Carole Baskins Diary

Howie Says He Knew I Was The One by Our 4th Date

 

At dinner the other night the subject of love at first sight came up and Howie told everyone (and me for the first time) that he knew I was the woman he had been looking for by the 4th date.

 

I Love to Watch Howie Sleep

 

Dear Howie, Tears of appreciation stream down my face sometimes when I pause in the kitchen, stopped dead in my tracks, by the image of you in the chair. You look so peaceful with the soft afternoon glow of the sun on your face, the cat snoozing in your lap (and purring I imagine). I watch the gentle rise and fall of each breath. I notice the way your hands rest so gently on the arm rests, like the gentle way that you touch me. I see the outline of the cats from Bali behind you and think of the exotic way that make love with me. I wonder what dreamy thoughts fill your mind in this moment of restfulness? How these must contrast to all of the difficult mind stretching tasks that you take on every day to make my life a little better. You are so good to me! So wonderful! I just can’t tell you how happy you make me! - Carole

(Photo is December 2018 and Pearlie is sleeping on top of Howie. I still love to watch him sleep)

 

I've been writing my story since I was able to write, but when the media goes to share it, they only choose the parts that fit their idea of what will generate views.  If I'm going to share my story, it should be the whole story.  The titles are the dates things happened. If you have any interest in who I really am please start at the beginning of this playlist: http://savethecats.org/

 

I know there will be people who take things out of context and try to use them to validate their own misconception, but you have access to the whole story.  My hope is that others will recognize themselves in my words and have the strength to do what is right for themselves and our shared planet.  

 

You can help feed the cats at no cost to you using Amazon Smile!

Visit BigCatRescue.org/Amazon-smile

 

You can see photos, videos and more, updated daily at BigCatRescue.org

 

Check out our main channel at YouTube.com/BigCatRescue

 

Music (if any) from Epidemic Sound (http://www.epidemicsound.com) This video is for entertainment purposes only and is my opinion.

Bailey Bobcat Escaped

My father loves the cats and has dedicated his life to giving them homes that are full of opportunities to use as many of their wild instincts as possible within the confines of a cage.  

 

 

But there is something about his large frame, his shock of white hair, or probably most likely, his ice blue eyes that just freaks some of the cats out.  I think it’s that prey / predator relationship where prey animals almost always have brown eyes and predators often have light colored eyes.  It was painful to see how the cats would hide from him; knowing how much he loved them.

 

On this day there were cage modifications that were being made to Bailey’s cage, so she was locked in one side while Dad worked in the other.  Bailey thought the blue eyed giant was surely coming for her and squirmed right through the wall of her cage that had contained her for many months.  An alert went out and it was all hands on deck to try and locate her and recapture her.

 

Someone thought they saw her in the swamp between the tigers on Tiger Lake and the larger part of the lake.  Most of us were slogging through the swamp and Jamie ran down the cat walk to get an overview of the scene.  Bailey was smarter than us and up on the cat walk.  She wasn’t going to get her paws all muddy.

 

She came toward Jamie and without a moment’s hesitation Jamie dived to catch her.  Pinning her to the walkway, Jamie yelled for a carrier to be brought to her.  Bailey never did squeeze through the walls again.  

 

I've been writing my story since I was able to write, but when the media goes to share it, they only choose the parts that fit their idea of what will generate views.  If I'm going to share my story, it should be the whole story.  The titles are the dates things happened. If you have any interest in who I really am please start at the beginning of this playlist: http://savethecats.org/

 

I know there will be people who take things out of context and try to use them to validate their own misconception, but you have access to the whole story.  My hope is that others will recognize themselves in my words and have the strength to do what is right for themselves and our shared planet.  

 

You can help feed the cats at no cost to you using Amazon Smile!

Visit BigCatRescue.org/Amazon-smile

 

You can see photos, videos and more, updated daily at BigCatRescue.org

 

Check out our main channel at YouTube.com/BigCatRescue

 

Music (if any) from Epidemic Sound (http://www.epidemicsound.com) This video is for entertainment purposes only and is my opinion.

