Once again, the circle of life comes full swing here at Pendragon Hold. One of the two flying squirrels that we adopted, the male Rocky, suddenly and inexplicably passed away yesterday. He was found huddled at the bottom of their cage and was removed to a warmed box with soft towels, but having no idea what ailed him, we could only wait it out, and he expired quietly. Only the Gods know why they choose to call him to summerland, but as always, they have the last word on that subject. This afternoon he will receive the same send-off all our late animal friends have granted. Merry Part, Rocky!

Rocky's erstwhile mate, Natasha, never really seemed to get along with Rocky as well as we would have hoped, and I doubt that they ever had or ever would have mated, so she is left alone now. We can only hope we did not misunderstand their relationship and she does not pass on shortly behind him with a broken heart. Yes, I have entertained the idea of releasing her to "the wild", but I don't think she's had any experience in that regard and would probably fall prey rapidly to anything predatory that exists in the vicinity, if not dying of starvation for never having been taught by wild parents to forage properly. So, she remains with us, where at least she is safe and VERY well fed.

Having won some sort of bonus having to do with her job and her union, the Not-So-Evil-yet-Very-Wicked-Twin has treated herself to a new tattoo, which turned out pretty good in my opinion. She is even going to treat THE Wife to one of her own, and the Head Witch is busy researching the perfect art to adorn her backside with. With something so permanent, it's not an easy choice to make.

If I wasn't so damn allergic to pain myself, I would probably break down and finally get one, but perhaps when I retire and no longer have to face the specter of drug tests, I might self-medicate myself and get one then.





OK, I have been proven wrong, and the Mars Phoenix lander is safely down on the surface of the Red Planet after making a several million mile hole in one. So, tell me, why couldn't the good folks at JPL have sent one of those "ever-ready bunny" rovers to rove on over to the landing site and actually give us live coverage of that lander coming down? Now THAT would have been video to end all video!



Wouldn't it be ironic, though, if in a century or so, the only evidence of intelligent life in this solar system ends up being two hardy little Mars rovers searching diligently for life?