To quote a song I like - "Snake! Snake! Oh no its a snake!
Monday, July 12, 2004
Thursday, July 08, 2004
Another day, another template.
And here we go with yet another template, till I get sick of it (which may be tomorrow!)
I am not sure I like this one either, its too light for my taste, but I do like the mermaid (although she is a bit risqué), and its got enough of a water theme for my tastes. One of these days I will make one from scratch and do it how I like (when I learn HTML for real that is)
Well, what is on the list of things? We had the chance to take two more cockatoos, who are in really good shape, only a year old, brother and sister, but there is no way. One cockatoo is a handful, two more would be insane, not to mention that we would have to buy another $200 cage. We could have gotten them to use as breeders, but we have decided that breeding cockatoos would raise too many ethical questions for us. They are so needy, that selling them to a bad household, no matter how well meaning, would be a moral crime to me, especially when there are so many in rescue that should be adopted into good homes instead. However if a female African Grey came up, I think we would snatch them up in a heartbeat to start the breeding business.
Speaking of our birds, here is a progress report for them:
Addicus is doing as well as can be expected. Despite a lot of toys, a huge cage, and all the TLC we can give, he is still picking at his feathers. He seems happy, we play with him, he does his happy dance a lot, and he is leaning new words, but we just can’t seem to stop him from picking. Now mind you he is picking a lot less, but we noticed tips from normal feathers on the bottom of his cage, instead of just down. I am worried about him. I hope we can figure out a way to stop it. I may need to make him a cloak or get him a Elizabethan collar.
Zora has turned into that little girl that is always inquisitive, loves running around, is constantly in your face, wants everything you are eating, and throws temper tantrums when ever she doesn’t get what she wants. Otherwise she is a sweetie! Her and Addicus buddy buddy up to each other quite a bit, and are becoming pretty good friends, which is a good thing because the other two grays are scared of her. The morning habit now is that when I sit down for my morning bowl of cereal, I get mugged by Addicus and Zora, with Atticus going for the cereal, and Zora landing on my spoon and trying to get at the milk. It’s like living with seagulls *grin*. Its time I taught Zora a little manners with a squirt bottle, starting tomorrow.
Adonis is plucking feathers. He is still stressed out about all the new birds, but we expect that to calm down eventually. He is also being a bit antisocial, but we are starting to drag him to play with the rest of the flock when we are all together.
Buddy is buddy. No plucking, eats like a horse, but doesnt really like being handled much, unless you have a magnet in your hand (weird bird). He stays in his cage a lot even though open his cage whenever we are home. He talks a lot too.
In other news, went to practice on Tuesday at Martins and spent the whole time fixing Phoenixs helmet. Martin was going over drills for sword leg lead options, and gave me some ideas to try next time I fight him. Otherwise, Phoenix and I have been just hanging out, conserving money (because we don’t have much at the moment) and being happy. How is everyone out there? Leave a tag on my tag board, let me know!!!
I am not sure I like this one either, its too light for my taste, but I do like the mermaid (although she is a bit risqué), and its got enough of a water theme for my tastes. One of these days I will make one from scratch and do it how I like (when I learn HTML for real that is)
Well, what is on the list of things? We had the chance to take two more cockatoos, who are in really good shape, only a year old, brother and sister, but there is no way. One cockatoo is a handful, two more would be insane, not to mention that we would have to buy another $200 cage. We could have gotten them to use as breeders, but we have decided that breeding cockatoos would raise too many ethical questions for us. They are so needy, that selling them to a bad household, no matter how well meaning, would be a moral crime to me, especially when there are so many in rescue that should be adopted into good homes instead. However if a female African Grey came up, I think we would snatch them up in a heartbeat to start the breeding business.
Speaking of our birds, here is a progress report for them:
Addicus is doing as well as can be expected. Despite a lot of toys, a huge cage, and all the TLC we can give, he is still picking at his feathers. He seems happy, we play with him, he does his happy dance a lot, and he is leaning new words, but we just can’t seem to stop him from picking. Now mind you he is picking a lot less, but we noticed tips from normal feathers on the bottom of his cage, instead of just down. I am worried about him. I hope we can figure out a way to stop it. I may need to make him a cloak or get him a Elizabethan collar.
Zora has turned into that little girl that is always inquisitive, loves running around, is constantly in your face, wants everything you are eating, and throws temper tantrums when ever she doesn’t get what she wants. Otherwise she is a sweetie! Her and Addicus buddy buddy up to each other quite a bit, and are becoming pretty good friends, which is a good thing because the other two grays are scared of her. The morning habit now is that when I sit down for my morning bowl of cereal, I get mugged by Addicus and Zora, with Atticus going for the cereal, and Zora landing on my spoon and trying to get at the milk. It’s like living with seagulls *grin*. Its time I taught Zora a little manners with a squirt bottle, starting tomorrow.
Adonis is plucking feathers. He is still stressed out about all the new birds, but we expect that to calm down eventually. He is also being a bit antisocial, but we are starting to drag him to play with the rest of the flock when we are all together.
Buddy is buddy. No plucking, eats like a horse, but doesnt really like being handled much, unless you have a magnet in your hand (weird bird). He stays in his cage a lot even though open his cage whenever we are home. He talks a lot too.
In other news, went to practice on Tuesday at Martins and spent the whole time fixing Phoenixs helmet. Martin was going over drills for sword leg lead options, and gave me some ideas to try next time I fight him. Otherwise, Phoenix and I have been just hanging out, conserving money (because we don’t have much at the moment) and being happy. How is everyone out there? Leave a tag on my tag board, let me know!!!
Tuesday, July 06, 2004
Frustration
Ok, I had enough of the old template, it was giving me problems with spacing and such, so I am using this one till I can get time to figure out how to make somthing I want to do... *sigh* more as it happens :).
Monday, July 05, 2004
Tag board
OK... put on the tag board... that could have been easy, but trying to fool with the HTML is rough to make it how I want it... Oh well... now someone use it! :)
A political joke
Ok, those of you who know me, know I'm a liberal Democrat, and I just have to share this joke with all of you.
