Well, I'mmmm Baaaacck!  I decided to come home since I was wasting time in
Kentucky, with no fuzzies to keep me company.  As I'm sure Elizabeth has
related, my wonderful new car couldn't make it to the east coast.  Seems
that when the car was hit by the Fed Ex guy (which pushed us about 6 feet
forward) damage was done to the drive train, and it came apart under the
stress of my carefull freeway driving.  I have been promised the parts will
be in and the car fixed by the 29th.  Grand.  Soooo, they are giving me
another rental car, but I don't have time to go anywhere before classes
start on Monday.  However, I will still do the trip, in part at least, when
my car is fixed, so Julianna and Ron, hang in there and you should see me
soon after the 29th.  I have to go back to get the car anyway.  Seems they
didn't like the idea of towing it back to MO so we could both be in (dare I
say it?), ahem, misery.  My profound apologies to everyone, and you can all
join me in loathing Federal Express.
 
Some fert updates.  As Elizabeth told you, Sandy has an extensive and
infiltrating cancer involving most of her abdominal organs.  Removing it
would have been impossible, so the surgery turned out to only be a look-see
rather than a removal of anything.  She is, for the most part, recovered
from the cutting, and has resumed her previous activity patterns.  From the
extent of the cancer, the guess is she might have maybe the rest of the
year.  I am currently researching the available chemical treatments, but
have yet to decide anything.  I think it is a question of balancing the
degree of discomfort to the lengthening of life, but I do lean toward
chemotherapy.  Any views on the matter?
 
Foster is starting the downhill slide, I'm afraid.  He is 11 years old, soon
to be 12, and is affected severely by arthritis in his rear end.  Over the
summer, his coat has started to look a bit ratty, and I was shocked to
discover he is nearly blind in both eyes.  The poor guy can hardly walk in a
straight line anymore; he sometimes crab-walks because of the lack of
mobility.  I've tried homeopathic treatments for the arthritis, but, as of
yet, nothing has had any effect.  I've heard of a new treatment program for
dogs, and wonder if anyone has any experience with it?  I can relate to the
limping--as I tell Elizabeth, it's not the model year but the mileage.
Still, Foster is alert, happy and aware, and he really appreciates the extra
attention I've been giving him.
 
The four kits are like ping pong balls in a room full of snap-traps.  While
they all think I am a really great guy, and they are right, Carbone in
particular thinks I'm his real-life daddy.  Not only is he the most
breath-takingly beautiful black ferret I've ever seen, but he is already a
lap ferret!  I've *never* seen a kit climb into a lap to fall asleep before.
You are a fantastic mom, Meg!  Jet, Jezabel and Amber are also quite
beautiful, but they are not lap ferret.  Maybe face ferrets.  I had just got
home and my act of setting on the futon was sufficent to send all into a
bouncing, rolling, sprinting, tooth-flashing mass of tube fur, all with some
perverse delight in running up the back of my head.  At one point, Jezabel
(Thanks Pat!) dashed up my belly and chest and bit me right on the end of my
nose!  Not hard, mind you, but still it was hard not to flinch.  Jet saw it
and attacked from above, you know, the top of the head perch, and somehow I
was bit beside my right eye, and now have a minor cut and bruise.  If anyone
asks, it was the cat.
 
All the rest of the ferts are doing fine.  Stella is a bit pushed out of
shape because Carbone is sometimes in her "place" and she lets him know it,
but for the most part, the introductions have been quite minor.  The kids
leave Sandy, Foster and Apollo alone for the most part, and run from Stella
and Bear.  But Moose and Chrys think they have died and done to fert heaven
because they now have someone who is willing to play for hours on end.  Tori
just looks bored.
 
I'm building a new fancy home for the ferts this weekend.  I'm so frustrated
over the car thing, I went to Home Depot and bought gobs of wood and wire,
and tomorrow, I'm reving up the power tools.  Even pulled out the table saw
and dusted it off.  I've got 3/4 inch plywood and 1/2 inch hardware cloth,
so look out!  Its gonna be a multi-level walk-in cage with sunken toilets
and burnished brass poop guards, nest-like sleeping boxes, and a stairway to
treat heaven.  With each nail I pound, I'll be thinking of Fed Ex.  Hum,
maybe I'll calm down if I take extra time painting on the wood sealer....
 
Bob C and the 21 Missouri Carpet Sharks.
[Posted in FML issue 2043]