Virtual Quill

When the mortgage company raised the adjustable monthly rate that Fenton pays on Tree beyond what he could afford, it looked as if he was going to have to drop out of Beige University. The notice was delivered to our college dorm, and the next day we returned home to weigh the options.
Tree was upset, as the details of the mortgage agreement wounded her pride. She was even less happy at the prospect of having strangers living inside her as renters. Fenton interviewed several prospects, with all of them seeming to have ulterior motives.
Dad came to the rescue with his offer to pay Fenton rent if Tree would house the Hare-Link servers. This did several things. First, moving the servers out of the basement office means more room to expand. Second, it means his future son-in-law stays in college. Third, Dad now has a landlord for storage space that he knows he can rely on.
The interesting thing is the trust that Dad now has in Tree. Even though the Hare-Link systems would be separate from her wiring, she'll control the interior environment on which the servers depend. I don't blame Dad for his initial suspicions; after all, it was me who removed the rotten wood that made her a threat at first. But now I'm glad to see that she's won him over.

Fenton and I went home for the weekend, much to Tree's pleasure. She gets lonely, especially with all the deciduous trees going dormant around her.
After Fenton had a home flea dip, Tree actually brought up the subject of future children that Fenton and I might produce. We've given it considerable thought as well, but even with my genetic expertise I have no idea what our combined DNA might produce. Everyone seems to think we'd create flying hedgehogs, but in truth that's just a guess. My children might just be bats who roll into balls instead of fly.
The union of George and Danielle, a fennec and a rabbit, produced Francis, a mammal with no known species classification. Dad and Kell created Coney, a bunny with a wolf's digestive tract. The marriages in the Interspecies Support Group have produced other unique combinations, but there's no real trend emerging. The sample is too small.
Well, I'll let other couples be on the cutting edge. Fenton and I are going to hold off on parenthood for a very long while.

Dad tells me that George Fennec knew all along that he was being used as a daycare option (thanks to his highly sensitive fennec hearing). Fortunately, that was fine with him as long as his official title remained "Hare-Link Co-Owner." Appearances are important to him.
Every morning he, Danielle and Francis arrive at the house and go downstairs to the Hare-Link office. Danielle begins crunching numbers, and Francis begins playing with the toys piled high in George's formerly spotless office. After Coney has her breakfast, Dad brings her downstairs to join them.
George has no formal child care training, and Fiona describes him as a mostly absent father. Yet he seems to having discovered a calling of sorts. Dad says that when he peeks in to check on the three, there's a certain age-appropriate structure to the play. Coney, though just a toddler, is beginning to recognize letters.
One question: If fennecs hear so much better than everyone else and are privy to so many secrets, why aren't more of them as rich as Fiona?

I've got midterms coming up along with several nights of lab work, so my news this week comes from home where Gran and Elanor have traded childcare for running Aby's Auto Repair. This boggles the mind in many different directions, just starting with the idea of those two coexisting in the same room from 9 to 5.
Secondly, Aby is showing a tremendous amount of trust. From what I hear, she was frustrated with her management duties interfering with her actual vehicle maintenance, so she's handing it off to them. I assume she'll keep close watch on their doings, at least at first. They start on Monday.
Meanwhile, Coney and Francis will be cared for by Francis's father George. As Dad has always noted, George never does any productive work at Hare-Link anyway, so this may be for the best for everybody.
Lastly, I usually don't make recommendations for TV shows, CDs, movies, etc. since everyone's tastes are different, and mine are more eclectic than most. I will say, however, that the movie "Across the Universe" does not leave anyone with an undecided reaction. Audience members either love it or hate it. (That split is reflected in the reviews on the herbivore site Rotten Tomatoes.) Go see it; I can guarantee that you won't have neutral feelings afterwards.