I'm somewhat harried and distracted in my last few days before embarking on my big trip here, but I have been tipped to the existence of something rather odd that you may find of interest. From reader Sarah W. comes word of this exciting new way to keep your beloved animal friends (or at least their lifeless corpses) with you always: We know first hand how close we all are with our companions, our Pets. When they pass on our loss is that of a family member. Preserving your Pet by Freeze-drying is an effective, sensible and increasingly popular alternative when compared to other options. I assume by other options they mean respectfully burying or cremating and such? I'm not sure what they mean by sensible. My feeling is that if you would find it creepy and wrong to have your grandpa's freeze-dried body curled up in the corner of your living room then perhaps you should apply the same rule of thumb to your German Shephard pal when he passes on. Call me crazy (and while we're on the topic of crazy, if you would not find keeping grandpa's freeze-dried husk as an objet d'art in your home wrong, then...) Though there could be a certain amount of cruel fun to be had with this likely scenario, "Oh hey, Worf is looking a lot better than the last time I visited you guys... hey buddy, how's it goin' Wor--- wait, what the- AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!" You don't have to miss out on the increasingly popular freeze-dried critter craze just because you don't have a freshly deceased pet, though, they'll dry fish and squirrels and whatever up for you. Perhaps a nice turkey head? Why use artificial when you can have the real thing & save money too? Really the more I think about it, this cutting edge technology is going to be a godsend; I don't know about you but my turkey head bills have been outrageous this year.