A woman in a hot air balloon realized she was lost. She lowered her altitude and spotted a man in a boat below. She shouted to him, "Excuse me, can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago, but I don't know where I am."
The man consulted his portable GPS and replied, "You're in a hot air balloon approximately 30 feet above a ground elevation of 2346 feet above sea level.
You are at 31 degrees, 14.97 minutes north latitude and 100 degrees, 49.09 minutes west longitude.
She rolled her eyes and said, "You must be a Democrat. " I am," replied the man. "How did you know?”
"Well," answered the balloonist, "everything you told me is technically correct, but I have no idea what to do with your information, and I'm
still lost. Frankly, you've not been much help to me."
The man smiled and responded, "You must be a Republican."
"I am," replied the balloonist. "How did you know?"
"Well," said the man, "you don't know where you are or where you're going. You've risen to where you are, due to a large quantity of hot air. You made a promise that you have no idea how to keep, and you expect me to solve your problem. You're in exactly the same position you
were in before we met but, somehow, now it's my fault."
A woman in a hot air balloon realized she was lost. She lowered her altitude and spotted a man in a boat below. She shouted to him, "Excuse me, can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago, but I don't know where I am."
The man consulted his portable GPS and replied, "You're in a hot air balloon approximately 30 feet above a ground elevation of 2346 feet above sea level.
You are at 31 degrees, 14.97 minutes north latitude and 100 degrees, 49.09 minutes west longitude.
She rolled her eyes and said, "You must be a Democrat. " I am," replied the man. "How did you know?”
"Well," answered the balloonist, "everything you told me is technically correct, but I have no idea what to do with your information, and I'm
still lost. Frankly, you've not been much help to me."
The man smiled and responded, "You must be a Republican."
"I am," replied the balloonist. "How did you know?"
"Well," said the man, "you don't know where you are or where you're going. You've risen to where you are, due to a large quantity of hot air. You made a promise that you have no idea how to keep, and you expect me to solve your problem. You're in exactly the same position you
were in before we met but, somehow, now it's my fault."
4th of July weekend
What a great weekend!
As you can see by the pictures below, we did some fishing on Saturday, and when I say fishing, I do mean it… there was very little catching involved. Still, it was a good time. We fished off the jetty near the lighthouse in New Smyrna, but every time I cast, I got snagged on the rocks. Phoenix on the other hand had a wonderful time climbing on the rocks and looking at the crabs and barnacles, and even scratched herself a little. She is so much fun to watch. She has missed out on so much in life, that when I show her something new, she is like a little girl discovering a treasure. I can’t wait to bring her to Hawaii, she’ll go nuts!
So after hauling all the equipment back from the jetty, we headed out and stopped at that little park as shown in the pictures below. I think if we go camping down on the coast, we may go there… Actually… hmm… If we got a hotel room, we could bring the birds too.
(Turns to audience) Hey! Is there anyone out there who we could hire to spend about 4-6 hours with our birds and otherwise watch TV on Sat and Sun? Phoenix and I want to go camping, and we really cant bring the birds with us.
(Goes back to story)
Well, back to the park, I felt kind of silly trying to fish in a river with rods set up for surf casting, and had no lures to do any surface work. But seeing a bald eagle overhead was worth the stop. I also got my first catch of shrimp ever. First one Phoenix picked up pricked her finger with its horn, but they were fun to catch none the less. I wish they were eating size!
Next we went to the beach again, went out to the sand bar, and just as the fish started to bite, the storm came and we had to go home. Both Phoenix and I had a great time.
The next day, we went to Martin’s for 4th of July grilling, and it smashing as usual. Phoenix got some time to talk with Martin, and the fireworks display in combination with a cloud to cloud lightning storm (not to mention the spectacular rainbow at sunset) really made the day. Thank you Elizabeth for the garb!
As you can see by the pictures below, we did some fishing on Saturday, and when I say fishing, I do mean it… there was very little catching involved. Still, it was a good time. We fished off the jetty near the lighthouse in New Smyrna, but every time I cast, I got snagged on the rocks. Phoenix on the other hand had a wonderful time climbing on the rocks and looking at the crabs and barnacles, and even scratched herself a little. She is so much fun to watch. She has missed out on so much in life, that when I show her something new, she is like a little girl discovering a treasure. I can’t wait to bring her to Hawaii, she’ll go nuts!
So after hauling all the equipment back from the jetty, we headed out and stopped at that little park as shown in the pictures below. I think if we go camping down on the coast, we may go there… Actually… hmm… If we got a hotel room, we could bring the birds too.
(Turns to audience) Hey! Is there anyone out there who we could hire to spend about 4-6 hours with our birds and otherwise watch TV on Sat and Sun? Phoenix and I want to go camping, and we really cant bring the birds with us.
(Goes back to story)
Well, back to the park, I felt kind of silly trying to fish in a river with rods set up for surf casting, and had no lures to do any surface work. But seeing a bald eagle overhead was worth the stop. I also got my first catch of shrimp ever. First one Phoenix picked up pricked her finger with its horn, but they were fun to catch none the less. I wish they were eating size!
Next we went to the beach again, went out to the sand bar, and just as the fish started to bite, the storm came and we had to go home. Both Phoenix and I had a great time.
The next day, we went to Martin’s for 4th of July grilling, and it smashing as usual. Phoenix got some time to talk with Martin, and the fireworks display in combination with a cloud to cloud lightning storm (not to mention the spectacular rainbow at sunset) really made the day. Thank you Elizabeth for the garb!
Here is a better picture of Phoenix on the dock. The other cool thing that happened here is we got to see a bald eagle fly overhead and an osprey carry off a fish. Did I mention that after I fooled around with the cast net and came up with about nothing, she tried it her first time and caught about 8 minnows? I thought I was supposed to be the expert (hah!)
