As all of you know, I have been on the road a lot this last six months
and I hate to admit it, but my ferret-related email is so out of control
that I literally have little chance to catch up on it in any reasonable
amount of time.  I don't know what to do; I have hundreds of questions
to sort through and no time left to answer notes from friends.  It is
driving me crazy.  Ok, even more crazy.  If you have sent me a timely
or important message, PLEASE send it again; I've moved all the old mail
into a different folder, so I can concentrate on the new stuff.
 
I really don't like the idea of sending people back to older FML posts
because I might have changed my mind and now endorse a different
position, learned more, or perhaps new information has provided a better
answer.  I've discussed the problem at great length with several close
friends and there is no easy solution.  One suggested I change my name to
Alberto and run off to Europe, making my living photographing overweight
American tourists.  Tempting.  After a lot of thought, I've decided to
break my decade old rule and ACTIVELY participate in the construction of
a web page (I've allowed others to create them in the past, but never
participated in the design or content, and especially in the upkeep).
 
Unfortunately, my knowledge may superficially seem extensive in some
areas, but it is notably shallow in others.  For example, I intimately
know the anatomy and physiology of a woman, but my understanding of
female psychology wouldn't amount to a bead of sweat on an elephant's
behind.  They are a complete mystery to me, which is why the best way I
know of to make a woman dislike me it to tell her that I like her.  One
way I can tell the sex of an anonymous email is if the person is angry
at me it is almost certainly a woman!  I hold the land speed record for
ticking a woman off without having a clue that I am doing it.  Clueless
just doesn't describe my inability to understand women.  Likewise, I
know how to make my Mac work, but I have no idea on how to construct a
web page.  Consequently, I am looking for a couple of volunteers to help
me with the task.  Email me if you are willing to volunteer.
 
Also, I think I might have a partial solution to the problem of trying to
answer so many questions via email.  I am considering having a weekly
Yahoo Messenger session.  I'll do it at different times and days of the
week so people with different time situations can still pick a time to
participate.  Each week will be a different theme.  People can contact me
and I'll invite them into a common area for a group discussion.  My name
on Yahoo Messenger is the same as here (talktobobc), as several people
have already discovered.  I'll try the first one next week on the topic
of diet.  I'll announce day and time when I return from Cincinnati.
 
I will be in Cincinnati this Saturday, and I hope to see many of you
there.  I promise at least one CaCaLand Fish and Gestapo rant while I
am there.
 
Coming back to the subject of traveling around to give talks to groups,
people are already asking I hold specific dates for them next year.  Now
is the time to ask before your date is taken.  My main emphasis this last
year was dental problems in ferrets, notably periodontal disease cause by
a manufactured diet, and extremely worn teeth caused by kibble.  I am not
accepting offers for talks during the month of December, and the reason
is I am using the time to work on the skeletal analysis of post-cranial
bones of ferrets.  I've already done some preliminary work, and it seems
that our pet ferrets have some spectacular skeletal changes due to
several environmental factors, including neutering, diet, caging, and a
lack of exercise.  My friends near Boston got an extremely brief glimpse
of some of this work, including the possibility that early neutering of
males is a major risk factor for later urethral blockages.
 
One or two of these trips is expensive enough, but I've done more than
30 of them this year alone.  That is why I finally made the requirement
that the requesting groups cover gasoline costs.  Still, there were a
couple of groups that couldn't afford even that, and I felt horrible not
accepting their invitations.  So, I have a partial solution.  I will
offer unique ferret-related items on eBay.  By the weekend, I will offer
two different high quality, professionally printed ferret postcards, each
a limited edition printing of only 100 copies.  One is a giant ferret
next to a pony (Montana Cowponies) and the other is a Ferretalope (some
of you at Atlanta saw a version of these postcards printed with a laser
printer, but these new ones are done to post office standards and are of
professional quality).  Later, other postcards, posters, and calendars
will be offered.  ALL, and I mean ALL profits will be used to pay travel
expenses so poorer shelters and clubs don't have to come up with as much
gas money.  My goal is to get as much information into the community as
possible, so buy some postcards and help out a poor shelter endorse an
education day.  I don't have the auction numbers yet, so just run a
search for Montana Cowponies or Ferretalope on Ebay.
 
See you in Cincinnati!
 
Bob C  [log in to unmask]
[Posted in FML issue 5059]