Letter to Brandi after she had a hysterectomy: Speaking of incisions: Years ago an adult cougar was spayed and had a pain patch on her shaved belly to reduce the pain. The vet gave me replacement patches and instruction on pulling off the old one and re affixing the new one. We don’t knock a cat out unless it is a life or death situation and this cat was handleable, so I decided I would just rip the old one off and slap the new one on. I braced myself for her reaction and had the new one opened and ready to stick as I pulled off the old patch. In the condition you are in, I am sure you understand how she took that and we launched into a rolling and tussling match all over the bathroom where she was recovering. I was trying to keep her mouth off me and finish getting the old patch off. I was as determined as she was but after what seemed an eternity I started getting more and more tired and rather loopy. After a while, I just didn’t care if she killed me. Panting and in a daze I marveled at my sudden nonchalance and noticed that the new patch had gotten stuck to me in the midst of the struggle and, let me tell you, I was feeling NO pain. Everything was sort of in slow motion from that point forward, but I figured out that slapping the new one on her would give me a considerable advantage and I was finally able to get the old one off too, once she couldn’t feel her belly any more.

 

Barbara Ross Thanks Me For Presenting to Her Marketing Class Dear Carole, Thank you so much for being a guest speaker this May for our MKT 616-Marketing on the Cutting Edge class. The students were fascinated by your story and your efforts. Before your presentation I do not think they had ever contemplated how many non-profits are started. They were amazed to learn that a HAVARD MBA would be putting his efforts towards a non-profit, so maybe they will spread their horizons when they think about jobs in the future. I am forwarding your contact to my colleague Judi Washburn as a potential client for her promotions class in the fall. I also will be contacting you to come again to speak to the American Marketing Association-Collegiate Chapter, I think the students would love to hear your story. Once again thank you so much, I will be out to see the cats-once a find a babysitter for my little guy, Barbara Ross Wooldridge Assistant Professor of Marketing The University of Tampa

 

I've been writing my story since I was able to write, but when the media goes to share it, they only choose the parts that fit their idea of what will generate views.  If I'm going to share my story, it should be the whole story.  The titles are the dates things happened. If you have any interest in who I really am please start at the beginning of this playlist: http://savethecats.org/

 

I know there will be people who take things out of context and try to use them to validate their own misconception, but you have access to the whole story.  My hope is that others will recognize themselves in my words and have the strength to do what is right for themselves and our shared planet.  

 

You can help feed the cats at no cost to you using Amazon Smile!

Visit BigCatRescue.org/Amazon-smile

 

You can see photos, videos and more, updated daily at BigCatRescue.org

 

Check out our main channel at YouTube.com/BigCatRescue

 

Music (if any) from Epidemic Sound (http://www.epidemicsound.com) This video is for entertainment purposes only and is my opinion.

Rescue of Cameron, Zabu, and Cheetaro 

 

Cameron, Zabu, and Cheetaro came from the Greenville Wildlife Park in New Hampshire, when the owner died and his wife was killing other animals in the park to feed to the cats because she was running out of money and because she liked the cats the best.  There were several cats that Big Cat Rescue offered to take, but Cheetaro's mate and two of the jaguars never made it here because they were sold off to someone else.

 

In 2004 Carole received a call from a woman named Judy Behrens who was trying to buy two jaguars from Lance Ramos, who was successfully getting this woman to raise her bid by telling her that Big Cat Rescue was outbidding her, which we were, of course, not doing because we never purchase cats.  These are most likely the same two jaguars that never made it here, and one of them is most likely the same jaguar that recently tore the thumb off of a visitor at Judy Beren's organization.  By bringing media attention to the inappropriateness of keeping animals for our own amusement, that jaguar may have done more for our cause than he would if he had come here, because we never would have allowed that to happen.

