My Wife's Engagement Ring and Rat Poison

There years ago I had the local jeweler add sixThere, we studied the zillion jewelry stores.
diamonds to the band of my wife's wedding ring, fiveI knew that Miller's Jewelry had a good technician, so
for our children and one for our dog.we went there.
The reason we had one for the dog was that we hadWe were told we could have the ring in one hour.
to have an even number of diamonds.After shopping we sat in front of the Jewelry store
The dog died from rat poisoning.and waited for the clerk to beckon when the ring was
Rodent Poisonrepaired.
Do you know those cute little yellow boxes that youI ate one of those pretzels with all the sugar and
poke a hole in, the mice eat the grain and poison andcinnamon in the world on it. I think the pile of fallen
you are free of mice?sugar and cinnamon left at my feet was about a foot
Watch out!high.
The label warned about pets. They were right. It killsWe were told the repair would take one hour.
them. The pets die a miserably slow death.After only forty-five minutes out came the technician
We put those cute little mouse-killing boxes where thewith the ring.
dog could never get to them. That's what we thought.He said, "They really look good when they are cleaned
Either the dog somehow got his paw far enoughup, don't they."
under the bottom shelf of my work bench to pull aWow! He was right. The ring was dazzling. He had
box out, or the mice moved it for him.popped it into his ultrasonic cleaner.
Either way, my son, who is a veterinarian and twoThe repair was perfect.
other veterinarians, could not save him.My wife was thrilled.
Don't buy that stuff!The technician was as proud as a new papa.
My son treats animals all the time that get in to ratBy doing a great job, he made us all happy.
poisoning. Sadly, one of his clients lost twoTo tell you the truth, I had my apprehensions. I knew if
thoroughbred horses when they reached the bait whilehe did not do things right that my wife would be very
riding in the horse trailer.unhappy.
The RingHere is Jones Rule 1017: If your wife is unhappy, you
Be that as it may, my wife's ring popped open like aare very unhappy indeed!
horseshoe. Stress on the band probably left byI figured what I would say to the technician if the job
improper annealing allowed it to pop open. The jewelerwas not done right: "Now I'll have to shoot you!"
who placed the diamonds was required by the storeI figured the odds of my wife being happy after the
owner to do the job over again because he made arepair were a zillion to one.
mess of things the first time. Let's blame him!Then out comes that technical genius with the ring
We went to the mall in Twin Falls to do our Christmasshining and in perfect condition.
shopping. That was the day before Thanksgiving, theI wish my wife would stop kissing strange men!
best day to shop for Christmas without being trampledCopyright©John T. Jones, Ph.D.
to death. (See my article on the subject).