When they ask you how you are (as they invariably do), tell them!

I have created a character just for this purpose. I can go on at considerable length telling them just exactly how I am. I tell them about my 12 cats, of which I have none, and an assortment of other reworked and fictionalized things I have gathered from years and years of off-hand conversations with members of the public.

When I have the time for it, it's great fun. They are often quite eager to terminate the conversation!

Your background in private investigation should serve you well in that regard, Frank. You probably have a lot of material you can put through the rewrite meatgrinder.

Regards--
Mary Anne