 

While we want to rescue every single cat in the world that is suffering, we can be grateful to the ones who speak for themselves by being who they are and making their boundaries clear.  So Carole had us all send a message to that jaguar by having the whole group repeat two short phrases that sum up our mission: caring for the cats and ending the trade.  This story was told to the volunteers of Big Cat Rescue in 2010 but is placed here, as this was the day of the Greenville rescue.

 

I've been writing my story since I was able to write, but when the media goes to share it, they only choose the parts that fit their idea of what will generate views.  If I'm going to share my story, it should be the whole story.  The titles are the dates things happened. If you have any interest in who I really am please start at the beginning of this playlist: http://savethecats.org/

 

I know there will be people who take things out of context and try to use them to validate their own misconception, but you have access to the whole story.  My hope is that others will recognize themselves in my words and have the strength to do what is right for themselves and our shared planet.  

 

You can help feed the cats at no cost to you using Amazon Smile!

Visit BigCatRescue.org/Amazon-smile

 

You can see photos, videos and more, updated daily at BigCatRescue.org

 

Check out our main channel at YouTube.com/BigCatRescue

 

Music (if any) from Epidemic Sound (http://www.epidemicsound.com) This video is for entertainment purposes only and is my opinion.

Letters to and from Lynn:

Lynn to Carole:  I’d love to hear what your dream was about, if you care to share. I'm curious. The other dreams you've had lately, was the productivity they offered connected to BCR, personal or other business?

 

Peace River is not as nice as BCR, plus the gal who runs it is high strung & very stressed. Her energy would be tough to be around and would drain my energy. I visited another facility last week and have two more I'm seeing this week. At this point, I'm just exercising all my options and praying for the Universe to place me where my mission can be best served. I'll tell ya what... I'm sick of this phase. I just want to get to work. There's soooo much to do bridging the honor/respect gap between human & beast. Lynn

 

Carole to Lynn:  The dreams in general have just been much more grounding and centering;  sort of a reminder of who I am and what I am capable of when I don’t let “reality” get in the way. I often dream that I am flying, but lately the dreams have been sort of testing my limits;  how high, how fast, how much can I control the situation.  The rest of the dreams have been similar in that they have just been a reminder that I create everything around me and I can make it into whatever I want it to be.  It has been very empowering but not terrible specific.

 

In the dream about you there was travel on trains and to theatrical performances that seemed to be set the time around the turn of the century.  I was listening to one opera singer (someone earlier in the day had suggested that opera should be allowed to go extinct and should not warrant government grants to preserve it)   talking about how the music connected them to who they were.  I was trying to understand this phenomenon that is foreign to me and perhaps because of your great love of music, you rather burst into the scene.  I was sitting at the table with this performer and you came up from behind and quite smothered me with a hug that said, “Hello old friend, I have been looking through this life time for you.”  As I turned to see who you would be this time around, already knowing from your embrace and your aura that I have known you forever, I saw that you were still tall and very beautiful, but much more full bodied, as women were then.  You were wearing a long, apple red gown and red gloves up past your elbows.  You were vivacious and full of life in what was otherwise a rather dark time of rather puritan ethics.

 

I don’t remember what you said.  It didn’t matter.  I knew what you were saying which was that we all find our own way.  We all connect back to God in different ways.  We all have different talents and are using them to the best of our current possibility.  Those who seem to be so stuck in the mire of their own dramas are great inspirations to others who are even less evolved.  Some are violins, some are cymbals, and some (like you) are grand pianos.  Life is a beautiful symphony and each of us plays a part.  You will find the rest of your band.   Carole

 

Lynn to Carole:  Are you familiar with the song "From A Distance" recorded by Better Midler? If not... you'd like it. It's a wonderful musical adaptation of your "Life is a symphony" sentiment. I talk about this song in my book, specifically one line of its lyric: "From a distance we are instruments, marching in a common band, playing songs of hope, playing songs of peace, they're the songs of every man."

 

What a nice thing to say, that I'm a grand piano. I see you as a concert harp, delicate yet very strong.

