A Conversation with Elizabeth
1998
Tue Grit

From:          larry.m.mixeon@bvs.com (LARRY M. MIXSON)
To:            Elizabeth
Date:          Tue, 10 Mar 1998 09:07:46 -0800
Subject:       Re: Tue Grit[1]
 
The sore throat is about the same today. It kept me up last night, I would sleep for about an hour then wake up because of it and have to drink some water, gargle salt water and take aspirin. As a result I never really got into a deep sleep. When I used to get this it would start with the sore throat for two days, three or four days of nasal congestion followed by chest congestion and a week or more cough. The last two years the whole cycle only last about three or four days. I attribute it to my taking DHEA, Melatonin, Enchneia (sp?), extra C and zinc lozenges.
 
I know what the cold sleet like rain can be like for we get a lot of it up here. I really like rainy days, particularly when I can be home, sit in front of the fireplace and read or nap. Actually I went home yesterday right after lunch and slept restlessly for about two hours then got up. It was such a beautiful day, 72 degrees and sunny. I went out and worked in the flower garden. It didn't last though, last night a big wind blew in and it was about 30 degrees when I got up.
 
I remember what it was like to have to put up with the obfuscations of registering and the people you had to deal with. It seems that they make it extra difficult because it gives them some sort of power over you. I remember having to go through it when I was a freshman at UF when they used punched cards. You had to go through one line, tell them what you wanted, they punched a card and then you had to go to another line, give them the card, go to another line and wait for you printout that usually told you that their was a conflict or a class was closed then start over again. Working at the UF computing center I knew the guy that wrote the registration program and he told me about a secret code you could punch in the first column of the card that would override closed out classes and get you in. I then punched up my own card with the override, walked right up to the line and went right though on the first try. Most of the universities up here have on-line registration which you can use the phone or your computer and never have to leave home, a big improvement. (Read story)
 
I missed some of the things you have found in Snow Crash and now want to read it again. I loaned it to a friend and he is a slow reader and says he is still reading it. It has been two months!
 
I found what you said about Fowler's book interesting for we were just at St. Augustine last month. We went to the old fort and I listened to the Ranger tell about how they kept the Indians there. I had not been to the old fort since I was a boy with my parents and it was interesting for as a boy I remember the fort being much larger.
 
I hope that they covered your computer for grit in the keyboard, monitor and computer can reek havoc.
 
Larry

[1] The “Tue Grit” was intentional, a pun on the word “True” with the previous subject being Typos and the day being Tuesday and the movie True Grit.

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