Lieber Herrn Fritz Hurd (G) Dear Mr. Fred Hurd, Danke vielmals fuer deine Posten (G) Thanks a lot for your post (to me on the List). The joke in German class, is that the response to "How are you?" or Wie geht es Ihnen?, frquently shortened to just "Wie gehts?, and pronounced as "V Gates" is that the Gates are OK but the hinges are a little loose. Hardie Har Har! Jawohl, enough of this Kraut Konversation, Ja? Lass uns ins Englische schreiben und lesen. (G) Let's write and read in English. You can practice your German language skill by addressing the Berlin, Germany Ferret Club, if they're still around. They are termed, Der Berliner Frettchen Verein. So's you know, das Frett is a ferret and das Frettchen is a little one. Two or more ferrets are die Frette, and you are der Frettchenjaeger. (Ferret person or a ferreter) My request from attendees of the Symposium (Um, Big Speak...a little Indian lingo there) was for a few summaries of what was learned in their own words. To date: nothing, zilch, zero, nada. has come my way. I do wonder why? Is it lethargy, an inconvenience, or horrors! nobody can remember anything that relates to them or their individual ferret. [Moderator's note: There were indeed some responses on the FML. Please let me know if you need copies of the issues you must have missed. BIG] Did they learn how much HOH a Frett consumes per unit time? No. Did they learn how long food transit time is between mouth and anus? Nah. Did they learn how fast a frett can swim? Nein. Did they learn how to effortlessly walk a ferret on a long leash down the street? Nope. Did they learn how to keep a frett's colon clean, pink and healthy? Are you kidding? Did they learn the ratio between the food particle size the ferret swallows and the size of the molecule that makes it through the intestinal villa and into the river of blood? Nope, none of that stuff. And most importantly, in defiance of Robert Koch's postulate, did they understand why a healthy frett cannot be infected with the isolate of coronavirus, infective agent of Epizootic Catarrhal Enteritis (ECE)? Nope. I don't understand that one either. Maybe somebody will explain the violation. Arbeit macht Frei, is a Nazi Horrific of the ilk of Heinrich Himmler, et al, and even unto this day is not forgotten. Nor should it be. True, as you write, little or no other meaning or association is currently used, except as did I. My implication in the use of that phrase is that the physical work(Arbeit) of the frett in digging makes for him a freedom (Frei) from ill health and yields superb muscle tone never seen in any ferret, with the exception of the Black Footed Ferret. In the comparison to the BFF, who is a robust digger (arbiter) enlarging praire dog burrows that provides security and freedom from predators (macht Frei), our domestic frett comes up quite short. It is for this reason that I strongly recommend fret stakeouting in clean, unpacked Good Ole Mother Earth. Bis Wiederschreiben und Wiederlesen, (G) Till we meet again. Frettchenjaeger Edward Lipinski Frettchen Freude [Moderator's note: Edward Lipinski's posting privileges have been revoked for 6 months due to an attempted post (which won't make it to the FML). No further warning was given since it was not the first incident of this nature. BIG] [Posted in FML 5661]