 

I'm aware of C.A.R.E. but intuitively felt that this is not the right place for me & SS. The task of finding the right place for me & SS is quite a challenge. The facilities that would allow me in, such as Horseshoe Creek & C.A.R.E., are not the standard I want to work in. The facilities that are an excellent standard, won't allow me in. As with zoos, hands-off facilities feel human contact to be a stress on an animal, especially if it h

Where the Sand Cats Came From

 

Photo is Jamie with me at WildNet Conference.  These Bird of Paradise flowers were out front of a cafe along the street)

 

Dear Lynn,  During Desert Storm the Saudi government sent some Sand Cats to my friend, Pat Quillen at S.O.S. Care in CA.  Pat travels the world, working with in situ programs and governments in places where no white woman would have the courage to go.  She has been shot at by poachers, exposed to all sorts of challenges, and has done wonderful things to get people in power to see the financial prospects of protecting their wildlife, rather than allowing people to kill the small cats for food or sport.  Up until 9/11 I was supporting her breeding facility so that she could afford to travel the world and set up these important alliances.  She introduced me to contacts in Mexico, Brazil, Costa Rica, Panama and to Dr. Jim Sanderson with the hopes that I could take over for her when she is gone.  She is aged and ailing.  I rely on tourism to support Big Cat Rescue and after 9/11 things have not been the same.  I had to stop providing all of her income and she felt abandoned.  She is civil to me, but I have lost the closeness with her that I once enjoyed.

 

The Saudi government had sent the cats to her because of her great reputation and asked that she protect them until after the war.  The soldiers were using them for target practice and they had been wiped out of every other country in the region, except for Saudi Arabia.  After the war she offered to send them and all of their offspring back.  The Saudi government said they had never been able to breed these cats in captivity and requested that she keep them here, build their numbers, put them into the Species Survival Plan (SSP) that is the only real conservation breeding plan and is administered only in AZA zoos.  They did this in case they are ever fully wiped out in the wild, so that they can once again populate areas once they are safer.

 

Almost all of the Sand Cats in U.S. zoos are from this group that Pat brought in.  She sent five of them to us in case anything ever happened to her place.  Last year wildfires burned her facility to the ground.  Fortunately she was able to get all of the cats to safety and last I heard from her she had rebuilt all of her cages and was looking for a RV to live in next to them.  She only breeds small cats and she only breeds cats that are recommended by the Felid Taxon Advisory Group.  (Felid TAG).

 

The Felid TAG looks at the pedigree of the cat to see if it can be traced back to the wild.  They look at how many specimens are available in the U.S. or participating zoos around the world to see if there are a viable number to be able to successfully breed the cat in captivity without causing too much inbreeding.  I worked with the Felid TAG to help them determine just how many of each cat specie there are in captivity that is viable for breeding and how much cage space is available in the accredited zoos and sanctuaries to allow for the optimum breeding.

 

Horseshoe Creek claims to have bred 72 Asian leopards for conservation purposes, but the Felid TAG only recommends the breeding of Amur Leopards that can be traced back to the wild by their pedigrees.  There is no Asian Leopard conservation breeding program and no SSP for Asian or African Leopards.  Leopards are bred and sold for only five reasons:  Pets, Circus Acts, Roadside Zoos, Photo Ops/Parties as cubs and Canned Hunts.  The bottom line is that they are bred into a miserable life in captivity because people will pay money for them.  We had to turn away 49 leopards last year and that number doubles every year.

 

Tabby Tigers and Ligers are not pure bred cats, and in the case of the Tabbies are highly inbred.  It is because the zoos caved into pressure by the public to see white tigers that they were ever bred or displayed in zoos and the result was that there is not one pure bred Bengal tiger in the U.S. left for real co

Lynn asks why we live off site?

 

(Photo is Carole and Jamie at one of the Fur Balls probably circa 2009-2010)

 

I'm curious as to why you have chosen to live off site?

