Hec speaks wisely, Tep. My last filling took about 3 months to fully settle in (which doesn't mean 3 months of serious pain; it was a week of pain-when-stimulated, a couple of months of short little jabs of pain with random very hot or very cold drinks, and a month of extremely occasional mild discomfort), which the dentist reassured me was totally normal. The upside was that after the initial miseries, it has been as docile and pain-free a filling as ever filled, and hasn't given a speck of trouble.

My last filling took about 3 months to fully settle in (which doesn't mean 3 months of serious pain; it was a week of pain-when-stimulated

It's just throwing me for a loop because I got the filling yesterday afternoon and, once the novocaine wore off, it didn't hurt, even when I bit down or poked at it. And then this evening I bit down on chili (not a notoriously crunchy or hard food) and got a sudden electric zap. And now, because I can't seem to do things that are good for me, every time I press it with my finger, it's a hard-core electric zap pain.

I just would have expected it to hurt all along, starting immediately after the filling, instead of waiting a day and then hurting.

So I go for the immediate gloom-and-doom paranoiac scenario. (EVIL TOOTH WILL EXPLODE IN 10 SECONDS.)

Steph, was it the first time that it had been in contact with something hot?

What are Ms. Aimee's Rules of Camels, other than "Camels Rule!"?

Dromedarys are the One True Camel. Bactarains are ok in a pinch, but Ms Aimee prefers the one-humped sort.

Alpacas and llamas are also acceptable forms of camels if one were to be shopping for camels that Ms Aimee can own. But always buy at least two as they are pack animals and need to have companions.

IOW - buy me a camel.

Or carmel. I like carmels just as much and don't have quite so many rules.

Also? Watching animal documentaries makes me want to ask billytea all sorts of questions. Such as, the fossa: WTF?

Steph, was it the first time that it had been in contact with something hot?

No, I had coffee this morning. It's freaky.

Also? Watching animal documentaries makes me want to ask billytea all sorts of questions. Such as, the fossa: WTF?

Welcome to the island life. Islands are great places for weird things to evolve (or for pre-evolved weird things to survive). Madagascar is particularly good for it, as it's been isolated for almost 90 million years. (Incidentally, it originally broke off from India, not Africa.)

The fossa feature I most like (not its strangest, but certainly useful) is that they have flexible ankles that let it swivel its hind feet and climb down trees head first.

In summary, the fossa: not a camel.

I adore Lester. He is the man. My absolute favourite. However, there seems to be an issue with showing full length shots of him, and I feel deprived.

Madagascar! Fossa also have extremely long, spiny penises. Females in heat hang out in a tree and pick their mates from the gathered horde of wooing admirers. "Next! You, with the orange belly, up here!" Mating can take three hours, and the male may stay to cuddle for an hour or so after. Those are my Favorite Fossa Features (FFFs).

What? I thought they made up the fossa for Madagascar the movie, and I looked them up.

Madagascar! Fossa also have extremely long, spiny penises. Females in heat hang out in a tree and pick their mates from the gathered horde of wooing admirers. "Next! You, with the orange belly, up here!" Mating can take three hours, and the male may stay to cuddle for an hour or so after. Those are my Favorite Fossa Features (FFFs).

A couple of other interesting points: the males do have spiny (and unusually long) penises (with a penis bone); and the females have spiny clitorises (with a clitoris bone). More precisely, juvenile females have these characteristics. They recede with adulthood (even the clitoris bone shrinks). Oh, and that orange belly is the result of glandular secretions when a male is in rut; and juvenile females copy that too.