Titanic Sadness

The other piece of news that FFF readers need to be up-to-date on the status of Farcical Farm isn’t nearly as cheerful as that about the addition of Fizz.  Two weeks ago Tess came home to find Titan lethargic and in obvious pain.  It was three days before David and I were scheduled to leave Australia, and my last day of work at the Menzies Research Institute.  Tess called around 1:00pm our time (8:00pm PDT) to see what we could suggest.  My friend Cheryl’s dog Zack died of bloat not long after I met her, so I knew the symptoms all too well.  We asked Tess to rush Titan to the emergency after-hours vet about an hour away, and he was going into shock by the time they arrived.  X-rays showed that the situation was dire, and the vet felt it was likely that they would have to euthanize him on the table if we opted for surgery.  We made the hard decision to simply euthanize him, given scenario 1 (euthanasia during surgery, at a cost $3500) versus scenario 2 (surviving surgery to face a long and uncertain convalescence, at a cost of $3500+).  Farcical Farm is much quieter (both figuratively and literally) without him.

Kudos to Tess for her professional handling of this poorly-timed stinker of a situation.  Chances are that Titan was destined bloat sooner or later (huge male dog with quirky eating habits and an anxious temperament), but three days before we got home?  That’s just adding insult to injury.  The Ty guy was truly a great dog, and he is sorely missed by all of us FF.

Getting Fizzical

We're home. There are so many stories to tell, but no clear place to start. Perhaps the news of most interest to FFF readers is that I currently see three horses out of our bedroom window: Tonka, Justin and Fizz. The latter is a 24-year-old mystery mare, formerly owned by Tess. When she came up for sale a few months back Tess wanted to ensure her safety, but couldn't afford a second horse without dangerously stretching her wallet. I offered to buy Fizz and to keep her as a denizen of Farcical Farm until such time that Tess wants to buy her from me, but I already hope that day never comes. She is a love, and you'll be hearing lots about her over the coming posts. Without further ado...

Google Maps Fail

Today we are taking my mother, David's parents and our friend Roger to Strahan, on the wild west coast of Tassie. Last night I tried to double-check the driving time using Google Maps and got this:

It’s a little hard to read, but the basic route is from Hobart, Indiana through the US to Seattle, over to Hawaii, then Japan, then Indonesia, Australia and finally Strahan, Tasmania.  Estimated driving time = 56 days.