Raymond is one of our shelter guys, named after where he was found - Raymond, NH. He had a small problem when he was turned into us by his finder - he nips, but has really improved and will be looking for a home real soon. Anyway, Ray loves our ceramic tile kitchen floor. It measures nearly 18 feet of continuous tile. When it's his and his buddies' time for play, he starts at one end of the kitchen. His nails start skritching the tile as his legs come up to full speed, but he's not moving anywhere. "S c r i t c h, scritch, scritchscritchscritch - Zoom" as the pads finally find a grip and propel him across the tile. About three-quarters of the way across, after a 180 degree spin, he begins reversing power - "schriiiiiiich - thump" as he bangs against the wall. In the process of rebounding, his paws get up to speed for the run back in the opposite direction. Today he made the circuit twice and was in the process of rebounding for the third run when Joan called to him:"Ray, quit fooling around. Do you want some treats or don't you?" The treat cabinet is halfway back on his run, so a little way after gaining full speed, he begins braking for a stop in front of the cabinet. Just to show off, he attempts to do a sit-up before coming to a complete, sliding stop. Ray does great at first, but his smooth bottom doesn't quite grip the tile and he goes all the way over on his back into a literal tail spin, into the treat plate sending him, treats and plate crashing into the cabinet. Undaunted, he scrambled back to Joan and sits up for his treats, waiting patiently for Joan to quit laughing. Ray is a nut case. Dick B. [Posted in FML issue 1857]