parrots on boats!
So the boat life is a go. Dan's not as keen as he could be but he's wide open and excited now because he sees the financial advantage and the political security of it. I know without question we're DIY enough to cope and if I get a good insulating wetsuit, I love water enough to dive down and scrape the hull frequently. I'm pretty sure we could do this on a shoestring. What's more, Dan is more reluctant than I to send the bird away. He isn't here all day with that shriek! However, I think Sam wouldn't be the same bird if we lived on board. There's so much to look out at from the cockpit, there's such a clear division between where we live and where we don't, etc. He can't fly and wouldn't likely develop flight, if he did, he'd return home by then, so I doubt we'd lose him that way. People do indeed keep african greys aboard and often. If Sam just can't adapt it'll at least be easier to properly rehome him out there. Prairie farm attitudes towards animals infest even the city and people just don't get it. it's not a system at which you throw calories and clean waste till it's ready for harvest, it's a person who will be living an extended life at the quality level you provide. this isn't math, it's compassion and care. So yeah, we're taking him out and dealing with the issues of househunting with a screaming parrot. We need to be out there to buy a boat, getting a feel of marinas and boats in general before we can get into the water.
I did a lot of assessing on house rental and since Dan has voiced a distinct intention of living and working out of Victoria, it's for that region I searched. Nothing within reasonable commuter range of his store allows us to rent a stand-alone house. So we're faced with introducing this bird to communal living and I'll have to go from "slap in the ear plugs" to "do something to stop him" mode. Maybe that'll be good for our relationship. I mean, you can't stop them by being intimidating, you have to engage them in something else, or put them in the dark. Since that latter solution is taboo and unforgiveably cruel, I have to engage him then. Oh and when I was away, if he went off and the dog went off and nobody home to stop them? Well we better find our boat fast because that eviction notice doesn't come with a rental recommendation attached. I've heard him from outside, he will do that, and the dog will join. Now if the neighbors are all employed, it won't matter because Sam only goes off during banking hours. He's napping or sleeping in the mornings, evenings, and night. There's a bit of noisy at bedtime but it's usually not enough to get evicted over, nor late enough to matter. He goes to bed at 8pm!
Plus, in a different layout house maybe he won't be so off in the corner or he might have his own room to chill in, either or. We're in the same room but opposite corners. Interacting is unnatural, but we certainly share a space anyway. So he's encouraged to interact by shouting at me, just like I'm forced to do with Dan when he's home in that same far corner.
Oh I want a better furniture setup so badly. Currently we sit a house apart, just 12 ft, but with his back toward me and a divider wall between. Like separate cubicles but also the same room, we keep shouting back and forth across the divide to communicate. We can't pretend to be alone in the room as we're close enough to hear the constant noises, but just far enough to feel disconnected. It's awful. Truly awful. I'd like to fix that too. A typical main room on a boat, the "salon," is just right for a pair of people to lounge, one with a computer, one with a tablet, quietly sharing off their screens together. There's a shareable table, benches long enough sleep on or sit together, and room for all our "to hand" crap to be right at hand. We could use one main screen for the computer, entertainment displays, and ship's sensor readouts and external cameras. Oh, did I say cameras? What, your boat can't see? What a shame. Yeah, we picked up some simple outdoor wireless solar infrared cams and hooked them into our ship's main computer system. With a keystroke we can have a peek out the wide angle cams on bow or stern and together these extreme wide angle lenses also show the sky and port and starboard views. There you go, two good cams. In fact, mount them on the mast if you like. One good cam with a motor tracker up on the mast under the radar sensor, for instance, would let you use a toggle to see in all directions, including incoming weather on the horizon, without opening the gangway hatch. You could view your boat, the dock next to it, the whole marina with it.
So anyway, we're taking Sam out with us. It'll be yet another challenge but I suspect it'll be easier done than imagined.
I have so much damn stuff to yard sale. The cages in the garage. The extra dishes. All the garden crap that waits till the last minute. Even appliances ultimately are likely to be sold. I suppose the developer who buys this place might rent the house for a while and request the appliances, but mostly yeah, the house gets emptied. So there's an intimidating amount of work ahead of me. I try not to think too much about the details, it's my beloved stuff going away for nowhere near what it's worth to me.
The parrot gets to come. Yeah, that does please me. I didn't want to break his heart abandoning him like some groovy toy. He's gotten used to us, even if it isn't love. It's about as much as I think he can feel for apes. I think he likes me okay. I think living with us on a boat, and being brought along on the journey also, will help him feel like one of the family instead of a captive. Stockholm syndrome, you know? LOL, it lightens the imprisonment I guess.
Oh you may not know, Sam is a jungle born bird who suffered the capture, shipping and sales industry in the early 80s. I figure this because I traced the number on the open band he wore when I got him. It was sold to an importer in Florida in 1982. So Sam could well have travelled the continent from florida to, one day, BC. Wow, eh? From Africa to europe to florida to BC, that's a salty bird! So we got him and were told he was 4 yrs old. They had bought him at some pet store that claimed he was a baby bird hand raised. However, not only was that the key sales phrase of the day, but these folk were absolutely clueless about parrot keeping. If Sam had been captive bred he'd have a closed band. Closed bands are preferred as they won't catch on things. Open bands can get hairs or fibers in and cause trouble. You install the closed band in the next when he's very tiny and it fits over his claws. Then he grows into it and it's sized so his adult leg fits just fine in it's permanent bracelet. Sam's got a microchip instead now. I think he knows we've made another mental committment to him as he's making the happiest beak purring I think I've ever heard and usually he's screaming about now. Well I don't know, anyway, it's a better feeling to think of him as continuing family. Perhaps he'll learn to fly again and fly around on the boat as a home tree. I would find that delightful and he's certainly smart enough to just "go feral" in the rigging without getting lost in the woods or something. Of course, the mobility would have a trade off in being more vulnerable to the many predator birds in the area. Eagles, hawks, even gulls and ravens would consider him an easy target. Enough, it'll get sorted in turn. What I couldn't solve was if Dan didn't want to try. Dan wants to more than I do, so I can work with that.
ugh, he's going off again. It's hurts one's ears, it really does. ~sigh~ must cure that, not simply learn to withstand it.
