the same drug years ago and had eye-focusing problems, but never made the connection (I knew it was a drug, but not which one). At that time, my daughter Elizabeth would read the FML to me and transcribe some of my posts. Elizabeth is now a married mother ready to give me a second grandson, so her time for reading my computer screen is severely limited (besides, the commute from Illinois is killer). Besides negatively impacting my photography, about the worst problem has been my ability to use the computer (a "glare from the computer screen" thang), so I have been forced to limit computer time. I had to make the Ferret Project a priority, which has made my email responses scarce and short. I also have been forced to stop reading the FML (and my professional mailing lists) for the most part. Driving at night is sometimes interesting, but I have found the reflection in my mirror is so much nicer now. Well, that is far more than I wanted to report, but I have been sent a number of emails with erroneous ideas about my health that needed to be corrected. I am fine. Also, I have been getting flack from friends for becoming a poor emailer and for not posting much on the FML, so I thought a message explaining things would be appropriate. It is just hard to answer emails when the glare from the computer screen makes reading unpleasant. So, have no worries and after I get my new bionic eyes, I am sure I will be able to tolerate the glare from my computer and will be better at answering emails and reading the FML. I hope this answers people's questions. Oh, by the way, did you know ferrets can probably see into the infrared? I was told some interesting tales about it from a professor and I have a copy of the thesis. Bob C [log in to unmask] [Posted in FML 6216]