July 2005 Archives

I can't believe how many problems I've had with this bank. Here is the most recent incident:

1. Last week I tried to get gas, using my DEBIT card as CREDIT, just like they tell you to, and it told me my card couldn't be authorized.
2. This weekend I tried to use my card again as credit at Mustard Seed, and it told the cashier twice that it was the wrong PIN, even though she ran it as credit.
3. Tonight I tried to take money out of the ATM and it went through all five hundred screens, and as soon as I thought it was going to spit my money out, it flashed an error screen up for 1/1000 of a second and ate my card.

So annoying. Hopefully they will let Kory pick the card up for me, because otherwise I can't get it until Wednesday.

Here are some digital photos from Amy's (temporary) farewell party today. It was really nice to get together with everyone, and hopefully it provided Amy and Matt with some comfort and encouragement!

Joe now has a new mansion cage. You can see his old cage on the left of the picture, it's quite a bit smaller. This new one isn't the best, but it's a pretty decent cage. And I even put it together all by myself! You should have seen me putting the castors on the bottom! I broke one of them, but somehow managed to get it back in at the same level as the others. I was worried I wouldn't have enough perches and toys to fill it up, but I did. I don't really like the straight wooden perches that came with it, but I think Joe has enough cement / natural wood / rope perches in there to exercise his feet and wear down his nails. I would like to replace the one on the top somehow though, he spends a lot of time up there.

Joe's eye doesn't seem to be clearing up much. I suppose I'll have to make him another appointment with Krupka. He's also being really picky about what he eats. If I give him anything with carrots in it, he only eats the carrots. And if I don't put carrots in it, he doesn't go near it. I did get him to drink some soy milk though. And he certainly doesn't have a problem taking drinks out of my juice glass! Silly bird.

Kory and I did quite a bit of driving around today. We went up to Lorain to have Karrie cut our hair, then we went up to the lake (Lake Erie, that is) which we haven't seen in what seems like ages, and then we drove out to Tommy's and ate way too much food. But it was fun, and I really miss living by the lake. So here are some digital photos from the lake.

There are also some more photos up on Flickr.

There's something about the old design I wasn't happy with, so it's back to the old one, which I still like. I've also added a few things, like the search and categories. Hopefully everything is rebuilt and working. If you find something not working, let me know!

It's a little after eleven and I'm so sleepy. I've been up since 5:30 and I have to get up at 5:30 tomorrow morning, but I feel like I shouldn't go to sleep because Joe is apparently a night owl. During the day he just sits on top of his cage and just...sits there. He eats some, sits in the bottom of his cage, poops, doesn't make any noise at all, and that's about it. And then at about 10:00pm he's a totally different bird. He walks around, makes all sorts of noises, cleans himself, flaps his wings at me (which means "Come pet me!), plays with his toys, eats a lot more, etc. It's really weird, and I just don't understand it. I thought maybe he was too hot during the day, but he does the same exact thing when the air conditioner is on.

So I feel like I can't go to sleep yet, that Joe should have more than one hour of play and fun a day. I could probably leave him out, he behaves himself really well. But by the way he's been acting, who knows, he would probably be up all night playing if I didn't put him in his cage and cover it!

By the way, I've been attacked by the Italian Greyhound bug (Kory was bitten a long time ago when a breeder stayed at his hotel.) Why have a child when you could have one of these?

I just went downstairs to wake Kory up and tell him something, and I looked out the window and what did I see? A little RolyPoly looking back at me from a fence outside the window! Apparently when I opened up the window last night, I opened the wrong side, the side where there is no screen. So RolyPoly just hopped out the window and who knows what else she did while she was out there!

I assumed that if she ever got out that she wouldn't run away since she used to be a stray cat living in my dad's backyard. Luckily this was true.

So I just went outside, laughed at her for sitting on top of a six foot fence, gently scooped her off the fence and went back inside. She stared at me like "See, Amy, I can go outside without my leash on!"

Silly RolyPoly.

