New addition

Mary Worth returned to her comic strip after a 15 day absence.

Our family has new addition, a cockatiel named Janie. He was advertised on Craig's List as a female but he has the coloring of a male. So far he gets along well with Salvador, not so well with Edgar. I will post pictures soon.

We are thinking about giving Janie a different name. It was not his original name. The person we got him from acquired him when her brother put a birdcage outside to dry and Janie flew into it. This is the fifth story I've heard about a cockatiel just picking a person to live with. Unfortunately for Janie the person is allergic.

Janie did come with a lot of accessories that I'm trying to integrate into the surroundings.

Loki's training is going well. Today he pretty much ignored the little yapping dogs from across the street even though they were in our yard and one of them nipped at Loki's tail. He looked at the little nipper and then turned away to sniff around for something more interesting. The neighbor's dogs are becoming way too territorial.

I live in an all-male household.

What I learned on my holiday break

Thanks to a nice university job, I was on break from December 22 - January 5.

Things I learned while on break:

1. We own 101 wash cloths. We have received wash cloths for Christmas every year we've been married. I found wash cloths still folded in half exactly as we received them. I did not count the kitchen wash cloths we received just those designed for bathing. I found this out while organizing the cabinets in one of the bathrooms. I kept pulling out wash cloths and became curious as to how many we own. The number may increase as other cabinets, drawers and parts of the house become organized. Depending on how neurotic Walter and I become, we could go 50 to 5 days (using 1 - 10 wash cloths per shower per person - I'll leave it up to you to count the body parts) without washing a load of wash cloths. We got rid of 2 wash cloths because they had stains on them. This improves the chances of using one of the other 99 at least once.
2. I have acquired a lot of t-shirts either through blood or sweat.
3. Without a schedule I wake up at 10:00 am or later and go to bed at 1:00 - 2:00 am. I did not take naps. Pills facilitated my transition to regular work type hours.
   
4. Our bed frame has six legs. Walter bought four risers for the bed. A few days after putting the bed on risers the bed sagged in the middle. This sag brought us closer together but also caused some soreness. The bed is off the risers pending the purchase of two more.
5. The extremes in the weather has not compromised my immune system, yet. Shorts and tank top one day, multiple layers the next.
   
6. I have gotten comfortable with wearing medium shirts, tank tops and single digit sized pants.
7. The birds like to sing when the morning sun goes through their window. This can be annoying depending on how well I slept the night before.
8. Salvador sings every afternoon from 12:45 - 1:10 regardless of the condition of the sky.
9. I'm getting the hang of this organization and getting rid of stuff thing.
10. I like nightly massages.
11. When the white chocolate covered Oreos hit store shelves buy three boxes. The white chocolate covered Oreos are never in the cookie aisle.
12. I have a great family.
    
13. Wash cloths make decent hand towels.

Made it through

We just got rain and wind gusts but no power outage nor flooding. My family closer to the coast made it through but they do not have power. Last time I checked on them they did not sustain any damage to their homes but they have a lot of debris in their yards. I don't know if my mother's mobile home made it through undamaged.

The pets made it through. I think the birds were more upset about having their cage moved than the goings on outside.

The Voice of the Shatner

I think the term, whisperer to describe a gifted animal behaviour expert has been a bit over-used. Perhaps, now a cliche. It inspired a few gags: Gila Monster whisperer, Whisperer whisperer, Ho whisperer. I drew the Gila Monster whisperer.

This weekend, I discovered that William Shatner's musical work has a very calming effect on the birds. Walter was playing selections from our music collection and transferring some of the songs to his phone. I own a CD of William Shatner's The Transformed Man. Salvador and Edgar would chatter, scream and bother each other while other songs played but as soon as Shatner's rendition of Mr. Tambourine Man played both birds calmed down and by the end of the song they were hunkered down on opposite ends of the shelf barely keeping their eyes open. Walter played other songs and the birds would start up again but they calmed down upon hearing Shatner's Lucy in the Sky. This experiment continued for another hour. Most songs would get them excited but the voice of the Shatner (that needed to be bold) calmed them down. Leonard Nimoy had a similar effect but not as pronounced as the Shatner.

I will try the experiment some more with other Shatner renditions from YouTube. He did a pretty cool rendition of Common People with Joe Jackson on the Conan O'Brien Show. I have an animated Star Trek mash-up featuring that song among my favorites on my YouTube channel. If the birds start squawking during Joe Jackson's singing part then it is safe to say that my birds have really interesting musical tastes.

I am glad that they have not added the Enzyte commercial to their whistling repertoire. I'm sure a quick search of YouTube will turn up video of a pet bird that has added that to their repertoire.

New digs

The birds have new digs. The cage is taller with an extra roof roost. The features I like are the seed catch and the bottom tray and floor slides out for easy cleaning. It's rare to find a slide out floor on a cage designed for smaller birds.

This evening we had a bit of a crisis when two perches got loose but I put them back. Salvador and Edgar seem to like the cage. Edgar especially likes the new height.

I have a new foster dog named Backpack. He is a lab mix. He's energetic and loves to play in water.

I love Texas

One day snow, the next day great weather for running. I just finished an one hour run under blue sky and 50 degree (F) temps with a slight breeze. The dogs are outside and the birds are chirping along with all the new sounds that they hear through the open windows.

Walter finally got a day off so he is puttering around the house.

