yes, this was a pretty hair raising situation, and as you know, these kinds of situations can't just be brushed off. it was just too knotty to let ride. but after combing through the responses i got from others here, i was able to detangle my problem.

hey, you started it. and no, i didn't know fridays were bad joke days. i'm going to have to start hanging around on fridays. i'm always good for a bad joke.

seriously, though, thanks for the kind words. you know when you hear most of your life that you and your problems are insignificant, it's difficult to think differently. i am pleasantly surprised at how seriously folks took my dilemma and am happy to be able to report good results.

i've kept it french-braided since then, so i'm not having any problems.

now that that one's out of the way, let me see which one i'll post on next. if the response is anything like this one . . .

we'll see,
tex

<font color=purple>it is only with the heart that one sees rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.</font color=purple>