We went fishing this last Sat... After the disaster of fishing on the Pylon next to the lighthouse (our lines got snagged everytime we cast, and ran out of rigs) we stopped by a cute little park that sat on the river nearby. However the fish just mocked up by jumping out of the water all around us and not biting (we really didnt have the right rigs for that kind of fishing). We did get out the cast net and cought minnows and small shrimp... In time we headed for the beach...
Friday, July 02, 2004
Looking at me looking at you...
Trying to figure out who’s looking at me… Fill in the gaps here if you can…
July 2 2004
onoc.net 10:52:16 am - I have no clue who this is… But they sure look at me a lot! Thanks for reading *grin*
optonline.net 10:34:24 am - Not sure who this one is either…
bellsouth.net 9:20:08 am – This one might be Ros… it only showed up after I sent the addy to her It also might be Bonnie.
Jul 1 2004
collegis.com 4:40:57 pm – Me or one of my co-workers
rr.com 3:55:38 pm20:44 – This is Phoenix looking from home…
prudential.com 3:33:34 pm – This is Sparky I believe
onoc.net 3:20:57 pm
pacbell.net 1:13:44 pm – Pretty sure this one is Learsfool
onoc.net 11:00:16 am
collegis.com 10:21:33 am
collegis.com 8:40:56 am
207.144.211.# 8:59:56 pm
Jun 30 2004
rr.com 5:51:40 pm
collegis.com 4:58:12 pm
collegis.com 4:22:39 pm
rcn.com 3:41:44 pm – rcn? I have no clue on that one.
onoc.net 2:56:45 pm
prudential.com 2:11:11 pm
sprint-hsd.net 12:02:21 pm – And this is Alienora
collegis.com 12:00:12 pm
July 2 2004
onoc.net 10:52:16 am - I have no clue who this is… But they sure look at me a lot! Thanks for reading *grin*
optonline.net 10:34:24 am - Not sure who this one is either…
bellsouth.net 9:20:08 am – This one might be Ros… it only showed up after I sent the addy to her It also might be Bonnie.
Jul 1 2004
collegis.com 4:40:57 pm – Me or one of my co-workers
rr.com 3:55:38 pm20:44 – This is Phoenix looking from home…
prudential.com 3:33:34 pm – This is Sparky I believe
onoc.net 3:20:57 pm
pacbell.net 1:13:44 pm – Pretty sure this one is Learsfool
onoc.net 11:00:16 am
collegis.com 10:21:33 am
collegis.com 8:40:56 am
207.144.211.# 8:59:56 pm
Jun 30 2004
rr.com 5:51:40 pm
collegis.com 4:58:12 pm
collegis.com 4:22:39 pm
rcn.com 3:41:44 pm – rcn? I have no clue on that one.
onoc.net 2:56:45 pm
prudential.com 2:11:11 pm
sprint-hsd.net 12:02:21 pm – And this is Alienora
collegis.com 12:00:12 pm
Well La de da!
Another day and it’s another 8 hours of staring at a computer screen. It’s a wonder I’m not blind yet, or have brain cancer.
This weekend’s plans are mad crazy, Fishing at New Smyrna Beach, seeing a movie (hmm, F 9/11? King Arthur? Spiderman2?), going to Martins for grill out, then fireworks at Lake Eola. Somewhere in there we got to clean the parrot cages, and keep them somewhat entertained. I just hope I can catch a fish or two. I saw a wonderful, well written negative review on Spiderman 2 from a friend (although they liked the movie as a whole)
“Actress problems: The puke-orange hair looked hideously tawdry - like a trailer-trash hooker who's been dumpster diving for cosmetics. Her half-closed, sloe eyes reveal no sign of intellect, and seem as though it's a struggle to remember to breathe, much less say her lines. Her breasts hang down below her waistband like sunken dugs - the wonders that a simple brassiere would do for this flappy-chested trollop. I've seen better shapes on Ugandan refugees with 12 children. During the 'kiss me' scene, when her wasted, thin little lips kept advancing toward the camera, I got the same nasty feeling in my stomach that I did during the scene in Private Ryan when the soldier went back for his severed arm.”
Whew! Can’t wait to see it! *grin*
For this weekend’s fishing, I would like to try a new tack. Instead of wading out to waist deep water and using frozen shrimp, I want to get on the pylon next to the inlet there (at New Smyrna Beach) and use live shrimp on one pole (the one Phoenix will run, I expect it will catch a lot more) and large minnows for one of the other poles to try to get the big fish… I might bring my cast net to see if I can get more bait. I liked fishing last time, but I think this time I want to do some catching, and not just have fun getting wet.
This weekend’s plans are mad crazy, Fishing at New Smyrna Beach, seeing a movie (hmm, F 9/11? King Arthur? Spiderman2?), going to Martins for grill out, then fireworks at Lake Eola. Somewhere in there we got to clean the parrot cages, and keep them somewhat entertained. I just hope I can catch a fish or two. I saw a wonderful, well written negative review on Spiderman 2 from a friend (although they liked the movie as a whole)
“Actress problems: The puke-orange hair looked hideously tawdry - like a trailer-trash hooker who's been dumpster diving for cosmetics. Her half-closed, sloe eyes reveal no sign of intellect, and seem as though it's a struggle to remember to breathe, much less say her lines. Her breasts hang down below her waistband like sunken dugs - the wonders that a simple brassiere would do for this flappy-chested trollop. I've seen better shapes on Ugandan refugees with 12 children. During the 'kiss me' scene, when her wasted, thin little lips kept advancing toward the camera, I got the same nasty feeling in my stomach that I did during the scene in Private Ryan when the soldier went back for his severed arm.”
Whew! Can’t wait to see it! *grin*
For this weekend’s fishing, I would like to try a new tack. Instead of wading out to waist deep water and using frozen shrimp, I want to get on the pylon next to the inlet there (at New Smyrna Beach) and use live shrimp on one pole (the one Phoenix will run, I expect it will catch a lot more) and large minnows for one of the other poles to try to get the big fish… I might bring my cast net to see if I can get more bait. I liked fishing last time, but I think this time I want to do some catching, and not just have fun getting wet.
