Horatio

Too many choices for one meal. I was happy that I limited my selections to only a taste of a few, which ended up being more than I really wanted. It tasted delicious. I have some friends in northern Alabama who I have been trying to get in touch with, but so far have been unsuccessful. There are over one million people without electricity in Alabama. The town my friend's live in, was particularly hard hit by the tornado, so I am anxious to hear from them, to know they are okay.

Tonight I ate in the hotel. It was a really interesting buffett... Indian, Chinese, Mongolian, Japanese, Italian, Mexican and some other food from somewhere I cannot remember. What a mixture of spices and various foods. I had to make sure that I did not eat too much, just a few tastes of some of the more interesting foods.

No, not at all. You are doing outstanding!!! It is just a long process and you are doing fabulously. Perhaps I should FedEx you mine so you can work with them as well and then you can send them back when they are teenagers.

Different airplane with different routes. The B-757 would have routes based in Europe. Short flights... Cologne as the hub, flying to Paris, Tel Aviv, Athens and other such cities around the European area. Frankly, I was getting really, really tired of hearing the tornado sirens. They had been going on for days. More than two or three times per day. I hope your friends are okay. The house is only a structure and it can be replaced. Lives are quite a different matter. Dubai is interesting. Delhi will be interesting. From what the other people who fly here suggest, that you do not leave the hotel compound, for many reasons. Safety being first, but getting "Delhi belly" being second.

*thinks about a picture of Sasha*

Work day flexibility... a big, big plus. I am looking forward to hearing about your solo excursion. The birthday party for your friend's little sister will be a non-stress event. That should be fun.

Okay... an update. I am in Dubai. Interesting city. We arrived at about 05H00 Dubai time and all was fairly quiet. I had a terrific breakfast and now, twelve hours later, I am not thinking about dinner. We leave here about 04H00 the day after tomorrow. It will be great to fly into Delhi in the daylight. My only concern will be the language. Although they speak English, the accents are a little difficult for me. The Paris domicile is out and in it's place is Cologne. There is supposed to be a bid out for this new domicile. I am really considering downgrading from the B-777 down to the B-757 and move to Cologne. This would be a fantastic opportunity and I would love being in Germany. The bid is due out any day, so a decision will have to be made. My senority is such that I would be able to hold a slot in Cologne, I will only have to make a serious decision. The good news is that the flights will be short... none of these sixteen hours in an airplane. The bad news is that I will take a pay cut. A fairly big pay cut to move there as I am changing from a wide-body airplane down to a narrow-body airplane. Big decision. On another note, last night before we departed Memphis, the bad weather hit. We were delayed two hours before flying non-stop from Memphis to Dubai. The tornados were quite destructive and luckily we were able to miss the bad weather. The news reports show the different states and sadly the loss of life. The people who suffered in this bad weather will be in my thoughts, hearts and prayers.

WOW!!! What a success you were with your letter to your manager! I am so impressed!!! Your letter must have been well written and directly on point, so congratulations!!! It sounds like you have made great strides with him and are showing your potential in the special projects. This is outstanding news!!! The interviews sounded like you were exceptional. The new charter school that is opening sounds like the job of your dreams. Lots of young teachers, technological options and science are a great base to start working with. Your Praxis scores and grades were excellent as you worked hard to do a good job, so I am pleased that the Principal noticed and stated this. It sounds like you made a great impression on him. I hope you get the job. Where is this school going to be located? If you get the job, when do you have to start? Would you be able to accept the camp counselor position and be able finish the summer before your duties at the school begin? I am going to assume that you get both positions as things seem quite positive. As for the substitute position, I am not sure why he is concerned, it is not like you are getting hired for a permanent position, you are going to be a substitute. I think you could do a good job, with the older kids, and cannot see any problems arising. You are smart and have a good ability to deal with people, so I believe this would be no problem for you. Hopefully you get all three positions! Did anyone mention when you should be receiving their decisions? Let us hope soon. At least the camp has to be quick so you can prepare to go. Good luck!!!

You are doing great. Remember, she is a baby and does not see well, but the experts say hamsters see shadows and things that move in variants of grey. I think the hamster has a little bit better eyesight as mine know how to hide as soon as I enter the room. They also use scent as an awareness tool, which means that as soon as they smell you, they might run. When you get her to come out, use both hands to start picking her up. You can sort of cup your two hands together and then place her against your body. If you whisper to your hamster they will have a tendency to listen. Their ears are very sensitive. Finding her wheel is really important. Hamsters run four to six miles a night and they really need their wheel. So as long as you can put it far enough away from the side of the cage, and it won't wake your father up, then this will help her get her exercise. Truly, you are doing great with your little Sasha. They take time and lots of effort. Get a small piece of lettuce, and when you get her out of the ball, hold her against your body with one hand and give her the little piece of lettuce with the other hand. She will probably act uninterested, but they love lettuce and when she realizes that this is no trick, she will take it from you. This will begin the process. My two are going through the same thing and are so elusive. In some ways, I think these two have communicated and conspire to play games with me. They jump into their wheels, and when I try to catch one, they run, while the other one will be in their wheel. I go to that cage and that hamster will stand near the hole for the tube, while the other one has returned to the wheel. Grrrrr. Eventually I can catch them, but it gets frustrating and takes quite a while. So, the long of it is, yes, you are doing great with Sasha. Hamsters just take time. Think about training a one to three month old human baby if you were a king kong sized gorilla. Food bribery helps enormously. In addition to lettuce, a small piece of cheese, or a peanut, also works. You will find the food that your hamster prefers. They all like something different. Fresh peppers, carrots, raisins, you will find what she really enjoys.

