Thought I'd give the old Les-thread a bump with my own brief report. I spoke with Les a couple of days ago. I can "ditto" Sean's report, and would only add that Les isn't relaxing or taking time for himself. He's deep in the throes of a major life problem that I've watched a few friends go through - being the caretaker to aging parents, and what can happen at the end. It isn't pretty, to understate things a bit, in fact it's heartrending. He's almost over the flu now, and is stealing short bursts of time at the workbench, looking forward to returning here with finished results for a lot of people.
The biggest block to his return, however, isn't any of the stuff that's developed this year. It's his new, still-under-warranty computer. Dell is sending him a replacement card of some sort; it sounds like he may have had a bad memory card. But until he gets it running, he's offline. He REALLY missed Spooktacular, not just in the emotional sense, y'know?
So, good word is, he's progressing on the paints. Bad word is, the end isn't really in sight. When it comes it may come abruptly, without warning; it may come with the arrival of a memory card and the discovery of the right facility to take care of his mom. We could have him back among us very suddenly. But right now there's no way to say when that might happen. Until then, he misses the gang.