Wednesday, June 30, 2004
I Just want to... I Just want to... SING!
Well, still tweaking this new template and my knowledge of HTML is inadequate.
But hey it’s all good. Phoenix and I actually went to Martin’s fighter practice last night and had a good old time. Whacking and getting whacked on by Martin was much fun. Tonight we clean up the parrot’s newspapers, and hopefully do some relaxing. I can’t wait till this weekend and maybe do some fishing!!!
On another note, I really need to get some more music making into my life. There are various folks who keep talking to me about music, and have inspired me to start doing it again. What direction it will take I am not incredibly sure. I could just keep doing SCA Stuff, I could do stuff on my own and say, play at an Irish pub or something, or I could start a band… Anyone out there have any suggestions?
But hey it’s all good. Phoenix and I actually went to Martin’s fighter practice last night and had a good old time. Whacking and getting whacked on by Martin was much fun. Tonight we clean up the parrot’s newspapers, and hopefully do some relaxing. I can’t wait till this weekend and maybe do some fishing!!!
On another note, I really need to get some more music making into my life. There are various folks who keep talking to me about music, and have inspired me to start doing it again. What direction it will take I am not incredibly sure. I could just keep doing SCA Stuff, I could do stuff on my own and say, play at an Irish pub or something, or I could start a band… Anyone out there have any suggestions?
Tuesday, June 29, 2004
A storm just skimmed our house yesterday, and although it did not his us in full force, I went out and took some pictures of what did hit us. The sky was boiling and swirling! These pictures really cant show how cool looking it was, but seeing it in person was amazing! The thunder in the distance truly sounded like some sort of Norse drama playing itself out in the heavens.
Monday, June 28, 2004
I need a makeover!
I need a makeover.
Occasionally I look at my life and want to change some things, and I am on the edge of that now.
I think the main change will be my hair. For those of you who know me, I have hair down to the small of my back… and its driving me absolutely insane. I have given Phoenix carte blanche to decide what my hair will be like, because I really don’t care, as long as it’s no longer long… I could be bald for all I care at this point… I think high and tight and spiky, perhaps with blond tips may be what are in Phoenix’s plans, but we shall see. It seems that I have to visit her hairdresser and she is in high demand…
I think I will be riding my bike again… I miss it.
I now have a mustache and goatee; I think I’ll keep those… if I don’t pluck them out in fits of stress. ( I think Phoenix will hit me next time she sees me plucking at them, it reminds her too much of our birds plucking feathers)
I think I want to sing folk songs again… I will have to get my guitar strung up again and try it.
I want to live in Hawaii… I really do… working on that one.
I want to take more walks in the woods with Phoenix, looking for birds.
I want to go Kayaking on the ocean with Phoenix. (and fish!)
I want to wear more cargo pants, with pockets for everything, and find more cool Hawaiian shirts.
I want, I want, I want. Oi!
Occasionally I look at my life and want to change some things, and I am on the edge of that now.
I think the main change will be my hair. For those of you who know me, I have hair down to the small of my back… and its driving me absolutely insane. I have given Phoenix carte blanche to decide what my hair will be like, because I really don’t care, as long as it’s no longer long… I could be bald for all I care at this point… I think high and tight and spiky, perhaps with blond tips may be what are in Phoenix’s plans, but we shall see. It seems that I have to visit her hairdresser and she is in high demand…
I think I will be riding my bike again… I miss it.
I now have a mustache and goatee; I think I’ll keep those… if I don’t pluck them out in fits of stress. ( I think Phoenix will hit me next time she sees me plucking at them, it reminds her too much of our birds plucking feathers)
I think I want to sing folk songs again… I will have to get my guitar strung up again and try it.
I want to live in Hawaii… I really do… working on that one.
I want to take more walks in the woods with Phoenix, looking for birds.
I want to go Kayaking on the ocean with Phoenix. (and fish!)
I want to wear more cargo pants, with pockets for everything, and find more cool Hawaiian shirts.
I want, I want, I want. Oi!
Today is the first day of the rest of my life!
This weekend was a mixed bag. I have to admit, I will never ever desire or become a pelican, and likely I will never get a service award, because frankly, I only do tedious outstanding service like being troll all day, when I am suckered into it (I have no problem helping out with stuff in general but that's different). The one thing I am impressed about though is the very careful handling of the money once I was through with it. It took three people to count and recount it all, and it was all put in special bags and I was given a receipt, releasing me from responsibility from it. The pains of past problems has made the process very persnickety.
Besides having my tail glued to my chair for about 9 hours, the event went off reasonably well. The event was pretty well run, but I would like to make a comment, and in no way does this reflect on Carla, or any of the staff, or anyone else for that matter. It just diadem’t seem like a Known World Event ™. It seemed like any other SAC University I have been to. I guess all the conflicts, and lack of interest made it that way. But for what it was, it was pretty cool.
After the event, I went home and spend the rest of the day with my sweetie and da birds. Sunday we went to the Sanford flea market and stopped by the Audubon birds of prey sanctuary, which was quite impressive. They are a heal and release group, except for the ones that are permanently damaged. Their facilities were quite impressive, including a flight barn for retraining the birds to fly. Very cool.
Besides having my tail glued to my chair for about 9 hours, the event went off reasonably well. The event was pretty well run, but I would like to make a comment, and in no way does this reflect on Carla, or any of the staff, or anyone else for that matter. It just diadem’t seem like a Known World Event ™. It seemed like any other SAC University I have been to. I guess all the conflicts, and lack of interest made it that way. But for what it was, it was pretty cool.
After the event, I went home and spend the rest of the day with my sweetie and da birds. Sunday we went to the Sanford flea market and stopped by the Audubon birds of prey sanctuary, which was quite impressive. They are a heal and release group, except for the ones that are permanently damaged. Their facilities were quite impressive, including a flight barn for retraining the birds to fly. Very cool.
Tuesday, June 22, 2004
Bird update
Bird, bird, bird, bird is the word:
Well, here is a bird update:
Well our flock is doing ok; we have had some minor victories and defeats.
