SW> Having mail problems, so you may see this 3 times or not at all. I give
SW> up after this. :)

SW> Looks like you're heading towards:

SW>   def getschomp
SW>     gets ? $_.chomp : nil
SW>   end

I just got one copy of this message :-)

yes, something like that, but that doesn't chomp the line either.

I'm mainly curious why things are working the way they are.  I have a
feeling I'm missing something fundamental.

thanks,
-joe