It is with mixed feelings that I must resign from the Midway Barker position, at least for a few days. i am going to have my eyes fixed, courtesy of an excimer laser, on Friday Morning. I will be hors de forum for a few days, as I am NOT getting the magic version of laser surgery, but am going to have the cornea erased and then the correction will be done. this is actually to correct the corneal problems I have had, which makes this a day I am looking forward to as well as being a bit hesitant. (These are my EYES and I DRIVE for a living!! **BIG SIGH**)

Chuck whose wife has been looking forward to my doing everything for two days in brail, for a LONG TIME . .LOL.

-- Chuck, night driver (rienzoo@en.com), March 03, 1999

Answers

Wow, Chuck that's fantastic. Sure wish I could get something besides specs for advancing age farsightedness, that or arm extentions.

You take care of you. We'll hold your Barker (woof!) position for you,...things wouldn't be the same without ya! We could hire you an apprentice though,....hmmmm....?

-- Donna Barthuley (moment@pacbell.net), March 03, 1999.

Good luck Chuck!

We'll miss you! Be healthy and be back soon!

Diane

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), March 03, 1999.

Chuck, good luck with the surgery, may your sight be keen :-)

Your wife will have to read you Forum threads. The news cycle is too hot not to poke around these days.

Wishing you the best ....

xxxxxxx xxxxxxx xxxxxxx

-- Ashton & Leska in Cascadia (allaha@earthlink.net), March 03, 1999.

Good luck with it Chuck. I have thought about that laser junk but I am too chicken . Keep us posted. :-) Bobbi buzzbyte.com

-- Bobbi (bobbia@slic.com), March 03, 1999.

Chuck, when I had eye surgery I was practically bombarded with visits from my then 7-year old son's friends. How kind and thoughtful of those young kids, I thought! I found out later my son had been charging them 25c each to be grossed out by my terribly bloodshot eyes. Got to have some more surgery sometime this year. What with inflation and all, maybe me an' Sweetie can make some Y2K supply money off the neighbors! Will be thinking of you.

-- One-eyed Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), March 03, 1999.

So like man - don't you get fingerprints all over the screen trying to read this thing in braille?

Are capital letter easier to read? Might explain dieter's diatribes - I'm sure he's using morse code in there someplace.

Good luck to the Mrs. Arnie - she's the one I sympathize with. She'll have to put up with a "bored hubby syndrone" (can't read, can't walk, can't watch TV, can't 'puter, can't work on house chores, can't clean dishes, can't put TP in the attic, can't shovel sidewalks, fold laundry, vaccum the floors, walk the dog, clean turtle cage, clear table ......)

Hmmmmm - oughta get me one of them there operations too.

-- Robert A. Cook, P.E. (Kennesaw, GA) (cook.r@csaatl.com), March 03, 1999.

Chuck: I just had a lens replaced (rt. eye) the day befor Thanksgiving. I to drive for a living, tug boats. Last summer I got the nik-name "sand bar" as I was missing alot of buoys off my starboard side. The day after surgery my eye tested out at 20/25. Just use plenty of the eye drops they will give you. Good Luck...Dennis

-- Dennis S. (souza@ptialaska.net), March 03, 1999.

CHUCK!!!!! DIeTER IS Sad, bUT why oH WHY diD you coNtiNUe to rEAd DIETeR'S postS??????

-- Dieter (questions@toask.com), March 03, 1999.

Chuck, I'll keep you in my prayers for the next few days, especially. Talk to us soon to let us know how it went.

-- Tricia the Canuck (jayles@telusplanet.net), March 03, 1999.

Praying for your quick return to the forum, Chuck. At least the laser is painless (at least it was for me). Good luck and God speed.

-- De (dealton@concentric.net), March 03, 1999.

Sorry Chuck, I ain't buying it. I think this is just some wimpy excuse you've made up to avoid doing your duty.