Addicus, the most care intensive seems to be doing well. We have added 3 shredded shirts to his cage and put up a roll of register tape, and he seems to love both. He seems to be picking less, though he is a big baby. Whenever we leave the room for a moment, he is screaming, but that is to be expected. He is getting more familiar with us, letting down his hair so to speak, and having fun dancing and laughing and such. The bad side of it is that he is getting a little biteier. Just this morning as I was putting him away, he bit my thumb hard enough to make me bleed. I have got to get that squirt bottle out and use it more. The other good news is that he is eating more, although not any one thing consistently. Picky picky picky.
Mrs. Zorah is flying now, and has picked up the habit of flying onto poor Adonis’s cage, because it is fare more interesting then hers, much to Adonis’s chagrin. He seems irritated about it sometimes, but she is now as big as he is (and she’s a Timneh… goes to show what a runt he is of a Congo) and he tends to back down when she asserts herself. Otherwise we are down to one hand feeding a day and she is eating her own food like mad. Its about time to get her own full size cage, probably next month when more money comes in.
Buddi is not doing much. He is eating like a pig, and most anything we give him. He is not incredibly social, but he talks quite a bit. Found an interesting behavioral quirk that he has the other day. When I bring my magnetic security card near him, he follows it around like a zombie… when I stop it, he will actually let me scratch his neck, but prefers the card scratching his neck even more. We tried this with some other magnets, and it worked just as well. We went ahead and got him a magnetic perch and he loves it. Sometimes he will just go in his cage and hang out on it.
Adonis is the one having problems right now. With all the new birds in the house, he is a bit stressed and has started clipping again. We paid lots of attention to him last night and he seemed to have a good time (he is the talker with the most vocabulary so far) so we are watching him as much as we can. We have put some rags and extra toys in his cage, and hopefully it will help.
Well, still need some Congo females and a male Timneh… egad. I cant imagine the ruckus with 6 or 7 birds total. Not to mention all the babies!
Well, here is a bird update:
Well our flock is doing ok; we have had some minor victories and defeats.
Addicus, the most care intensive seems to be doing well. We have added 3 shredded shirts to his cage and put up a roll of register tape, and he seems to love both. He seems to be picking less, though he is a big baby. Whenever we leave the room for a moment, he is screaming, but that is to be expected. He is getting more familiar with us, letting down his hair so to speak, and having fun dancing and laughing and such. The bad side of it is that he is getting a little biteier. Just this morning as I was putting him away, he bit my thumb hard enough to make me bleed. I have got to get that squirt bottle out and use it more. The other good news is that he is eating more, although not any one thing consistently. Picky picky picky.
Mrs. Zorah is flying now, and has picked up the habit of flying onto poor Adonis’s cage, because it is fare more interesting then hers, much to Adonis’s chagrin. He seems irritated about it sometimes, but she is now as big as he is (and she’s a Timneh… goes to show what a runt he is of a Congo) and he tends to back down when she asserts herself. Otherwise we are down to one hand feeding a day and she is eating her own food like mad. Its about time to get her own full size cage, probably next month when more money comes in.
Buddi is not doing much. He is eating like a pig, and most anything we give him. He is not incredibly social, but he talks quite a bit. Found an interesting behavioral quirk that he has the other day. When I bring my magnetic security card near him, he follows it around like a zombie… when I stop it, he will actually let me scratch his neck, but prefers the card scratching his neck even more. We tried this with some other magnets, and it worked just as well. We went ahead and got him a magnetic perch and he loves it. Sometimes he will just go in his cage and hang out on it.
Adonis is the one having problems right now. With all the new birds in the house, he is a bit stressed and has started clipping again. We paid lots of attention to him last night and he seemed to have a good time (he is the talker with the most vocabulary so far) so we are watching him as much as we can. We have put some rags and extra toys in his cage, and hopefully it will help.
Well, still need some Congo females and a male Timneh… egad. I cant imagine the ruckus with 6 or 7 birds total. Not to mention all the babies!
Its called fishing... If it was called catching, it would be a lot more productive.
Sorry I have been quiet for a few days, been busy… Or lazy, or something…
This weekend was quite a lot of fun. Saturday was a shopping day, and we picked up a cheap surf casting rod, and Sunday we went fishing out by New Smyrna Beach. Now mind you it was more of an exercise in getting wet and having fun then serious fishing. Not knowing exactly where to go to fish exactly, we tried it some on the main beach, and then we headed out closer to the jetties where we heard the fish were biting.
I have to admit, that New Smyrna beach overall is one of the flattest places I have ever tried to fish on the beach. No sandbar to cast to, no nothing, just plain flat hard compact sand. So we went in about waist deep (with the occasional wave smacking us head high) and had a ball just trying to stand up and hook bait. There seemed to be a lot of bites, but not a lot of catching at first. We bought some of those new “blood hooks” (i.e. red plated hooks) some G’s and some normal. The G’s were a bit too big for what was biting, but I did catch a small shark (about a foot long or so). We switched to the smaller hooks and Phoenix caught a small whiting and I caught a spot. Nothing amazing, but we had a lot of fun doing it. We were thrown out of the water (well I take that back, when we changed locations, we couldn’t go in) because there were thunderstorms raging in the area (it was raining, but hey we were wet already…) On the way to the jetty, we spotted a huge tortuous at the part we had to go though (well about 3 foot diameter.. not huge, but bigger then I have ever seen in the wild). The lightning was spectacular, but little did I know the show I would get later would be even better.
