HoundBlog

Gosh it’s been a long time since I wrote – not because I haven’t had anything to say, but because there just hasn’t been time. My project for work (installing and populating Great Plains Field Service module) has grown a life of it’s own, but I should start seeing daylight at the end of that tunnel soon as I am slowly getting everything done that we need to have done prior to moving over to it from OUT.

Ken’s side is much better. He’s pretty much back to normal except for the scar. My black eye is no more although the scratch still has a bit of a mark on my cheek. I’m sure that will go away in it’s own time, too. Meanwhile, I look like I’ve been in a knife fight 🙂

The birds continue to learn their tricks. Reilly has totally mastered the colored beads and we are working on cues for the different colors. My goal is to develop this whole color choice routine that involves signals. Meanwhile, Taji has watched this whole training process with Reilly with great interest. Just for fun, I offered him the cup with the beads and asked for one of the colors. He chose the right one. I put that bead aside and asked for a second color. He chose the right one. I put that bead aside and asked for a third color and he got the right one again! Amazing bird! He got treated with his favorite — a peanut. This is a lot of fun and my guys are so smart! They also got mashed potatoes for dinner which was another hit. Even the cockatiel got into eating mashed taters.

I talked to Yvonne Thursday and she and Eddie are in thier new home although there is still a lot of unpacking to do. They just got their phone turned on that morning, so they haven’t had a chance to call anyone. Eddie was made Class Leader and is already busy as a bee with his new duties. Yvonne still has to find a sitter so she can have some free time. It sounds like they will settle into their new life as a family unit with only a few small bumps.

I also talked to Chris and they are doing fine. They were at McDonalds having dinner, so it was a little difficult to hear with the screaming kids (they were sitting at the play area).

Talked to Pam and her grandfather is doing well after his surgery (he had some polyps in his colon removed). He did have to go to a nursing facility for a few days as he developed bed sores because he wouldn’t get out of bed, but she thinks he will not be there very long. Her Mom, John and Bebe are doing fine. Patrick will be coming home for good once school is out for the summer.

That’s all for now.

Take care.

Love to all,

Margaret

Well, I’ve slipped up on writing again! It seems there just are no more hours in the day to squeeze any fun in 😛

Ken took Saturday off and we spent the morning running errands in Anderson. Saturday afternoon was spent messing with the critters. I put all the dogs in crates and took the Cockatoo out in the house for some out-of-cage time. I’ve been working on training him to do different things. He will give you a high-five now with his foot and he’s learning to turn in a circle. He acted like he was stressed out being out of his “room”, so I didn’t keep him out long and he seemed happy to get back in his cage.

The African Gray is a biter, so I’ve been working on building up a trust relationship with him to extinguish the bites. He doesn’t come out of his cage unless I leave the door open and wait for him to come out on his own because he will not step onto a hand-held perch and if I offer my hand or arm, he bites it. I’m not a fan of getting bitten, so we will just let him do his own thing for now. He is learning color discrimination. It seems that parrots have REALLY good vision and can see a lot more colors than humans, so this is a fun thing for him to learn. I’ve started with 3 differently colored beads and he picks up the one I’ve told him I want and drops it into a cup. He’s actually pretty good at it — he gets it right more times than not. He’s started saying really softly “I love you”. I’ve been telling him I love him for weeks now and he hears me tell Ken I love him all the time, so I’m really pleased that he’s picked up this phrase. He does not say any cuss words and I’m careful not to say any around him as I KNOW he would pick up on them quickly.

I think he will be a real show-stopper when he gets trained a little bit more. He’s really smart and seems to enjoy being trained — I’m using a clicker to mark the behavior I want/like and he’s begun clicking me in return when I do something he likes. 😆  He is an amazingly accurate mimick. He tells the dogs by name to “get out” or “go potty” or he’ll call them. They come running, too! It’s really funny because he sounds just like me. He’s picked up my cough — just the sound of it, not the real thing and I have to laugh. When I get on the telephone, he says “uh huh, uh huh” just like me and in my voice. When Ken comes in the room he makes a rude sounding noise (just like Ken often does) 😯

Well, I guess I should close this out for today and get back to work.

Love to all,

Margaret

Another weekend shot. Eddie, Yvonne and Randy got here Friday around midnight — Ken and I were terrible hosts and slept through it. They got up around 9:00 and we went to breakfast at the local greasy spoon. Then I ran to Greenwood for an errand or two while they started laundry. When Ken got home later that afternoon, we sat around talking and then went to dinner. They left right after dinner to drive as far as they could that night as they wanted to break up the rest of the trip to Virginia Beach. Eddie called me Sunday morning to report they had gotten to Durham around midnight and would finish the drive to Virginia Beach that day. They’ll spend today co-ordinating with the movers to deliver their stuff to the townhouse, get electricity and phone turned on.

