Fasolt

As I write this, LVA mascot Mojo is sunning herself on my office balcony (and doing #2, I fear), turning my mind to the animal kingdom. S&G readers are sometimes so kind as to ask after the health of my gargantuan Maine Coon cat, Fasolt, who briefly went missing last winter while the Significant Other and I were engrossed in an episode of The L Word.

I’m happy to report that Fasolt is in fine fettle, although sufficiently arthritic as to require “pet steps” (pictured) to get onto the bed. He continues to tolerate his stepbrother, Mr. Bit, and to spat with his stepsister, Shadow. He’s also growing more neurotic with age, to the point where avoids the litter box like the plague. Some stopgap solutions have been devised, through trial and error, but the occasional father-son chat about “inappropriate elimination” still has to be conducted.

When it’s dinner time, he sits (sometimes) patiently at my right knee, awaiting the table scraps that are his due as Senior Cat in Residence. He also likes to “watch” TV with me and, if I’m working at home, he’s usually just to the right of my desk chair or — more problematically — in my lap. And if he feels there’s been too much Internet surfing, Fasolt sits on the mouse pad to put a stop to it.

What’s this to do with gambling … well, nothing. But in my not-impartial opinion, Fasolt’s native smarts exceed those of certain gaming-sector CEOs.