Thats probably one of the best explanations I could have asked for. And definately gets the point across. Though I have to say, that flies in the face of the all the 'good practices' that I learned in my CS classes.
eg:

<main program execution>

function
{
  <declare variables>

  <function logic>
}
[download]

I also think you may have gotten the impression that I make everything a global var. That is actually not what I was saying. I use as few globals as possible (except when I make a 10 line script, in which case, well, everything is global)

But, I am always looking to write cleaner code, so I will be sure to pick up the book you recommend.

Thanks again for the thorough response.

--Glenn