Great to hear from you!

I got a call from Kim last night...my friend who lives a few hours away from me. Kim is another animal lover like me, we met at one of my temp jobs about five years ago. She's the one who lost her beloved dog, Dakota. Poor, poor girl. She and I talk on the phone and email from time to time...not as much this summer because we've both been pretty busy. She has been especially busy because of her new horse training job. It's so wonderful that she's finally gotten that off the ground. That's been her dream. It was very nice hearing from her and we talked for a long while...caught each other up on everything. We may not see each other or talk as much as we'd like to, but when we do it counts. After our conversation, I felt very good. I didn't realize how much I miss her. We really need to plan a get together soon

Yesterday after work I went to the bird store to check out parrotlet cages. I went to the place I'm getting him from to get their perspective on what size cage I should start him out in. Then I was going to compare their prices/cages to those at a cage warehouse Ron had told me about.

I shouldda gone to the warehouse first and foremost. *sigh*

The first cage the guy showed me was fuckingrediculouslyhuge, as I thought it would be. Salesmen. Fuck. This thing was the size of a fucking TRAILER. The dimensions were something like 36" tall by 24" wide by 28" long. Mind you, this is for a FIVE INCH BIRD. Oh, but he's "very active" and "no cage is too big." DUDE...COME ON! I'm thinking..."no way no way no way NO WAY..." I calmly ask, "How much?" $280. Uh-huh. No way no way no way no waaaayyyyyy!!! That's $120 MORE than the bird I'm purchasing. I usually go by the rule that the cage should cost less than the bird. I know that sometimes it doesn't work out like that, but it does in MY budget. I asked what the next size down would be and it was only about 4 inches smaller all around and cost $20 less. I said I understood that the bird needs a good sized cage, but I still needed to go a BIT smaller (shiiit) which brought him to finally show me something that resembled normal dimensions for a tiny ass bird. Although I thought the last model was a tad ugly, it would do and I agreed to it. He said he'd bring one in white today, when I'd scheduled to see the bird again and inquire with the breeder (his wife, who wasn't there yesterday) on when the bird would be ready to come home...whether it be tomorrow or next week.

With that I left and went to the cage depot, as I choose to call it. HOLY SHIT! Walls and walls and WALLS of cages cages CAGES! All kinds of different models and sizes to choose from, all at great prices. Needless to say, I was there only ten minutes and I had already picked out and bought the perfect cage, complete with a stand. It was one I'd had in mind, sorta in the shape of a house with a little mock "roof" on top. Very cute, same size as Pickles' cage and will fit nicely into my livingroom...unlike that disproportionate pink elephant of a cage I was first shown at the other store. I don't care WHAT that guy says, this cage, at 18" x 18" x 24" is plenty big for a single tiny parrotlet. He'll just have to jump back...and forth. Shit! I'm gonna let him out for playtime almost daily. He can run around the outside of his cage, the separate playgym I have set up on top of Pickles' cage, my body... Give me a break! Anyway, I sorta made an ass outta myself though (what the fuck ELSE is new, I seem to be doing that A LOT lately) and called the guy back at the other store to tell him not to bring in the cage today, that I'd found one. Of course he asked how big it was, how much...I just fibbed a bit on the size, said it's about as big as the last one he showed me, which it WAS...gave him the low price I paid, which was the truth... He just said, "Ooh-kay", and then I thanked him and he hung up. I didn't really know how else to handle the situation. I mean, better to tell him that I found a cage and not make him waste his time bringing in a cage I wasn't going to get. Better to get it overwith yesterday instead of going into the store today and having to tell him. Although I should have thought about what I was going to say a little more before I called him. I sorta sat there hemmin' and hawin', the awkward situation that it was... "Hi, your cages suck, I bought one that will actually fit into my livingroom at a way more reasonable price somewhere else so you can just shove THAT sale right up your ass!" So when I go there today to see baby, NO mention of the cage. I won't say a word. Chances are he forgot anyway.

Okay, time to finish things so I can get out of here on time and get to the bird store so I'll have time to play with my little guy. Then I gotta get home to Ron and give him lots 'o lovins. He's had a particularly tough week, too. Maybe I'll be on later to add some more sensless babble to this thing.