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The trouble is, I don't know what makes the difference - some days I can do it, some I'm a slob.

It just might not be your fault! Get a blood workup done - there's a 10% chance your thyroid gland is not working up to snuff. If you are of European decent, get checked ASAP. It seems that a low thyroid was a good survival trait in the fridgid north, but in modern life it sucks.

More info at http://www.users.fast.net/~sttaylor/hypothyroid.ht ml

Even if things were as bad as you think, what right do you think you have to doom other people to the abyss of your own despair?!

In response to this mental poison, I offer Possibility Thinking!

I use Fast.net for DSL. They gave me a static IP address and their policy basically said "We don't give a shit what you do with your service, as long as it's not illegal". Of course, this was ~1 year ago, and things may have changed since. I'm not sure they serve the Seattle area.

I've been in your shoes, and my opinion is that it's better to keep it simple, but organized.

I don't like using CVS with nontechnical people who haven't been trrained for it. They are as likely to accidentally overwrite the new version of the doc with the old as they are to save themselves any trouble. So, if you go with CVS, definitely factor in training for everyone.

But, if that won't fly, maybe you should just consider using a plain old network directory, with some careful setup.

Basically, use grouping and network access privileges to give each workgroup their own directory noone else can edit. Each software project has their own subdirectory, and each set of docs for a version of the software a deeper subdirectory. Keep the different versions of the docs totally separate (don't try to be clever and have a shared graphics directory), and archive the old docs in zip files so that nothing gets lost or written over.

That's a start. There is a whole lot more involved in doing this job right: you have to build standardized templates, get the users to enter information for each doc (this can be done easily using a macro that makes them fill out a form when the doc is created), collect that information and set up search tools and indexes.

It's a complicated subject, and that's the short version. If you want to read more, check out my my 16-page Guide to Standardizing and Organizing Documentation. It's not quite where I want it to be yet (second draft but not finished), but I think it might be helpful.

Jon Acheson

Makes me want to go out and get this surgery right now! Except it's not available yet. Still I'm a bit worried about the side effects. At least we don't have to worry about eyeballs collapsing anymore. Until the military starts using this technology on their own pilots and divers, and it gets a lot cheaper, I'm going to hold back.

So very right, but at the same time, so very wrong. In an ideal world, you are perfectly right: a democracy is ruled by the majority(who are presumably right, kind, and just) delegating their powers to representatives(who are presumably even kinder and juster). However, in practice things don't always work out this way. Sometimes, you have what is known as "tyranny of the majority", where the majority uses their democratic power to oppress the minority. The Jim Crow laws that sprang up after the Civil War typify this. Certainly this was pure democracy in action -- the legislators doing what their constituents wanted. These laws, coupled with the resurgence ofThe KKK, made it very uncomfortable to be a political(and, in this case, racial) minority in much of this country for quite a time. Democracy in Action!

However, the founders of the US had thought of this, and set down the Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights is specifically intended to preserve individual liberty, even at the cost of pure majority rule.

Of course, in practice, this hasn't always worked so well (see above). It seems that no matter how many times freedoms are written down, even on real paper, they can be stolen by the government and/or antagonistic fellow citizens.

Only one thing stands between the black sharecropper and the Klan, between the Warsaw Jew and the Nazis, between any oppressed minority and the pogrom. It is the one thing the Jews of the Warsaw Ghetto tried desperately to aquire, the one thing that was immediately taken from free blacks in the South, the one thing that every tyrant fears: a gun.

All too often, in America and elsewhere, personal weapons have meant the difference between liberty and slavery, between life and death. Remember the words of Martin Niemoller: "In Germany they first came for the Communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me, and by that time no one was left to speak up."
Do you think this would have happened if every Communist, Jew, trade unionist, Catholic, and Protestant had had a gun and ammunition? Of course, one of the first things Hitler did was register, and then later confiscate, almost every priately-owned firearm in Germany.

Maybe I'm just another crazy American obsessed with guns. Maybe this time, for real, cross-my-heart-and-hope-to-die, government is really kind and benevolent. Maybe you will put your faith in them, and vote, and hope that this time, they won't take away quite so many of your rights.

And maybe, it will be because you have no other choice.

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Chris B's LASIK Page is an excellent resource on the lasik procedure, and includes info on the procedure itself as well as what to expect as a patient. Enjoy!

Another site with LASIK info is http://www.users.fast.net/~behanna/la sik.html

The basic upshot is that there's about a 75-85 percent chance that your vision will improve to 20/40. Past that, the odds decrease, but are at about 40-60 percent for 20/20 vision. For a list of statistics, go here.

Side effects can include halos around bright lights, starburst effects, and other interesting visual abnormalities. They tend to go away in a few weeks to a few months.

The procedure itself is very quick, and takes about 15 min per eye. For a pretty good description of the procedure, check out this page, about halfway down.

If you do read one page on the subject, let it be this one. This page presents a negative viewpoint on LASIK surgery, with some statistics, problems, etc. I intend to have this done, but I'd still read this to make very sure that you comprehend the risks.

Price can range anywhere from $1200-$2500, depending on the place. The one I'm looking at is about $1650/eye. Most places include "touch-up" procedures (ie, the eye reshaped itself and needs re-lasering) for free in a 1-2 year period. Make sure you check about this.

Most places will allow you to watch a procedure, if you're curious. Might be a smart thing to do.

Another good place for information is the Yahoo! category dealing with the subject. Lots of good links here.

Tsu

check out http://www.users.fast.net/~rod smith/rhjol-fat32.html.