Many, many, many e-mailers — sometimes just for this, sometimes prefaced or

appended to posts about Corner threads — have taken the trouble to thank us

ink-stained wretches for keeping them amused, informed, and stirred up

through the past year, and to wish us M**** C********!.

This is very touching, and deeply appreciated. All of us here are way past

the point where we can answer, or even acknowledge, any but a small

proportion of reader e-mails. We read ‘em all, though; and as opportunity

presents, we offer a generic, but very heartfelt THANK YOU to all, as I am

doing here. It’s not just the e-mails, either; we get so much help from

readers on practical matters, especially computer-techie stuff — I am still

mulling over a huge e-mail bag on a networking query I posted in October.

(More on this in the New Year.)

Here is the kind of thing I mean, a reader e-mail that just arrived:

Dear Derb—As a sort of “Thank You” to you and the other NRO staff, I’ve

written a short Christmas poem. Hope y’all have a Merry Christmas and Happy

New Year! BTW, you have permission to publish my name if you want to do so.

Thanks for your considerable contribution to my reading pleasure this year,

both on-line and in NRODT.

– A CHRISTMAS POEM –

CHRISTMAS PRESENT,

CHRISTMAS PAST,

ALL JOINED IN MEM’RY,

ALL GONE SO FAST.

EMPTY BOXES, TIRED EYES,

TUMMIES FULL OF CHRISTMAS PIES.

PUMPKIN, APPLE, CREME AND LIME,

WHAT REMAINS OF CHRISTMASTIME?

CHRISTMAS PRESENT,

CHRISTMAS PAST,

A HAPPY FEAST

WE KNOW WON’T LAST.

BUT AFTER ALL’S

BEEN PUT AWAY,

ONE GIFT REMAINS…

IT GIVES EACH DAY.

MERRY CHRISTMAS,

HAPPY NEW YEAR TOO!

THE GIFT I HAVE

IS A FRIEND LIKE YOU…

**MERRY CHRISTMAS NRO!**

Sincerely,

Paul Hanning