I knew there were magazines for ferret owners; after all, they have at least as many things to share as common knowledge and topics of debate as do cat owners or national geographers. It's just that only this time did I actually stop and look at the cover past the existence of a ferret hanging off the ``Ferret Magazine'' logo. I'm trying to not spend money frivolously, so I didn't pick it up, but the March/April 2007 cover had these teasers on the cover: ``Life As A Truckin' Ferret'' -- which I would have sworn was an old Onion piece, but can you really say there's a dividing line between the Onion and reality?; ``Could Radiation Therapy Help Your Ferret?'' -- I'd hope that if it could it would only be applied to a ferret who was ill in some way, since the thought of a mutant radioactive superpowered ferret rampaging through town would not do anything to help their image as a pet genre; and ``Ferrets Can Help You Save Energy And Money'' -- which, at the risk of sounding grumpy, I kind of doubt. Unless they're trained to run around and turn off superfluous lights or keep the thermostat to a moderate range, I mean. Then I could see it.
It turns out I was too soon in saying I'd probably got my last forwarded mail from Singapore -- I got one from my old insurance company. My insurance from the old job expires the start of April, and now ... I suppose it's really not worth renewing, since I'm paying locally anyway. But it is nice that somebody was thinking of me in an computer generation of letters not requiring a signature.
And I got in the mail today (we were out yesterday, and didn't check the mailbox until this afternoon) a ``Sorry we missed you!'' letter from the post office saying a registered letter was ready for pickup, with sender ``Singapore.'' Romantically, I'd like this to be a letter from my old university saying they've seen the error of their ways and want me back, or else from one of the other schools I'd applied to but not heard from asking me to grace them with my presence. Practically, it's almost certainly tax forms. But I know which way I'd rather have it.
Trivia: By early 1863 there had been 158 commissioners named for the Union Pacific railroad. Source: Empire Express, David Haward Bain.
Currently Reading: The Care and Feeding of Ideas, Bill Backer.