 

My husband and I always left our doors open and because of the lack of facilities that meant that all of the volunteers and guests used our bathroom and our kitchen and the gift shop was in the dining room.  Some of the cats lived in the house, so tours came through to meet them.  All hours of the day and night there were people in my home.  A year after my husband disappeared I began dating and that was awkward under the conditions.  I moved back to a house that was three miles away, that I had refused to sell when Don and I moved to Easy Street, because I had loved it so.  This too is a magical place.  Jamie was living in a trailer on Easy Street, so she moved into my home and her trailer became the gift shop, restroom and volunteer area.  Last year, we needed much more space for the gift shop and volunteers so the volunteers took over the Rustic Cabin and Jamie moved next door to me on the “island” so that we could convert the largest building on the property to offices, gift shop and a media room where we hold meetings and do audio / visual presentations.  We just completed that move last month.  We still have six people on property to watch out for the cats and Jamie and I can be there in 5 minutes.

 

I have to run a real estate business and until last year continued to try and do that from Easy Street, but we have 50 volunteers and even though the volunteer committee was designed to alleviate that responsibility for me, volunteers still all wanted to stop into my office and say “hello”.  Most were quick about it, but there are always a lot of people who are there because they have no life and desperately want someone to notice them, to care about them, and they would stand in my door way for an hour telling me all the wonderful things they did for the cats.  I absolutely LOVE my volunteers, but because of the volume of them, I couldn’t get any work done.  When I am there, every decision is deferred to me, but when I am not there they do a wonderful job of making their own decisions and I try to support them, even when it may not have been what I would have done.  I supply cell phones to the staff and everyone carries two way radios or radio/phones, so I am never more than a ring away in an emergency.

 

My daughter found the same problem in living on the property.  Guests come from all over the world and are hungry to know everything there is to know about how Big Cat Rescue operates and most people want to talk to the highest ranking person they can find.  As President, Jamie was always having to entertain guests and unable to do her job.  Her job is to run the administrative side of Easy Street and to raise money through the gift shop and online gift shop.  She raises more than 150,000.00 of our half a million dollar budget each year by creating the adoption and membership packets, orchestrating the Fur Ball, and keeping the gift shops stocked and orders filled.  She works 5-6 days a week from 9 am till 6 or 7 pm and then at night she works on our videos, ad copy and other graphics needs at home.  Living on property she found that after hours, the volunteers all seemed to congregate in her living room, so she never had a moment of privacy.  Considering she’s been doing this since she was 12, that means half her life has been like this and she is REALLY happy to be living off the property now.

 

When we meet on Tuesday, I shall have with me the $35 fee for my V-Shirt, Zookeeper Training & Safari Guide, and information packet. Can I pay for this via check? I'm planning on attending the V-Orientation scheduled for March 27th. I would like to begin my weekly Sunday/Monday schedule at BCR on Sunday April 4. (The seven-year anniversary of my father's death is April 3.) How's this sound to you?

 

Since the cats will surely benefit from your book,

Alafia Carole,

I made a tough decision earlier today. I've decided it is in my best interest to back out of the Zoology/Docent Training program I'm enrolled in at the Central Florida Zoo. Why? I actually discovered Big Cat Rescue on the Internet the day before I was scheduled to go through class orientation at the Zoo. My heart instinct told me to scrap the Zoo and get on board with BCR; however, my head said it wasn't logical to scrap my zoo plans considering my knowledge of BCR was only via the Internet.

 

I spent a good amount of time the other day reading your website. Once again, I am so impressed with you. I respect your love and dedication to serving animals & value an organized leader. (The red, yellow, green traffic light inspired volunteer tee shirt system is brilliant.) I also respect the fact that you have suffered and overcome adversity with courage and perseverance. Overcoming adversity with courage and perseverance means that you are strong and humble; a rare and powerful balance, especially in a leader.

 

Though I appreciate the role the Central Florida Zoo serves, it's a sterile environment. I can't evolve and flourish in a sterile environment. Based on what I discovered about you the other day and your Sarabi & Mufasa experience, I know you are Spirit conscious, and since you're at the helm of BCR, sight unseen, I know Spirit abounds on the grounds of BCR.