I did a lot of assessing on house rental and since Dan has voiced a distinct intention of living and working out of Victoria, it's for that region I searched. Nothing within reasonable commuter range of his store allows us to rent a stand-alone house. So we're faced with introducing this bird to communal living and I'll have to go from "slap in the ear plugs" to "do something to stop him" mode. Maybe that'll be good for our relationship. I mean, you can't stop them by being intimidating, you have to engage them in something else, or put them in the dark. Since that latter solution is taboo and unforgiveably cruel, I have to engage him then. Oh and when I was away, if he went off and the dog went off and nobody home to stop them? Well we better find our boat fast because that eviction notice doesn't come with a rental recommendation attached. I've heard him from outside, he will do that, and the dog will join. Now if the neighbors are all employed, it won't matter because Sam only goes off during banking hours. He's napping or sleeping in the mornings, evenings, and night. There's a bit of noisy at bedtime but it's usually not enough to get evicted over, nor late enough to matter. He goes to bed at 8pm!
Plus, in a different layout house maybe he won't be so off in the corner or he might have his own room to chill in, either or. We're in the same room but opposite corners. Interacting is unnatural, but we certainly share a space anyway. So he's encouraged to interact by shouting at me, just like I'm forced to do with Dan when he's home in that same far corner.
Oh I want a better furniture setup so badly. Currently we sit a house apart, just 12 ft, but with his back toward me and a divider wall between. Like separate cubicles but also the same room, we keep shouting back and forth across the divide to communicate. We can't pretend to be alone in the room as we're close enough to hear the constant noises, but just far enough to feel disconnected. It's awful. Truly awful. I'd like to fix that too. A typical main room on a boat, the "salon," is just right for a pair of people to lounge, one with a computer, one with a tablet, quietly sharing off their screens together. There's a shareable table, benches long enough sleep on or sit together, and room for all our "to hand" crap to be right at hand. We could use one main screen for the computer, entertainment displays, and ship's sensor readouts and external cameras. Oh, did I say cameras? What, your boat can't see? What a shame. Yeah, we picked up some simple outdoor wireless solar infrared cams and hooked them into our ship's main computer system. With a keystroke we can have a peek out the wide angle cams on bow or stern and together these extreme wide angle lenses also show the sky and port and starboard views. There you go, two good cams. In fact, mount them on the mast if you like. One good cam with a motor tracker up on the mast under the radar sensor, for instance, would let you use a toggle to see in all directions, including incoming weather on the horizon, without opening the gangway hatch. You could view your boat, the dock next to it, the whole marina with it.
So anyway, we're taking Sam out with us. It'll be yet another challenge but I suspect it'll be easier done than imagined.
I have so much damn stuff to yard sale. The cages in the garage. The extra dishes. All the garden crap that waits till the last minute. Even appliances ultimately are likely to be sold. I suppose the developer who buys this place might rent the house for a while and request the appliances, but mostly yeah, the house gets emptied. So there's an intimidating amount of work ahead of me. I try not to think too much about the details, it's my beloved stuff going away for nowhere near what it's worth to me.
The parrot gets to come. Yeah, that does please me. I didn't want to break his heart abandoning him like some groovy toy. He's gotten used to us, even if it isn't love. It's about as much as I think he can feel for apes. I think he likes me okay. I think living with us on a boat, and being brought along on the journey also, will help him feel like one of the family instead of a captive. Stockholm syndrome, you know? LOL, it lightens the imprisonment I guess.
Oh you may not know, Sam is a jungle born bird who suffered the capture, shipping and sales industry in the early 80s. I figure this because I traced the number on the open band he wore when I got him. It was sold to an importer in Florida in 1982. So Sam could well have travelled the continent from florida to, one day, BC. Wow, eh? From Africa to europe to florida to BC, that's a salty bird! So we got him and were told he was 4 yrs old. They had bought him at some pet store that claimed he was a baby bird hand raised. However, not only was that the key sales phrase of the day, but these folk were absolutely clueless about parrot keeping. If Sam had been captive bred he'd have a closed band. Closed bands are preferred as they won't catch on things. Open bands can get hairs or fibers in and cause trouble. You install the closed band in the next when he's very tiny and it fits over his claws. Then he grows into it and it's sized so his adult leg fits just fine in it's permanent bracelet. Sam's got a microchip instead now. I think he knows we've made another mental committment to him as he's making the happiest beak purring I think I've ever heard and usually he's screaming about now. Well I don't know, anyway, it's a better feeling to think of him as continuing family. Perhaps he'll learn to fly again and fly around on the boat as a home tree. I would find that delightful and he's certainly smart enough to just "go feral" in the rigging without getting lost in the woods or something. Of course, the mobility would have a trade off in being more vulnerable to the many predator birds in the area. Eagles, hawks, even gulls and ravens would consider him an easy target. Enough, it'll get sorted in turn. What I couldn't solve was if Dan didn't want to try. Dan wants to more than I do, so I can work with that.
ugh, he's going off again. It's hurts one's ears, it really does. ~sigh~ must cure that, not simply learn to withstand it.