My eye is slowly clearing up. I look like a Mary Kay party gone bad 😆 I still have this nagging cough that just won’t go away. The medicine that the dr. prescribed makes me dizzy and feel weird. If I take it at night, it revs me up so I can’t sleep and if I take it during the day, I’m dizzy and “buzzed”. Not good. Have reverted back to taking Advil Cold and Sinus which I still can’t take at night, but at least it doesn’t make me feel weird during the day.

I’m still tweaking on Great Plains Securities. Am about to throw in the towel on it for all users except the ones who only need to receive and transfer inventory as it just doesn’t want to work for everyone else. No amount of research on my part has enabled me to come up with a definitive descrption of what check box affects what. Talk about un-user friendly! This is IT.

Well, that’s it for me! Hope your day is a good one!

Love to all,

Margaret

Geez! We are like the Keystone Kops around here! It’s giving me an ulcer, but I know that if I just perservere, it will all come right and I’ll be back to my daily grind again.

I am sure glad that tomorrow is Friday!

Eddie called yesterday and they put off the drive for a day. They will be here today or tomorrow — Yvonne wasn’t feeling well and I certainly can empathize with her! He said that Randy had a ball at the Mardi Gras parade they went to in some small town close by. They didn’t want to go to one in a larger town as it gets too rowdy, but this one was just right. It seems he had a great time at the wedding, too. I hope they got some pictures. I think it’s time for a new album 😉

I still haven’t received pictures of the Ohio kids in their new clothes. Guess I will have to call to find out what’s up with that as I did ask for some.

My eye is turning chartreuse. Very attractive color I must say 😛 I’m still getting horrified reactions to it, but at least people are asking if I was in a car wreck instead of whispering “what happened??”  😆 Poor Ken — maligned horribly, but so innocent 🙄

Well, guess I need to get back to the insanity of the office.

Love to all,

Margaret

I’m feeling better today and Ken went back to work. He’s very sore, but was determined to go.

Life is very complicated at work right now and rather stressful. I think once we have settled into this new program it will be OK, but right now people are flustered over the changes. I still have quite a bit of stuff to learn myself. I knew very little about the program to begin with and now that it’s upgraded, I need to know as much as I can about it as it will soon become our lifeblood.

I will be helping Charlotte move this weekend. She’s just moving back into the house she was in, but she has a ton of stuff, so it’s a major big deal to get her moved despite the fact that it’s only about 100 yards apart. I hope she has a lot packed.

I think that’s it for us today.

Take care — love you all.

Margaret

Left Ken at home with pain pills, the phone and the t.v. remote. He says he’s ok and that he will go to work tomorrow.

I’m really stopped up and have called the doctor for an appointment. I’m planning to go home after I see the doctor.

I have my issues solved except for one with the new server and will keep trying to get that taken care of, but can do it from home if need be.

Eddie called last night and they will be back tomorrow night late. Don’t know how long they’ll stay this time. The house is a mess and they will just have to live with it as I don’t feel up to cleaning right now.

That’s all for me today.

Love to all —

Margaret

Well, it was a busy weekend for me! Friday saw me wearing the hat of obedience trial chairman and my main job was organizing stewards for the 3 obedience rings that day. I had passed around a sign up sheet at the last meeting plus asked some people who are not in the club to work. Got enthusiastic responses until right before the day of…so, I had people trickle in and managed to beg enough people from the exhibitors to fill all my spots and it worked out OK. Once the trial was over, I had to go to work and get that new server up and going. That took me until 11:00 pm to get to a stopping point.

I drove home, got in bed around 12:15 and was up again at 4:00 to get Saturday started.

Saturday was hectic! Geez, you wouldn’t believe the number of people who wanted exams done! We took in nearly $8,000 and made a gross profit of around $1200 for the club. This is our main fundraiser every year at least until we get our shows going, but its doubtful that even those won’t pull in this much money. We don’t have a lot of expenses thankfully — the main one is insurance which runs us around $600 per year.

I was supposed to return to work Saturday after the clinic was through, but it was after 7:00 pm when we got the last vet out the door, so I went home and planned to go in on Sunday after our meeting.

Sunday morning when I went to let the dogs out, I fell going up the steps to the back porch and hit my head on the door frame. I have a nice black eye and big scrape down my cheek. It looks worse than it feels, but I will admit that it looks pretty awful.

My cough and cold have come back, too and Advil Cold and Sinus is just barely keeping that at bay.

I took Ken to the Surgery Center this morning to have his tumor removed. He was such a baby! Had to have his hand numbed for the IV and made all kinds of noises when she pulled off the things they stick on you for an EKG.  He’s home and in bed with pain meds sleeping. He says he’ll go back to work tomorrow. The Doctor said the tumor didn’t look like it was anything other than a fatty tumor although they still sent it off to be tested. I have to call and make an appointment for Ken for a week or two later.

Well, that’s all our news! Take care!

Love,

Margaret