 

Long story short... I'm asking you to humor me one last time with a 'behind the scenes tour' reschedule. In order to accommodate the Zoo, I arranged my schedule so that I could be free on Wednesdays through April 14. Ergo, I'm available to meet you on any Wednesday of your choosing: March 17, March 24, March 31, April 7, or April 14.  I apologize for being a nuisance. I'm not flaky, in order to launch Shaman Safari in 12 months, I must be time and choice conscious.  - Lynn (I don’t remember her last name and her websites are now defunct)

 

If you have time, I'm curious...

Lynn’s questions are in italics.

 

What species, other than feline, reside at BCR? 6 Binturong, 2 African and 2 Palm Civets, 10 Lemurs(8 ringtailed, 2 blk & wht) , 4 Llamas, a horse that some people refer to as an old soul, (people who you wouldn’t even guess would think such a thing), deer, 3 Patagonian cavies, 2 swans (of course), ducks, a coati and a genet.  I won’t take in any animal other than cats, but some of these were before we became as focused and others have been left at our gate.  Our operations manager who lives on site has a boxer.  I think one of our on site keepers has a skunk.

 

When you acquired Windsong in 1992, did you have a Class 2 license? If so, how did you obtain said license; i.e., what training granted you this license?  From 1980 until 1992 I had Himalayan show cats and we traveled the country getting their grand championships.  My cats were raised under foot and I often thought that their success in the show ring had much more to do with their purrsonalities than their genetics.  I didn’t like the direction the breed took when they decided that the cats should look like Persians with flat faces and all of the defects that go along with extreme breeding and quit breeding and showing in 1984.

 

I always was involved with cattery rescues where crazy cat ladies (gosh, do people call me that?) would end up with more cats than they could care for.  I was often asked to negotiate their removal and then had lots and lots of trips to the vet to clean the cats up and find proper homes.  Because I spent so much time in vets offices with cattery cats that had absolutely no use for people, the vets soon learned that if a bobcat was injured they could set a leg in 30 minutes and turn over the 6 months of rehab care to me.  I had to get a rehab permit from the state to do that.  I didn’t know that until much later, but that is how I got my initial permit for class 2.

 

How did you work up to obtaining Class 1 licensing?  That was a legal battle.  We got a call

We suffer physical ailments that parallel our emotional infirmities

Dear Howie,  This morning I woke up, luxuriating in the after glow of our intimacy last night, and thinking to myself what a lucky woman I am to have you at my side.

 

Your words last night rang even more true as I reflected on Cory’s situation.  It is so much easier to see what is going on in someone else’s life.  I was thinking about how Dr. Brian Weiss had made the conclusion that we suffer physical ailments that parallel our emotional infirmities.   Cory was living in the past; remembering a time when she was the center of attention, when she was supported by a group of friends and when she felt the safest and most cared about.  Now her aunt, the woman to whom she was most connected had died.  She said that she felt her aunt suffered to make the people in her life aware that they had taken her, always being there for them, for granted. This seems to illustrate that Cory felt her aunt was the one last person who supported her.  Now, Cory’s body, her feet, cannot support her any more either.   She may have to eat herself into obesity to make this a self fulfilling prophecy of being physically unsupported, but she will do that in order for her world to fit her view.

 

So easy… until I wonder at my own frailties.  My biggest fear is to fail.  To be unaware or oblivious of your needs and to fail you as a mate is my greatest fear.  To fall short of being able to change the situations that cause so many exotic cats to suffer keeps my heart pounding with anxiety.  Unconsciousness, fainting, falling, heart pounding anxiety of not being effective enough and strong enough to accomplish these goals… Sound familiar?  I wonder if seeing this so clearly this morning will enable me to overcome the physical weaknesses I have created for myself?

 

His response was brief, yet full:  All you have to do for me is be who you are.  That is what I love.