Here are some photos from Karrie's house. It was the first time Kory and I had seen Sean, aka "The Baby". He's three months old, developmentally only six weeks though because he was premature.

There are also some more photos on Flickr.

Yesterday Kory and I took Joe to see Dr. Krupka at the Avon Lake Animal Clinic. Ever since I got him last week, his left eye has been swollen and very watery. It's so bad that sometimes when he shakes his head you can see the water drops flinging off his eye. He's always rubbing it against his cage, scratching it, rubbing it against your hand when you rub his head (gross!), etc. When we got to see Dr. Krupka, I found out that Joe's eye should probably be the least of our worries. It turns out that he is extremely underweight and his left wing is so stiff that he probably won't be able to fly again. I did think it was a little strange that I hadn't seen Joe fly, glide to the ground, or even just flap his wings. He said that his weight is due to a poor diet and his wing stiffness is due to being in such a small cage and not getting out/using it enough.

I had suspicions that he was underweight, but he wasn't very fond of me touching anything but his head, so I didn't feel him anywhere else yet. But at the vet's with Joe wrapped in a towel in Dr. Krupka's hands, I felt and saw poor Joe's sternum sticking straight out with barely any mass surrounding it at all. A bird's flight muscles attach to their sternum, and it sure felt like Joe didn't have any, this is probably another reason Joe doesn't / can't fly. This makes me really sad and I'm planning on keeping Joe's bowls filled with as many healthy and nutritious foods as I can. Dr. Krupka told us to "feed him anything you're eating!" as long as it's not too salty, sugary, has caffeine, etc. He doesn't seem to be a bad eater at all, so hopefully he will readily accept some tofu because he sure needs some protein! I would also like to start doing some physical therapy with him once he gets a little more used to me. I really hope to get his wings in shape so he can at least fly onto and off of his cage comfortably.

Joe's prescription: eye drops for conjunctivitis three times a day, lots of good food, exercise, good perches to trim his nails, and lots of loving!

I really like Dr. Krupka, it's definitely worth the long drive to see him. If anyone is looking for a great exotics veterinarian, I highly recommend him. And it was so cheap, I was so happy. I was expecting it to be somewhere up in the hundreds, but it was only about $45 including Joe's eye drops.

Yesterday wasn't all sad though, afterwards we took Joe over to Kory's parents' house and had a really good time. Joe sat on top of the kitchen table while we all talked in the kitchen and ate to his little heart's content. I was really surprised he had such a good time. He was really active, walking around the table, stepping up a million times for us, trying to take a bath in a bowl way too small for him, pooping all over Kory's mom's table! It was fun and it was a good way to help socialize him.

We also went over to Karrie's to visit my new nephew, (I forgot I have more nieces/nephews now!) Sean. I took some photos, so hopefully later I'll have some time to put them up.

I got onto the turnpike last night to drive home from work, and I smelled something really gross. I thought maybe it was the semi ahead of me, but I passed him and the smell didn't go away. As soon as I started to think maybe my car was going to explode, I spotted a truck way ahead that looked like it could possibly have been carrying livestock. Then the smell became familiar, and I was almost positive it was the smelly animal / poop / pee smell and that it had to be coming from that truck. "No way!" I thought. I couldn't believe it because the truck was seriously so far away from me! And he was speeding like crazy too! It must have took me 15 minutes to catch up to him, smelling his disgusting stink trail the whole way. I don't see how a truck full of animals could possibly leave a smell that strong wafting around miles after they've already passed by.

Speaking of poop, Joe sure knows how to! One thing I've forgotten from working at the pet store is not only the large size of a parrot's poop, but the force and angle in which it comes out! My goodness, I can't even comprehend the force that Joe's poop comes out with. It must come out going 100 miles per hour and at a 45° angle. It makes such a lovely sound when it hits the hardwood floor. The first time Kory experienced this was hilarious! "Amy, Joe just pooped and it is all over the place! It's so gross!!"