Eventually we petered out and Phoenix’s Catheter for her insulin pump slipped out into the water. Yipe! No back up, so it was time to go home ASAP. We figured that she would be fine as long as she didn’t get stressed about it on the way home, giving her a high blood sugar. Well, here we are sprinting on I-4, when we run into a wall of water. If it was any harder, it would have been sheets instead of raindrops. The lighting was hitting on either side of the road less then a mile away from us or so, and hitting every 30 seconds. Did I mention Phoenix is freaked out by lightning… as well as slow drivers? Well it petered out a bit, then hit us just as hard again about 5 minutes later, and poor Phoenix was in tears. Well, we got through it, and after it all, Phoenix pipes up with “Hey! That was fun!” I had to laugh. Kind of like that time she had her first ride on the Kracken at Sea World, she almost had a panic attack in line, screamed her head off in the ride, and thought it was great afterwards. She is so much fun to be with! *grin*
Well, we made it home safe, and this week is another week. KWAS is this weekend, and I am still not sure what I need to do, if anything, if I even need to show up etc. I guess I should call Carla. I am reservationists after all (well the figurehead… not that we have had many reservations). As a known world event, I think this is going to be a bomb ( less then 25 reservations), but as a collegium, I think it will be fine.
This weekend was quite a lot of fun. Saturday was a shopping day, and we picked up a cheap surf casting rod, and Sunday we went fishing out by New Smyrna Beach. Now mind you it was more of an exercise in getting wet and having fun then serious fishing. Not knowing exactly where to go to fish exactly, we tried it some on the main beach, and then we headed out closer to the jetties where we heard the fish were biting.
I have to admit, that New Smyrna beach overall is one of the flattest places I have ever tried to fish on the beach. No sandbar to cast to, no nothing, just plain flat hard compact sand. So we went in about waist deep (with the occasional wave smacking us head high) and had a ball just trying to stand up and hook bait. There seemed to be a lot of bites, but not a lot of catching at first. We bought some of those new “blood hooks” (i.e. red plated hooks) some G’s and some normal. The G’s were a bit too big for what was biting, but I did catch a small shark (about a foot long or so). We switched to the smaller hooks and Phoenix caught a small whiting and I caught a spot. Nothing amazing, but we had a lot of fun doing it. We were thrown out of the water (well I take that back, when we changed locations, we couldn’t go in) because there were thunderstorms raging in the area (it was raining, but hey we were wet already…) On the way to the jetty, we spotted a huge tortuous at the part we had to go though (well about 3 foot diameter.. not huge, but bigger then I have ever seen in the wild). The lightning was spectacular, but little did I know the show I would get later would be even better.
Eventually we petered out and Phoenix’s Catheter for her insulin pump slipped out into the water. Yipe! No back up, so it was time to go home ASAP. We figured that she would be fine as long as she didn’t get stressed about it on the way home, giving her a high blood sugar. Well, here we are sprinting on I-4, when we run into a wall of water. If it was any harder, it would have been sheets instead of raindrops. The lighting was hitting on either side of the road less then a mile away from us or so, and hitting every 30 seconds. Did I mention Phoenix is freaked out by lightning… as well as slow drivers? Well it petered out a bit, then hit us just as hard again about 5 minutes later, and poor Phoenix was in tears. Well, we got through it, and after it all, Phoenix pipes up with “Hey! That was fun!” I had to laugh. Kind of like that time she had her first ride on the Kracken at Sea World, she almost had a panic attack in line, screamed her head off in the ride, and thought it was great afterwards. She is so much fun to be with! *grin*
Well, we made it home safe, and this week is another week. KWAS is this weekend, and I am still not sure what I need to do, if anything, if I even need to show up etc. I guess I should call Carla. I am reservationists after all (well the figurehead… not that we have had many reservations). As a known world event, I think this is going to be a bomb ( less then 25 reservations), but as a collegium, I think it will be fine.
Thursday, June 17, 2004
Hits, and more screwed up government
Well, been looking at my blog stats, and it seems I am getting quite a few hits from someone at duke.edu. Not to mention a hit or two from Eastern Europe, south Asia and possibly England. I figure all the aol ones are my favorite aunt, Aunt Dean, but the rest are too general to figure out. I am not getting any comments (well I got one from a cool parrot breeder who was asking about Buddi) so I must not be that interesting… Maybe I need to put more gossip on my page… If you like a post, or want to comment on a post, click on comments!
Speaking of gossip, did you know you can be arrested in this state and held for 30 days without charge for certain offences? Boy there must be a Bush in charge of this state.
Speaking of gossip, did you know you can be arrested in this state and held for 30 days without charge for certain offences? Boy there must be a Bush in charge of this state.
Wednesday, June 16, 2004
Just singing in the rain!
Well, what has been going on lately?
Well it’s been raining quite a bit lately, and of course I love it! Florida rain has the wonderful quality of having that tropical feel to it, meaning really big raindrops coming straight down hard. Not to mention the firework show that we get with each storm. It is so awe inspiring for me to look up and see the boiling of the sky before a storm. I really should have taken Meteorology in college instead of Anthropology. It would have been much cooler to be a storm chaser. Oh well, maybe next lifetime…
The birds have been doing fairly well. Addicus is plucking less, Buddi has turned into a little piggy eating lots of routybush, Adonis is a little less sulky, and Zorah is turning into a beautiful little girl. She is now stepping up on her own and is only getting handfed twice a day. She is doing her flapping exercises and she is so dark, she almost looks like a little hawk… Very cool. Addicus is very amusing, but Zorah is capturing my heart. I really don’t want to clip her because a whole bird is a happy bird… But there is the danger of her flying away… Well, I might try to find a harness for her…
What else is going on? Might go fishing this weekend… Definitely need to get the Jeep’s brakes looked at as they are squeaking. Want to go camping, but its hard when you have kids *grin*. We definitely need to find a good babysitter.
Did I mention how cool Phoenix is? She feeds all these monsters!
Well it’s been raining quite a bit lately, and of course I love it! Florida rain has the wonderful quality of having that tropical feel to it, meaning really big raindrops coming straight down hard. Not to mention the firework show that we get with each storm. It is so awe inspiring for me to look up and see the boiling of the sky before a storm. I really should have taken Meteorology in college instead of Anthropology. It would have been much cooler to be a storm chaser. Oh well, maybe next lifetime…
The birds have been doing fairly well. Addicus is plucking less, Buddi has turned into a little piggy eating lots of routybush, Adonis is a little less sulky, and Zorah is turning into a beautiful little girl. She is now stepping up on her own and is only getting handfed twice a day. She is doing her flapping exercises and she is so dark, she almost looks like a little hawk… Very cool. Addicus is very amusing, but Zorah is capturing my heart. I really don’t want to clip her because a whole bird is a happy bird… But there is the danger of her flying away… Well, I might try to find a harness for her…
What else is going on? Might go fishing this weekend… Definitely need to get the Jeep’s brakes looked at as they are squeaking. Want to go camping, but its hard when you have kids *grin*. We definitely need to find a good babysitter.