Leguan... great hearing from you!!! Ouch... having spent money and not having the car last really hurts. I am so sorry to hear this news. I hope your trip to the Great Barrier Reef is outstanding. The reef is supposed to be magnificent. On another note... Paris is out for a crew domicile, but Cologne is in. We are supposed to know this week. Can you tell me about housing and living in your city? I would be there for at least four or five years. Have a great trip to New Zealand.

It just takes time. The blonde girl is not happy with being held. Of course I am working hard to get her into my hand, but she has a mind of her own. The little grey guy does not want to have anything to do with me, but once caught, he is not quite as wiggly and will put up with me for a little bit. They both love the ball and this is great because it gives me the opportunity to work with them. Good luck. It just takes time. Lots and lots of time. The worst part is that when I leave, as babies, they totally forget everything I taught them when I get home and it is almost as if they did not learn anything.

*round of applause* What kind of event? Are you in a restaurant like last time?

Pick her up with both hands, then hold her against your body. Stay close to your cage. Whenever you put her back into her cage, always use both hands and NEVER let her jump. If she jumps, then pick her back up and hold her again and try placing her back into her cage without her jumping. One thing I do is to get the ball, put your hand into the ball and let her try and get onto your hand by moving your hand around in the ball, palm up so that she is forced to get into your palm. This will acquaint her with the smell of your hand. I do this with the ball on my lap and the opening close to my body so that she can not run far if she does slip past you. Have a little piece of lettuce, the tip of a leaf about the size of a fifty-cent piece. She will take this from you. Eventually you will be able to feed her this in the palm of your hand.

Sounds like she is doing great. Remember that she is nocturnal, so you will want to make sure she does not keep everyone up at night, by keeping her cage where the sounds of her wheel are not too disturbing. It got so that I was looking to hear the wheel at night and when I did not, it was too quiet. I tried to take pictures today, but they did not cooperate. Hopefully this evening. *keeps paws crossed*

I would already be under the bed with a white flag waving on a stick.

It may take a little bit before she will eat out of your hand. But keep working on it. As you are able to pet her, this is fantastic. She will come around to you, but remember how you look to her. This giant human staring down at her. It just takes a little bit. You will do great with her.

Yeah... right. No Arkcher is the king of trollers and lurkers.

I must have tuba on the brain. Perhaps Huba for a hamster name... Huba who plays the tuba. Okay... a little dumb, but it is almost one o'clock in the morning.

Oh my... about forty or fifty. I am looking on this website for some scandinavian, norse, greek or possibly Japanese names. Something quite different. For example... Humi. Jesusfreak came up with a good one... Hale. I like that one.

There was only one hamster who would poop in his potty... Hercules. And he had to have two potties... one for poop and one for pee. He would never do both in one potty. Most hamsters can be potty trained to pee in the potty, but the poop... well, don't even bother to try. Look for the wet spot... that will be the area for the potty. This takes time and patience with some hamsters. As for the pieces of carrot, etc., about the size of your first digit on your pinky. That gives you a rough idea os size. Just one little piece. As for the nuts, corn cobbies, other hard treats, when you clean the cage, they can be removed and replaced. They do not go bad.

Great idea about putting your hand in there. No need for the fabric, because she already knows your smell. The wheel... my hammies love those wheel... all night long. She will eat the real food. You just won't see it. In the mix, is real food, combined with fruit, nuts and other good things. As for the treats, she is collecting them and hiding them in the area where she sleeps. Hamsters will collect all the goodies, but they will not always consume only them. They are pretty good about eating food that is good for them as well. Take a little piece of raw carrot, a blueberry, pepper, etc. and place it in her cage in the evening. The next night, remove the remaining piece as it is not a good idea to leave food in the cage that can spoil. A small piece of lettuce, cheese, not velveeta or other processed fake food, is also good. You did great with removing the potty lid. If she continues to sleep in her potty, then remove the potty and place the potty litter where you find her going to the bathroom. If she stops sleeping in the potty, but is going to the bathroom elsewhere in her cage, then pick up the bathroom wet paper and place that in the potty and put the potty over the spot where she goes. Hopefully if you work at this she should be potty trained fairly quickly.

If you ever use the open door policy, check out the state laws regarding recording conversations. If your laws are similar to Tennessee, you are permitted to record the conversation without his knowledge. In Tennessee, our law states that only one person has to know that the encounter is being recorded. So you can record the meeting. This has proven to be an incredible tool when it comes to managers who have a tendency to lie.

You do not go for little pops... you go for the big bangs of pyrotechnics.

Yeah... I guess we should have welcomed you to the real world. Your manager at Wally World is a little too real world.

HAPPY HAMMY EASTER TO EVERYONE!! May everyone have a very great holiday.