Please EXCUSE ( I should have said PARDON but the cost of pardons is reputed to be escalating)this very belated post to your responses, but I have, perforce, been otherwise engaged in the Real World. It's good to be back. Allow me to offer a general word of thanks to all and some specific replies to Qs and comments.

First, thanks for answering my basic question about "rules". If there had been rules, I wanted to know about them and respect them. Since there seem to be few - and these loosely defined, I shall, as you advised, plough ahead lexlessly and recklessly, and then await your further guidance in whatever form. I hasten to assure that my skin, seasoned elsewhere over some several decades, is the envy of many a battle-scarred old rhino. Ergo, "lay on, McDuff, and damned' be he(she) who first ..."etc. and I shall accordingly feel free to fire off to the E-postles similarly appropriate E-posts and E-pistles of my own.
Next to some specific responses.
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(b)To WWH re: Scribbler,fire at will, but not Will(/b)
Note I do not think the BOLD is working. must be doing it wrong!
No, Dr. Will, I WILL not fire at you. I do hope, however, that you and the others are straight about the concern over the souls of the torpedoes. ILIU (I looked It Up, to be sure.)Admiral Farragut, at Mobile Bay (in the 1860s) said "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!" Years later, Adm. Dewey, entering Manila Bay, undoubtedly said Something but history records no damning of torpedoes. FYI the torpedoes in question were not the self-propelled projectiles used by submarines of WWI and WWII, but were rather mines anchored out of sight slightly below the surface of the water.
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To TSUM
1.Did Scribbler read this? A. Yes, quite obviously.
2. FYI, Your Worthiness, I receive a daily Wordsworth of entertainment from WWFTD and find that the quotidian offerings of WWFTD are always interesting,often magnisonant and sometimes even useful. Thank You!
#. What is "IOW"? A. My guess is that it means "In Other Words". It seems a useful shortcut. As for my "guesses",however, please note that, until set straight by the Board, I had "guessed", from the context, that YART meant "You Already Read This??" Close enough, but no cigar.
4. Q. "Shall we never find Thee out?" CAREL
A. "For everything there is a time, a time to ...etc." Eccles.
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An Epistolary note to Mr. Bingley (On an un-related topic)
-----------------------------------------------------------My dear Mr. Bingley,
Am I mistaken, dear Sir, or do I have the honor of addressing ...... eh, that is to say that, certain evidence suggests .. implies .... Damme, Sir, if , in fact you are he who married .. When was it??? Merciful God! Could it have been, in the wicked warp of Time, two CENTURIES ago? ... Ah, well ...
At all events, dear Sir, I beg pardon for this breach of civility, this undue familiarity, but if you ARE he who took to wife Jane B___, then pray convey to her AND to her dearest sister Lizzy, (Is she yet - and forever!- Lady D__?)the most delightful, high spirited creature who ever graced ... Enough! Enough! A word from you, post restante,and all will be known.
For now, dear Sir, believe me to be ....
Yrs most sincerely & etc.
Scribbler
------------------------------------------------------------- Without seeking to be complete, I close w/ a scattering of thanks to new friends- To Priest and High Priestess, to Mlle Bel and Cara Dea,to His Worthiness and the Captain, Max, Geoff and Alex (behind you, Alex!), to Jo, Jackie & TEd, to Marty, Dr. Will and Splckr and, not least, to Sparteye and to Sparta (Spartan was she ere she saw Troy ) You can, of course,take the girl out of the country, but you cannot take the country.... etc and speaking of Troy,(and Grecian Marathons) "Are these the hips that faced a thousand haunches, and toppled the topless towers of .... ANZAC?" Scribbler, on advice of friends, ploughs ahead fearlessy and awaits further guidance. Proofed and Mutatis mutandis (Unless the Spelchecker screws it up!)