 

I've been writing my story since I was able to write, but when the media goes to share it, they only choose the parts that fit their idea of what will generate views.  If I'm going to share my story, it should be the whole story.  The titles are the dates things happened. If you have any interest in who I really am please start at the beginning of this playlist: http://savethecats.org/

 

I know there will be people who take things out of context and try to use them to validate their own misconception, but you have access to the whole story.  My hope is that others will recognize themselves in my words and have the strength to do what is right for themselves and our shared planet.  

 

You can help feed the cats at no cost to you using Amazon Smile!

Visit BigCatRescue.org/Amazon-smile

 

You can see photos, videos and more, updated daily at BigCatRescue.org

 

Check out our main channel at YouTube.com/BigCatRescue

 

Music (if any) from Epidemic Sound (http://www.epidemicsound.com) This video is for entertainment purposes only and is my opinion.

Firing Roger Petersen, Esquire

 

Roger, below is the fax I sent yesterday in response to yours in case you did not receive it.  The only thought in hindsight that I did not include was that I had tried in my fax to express to you that I was not reaching a firm conclusion, but just describing what I could tell from my file and asking for an explanation.  But I may not have done that well.  Regardless, the solution you proposed is probably best.  I would like to stress though that agreeing to it assumes you will help bring this to closure quickly so we can move forward, which certainly is also in your interest.I'd appreciate it if you could fax copies of what you give Arnold so I know he is good to go, and just let me know that you received this or the fax.  Also, if you could try just one email to [email protected], if it works it would be so much more efficient in concluding the work if we found we were able to email.  Thanks very much.TO:             Roger PetersenFROM:   Howard BaskinRE:             Final ArrangementsDATE:           3-10-04Roger, thank you for the fax that arrived last night.  In similar spirit of compromise and bringing the matter to closure, I will accept the proposal you made.  Just to make sure we are on the same page, below is a summary I made of the various dollar items.  If I made any errors or omissions please let me know.

 

SUMMARY OF AMOUNTS 

 

 

Obviously you are suggesting I seek other counsel.  Given our communication difficulties both physically and perhaps at times in understanding each other, that is probably best and I will seek to do so in the next few days.  Once that is in place, I will appreciate your working with that person to transfer the files and any loose ends they may require once they review the files.  I’m not sure if they might want to come by and review the files prior to transfer to make the transfer more complete and efficient, but if so I would appreciate your working with them.Regarding Arnold, if at all possible I would very much appreciate your getting his authorizations to him in the next day so we can get as much money into the account as we can as quickly as possible.  Your fax has a remark about “no mention of our payment”, but please do understand that I did explain to Arnold that all amounts after his fee and minor repairs were to be deposited to the account to go toward your fees.  And as you request, any balance not covered by the rents at the time the work is complete and transfer made will be brought current so you are paid in full.  If Arnold receives checks, I will appreciate your paying him out of the account.  I also understand that work outside the scope will be billed as you have been doing, and I do have a couple questions below that I would appreciate your help with.Please give Arnold two separate documents.  One to show tenants, that just names him as authorized to collect the rents.  The other is his authorization to deduct his fee, which the tenants do not need to see.  I would appreciate your also including authorization to spend up to $200/month on repairs and a requirement to contact me for approval of any amount over that.  Lastly, I would appreciate your giving him a copy of the rent roll sheet you attached to your fax, and the water bill information which is not readable in my fax so we can redirect where that is sent.  Thanks, by the way, for paying it out of the account.  Arnold’s cell again is 386-2787 good before 3 p.m.I would appreciate it if you could help me with a couple of quick questions:1) Do we have copies of the commercial property leases?  I recall you were going to try to obtain them but am not clear on if you were able.2) On Mytruf you mention registering a new Board, and on Witco resignation of the current directors.  I’m not sure how we select a new Board.  Can Carole initially be sole director?  If we need local Board members, do we need the new counsel to provide you with names?  Or can the current Board simply res