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[KeepUp]

Originally Posted by ZOEY

Well, if nothing less, you'll hopefully gain some valuable experience, and prestige.

That's the total for both my wife and I. We're headed to Guam, then to the Philippines for a few weeks of scuba.

Tomorrow we will be taking one of our beloved putty-tats to the vet for the last time. Over the past several months she has been on a steady decline, and last week she quit eating completely. The decision has been horrible, and my chest hurts. One day I think she's doing better...but the next it's worse. It's been an extremely tearful day for me.

On Monday I gave her some subcutaneous IV fluids, which perked her up a bit, but she still wouldn't eat. The thought of putting her down too early is going to haunt me for a long time.

To add to my woes, the real Zoey has cancer, and probably won't be with me through the end of the year.

Sorry, probably more than anyone wants to know.

RIP Boopie. I'll miss you terribly.

Sorry about your cat. One of mine passed a few months ago and it was really difficult. I'm sure shouldering the decision of euthanization compounds the difficulty.

[ZOEY]

Thanks guys. I appreciate the kind words.

It's been a rather tearful day around here for me. I just couldn't get myself to go to the vet with her, so my wife took her.

I leave for Guam & The Philippines in the morning, so I will be AWOL for a while.

Thanks again.

[the_journeyman]

We had made the decision to put out Cougar cat down (huge sand colored tabby) it's such a hard decision. However, he saved us the pain & emotion by passing in the night before he was to go to the vet. Oddest thing about it, my two black cats (brothers) kept watch over his body until we got up.

JM

[terrasmak]

Originally Posted by ZOEY

Thanks guys. I appreciate the kind words.

It's been a rather tearful day around here for me. I just couldn't get myself to go to the vet with her, so my wife took her.

I leave for Guam & The Philippines in the morning, so I will be AWOL for a while.

Thanks again.

That sounds like a fun trip. I take it your going to blow some bubbles while down there.

[ZOEY]

I definitely blew some bubbles. First week was in Cebu, and the following in Dumaguete.

The Philippines is one crazy place, and I'm not just talking about the underwater critters. No stop signs/lights, and spider fighting. All-in-all, it was a great experience.

[the_journeyman]

Spider fighting?

JM

[ZOEY]

Yep, you read that right. They have a string between two sticks that are mounted to a table, and put one spider on each side. The spiders cross the string to the center, and start to battle. The crowd chants "Wrap 'em up, wrap 'em up!"

The winning spider will quickly weave a web around the looser.

The only fight I saw resulted in a tie. Basically, they couldn't get them to do battle.

Naturally, there is betting involved in this "sport".

I forgot to mention the chickens at the security check-in at Dumaguete International Airport

[KeepUp]

Originally Posted by ZOEY

Yep, you read that right. They have a string between two sticks that are mounted to a table, and put one spider on each side. The spiders cross the string to the center, and start to battle. The crowd chants "Wrap 'em up, wrap 'em up!"

The winning spider will quickly weave a web around the looser.

The only fight I saw resulted in a tie. Basically, they couldn't get them to do battle.

Naturally, there is betting involved in this "sport".

I forgot to mention the chickens at the security check-in at Dumaguete International Airport

That sounds like a great trip. What made you choose those locations?

[ZOEY]

Last year we went with a small group of people to Palau and had a blast. Almost all of the divers were either instructors or dive masters (experienced), which means there's no one to really worry about and longer bottom times (newer divers tend to suck down air at a faster rate).

Most of the group decided to go to the Philippines this year, so we tagged along. The trip was organized by one of our local dive shops.

We're considering going to Sipadan, Malaysia next year. The real issue is that these trips aren't cheap, and require a lot of travel time. For the cost of one trip to Asia, I could take multiple trips to the Caribbean. However, the diving isn't nearly as good.

I found it interesting that, in the Philippines, people make somewhere around $7/day. Yet because of the relative cost of goods and services, they can afford to have luxuries such as housekeepers. To give you an idea of pricing, an hour long massage (off resort) cost around $8-$20.