First of all thank you very much, for your concern, whether expressed on this board, the Help! board, or by e-mail..of which I've had quite a lot.

The only person in all this who has exasperated me is myself. Oldies would know that I have been very insistent about this in the past, and the reason why I have not recently is because I have just not had the time. The truth is that I had let it go for too long, and my poor fellow committee members, who are quite used to the fact that I have the brain of a grasshopper, and usually cope with it very well, were as confused as the rest of you! It is me who should be apologising all round, and so I will, right now. Sorry, all of you.

Sorry for not being clearer more often.

Sorry for losing it... it's me I was angry at, not you. I've nearly forgiven myself.

I have a few thank yous to say, too. Thanks to all of you, for your fascinating postings, whether within the degrees or not. They are all good stuff, and worth reading. Thank you to all the rest of the committee, who spent a considerable part of the week discussing options with me. It was Barb who came up with the three degrees idea which finally cleared the fog- she deserves a medal, I think! (It might even be a good game sometime to play the six degrees of Jane Austen.....)