There is absolutely no reason that you can't get Mrs. NightDriver to read the posts to you and type your responses in for you. Besides you can memorize your huckster lines and bark them out withour needing to see. We'll get one of the trained hyneas hitched up for an assistant to lead you around.

Dereliction of duty is no small thing. Think this over before you decide to wimp out.

-- Greybear, why, back in '41 I had a .........(insert favorite MANLY story)

- Got Eyedrops?

ps, Dominus Vo Biscum

-- Greybear (greybear@home.com), March 03, 1999.

"as I am NOT getting the magic version of laser surgery, but am going to have the cornea erased and then the correction will be done."

hmm....this must be Night Driver's talk-in-code for "I'm getting my old cornea replaced with a new night-vision cornea." Perfect for Y2K! He'll be able to see anyone, read anything without the lights on and no need for oil lamps! Lucky Chucky!! ;-)

Good Luck Chuck!!

-- Chris (catsy@pond.com), March 03, 1999.

Chuck,

FWIW, I think I understand your concern about letting someone with a laser mess with my eyes. . .

I hope that you'll find this somewhat reassuring. My brother is a dental surgeon and his wife is an MD. Through them I have met a lot of doctors socially, and in general, I'm not very impressed. I'm not qualified to judge them medically, and as my brother is fond of saying, "All my patients really know about me is whether I hurt them or not and how much I charge them." In my own experience though, eye doctors stand apart from the general crowd. The ones that I have known have, without exception, been thoughtful and caring individuals and some have been far more. I know one eye surgeon who has adopted a blind boy. I watched another perform cataract surgery on an old salt of my acquaintance who could barely find the door. That same afternoon, he could read my wristwatch! These guys have a technology at their disposal that is truly akin to that of McCoy and Starfleet Medical! Coupled with an above average "humanity quotient", I'd bet that you're in excellent hands.

Be aware that at least one of us from "south of the Red" (as Greybear puts it) will be with you in spirit and I'd bet my last breath that I'll not be alone in that.

Vaya con Dios, amigo.

-- Hardliner (searcher@internet.com), March 03, 1999.

Chuck, the spirit who wafts his intellect and wit, to we poor souls.

May your absence be short and filled with the love expressed on this forum...

Cor ad Cor

-- Charon (Thatplce@below.com), March 03, 1999.

Chuck,

Hope you sail straight through. Everyone will be looking forward to your return.

Ohio native Drew

-- Drew Parkhill/CBN News (y2k@cbn.org), March 03, 1999.

Good luck Chuck. This is my first response since getting settled in the DC area and I trying to see the screen without my bifocals .

MoVe Immediate

-- MVI (vtoc@someplace.com), March 03, 1999.

Bye, Chuck! We'll be thinking of you and saying a prayer.

Welcome back, MVI! How many fingers do you see? :-)

-- Gayla Dunbar (privacy@please.com), March 03, 1999.

Chuck,

Hey, hope everything goes great, and you're back online soon!!!!

You may find yourself going through a bit of withdrawal....

Since you are a Driver, if in case you are not a Teamster, you may in fact know a few so here is a little joke.

Why is the horse the symbol of the Teamsters?

Because a horse can sleep standing up!

Yes, I know it's not that funny. But the Teamsters I know think it is a riot.

BTW Hubby is a Driver/Teamster, he works outrageously hard & has been injured more than once on the job. You guys are really underappreciated, and remember if you don't like the way truckers drive, just don't buy anything they deliver!

-- Deborah, Teamster Wife (who's always threatening to go on strike) (info@wars.com), March 03, 1999.

Be well my freind. It is by Gods grace that we go.

-- Scotty (BLehman202@aol.com), March 03, 1999.

Fingers? what fingers?

MoVe Immediate

-- MVI (vtoc@someplace.com), March 03, 1999.

Gasp, Gayla, it's *Thing!*
Welcome back, MVI !! Are you inducted into a Death March yet? Good to see you again :-)

xxxxxxx xxxxxxx xxxxxxx

-- Ashton & Leska in Cascadia (allaha@earthlink.net), March 03, 1999.