pboae

I haven't been online properly in ages, so I am not even going to attempt to catch up with RMF. Here's some animal pics to make up for it Leather back turtle returning to the sea after laying her eggs A very lovely (and not at all repulsive ) 3-toed sloth called Buttercup, who coudn't be returned to the wild And a red frog, that only lived on one small island in Panama, but will probably be extinct soon because they had just given planning permission for a huge luxury holiday development right over the top of it's habitat.

It's the Purdue research.

There's two seperate things, bloat and torsion. Bloat is when the stomach fills with air and swells, and torsion is when the stomach twists. They usually go together, but not always, and although bloat alone *can* be fatal, torsion is the real killer. The raised bowl debate has been going on for a while, but I still think the Purdue work (who say that raised feeders are worse) is poor research. Bolting food does seem to be a factor, and some dogs will bolt more from a raised feeder because they can, in which case putting something like a large stone or chain in their bowl which they have to eat around can help. Kibble size has also been shown to be a factor, but again that is likely down to speed of eating. On the other hand, stress seems to be a bigger factor than feeding, and anxious, stressy dogs are more likely to bloat. It is largely breed specific, and I've never seen Chesapeakes listed as high risk, if there are any breed specific forums you could ask how common it is. The giveaway symptom of torsion is trying to vomit but not being able to, but not all dogs do it, and even if they do it can be too late by then.

If you are worried, why don't you just book the 79p flight now? Then if it doesn't work out you've not lost much, and you can book the outward leg later. The tax is only a few pound different on singles and returns usually.

I know this goes against everything you are told, but personally, I go for gushing . I once lost a house because I haggled on the offer, we would have saved £2,000 on a £100,00 house, someone else offered asking price and we lost it. Since that I never bother with offers close to asking price. If you can get 10-15% knocked off it's worth trying, but if I've fallen for a house I'm not going to risk missing out for 1%-2% of the price. In the end the decision is are you trying to get a bargain or do you REALLY want that specific house. If I was putting an asking price offer when it's new on the market I would gush and more! Otherwise getting an asking price offer in the first day or two might panic the seller and make them think it is under-priced. If you rave about how you've been waiting for a house in this village, and you'd nearly given up hope on ever finding one, etc etc, they are more likely to believe that you are offering asking price because you are desperate for the house, rather than because they are accidentally selling a bargain. Plus you can still haggle over the price once the survey comes back. We offered asking price on our last flat, and insisted on a lock-out (i.e. no viewings and no marketing) for 2 weeks while we got the mortgage approved in prinicipal, and then taken off the market as soon as we had it. For our current house we actually offered £2k over the asking price as our initial offer, mainly because the market is a bit odd up here and we didn't want to risk it going to bids but also to make sure they knew how much we wanted it. If you are offering asking price anyway, sellers like a buyer to be desperate, because they are less likely to screw them around an pull out half way through. So why not gush and use that to your advantage?

Hmm.. good idea, I will get some tomorrow if he's no better. At least the smell of the sardines is starting to wane, what was I thinking?

Sully still stinks I'm going to have nightmares about this.

Sully found a pile of human poo on our walk, he didn't manage to eat much but he did get it smeared all over his muzzle. I have assaulted him with wet wipes and fed him some sardines to try and mask the smell, but now he smells of poo and sardines. I have banished him to the garden in case he pukes. I think I may be sick

Would it be an abuse of RMF to mention that I am trying to get a short but urgent transport run together for tomorrow?

If it's motivational junk you are after, try www.despair.com unfortunately they don't do fridge magnets, but there's plenty of other stuff. I think this one could be just what you are looking for.

I had a nightmare about stats, I've not had it for years. I needed the results for a report that was already late but the PC just kept spewing out more more and printouts and I couldn't find the page I needed and the paper was building up all round me. My new fridge freezer is here

Elaine, I'm going in to chat now, if you want to chat about SPSS come in and PM me

My post about the walk has gone all pear shaped, I'm soooo hungry my brain has turned to mush.

I'm hungry In the excitement of moving the fridge freezer yesterday (ready for the new one coming on Monday ) I've put the old one the wrong way round so I can't get the door open. and I am feeling too lazy to move it again. RMF: I have to go to work soon.

I'm soooo tired, had a v hard but productive day at work. I will post some pics of the owls in 'other animal chat' if they have turned out OK. I have to work again tomorrow too and there won't even be any owls to soften the blow. It has reminded me why I don't work weekends. Kids in schoolgroups are a doddle, either they all turn into little demons when their parents are around, or it's actually the parents that cause all the trouble. I've also moved the fridge freezer ready for our new one coming on Monday after cleaning all up the disgustingness that has been hiding under the fridge I'm suddenly not very hungry anymore.

Sorry to everyone having tough time today, it took me so long to actually finish the last reply that I missed all the others. Found out today that my friend's cat is v poorly, waiting for the biopsy but it looks like cancer. She is the best cat in all the world. I'm going up tomorrow to see her.

Have you looked at the Implanon implant? It lasts 3 years, though they can take it out sooner if you want kids, but they prefer not to do them if you think you might not want it for the full term cos they are quite expensive. They don't contain oestrogen and I love them. I've been on various ones for years now, and I don't have periods at all on them, which suits me just fine.

Could the deck be pulled up to make a bit of garden if you needed to? My sister doesn't have a proper garden at the moment, and when we stay there it is a major hassle. She has a little patch of yard, but Sully will not pee in it. If he needs a wee at 3am you have to get up and dressed and go out the front with him (there is a grass verge on the main road which will do in an emergency!). Thankfully, he's never had a dodgy tummy there. It would be very difficult for us to stay there if he was on restricted exercise too. So although it's not impossible, it is an added layer of nuisance.

How did you get to the 'shirt goes in the basket' stage?? One of my nails has broken and it all funny shaped I only stopped biting them at Christmas and now I will have a short and nasty nail again.

I can't even begin to catch up with the RMF, I am days behind. We are at my sister's and there's at least 8" snow. I'm trying to decide which option is least likely to lead to an early death: driving in snow, or not going to MiL's as arranged. Had a v strange night out last night. I was driving so I was the only sober one, and in the end some woman out on a hen night was trying to persuade me to give her a lift back to hers with my OH and his mate With hindsight I should have let her take OH, he was paralytic and would have been asleep before she got him upstairs anyway. It would have been easier than trying to get him home in that state. Helly, did your work experience girl ever come back?

I am sooo excited, I've been trying to design something for work for months but I couldn't figure it out. I've just had a brainwave completely out of the blue, and it's going to be easy and cheap too. There must be a catch I've missed

There is an MP3 of Ivor Cutler reading 'Cold Potato' here There are some others on the same site near the bottom of the page.

Ivor Cutler was a genius, he was a poet/singer/comedian/storyteller, and completely and utterly unique. Shhh Nat, don't mention exact numbers, you'll get me into trouble and I won't be allowed to play out anymore. OH will be putting parental controls on my PC at this rate.

I didn't know

I am very tired. I stayed up too late in chat (again), it's all Nat's fault Took Sully to the groomers today, it didn't go to plan. Helly was lovely and her groomer was a star but Sully was a complete brat Then it took me 2 1/2 hours to drive home (it usually takes an hour). I think I might sleep for days.