I forgot that I didn't post an update on Joe. He is doing very well now! He comes out of his cage, let's us rub his head, and he even let's us pick at his pin feathers! He doesn't really seem to know the "step up" command, but he's learning! He's done it twice already. We bought him some new toys, a new perch, and some pellet food and he seems so happy! He really loves his one new toy, he started playing with it as soon as I hung it in his cage. He's eating really well. Pellets, seed mix, lots of veggies, greens, and sprouts. And he still doesn't make much noise! When he's up and about he just makes these little noises that sound like, "Ha Ha" and when I put his cage cover on he makes a few whiny noises, but that's about it! So far, so good!

Here is Joe. He is a 25 year old Mitred Conure. I was expecting to hear some loud screaming from him this morning when I woke up, but no. Just some little squawks as I took the cover off his cage. Mitred conures are supposed to be fairly noisy, maybe he just needs to settle in more. I haven't tried to take him out yet, so I've just been watching him. He eats, a lot! So far he's been eating his seed mix, carrots, broccoli, corn, and peppers. I offered cereal, toast, and a mix of beans but he hasn't eaten those yet. I'm really glad he's a good eater! I can't get the budgies to touch broccoli for anything!

The cage he's in is pretty small for being one of the largest conures. He seems to be doing well in it though. He only has a dog bone and a rusty bell to play with, so I would like to get him some new toys. I already put one extra link toy I had in, and he likes to chew on it. He seems to almost have a "relationship" with his dog bone. The bone is hanging from a chain, and when he goes to sleep it seems like he nuzzles up to it. He'll get it so it kind of wraps around his head, and he'll just fall asleep like that. He also uses it to rub his head and neck, which another bird or human should be doing for him! In the picture you can see him just sitting there with it resting against him. I haven't stuck my fingers through the bars or anything to try to preen him, but I've lowered my head to the cage and he'll preen my hair for me.

So far I haven't seen him act aggressively at all, so that's definitely a good sign. I'm sure it will take quite some time for him to take to me, but I am up for the challenge!

• I put some more photos up on Flickr.
• Our neighbor asked us to make sure her cats have water while she's on vacation! We went outside to give them water today, and Teddy Roosevelt was in the driveway and he let us pet him and he followed us all over the place! I love him. RolyPoly sat in the window and was jealous, and Wally and Winky were staring out their bedroom window upstairs scared to bits! They're actually the ones who let me know Teddy was in the driveway (They scream to warn everyone whenever there a big scary predator in the area!)
• The fish tank took about 9 hours to move. I know, that's crazy. Luckily it looks much better than it did before, and everybody inside seems to be doing fine. The bad part is that it left a disaster in its wake.
• As of Wednesday night Kory and I completely rid ourselves of the old apartments. Or so we thought. On Friday we got the expected water/gas bill from them, but they also charged us both another month of rent! We went and talked to the "leasing consultant" there about it and she had no idea what we were talking about, so now we have to wait until Tuesday to straighten everything out. Can't anything just be simple? And why wouldn't a leasing consultant know anything about how rent works?
• There is a dead blue jay in our backyard and he makes me really sad. I wish Kory would go bury him.
• Kreiger's hasn't been carrying our fake chicken that we use for stir fry, so I've started eating tofu. It obviously isn't as good as the fake chicken, but it will do until we can get out to Mustard Seed to buy some. See Heidi, I'm getting better!
• Now that my sinus infection has pretty much gone away, I've caught another cold. I must have used a whole roll of toilet paper to blow my nose at work the other day. And probably three more over the past couple days, so hopefully by tomorrow my nose will just fall off.
• Kory and I are going down to Heidi's mother-in-law's new house tomorrow for a picnic, as well as to pick up my new bird! This is the same bird I was supposed to get a long time ago. All I know is that he is a green parrot with a red head, his name is Joe, he was expensive, and he's pretty old (~ 20 years I think.) I'm not sure what to expect, maybe a cherry-headed conure? Mitred conure? We'll see!