Dear Stealth, et al,

Some of the people who have written to me asking for assistance are so
far behind the financial power curve that it's difficult for others to
appreciate. At least one correspondent is/was in China. (He vanished
just when things were getting interesting.) Others have been in
India, where disposable income appears to be less of a problem. One
was in Afghanistan, A number in Pakistan.

In most cases they seek explanation of a single term or phrase, the
next most common is those seeing information regarding adhesives,
which lead to a lengthy exchange covering the making & testing of
casein glue.

It is difficult for me to imagine having to make my own glue; more
difficult to imagine riding a bicycle 60 kilometers each way for the
mere CHANCE of getting on the internet to see if I have responded to
his last message.

Language can be a problem, as are perceptions. In most cases I am
wealthy in their terms, whereas we're barely scraping by relative to
American standards.

These people are heros to me. Imagine having to learn another
language, then how to TYPE in that language, then riding 30 miles on a
bicycle to play work-up, hoping to get even a few minutes of computer
access --- then to find I've suffered a medical problem that kept me
away from the computer for several months.

Making acetylene gas the Old Fashioned Way (ie, carbide pellets into a
tank of water). Using 'bicycle tubing' to fabricate a fuselage. Four
bicycle wheels as your landing gear. Having to make your own rib-
stitching needles.

Most of these people are better educated than me, often asking
questions that are far over my head. I am forced to solve problem
empirically -- to make a part then test it to destruction. They do
not have that option; they must do their calculations so that they can
make the thing ONCE... and hope they get it right.

I worry about the glue... and most everything else. I wonder if the
wiser course would be for me to stuff a sock in it; to let them find
another source of information.

-Bob