Exercise log:
This week I ran, biked and rowed 18.36 miles, burned 1,874 calories and weigh 163.7 pounds.
Monday: row - 1.33 miles in 10:00
Tuesday: run - 3.28 miles in 35:00
Wednesday: bike - 3.07 miles in 15:00
Thursday: run - 3.33 miles in 35:00
Friday: row - 1.82 miles in 15:00
Saturday: run - 5.53 miles in 1:03:37

Pet Photo Friday

Loki hoping that Walter drops something edible. Loki did get to clean the plate after Walter ate.

It's hard to see in this photo but whenever Loki sleeps or lays his head on the ground the tip of his tongue always sticks out.

The eye with less than 20/20 vision is watching you!

Salvador and Edgar now act like a flock. Edgar follows Salvador in flight and attempts to either land on Salvador's back or as close to Salvador as he can get.

Edgar the daredevil. Yes, that's a ceiling fan blade that Edgar has landed on and we are trying to discourage that behavior. Edgar has developed four interesting blue/purple dots on his neck.

Salvador preening while perching on top of the refrigerator. Salvador is standing next to Poop Off.

Loki, relax! Good dog!

Religion is a smile on a dog.

Salvador Sketchcast

Friday

Brilliant idea, Marcus! I should do the same thing. I should put together an activity kit for social gatherings and market it to introverts to use while being forced to attend a social gathering.

Beetle, that's not casual, that's insane!

I can imagine what having a squirrel running around in my blouse and removing my bra feels like.
SPELLMAN! The asshole harassing Dr. Drew about his sex life is named Spellman. About damn time the guy got a name.
Those are not strawberries but peyote.

I thought I saw the light at the end of the tunnel in regards to the project, I dubbed the Infinite Project. Turns out it was a train. Things keep getting added to this damn project. I think I will qualify for retirement (time of service + age = 80; in my case 10 years + 38 years old = 48 subtract from 80 = 32 years until qualification for full retirement) before this project sees its first iteration. This project will require periodic updates.

I did not update my cartoon last night because I attended a long board meeting. There was a lot to cover. I could have updated after my dental appointment this morning but I decided I needed a nap instead. I have great teeth, the dentist said my teeth were fun to floss and my blood pressure was 115/ 52. Maybe my dentist needs to get out more - using flossing and fun in the same sentence. I admire him for finding joy in the small things.

Edgar is becoming more confident about leaving the cage. I let the birds out while I took my nap. Salvador perched on my upper arm (I usually sleep on my side). When I got out of bed I almost stepped on Edgar. He was on the floor in the hallway. He usually perches on the top of the cage or on some shelves. Fortunately, Edgar got away quickly.

During my nap I dreamt that both Edgar and Salvador were flying around outside. Edgar was flying and landing very well. Both of the birds landed among a group of wild birds. Then Salvador was picked up by a Great Blue Heron. That upset me. I sort of woke up to the sound of one of Salvador's chirps. I moved on to my back and Salvador moved on to my pillow. He is molting so when I left this afternoon there was a small pile of feathers on my pillow.

Edgar - Video Star

A little video I shot, edited and added music. I'm kind of proud of myself for learning how to do this. This video is of Edgar, our parakeet. Unlike Salvador, his cockatiel brother, he does not do much in front of a camera. I decided that overly dramatic music inappropriate to the action was in order. It took me 45 minutes to film, edit and upload the video.

A bunch of pictures from my camera phone

Camera Phone - sounds like something from "Get Smart".

Pictures of my latest foster dog, Aurora. She is a lab mix. Weighs about 40 pounds.

Some ugly figurines for sale at a garage sale. What I love about the camera phone is that I can just take a picture then mock the item without buying the item. The rest of the items at this garage sale were quite nice and tasteful. Somebody probably bought one figurine as a joke, then someone else saw it and assumed that these people like this stuff so they bought more figurines like this as a gift. That's why I never have certain items laying around in plain sight in my house.

More pictures of Edgar, the parakeet. He comes out of the cage on his own and allows himself to perch on a shoulder.

I have a scan of the post card on my desk in one of my blog entries. It is a church in Oklahoma City - the church of the future.

This is Isaac, a former foster dog of mine. He still needs a forever home. You can read more about him at http://www.woodstocktexas.org. He loves to stare at the small animals at Petco - hamsters, guinea pigs, rabbits, ferrets. He will stand in one place and stare for 30 minutes or more. The guinea pigs are his favorite.

I've always wanted to do a series called, "Damn, your house is ugly!" Attending garage sales allows me to see a lot of badly designed houses. This style I dubbed The Flintstones meet The Brady Bunch

The house next door sporting the same Flintbrady style.

Some furniture the Flintbradys were selling. The fabric on these chairs really brighten up a room - several rooms, even rooms in other houses.

I actually ate this. I cooked it in the microwave, put it in my mouth, chewed it and swallowed. It did not taste bad. It is Gardenburger's version of a McRib, without the bun. It looked pretty much the same when it left my body.

Look at the Birdie!

I did not run this week. I took some time off from work to take care of family matters and rest. Instead of a running log I give you pictures of Edgar, our parakeet. He is learning how to fly. He wants to follow Salvador around but he does not have the flight feathers to do that yet.


I have a new foster dog. Abbey is in a new foster home. This foster only handles smaller dogs so moving Abbey in with her freed up my home for a larger dog that has been biding her time at one of the vets that help Woodstock. Right now her name is Precious but that will change. I'm leaning towards Aurora or Athena. She is a 40 pound, chocolate/ red lab mix with lots of energy. She and Loki have been playing all day. She needs to learn how not to jump on people. Both dogs are in the backyard playing. I brought them inside briefly but the play got a bit rambunctious so I sent them back outside. I'm told that Precious is great in a kennel. I will find out tonight.