I apologize for my remark about older ladies. I should have said what I meant instead of maligning an entire sector of the population for having the good fortune of living longer than I have. The pharmacy tech was a prissy old sourpuss who was put out by my asking for a veterinary Rx at closing time and did not seem disposed toward reacting kindly to any explanation I might give her about my "weird" pet. >Perhaps you wrongly think anyone past 50/60 is a bit dense? Absolute not. I will be celebrating my 40th birthday this year and I hope I have more than ten years of lucidity left. My mother will be 80 this year and as I live across the country from her, I phone her at least twice a month to check in and chat. Due to her life experience, she is the person I talk to about politics, economics, cultural diversity, horticulture, wildlife rehab, animal ethics, and soup recipes. My mother regrets that due to her health and the health of her grand ferret, she will never get to meet him in person. When she asked me what exactly a ferret was, I told her they were quite a bit like the baby skunks she hand raised from kits with an eyedropper when their mother was killed at the airport where my father kept his planes. Veda [Posted in FML issue 4446]