Lots of small steps in the right direction

[Valo's Moirana]

While I was in DC for my conference, my BF took care of Valo - he picked up Mr. Stinkefuss with slightly mixed feelings a week ago, and the "little green monster" got cab service back to CO this weekend in a significantly better mood.

Most of you know about Valo's territorial behavior - to sum it up: he's quite aggressive to anybody besides me, and he sure has mastered the technique of beak action leading to the most skin-damaging outcome. So now surprise that BF was a little weary about taking care of him for an entire week without back-up. But the change in environment, my absence and a parrot's intelligence sure worked; Valo picked his battles and he realized that this one is a good one to miss... which means that he was an absolute sweetheart with BF . No major problems during the entire week. A few things turned out to be especially helpful. Once, Valo is stick trained which makes putting him back into the cage a lot easier, especially if you're planning on keeping your fingers. And also, BF bought a pair of gloves - I'm sure there're mixed opinions about that, but it works for our situation. Valo sometimes bites the "gloved" hand, but leaves the "un-gloved" hand alone (well, besides for perching purposes). And, on recommendation of Julie Murad we cut back on the carbs a little bit and feed more green stuff (not so much to Mr. Stinkefusses delight as he loves his muffins). And all that together resulted in a fairly uneventful week, which is a lot better than anything we anticipated.

Now, to keep the best parts for the end - the last 2 days were the first 2 days in about 10 months that we could both hold and play with Valo. He sat on my shoulder, climbed happily onto BF's finger to get some head scritches and came back to me for some kisses. (Usually, just my presence results in severe "battle wounds" of the person next to me). We played the T-Shirt game until BF and I got tired - Valo could've continued for another hour or so - and all watched a movie on the couch while BF and I tried to keep Mr. Stinkefuss away from the puzzle pieces (Gayla, I'm working on it )

For the very end another small step in the right direction: the conference I attended in DC was the Annual Meeting of the Green Chemistry Institute of the American Chemical Society. It was nice to see a lot of great minds coming together to discuss probably the biggest challenge humanity ever had to face... lots of industry representatives discussed changes in production and products, the Army participated with multiple talks about more environmentally concious methods as economically attractive alternatives, and lots of academics presented exciting new findings which potentially can help us with our "little problem" regarding carbon dioxide emissions. One thing that I personally found interesting was the participation of legal representatives discussion standards and laws regarding biofuels in different parts of the world. Seems like we're finally getting going

[Monica]

Sounds like things went well!

Yeah, I got that same problem with Charlie! He may not be able to draw blood anymore for the hospitals () however he can still bite! And he's a pain for anyone to handle except me (besides that I have an allergic reaction to sharp objects and scratches...). I have a friend who thinks Charlie is such a hoot! And just loves to interact with him! But, Charlie being a one person bird, that's about uncalled for as one can get... however, they too made some progress! My friend took Charlie around the house to show him that I was not home, and I guess Charlie settled down, and they watched some tv together, and may have also done dishes, too!

[ROYJOY]

tiki attacked my land lords son last night. he was ok with the other 4 people who were present, but as soon as kip (mid 20's) came over, tiki drew blood on my finger, flew to kip, bit him on the neck, and ear. it took a minute to get control and put him in my apartment. after a few minutes he was fine again. the guy had a mohawk. maybe tiki thought he was a giant too, or tiel?

[Valo's Moirana]

Originally Posted by ROYJOY

tiki attacked my land lords son last night. he was ok with the other 4 people who were present, but as soon as kip (mid 20's) came over, tiki drew blood on my finger, flew to kip, bit him on the neck, and ear. it took a minute to get control and put him in my apartment. after a few minutes he was fine again. the guy had a mohawk. maybe tiki thought he was a giant too, or tiel?

that's kind of a funny story - LOL