Danee wrote:
 
>the estimated cost for UGA to develop a vaccine against ADV.
 ...
>The total cost does sound unreachable - $240,000.00 - until you start
>to break it down.
 
Or to put it another way it is almost exactly the same amount that was
paid to an informant who presented what is currently strongly felt in
many publications and by many experts to be false evidence against a
couple in California in a Homeland Securities legal case that was just
in the news a few days ago.  (Easy to remember because each total was
almost a quarter of a million dollars.)
 
Hmmmmmm.  Let's see, the California Fish and Game is a problem for
ferrets.  Homeland Security is paying before checking.  Hmmmmmmmm...
Anyone at F&G a good target?  ;-)  (Okay, yes, I am entirely joking
about anyone thinking of doing that, but it does give me a wry grin
and a chuckle as a joke.)
 
Re: several money conversations: Money is a funny thing.  Sometimes what
seems like it could be a way to generate money actually costs more than
paying the bills instead with that same money would have cost.  Sometimes
what seems like it should generate money doesn't once the numbers are
honestly considered, and what should not be generating money (including
by taking taxpayer money as above) does make money.  There is nothing
quite like actually keeping a budget book and company books to see where
money actually goes and how that compares to debt and to net (not gross)
profit.  Then when behaviors need changing, change them.  What is needed
and what is desired are so often very different things, but not everyone
is good at telling the difference (a few bouts of imposed starvation due
to money limitations help see the difference if anyone needs a tip).
Pay what is needed first.  Then put some for savings against rainy days.
Then tackle the rest.  Or allow each other a set percentage of
independent fun money that the other person can say nothing about.  In
our house that is 2% of net income for independent fun money.  Desires
can wait and tend to become sweeter for the wait once they are finally
met, or to not have mattered, anyway, after the test of time.  Keep
account books, keep account books, keep account books.  Track the info.
Be brutally honest with yourself instead of letting your desires change
what you see.  See what does not work for you and change it to a working
version or dump it.  (No, I am not advising people to adopt out their
children to save money, no matter the numbers of legs they have.  Their
smiles and kisses and worth a fortune, little money sinks that they are.
LOL!  But managing money more strictly, though a true pain in the
sit-upon, does make it easier to make sure that the care they need can
be afforded.)
 
This is a good way to think about money and a great place to put some
(the portion currently projected that might not get desired corporate
support):
>Then I realized, with about 2,500 members on the FML, that cost for a
>vaccine works out to about $25.00 per FML member for 4 years.  Still
>sound like a lot?  Well, think of it as about $2.00 a month for the
>next 4 years.
 ...
>Or, to really break it down - less then a ten cents a day.
 
As Danee continued in her posts:
>Imagine, for less then ten cents a day, in 4 years there might be a
>vaccine developed that could protect ferrets from ADV.  Anyone wanting
>to donate to this should send checks made out to "The Arch Foundation"
>and with either "ADV Research" or "ADV Fund" written on the notations
>line to the following address:
>
>            Kate Pennick, Research Tech III
>            Dept. of Pathology -- Room 148
>            UGA College of Vet Med
>            Athens, GA 30602-7388
 
How many people spend more than $25 a year for ferret costumes, or other
non-essentials?
 
-- Sukie (not a vet, and not speaking for any of the below in my
private posts)
Recommended health resources to help ferrets and the people who love
them:
Ferret Health List
http://www.smartgroups.com/groups/ferrethealth
FHL Archives
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/
AFIP Ferret Pathology
http://www.afip.org/ferrets/index.html
Miamiferrets
http://www.miamiferret.org/fhc/
International Ferret Congress Critical References
http://www.ferretcongress.org
[Posted in FML issue 5212]