For all those not affected by IKE: Tally is one of thousands that are having a hard time getting back to any sense of normalcy...We live about a half hour north of Galveston--we had our problems but nothing like those on Galveston and along the coast east of her and many along Galveston Bay---the national news has like dropped coverage and have gone on to other 'news worthy' stories of the day, oh and an election slipping in there also. Please do anything you can...our local officials have really tried to not be dependent on government agencies like FEMA. Good thing, because they REALLY dropped the ball with this large scope disaster! Now when Texas is seeking government help---it is no where in sight. But God forbid another country need help! This affects everyone---because should any type of disaster come to your town---be it natural or some terrorist activity---you better be prepared!!! I'm sorry, I will get off my soapbox right now, but please, especially as we are getting into the holiday season---many people need your help--many people like you and me---and Tally!!! Our prayers are with you Tally!!! And hopefully anyone with some extras (plants...) can help you out!!! ~Mary Jane

There are 3 scary events that can happen when generators are improperly used. 1) Some people don't seem to understand that generators have gasoline engines and are not for use INSIDE. Children, can you say, 'Carbon Monoxide poisoning?' 2) Failure to turn the main circuit breaker OFF means that if the power comes back on while the generator is in use, the generator is toast -- literally. 3) Even worse, if the main breaker isn't off, the lineman on the pole (in the bucket truck these days) down the road may be toast, literally. He's up there secure in the belief that the power is off coming from the substation, and some idiot who doesn't know how to properly use a generator sends electricity back down the wires from the other direction -- it's a two way street! I'm sure everybody here who might use a generator knows all this. DH always checks behind me if I'm the one to pull the main breaker, just to be doubly sure. There's a lecture that goes with starting the generator, LOL, and a protocol for plugging and disconnecting things. We don't have a generator big enough to run the A/C or use the water heater. Nell

Just wanted to let everyone know that we did, in fact, put a guardian generator next to our new house. It is a 16 kw powered by natural gas. Since we use gas for our dryer and stove the generator can basically power the rest of the house. Our electrician wired it directly into the breaker box, so when it comes on the transfer switch disconnects from the grid and you can run the circuits you want in the b-box. I have test run it and it handles the freezer, fridge, lights and the central air conditioner (3 ton unit). Our house never lost gas during Camille, Frederick, Elena, Georges or Katrina. It's always a possibility but I feel pretty confident on this score. At current prices it costs about 2-3 dollars an hour to run. Not cheap, but believe me, after Katrina I would have paid a lot more than that for a cool place to stay and some lights. Once installed you set it to test run once a week. I ran mine for several hours under no load, then light load, medium load, and full load. Once you've done that you change the oil and button her up. I will change the oil at the beginning of each hurricane season and have already purchased enough filters for 20 days worth of running. They got the power back here after 14 days in Katrina, so that should be enough. Access for changing oil is a snap and I've stored the wrenches necessary in the enclosure. It is very quiet when test running, much louder under load. I would suggest buying online--we saved quite a bit on the purchase price. It is much easier to install one of these with new construction--but a good electrician should be able to install one in an older house without too much trouble. For what its worth.......................

I do feral cat rescue; my most recent aquisition (more than two years ago) had been severely injured by an animal (possibly a raccoon) in addition to having acquired a tumor in his inner ear by the time he appeared, half-dead, in my barn. I had the ear surgically debrided and was thinking he might eventually be a candidate for adopotion when one day I went out to the holding room and noticed what at first I thought was a rat-sized black animal one the floor. (Newly rescued ferals can't live inside with my permanent cats until they are tamed-down and ready for adoption, so they live in a special, heated, space in the former bulk-tank room.) I was stunned when I discovered that the black furry thing was actually two-thirds of his tail that had simply been so badly injured that it lost circulation and died and finally fell off. The stump required a bit more surgery to clean and close up, but he healed quite nicely and now he's my all-black, chatterbox "bob" cat. I hope your cat was previously vaccinated for rabies and that the vet has given him a booster if there's any chance he might have been injured in a fight with a wild animal. If you can figure out how to turn Ralphie into an indoor cat, you will be doing him - and yourself and your wallet - a big favor. You can also consider having the cats out every day, but under your supervision. They will adapt quite well to a regimen like that. Some of mine go out like that. I live on a farm, way off the road, but there are still too many dangerous things about to allow complete freedom, even for these formerly wild-living cats. When I first moved out here almost 25 years ago I inherited a gang of about 30 barn cats who lived outdoors in the dairy barns. The attrition for even spayed/neutered, well looked-after, quite beloved outdoor barn cats was too high for me. I lost several to coyotes, one to an owl, all of the remainder became FIV+ from exposure to feral cats, some simply disappeared and only a few of those, even after weeks of desperate searching, were ever found alive again, and then there was a steady run of fights with raccoons, porcupines, stray dogs, etc. Not to mention the constant need for Frontline to ward off ticks being brought into the house. After few years of regular tragedies - and huge vet bills - I switched the remaining ones to all-indoor living and for that reason even though they had FIV, they lived to be 15-18 years old. After all of the first lot had died I decided that I wouldn't consider keeping any more outdoor cats. I have contemplated fencing off about 6 or 8 acres immediately around the house and barns, but even then I think that letting them out w/o observation would always be a risk as cats are so agile and a fence would be little barrier unless it was capped. Now I walk with them in smaller groups, or have a couple out with me when I'm in the gardens or barns. But I no longer just turn 'em loose to go where they will. Cats are also very hard on the native populations of wild birds and small mammals and reptiles and amphibians. While it's a benefit to me, an avid gardener, to have them catch voles all day long, it comes at the price of them also killing snakes, frogs, birds, etc., which is too much by-catch for me. Cats, after all, are a human-modulated, non-native species. I'm sorry everyones' tempers were frayed during the vet visit. However I think your assumption is incorrect that anyone with more than a few cats is by definition a hoarder. I happen to have 10 indoor cats at present, all excellently cared-for, well-vetted, all spayed or neutered, etc. In my case I will take animals that can't be adopted for physical or behavioral reasons (for instance I have an inveterate and serious biter who wouldn't be alive today if I wasn't willing to handle him, albeit very carefully). I am definitely NOT a hoarder, which to me is someone who takes in more cats than they can care for, particularly when they allow them to breed unchecked. Cats who appear here are always neutered or spayed straight away. I hope your cat will continue to recover with no setbacks. Lack of a tail has not slowed down my guy. One of the things pets teach us is to see beyond the surface of things. Ralphie is still Ralphie; you'll see. L.