This post breaks my virginity to the ORG version of the mailing list. I am strangely satisfied. ;-) Well done, Bill! Your dedication to the FML is simply outstanding! However, I have to say that you are one strange masochist! For every post that ticks off one or more FML factions, you must read ten or more. And yet, you never say anything bad, mad, or negative. If I didn't know you enjoyed the occasional brew, I would accuse you of being the "Amish of the Internet." But, I have finally decided the reason is brain damage from falling asleep all those nights working on the FML and banging your head against the keyboard! Seriously Bill, well done!! OCTOBER-NOVEMBER: I will be attending the Ferret Symposium in Holland at the end of October. Dr. Susan Brown will also be there and I am more excited about hearing her speak than traveling! I strongly encourage all of our European ferret friends to attend this outstanding symposium (even though I am speaking as well -- don't hold it against them). Get everything you need to know about the symposium at [http://www.frettensymposium.nl/]. For those of you who have not had the chance to know Dr. Brown, or to hear her talk, she is phenomenal! Dr. Hanneke Moorman-Roest, who has perhaps the absolute best exam room for ferrets that I have ever seen (dedicated JUST for ferrets), will likewise be speaking. Dr. Nico Schoemaker, on the leading edge of knowledge about ferret adrenal problems, will give a presentation. There are so many brains at the table between Drs. Brown, Moorman-Roest, and Schoemaker, that I only hope some will rub off on me. I'll probably go crazy and just toss stuff at the audience.... After the symposium and a short bout of "window shopping" in Amsterdam, I will be heading off for some more museum work in France, Germany, and (hopefully) Scotland. I'll have all those plans finalized at the end of the week. If anyone in France, Germany, or Scotland would like me to stop and say hello, I am open to the opportunity to meet your ferrets. Please email me privately. JANUARY: I have been invited to speak at the North American Veterinary Conference in mid-January. I guess its the largest vet conference in North America and I'll present four 50-minute sessions, however, the reason I am mentioning it is because I'll be able to stop and talk at least once on my way out and my way back. I have to be in Orlando on January 12 and I will leave on the 18th. This is a first-asked, first accepted invitation to groups of 5 or more, with only a single stop going to Florida, and a single one returning. Don't worry too much if you are not on a direct path between Columbia MO and Orlando FL; if the distance is reasonable, I'll make the turn. LATER IN 2007: I will be doing some ferret research of outstanding value to the ferret community and I am so excited I can hardly breathe. Between the years of research on hundreds of polecat skeletons in museums and the intense inspection of hundreds of pet ferret skeletons, I am near completion of a major treatise on the osteology and odontology of the pet ferret. In order to prove without a doubt that kibble is absolutely responsible to harming ferret teeth, that pet ferrets have little chance of going feral, that periodontal disease in ferrets is a result of the switch from a natural diet, that carbohydrates are responsible for a host of diseases, and many other ferret issues, I have needed to go to New Zealand for some time. It looks like I will finally be able to go. I cannot discuss this any more at this time, but will inform all FML readers more at a later date. PUBLICATIONS: I will have two chapters in Dr. Lewington's 2nd edition, which will be published shortly. There is strong interest in publishing the dental disease work I have been creeping everyone out about, and I should have a couple of papers for peer review by January. After the New Zealand trip, I am looking at between 20-30 publications during the next few years. THANKS I have worked extremely hard to get to the point of publication, but I have a lot of FMLers to thank for their support and help. Many of you have donated pet ferrets to this research, or funds to continue the research, and in February I will have a special gift for you and only you. IF you have ever donated a ferret to me, or funds to continue the research, please email me with a snail mail return address. Also, PLEASE tell me how you would like to be titled or mentioned in the acknowledgements; you will all be mentioned each time a publication comes around, as you richly deserve. There has been so little known about ferrets, the issues I have been working on sometimes require a year or more of specialized study just to understand the problem, and I am a slow and careful worker, so I am sure some of you might have thought the work would never end. I know I have. I am finished with 90% of the dental work, 75% of the skeletal work, and maybe 60-70% of the work on the other issues. I am still in the caboose on a very long train, but the engine has exited the tunnel. ME Thanks to all that have stood by me during my recent throat problems. I have passed my last inspection with flying colors and I assume it will continue. People in Toronto, Columbus, Pittsburgh, and Chicago have all seen and heard me speak since then, and while my throat is still a wee bit weak, I can still talk a CNN newscaster under the table with plenty of vocabulary to spare. Last weekend in Chicago, I talked to the GCFA all day, helped Kim Schilling with an Animals for Awareness event on Sunday (and did a lot of talking), talked with a vet all day Monday, and STILL talked to myself driving home Tuesday. I think I can stop worrying about the pipes. You can too! Still, thanks for all the cards, kind words, and emotional support. Bob C [log in to unmask] [Posted in FML 5398]