For the last several months I've been completely absent from Wget development, and from the net in general. Here is why, and the story is not for the faint of heart.
Near the end of July I took a two-week vacation. On August 2nd I found it took an effort to stand up from a sitting position. The next day it was almost impossible to stand up and hard to walk. Furthermore, my hands felt very weak and I got tired easily. The day after that I couldn't stand up at all and walking was very hard. The day after that I was examined by a neurologist and promptly hospitalized. I was diagnosed with Guillain-Barre syndrome, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guillain-Barr%E9_syndrome for details. I was lucky enough to not require the help of a respirator, but I was temporarily paralyzed from the neck down. I was told I would be better and return to normal life in a matter of weeks. However, things went a little slower. After receiving plasma transfer treatment and showing minimum signs of recovery, I was moved to a rehab where I underwent physical therapy. Recovery was slow -- it took months before I could make a single step, and it took more months before I could really walk. I am far from fully recovered, as I still cannot stand up without help, but I am moving forward and hope to achieve full recovery within the year. As of a couple of days ago, I've been online again. Which brings us to Wget. First, I would like to thank Mauro for taking over Wget maintenance and development. For obvious reasons, I was unable to officially resign from my post, and I felt bad about that. Given Mauro's track record on Wget, he is the perfect choice for the maintainer. Even if Mauro stepped down, I don't think I'd be returning as full-time maintainer in the near future, because my schedule will be filled with restoring my health and catching up with my work. However, I'd like to help out with advice, patches, and patch reviews as time permits. Thanks for your understanding.
