Quoth the Raven

Dr Barbara Deeb - an extraordinary person

 

Sometimes people come into our lives and make it just a little brighter. You know the type, the special kind of person that leaves an impression, their mark on an individual, on a community, or even in the greater country/world they live in. The one person that makes you forget about all that is wrong in this world. 

Dr Barbara Deeb was this kind of person. She gave of her time, and her talents, and asked for very little in return.

Joel and I first met Dr Deeb around December 2000, not long after moving to Seattle, WA from Sydney, Australia. We had our furry friend Zonk (the ferret) who was in desperate need of a teeth cleaning. I called a couple of vets and was surprised by the cost for teeth cleaning. I also wanted to find someone who had expertise in dealing with ferrets. I just happened get in contact with Allpet Clinic in Shoreline which was owned and managed by Dr. Deeb.

She was the one Zonk dug his teeth into before, and after the first teeth cleaning procedure, and the one that was still happy to see him again, and again, and again.

Dr Deeb was the one who diagnosed Zonk with cancer; and she was the one who shared our pain with his loss. She was the one who would give us that certain mischievous smile every time we entered her clinic with yet another ferret.

Dr Deeb was a woman of few words, but she had a huge heart, and had a connection to every animal that entered her clinic. This month, while taking Ziggy for his monthly lupron injection we were informed that Dr Deeb passed away on May 9, 2005. We will miss her greatly.

Only a few of her Accomplishments :

· First known to us rabbit lovers for her research on Pasteurella  multocida. Because of her work, rabbits who used to be routinely euthanized or allowed to die untreated, can now survive for years on antibiotics which can control this bacteria.

· Founded Sound Diagnostics Lab in 1996. This lab tests for Pasteurella multocida, E. cuniculi, rabbit syphillis & tyzzers and supplies test results to veterinarians across the US helping them to correctly diagnose these diseases.

· Spoke at the House Rabbit Society Veterinary Conference in 1997. Presented numerous papers on ferret & rabbit medicine at a variety of other veterinary conferences and was looking forward to speaking at ICE (International Conference on Exotics) at the end of this month.

· Contributed Chapters to several veterinary books on rabbits & ferrets. The latest was the current edition of Ferrets, Rabbits and Rodents: Clinical Medicine and Surgery

Bored, Bored, Bored

That's me and that is what I'm feeling.

It is only Tuesday and already the week has been too long.

I did my first volunteer shift with the Domestic Violence Victim support unit last Sunday evening, which could attribute to my lethargy today. My shift was from 7pm to midnight and I have to admit that I am not as young as I used to be? Nor do I want to be. I enjoy getting to bed early in order to get my beauty sleep, and who doesn't need that.

Unfortunately, we didn't get one single call out to assist any victims of domestic violence, which is really a good thing if you happen to be the intended victim. So my partner and I drove around to the different precincts, and checked for any reports that we needed to followed up on. Nothing. So we got back in the car and just kept driving. It would be nice to think that on sunday night the city was living domestic violence free, but I am more likely to think that it is happening but no one was reporting it.

So by the time the shift ended, and I was home in my cosy bed, it was after 1am. For someone who starts work at 7am, this is way too late! Admittedly, I did pretty well. I woke up before the alarm went off, and felt great until around 2pm....then it was all downhill.

I wish I could say I was in bed at 7pm that evening but I had homework to finish, and an exam to study for, and we met up with a friend for an hour. So by 10.30 I was totally exhausted, which seems to describe my daily existence, of late.

So for now it is good bye, and good night.

Attack of the Killer Ants

So maybe they aren't killer ants, and maybe they aren't even attacking me, but they are certainly pissing me off a great deal!

If you haven't already guessed it - we have an ant problem in our house.

A couple of months ago they invaded our kitchen and it took me a whole week of constant cleaning to get rid of them. Cleaning, spraying, and wiping away their little ant carcasses.

I must admit that I did begin to feel quite like the God of my little community. There they are minding their own business, going about the daily chore of building their communities and collecting food for the winter...then here comes God (me) and I wipe out the whole city because they crossed the border into my land.

Maybe the God analogy doesn't really work. I don't really believe that God is up there looking down on us, just waiting for mankind to screw up so he can wipe us out. No, that is more like the actions of a wicked President.

So I devasted the community the first time only to find that they are slowly, ever so quietly, invading my home. Last week I noticed a couple creeping around my bedroom. Why would they hang around my bedroom? And no, I don't have a little food stash under the bed. Last night I found them in the study creeping around my computer? Strange behaviour for ants, don't you think. I also saw 2 little guys walking over my books on my bedside table. Maybe these ants are of the literary variety?

I saw a little trail of them wandering around my husbands desk, and then some wandering around the bookcase. See, I told you...the literary kind?

I am beginning to feel like millions of ant eyes are watching my every move. No, I am not crazy, or paranoid, I just have a very vivid imagination. I can only imagine what they must be saying to one another "Yeh, look at her, that's the one. She wiped out my family in the massacre of April '05. She's nasty, you definitely don't want to cross her".

Last night I notice a little trail of ants marching across the range hood. I couldn't quite figure out their plan until I opened the cupboard and noticed that the trail ended at a box of cereal, and they proceeded to disappear inside. We hit the jackpot and the box of cereal is no more.

My husband went a little crazy with the ant spray but it seemed to do the job, it also seemed to have an intoxicating effect on us, but at least the ants are dead. Later that evening I wandered into the kitchen to view the devastation, only to find that there were a couple of survivors.

I felt terrible watching the chaos. We had hoped to wipe out the village but our plan failed. I watched as a survivor tried to comfort his buddy. It was too late for his buddy. I am sure he knew it, but it didn't stop him from throwing him over his shoulder and trying to find a safe escape route. I felt horrible. After 5 minutes of watching the behaviour patterns of these clever little guys it was time to call in the big guns. I couldn't let the dying ant suffer so I asked Joel to kill them both. Well, I couldn't let the survivor live, could I? How could he go on knowing that he was one of the few that survived the ambush? To have to live and carry all that guilt, remorse...in the end I do know that in all reality, all that really occurred, is that I disposed of a few ants that happened to wander into my kitchen.

End of story, or is it?

Basia plays the Moore

Tonight Basia appears at the Moore Theatre in Seattle, WA.

Go here to read all about it.

Yet another exam?

Last week I took my first midterm for this quarter and last night the results were in. I was a little nervous as the exam itself was a lot more difficult than even I had anticipated...I can now breathe a sigh of relief...98%.

Yes, I am aware that it is not 100% which is what I would've liked, but what's a girl supposed to do?