Odds And Ends

What a weird day in the news....   Zahi Hawass, the Egyptian Antiquities Minister, has been fired because of his ties to the Mubarak government.  I know that he liked to do a bit of grand-standing, but both he and the subjects were deserving of attention (at least, in my poor opinion).  ...  A former News of the World reporter, who first blew the whistle on that newspaper's phone hacking scandal, has been found dead in his apartment.  Police are investigating. ...  The head of New Scotland Yard has resigned due to the phone hacking scandal.  ...  In Coronado, California a six-year-old boy fell down the grand staircase of his father's mansion (two days previous); and has now died.  The father's girlfriend has hung herself at the mansion.  ...  A 77-year-old Congressman was visiting his daughter and grandson on their farm in Iowa, when the daughter was attacked by an armed robber inside the home.  The Congressman fought with the gunman, who ran when the grandson grabbed a shotgun.  ...  A 17-year-old in Florida beat his parents to death with a hammer, covered them with towels, locked their bedroom door, and then invited 40 to 60 friends to come over.  They had an all-night party.  ...  One of my neighbors hung himself in his upstairs apartment because the grocery store where he works fired him and he couldn't pay his rent.  ...  Chokie, my next door neighbor, has been informed that her lease will not be renewed (she was given no explanation as to why, when she asked), and has to find a new place by 15 August.  (Does that mean I should start looking around?  My lease ends on 31 December, and Chokie moved in 18 months after I did....)   ...  At least the two-year-old boy who disappeared into a South Dakota corn field showed up unharmed this morning.  His Mom called his name over a loud speaker, and the boy came out into the open, with no apparent harm done.  ...  And a "new study" shows that brain injuries lead to increased dementia as one grows older. Gee, anyone who knows me knows that I sloshed my brain on a regular basis for years - how am I supposed to tell if I'm getting any stranger?

Lovey, Nedi and Mocha are doing very well.  The heat and humidity has been bad, but not as bad as in Wichita, where my cousin Sarah is.  I have the fan running non-stop in the hallway and that helps create a nice movement of air, without it blowing directly upon us.  The kits are spending their nap times on the tile or in the tub.  I walked the red kids this morning, making certain that most of our route was in the shade - plus stopping three times for them to drink water as we trundled along.  We saw Yoshi and Aiko out walking this morning, and Aiko (the Shih Tzu) attacked Remy, just because I was walking with them.  I have to admit that Remy fell over in surprise, rather than barking or snapping back at Aiko. (It was rather funny, actually.)  So now all I have to do is prepare myself for surgery tomorrow, and tidy up the apartment a bit for Kathy.   Then I'm going to finish Mary Stewart's My Brother Michael  and start reading book two of "The Blending."