Did I mention how cool Phoenix is? She feeds all these monsters!
Friday, June 11, 2004
Birds!
Well, today has been a Friday that has dragged on and on...
Well, Addicus the Cockatoo is a very cuddly odd little bird... Wont eat as much as we would like, but at least he is plucking less then he was. He is overall a very sweet bird. We think we got an age for him of 8 years old. He has the cutest little happy dance, it is sooooo funny! He has shown signs of being a typical three year old... when we leave the room for over five minutes, he does that ear piercing Cockatoo scream that sounds like he is being eaten by a hawk... It scared the pants off of Phoenix when she first heard it, but luckily I had been warned about that. I cant wait till his feathers come back, he is going to be such a pretty bird in about a year or so... Buddi is also opening up alot. He is talking a lot more, and stealing all of Adonis's repetoire. Zorah is looking beautifull! She is beginning to do flap practice and all her feathers are coming in. She is a sexy little bird. We are down to two feedings a day with her now, as she is refusing formula... She is digging into the pellets, so I dont think weaning is going to be that big of a deal.
Well, Addicus the Cockatoo is a very cuddly odd little bird... Wont eat as much as we would like, but at least he is plucking less then he was. He is overall a very sweet bird. We think we got an age for him of 8 years old. He has the cutest little happy dance, it is sooooo funny! He has shown signs of being a typical three year old... when we leave the room for over five minutes, he does that ear piercing Cockatoo scream that sounds like he is being eaten by a hawk... It scared the pants off of Phoenix when she first heard it, but luckily I had been warned about that. I cant wait till his feathers come back, he is going to be such a pretty bird in about a year or so... Buddi is also opening up alot. He is talking a lot more, and stealing all of Adonis's repetoire. Zorah is looking beautifull! She is beginning to do flap practice and all her feathers are coming in. She is a sexy little bird. We are down to two feedings a day with her now, as she is refusing formula... She is digging into the pellets, so I dont think weaning is going to be that big of a deal.
Thursday, June 10, 2004
The right wing is the one true God, and Ronald Reagan is his prophet
The right wing is the one true God, and Ronald Reagan is his prophet…
Ok, not really. Looking back at Reagan’s policies, they actually are more moderate then you might think… While he did great tax cuts for folks like you and me, he raised corporate taxes to the highest level in history, He saved social security (which the current group of Republicans are trying to destroy) and while he was against abortion rights, he never actually did anything about it.
But that’s not what inspired my title. This morning on the news, I saw something eerie… There was Reagan’s casket, covered in an American flag, surrounded by flowers, and people viewed the casket by walking in two circles around the perimeter of the room. It reminded me of Muslims circling around the tomb of Mohammed on haj. What odd symbolism we have considering the times…
Ok, not really. Looking back at Reagan’s policies, they actually are more moderate then you might think… While he did great tax cuts for folks like you and me, he raised corporate taxes to the highest level in history, He saved social security (which the current group of Republicans are trying to destroy) and while he was against abortion rights, he never actually did anything about it.
But that’s not what inspired my title. This morning on the news, I saw something eerie… There was Reagan’s casket, covered in an American flag, surrounded by flowers, and people viewed the casket by walking in two circles around the perimeter of the room. It reminded me of Muslims circling around the tomb of Mohammed on haj. What odd symbolism we have considering the times…
Tuesday, June 08, 2004
Cockatoos!!!!!
Well, being the web maniac that I am, I searched for some more info that we need to rehab this cockatoo... egad, I didn't know these birds were so hard to keep! But its all good... We just need to put a lot of TLC on this bird. There is a great site http://www.mytoos.com/ that goes over all the disadvantages to having a Cockatoo own you... *sigh* I think we have all the requirements except the unhand cash... I am not sure breeding Cockatoos is ethically sound given that they are so easily messed up. I suppose it might be, but I would think that as a breeder, one would make sure that the person buying the bird has the time, money, space and desire to care for such a wonderful bird. Well... Now I am thinking that converting the sun room into an aviary might not be such a bad idea. But we need a shed for all the stuff in the back room! LOL... work work work work....
Addicus the fluffy
Well, yesterday we got our first real project bird, and his name is Addicus (see picture below). Its this sort of thing that really breaks my heart. He is the sweetest bird I have ever encountered, but he is so torn up it almost brings you to tears. Its not just the picking (or the shock of seeing one of his flight feathers fall off spontaniously), but despite being one of the biggest umbrella cockatoos I have ever seen, he is as thin as a rail. He seems happy now, but the poor thing is still picking, and is not eating. He was eating seed at the store, so we mixed in seed and routybush (along with all the other goodies we feed the rest of the birds: carrots, broccoli, grapes, apples, etc.) but the only thing we have seen him eat is watermelon and cheese (*sigh* sounds like my college days). Needless to say we are a bit worried, and a trip to the vet is in the future, but we got to get him eating now. Phoenix is going to try to talk to the previous owner to see what he will eat, and going to get some proper cockatoo food (Larger pellets I guess…) If not , Phoenix may start hand feeding baby formula to him.
Otherwise, he is happy… He was up on the perch with wings spread last night dancing back and forth chirping away… what a sweetheart. I hope he likes his new home!
Otherwise, he is happy… He was up on the perch with wings spread last night dancing back and forth chirping away… what a sweetheart. I hope he likes his new home!
Monday, June 07, 2004
Lovely Weekend!
A lovely weekend! Just lovely!
Had a very nice weekend this past few days. We didn’t actually do a lot, some housecleaning and such, but mostly getting used to our new African Grey Buddi. The background on this bird is quite sketchy, but he is a cool bird none the less. It came about that Phoenix got this bird from its owner because the owner got a job traveling and just didn’t have time to spend with him, so he ended up at the shop being kenneled more then not. In a fit of guilt, the owner asked Phoenix if she would take him, and Phoenix said heck ya! (Well ok, it was approximately something like that). The former owner said that the bird was four years old or so, but she found the bird walking down the road one day, so we expect he is quite older. He is much bigger then Adonis, and has an odd beak (looks like the nose on a mob thug in my opinion) He was on an all seed diet, so his feathers (as you can see in the photo) are a bit worn and yucky, but we are getting him on routybush and going to be giving him Vitamin supplement. The big news this weekend is that we are going to be getting another bird from the boarding room, a huge (and I mean huge for even this bird) Umbrella Cockatoo. He has been in the back of the store, and has plucked all his feathers except down and head feathers. We are going to pick him up today, along with a new cage or two, a huge one for him and a larger cage for Buddi. We will have to get one for Zorah eventually, but not for another month or so. (Cages are expensive! What a racket! Even making them out of wire myself isn’t as cheap as it should be!)
Speaking of cages, we were kicking around an idea for a bird boarding business… Need a lot more cages for that!
Birds birds birds birds! OY!
Stopped by Martin’s late Sat. and helped him put together his spiff new all oak bar table… (very nice), hit the flea market looking for deals (seedless watermelon for $1.50 was this week’s find) completely revamped the bird room and the living room to make more room for more cages, put collars on our cats and introduced them to the great outdoors (talk about freaked out cats! But hey, there are too many birds around for them to be underfoot). Watched Master and Commander on TV, and of course Law and Order once or twice
Not a bad weekend at all…
Had a very nice weekend this past few days. We didn’t actually do a lot, some housecleaning and such, but mostly getting used to our new African Grey Buddi. The background on this bird is quite sketchy, but he is a cool bird none the less. It came about that Phoenix got this bird from its owner because the owner got a job traveling and just didn’t have time to spend with him, so he ended up at the shop being kenneled more then not. In a fit of guilt, the owner asked Phoenix if she would take him, and Phoenix said heck ya! (Well ok, it was approximately something like that). The former owner said that the bird was four years old or so, but she found the bird walking down the road one day, so we expect he is quite older. He is much bigger then Adonis, and has an odd beak (looks like the nose on a mob thug in my opinion) He was on an all seed diet, so his feathers (as you can see in the photo) are a bit worn and yucky, but we are getting him on routybush and going to be giving him Vitamin supplement. The big news this weekend is that we are going to be getting another bird from the boarding room, a huge (and I mean huge for even this bird) Umbrella Cockatoo. He has been in the back of the store, and has plucked all his feathers except down and head feathers. We are going to pick him up today, along with a new cage or two, a huge one for him and a larger cage for Buddi. We will have to get one for Zorah eventually, but not for another month or so. (Cages are expensive! What a racket! Even making them out of wire myself isn’t as cheap as it should be!)
Speaking of cages, we were kicking around an idea for a bird boarding business… Need a lot more cages for that!
Birds birds birds birds! OY!
Stopped by Martin’s late Sat. and helped him put together his spiff new all oak bar table… (very nice), hit the flea market looking for deals (seedless watermelon for $1.50 was this week’s find) completely revamped the bird room and the living room to make more room for more cages, put collars on our cats and introduced them to the great outdoors (talk about freaked out cats! But hey, there are too many birds around for them to be underfoot). Watched Master and Commander on TV, and of course Law and Order once or twice
Not a bad weekend at all…
Saturday, June 05, 2004
Wednesday, June 02, 2004
oooffff.....
Boy yesterday really sucked. We hit our record at work in taking calls. We were over 500 by the time I left and boy I was burned out. I have been getting headaches lately at work, probably eye strain. Maybe Ill start staring at the keyboard more *grin*
It is nice going home to my Phoenix at least.
Tried to feed the little bird last night again and boy I suck at feeding birds. I managed to get her fed, but it seems that I am too slow in getting it down her throat, and I don’t hold her right, etc. Maybe I will just clean up the cage and let Phoenix do the feedings… I hope we can get some breeders so we can start selling birds.
One of the things I didn’t like about the bird show, is that there are so many breeders that dont seem to be doing things right. There are the obviously abusive ones (one poor macaw was screaming the whole day, freaked out of its mind because the breeder was so bad in raising the thing) but even some of the more well meaning ones were not quite on the ball. The bird we got, the breeder was only feeding 30cc of food 3 times a day. We continued on this course, and the poor thing was starving. We looked up feeding for African Greys, and they suggested 5 feedings a day at her age! Oy!
Well it makes it now we cant leave the house to do anything without bringing the baby, so we are pretty much stuck at home for the next month or so (unless we bring the baby)
I guess this is practice for a real baby someday.
On other news, I hear my ex (stitch) has gone absolutely loonie…
It is nice going home to my Phoenix at least.
Tried to feed the little bird last night again and boy I suck at feeding birds. I managed to get her fed, but it seems that I am too slow in getting it down her throat, and I don’t hold her right, etc. Maybe I will just clean up the cage and let Phoenix do the feedings… I hope we can get some breeders so we can start selling birds.
One of the things I didn’t like about the bird show, is that there are so many breeders that dont seem to be doing things right. There are the obviously abusive ones (one poor macaw was screaming the whole day, freaked out of its mind because the breeder was so bad in raising the thing) but even some of the more well meaning ones were not quite on the ball. The bird we got, the breeder was only feeding 30cc of food 3 times a day. We continued on this course, and the poor thing was starving. We looked up feeding for African Greys, and they suggested 5 feedings a day at her age! Oy!
Well it makes it now we cant leave the house to do anything without bringing the baby, so we are pretty much stuck at home for the next month or so (unless we bring the baby)
I guess this is practice for a real baby someday.
On other news, I hear my ex (stitch) has gone absolutely loonie…
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