dizzy dame

After  a non-eventful walk with Mattie I took a ride up to the the department store "Target" to pick up session 3 of Downton Abbey since it was on sale (We like to watch stuff on our time-line)
As I was sauntering about the store I felt this odd "tug" in my head. I got a bit off balance almost falling into a clothes rack. I thought to myself, "that's odd".
As I was paying for my purchases, I felt as though the floor had dipped and shifted. I found myself gripping to the side of the cashier's table dizzy. I sat inside my car for a few moments closing my eyes and the room started to spin. I thought, "what the hell? I've got to get home!". I started driving saying to myself, "focus... just focus". I could feel these odd "drops and dips" in my head and then it would pass.
 I stopped at the library since I had to return a book and I figured maybe I just needed some fresh air on the walk over to it. As I walked over to place the book on the return shelf I felt as if the floor dropped and turned to the side. I crashed head on into a book shelf. I looked around hoping nobody saw me and also to see if perhaps there was some sort of earthquake going on. The people sitting around the reading room were impassive with their noses buried deep in their periodicals.
And then it started to get worse
 I felt like I was on the New Zealand dive boat during their "light chop" excursions. (Note* their 'light chop' excursions were anything but. I've never seen so many people all puke all at once)
I felt panic setting in thinking out loud, "Oh no..the bridge..the F*&^ing bridge...!"
There are only three ways to get from Newburyport to Salisbury and no matter what, you have to go over a stinkin' bridge. OK, take a deep breath and FOCUS.
 I felt like I was really drunk... or poisoned or drugged.
I crawled my way home. The floor was pitching and yawing. I was hot then freezing.
I puked unceremoniously all over the place.
I downed some dramamine hoping it would stop the spins.
And it did.
I still feel a bit woobly and I can't understand what happened.
The last thing I consumed before taking a ride to "Target" was a cup of mocha coffee at honey Dew donut. I usually buy my coffee at dunkin donuts(of course) but today I wanted to try the mocha flavor at honey dew.
You hear all kinds of stories about disgruntled workers screwing around but I have no proof.
It  just makes me suspicious, that's all.
But who knows. Perhaps it was just some weird passing ailment.

facing the dark side of Mars

Oh My God it has been so brutally cold these last couple days.
I feel like I am facing the dark side of Mars.
I checked the thermometer this morning . The temp was pegged at zero.This was not factoring the wind chill blowing at gale forces from the NW. I am guessing it is close to -20 degrees F with the wind chill. It was so cold it snapped my bird feeder rod in half!
Thankfully, I did not have to walk Mattie today. The last few days we went out for just a short walk enough for her to "do her business". Despite the deep freeze she still seemed more interested in sniffing frozen turds and yellow snow piles than doing her own business.It's amazing what will motivate a dog.
When it is cold outside I do indoor projects like working on some art-work. (see above)
The top Icon is "We three Kings" and the second one is "wise old owl"
Before I have fully woken up (and acknowledged  how cold it is) I've done my morning jog.
 I can't wear my glasses because the glass turns to solid ice.I look like Kenny from South Park because I am encased in fleece head to toe. I mostly go out to feed the pigeons but even they are smarter than I am and have moved onto an area protected from the wind.
On days like this, I mostly get my exercise by using my trampoline. Since my dog walks are shortened due to the weather at least I am getting some exercise jogging on the trampoline with two birds perched on my shoulder (or head) while watching Judge Judy on the telly.
 The birds like it since I stay home most of the day.
Hey, at least they like my company. :-)

a sad saga of some irresponsible pet owners

Recently in the news there was this hotly debated story about a guy in Hampstead, New Hampshire who shot a dog that was on his property by defending his beloved rabbits.
It's hard for me to really comment on this story because the only info I am getting is what is written in the paper. However, I''ll give you my two cents anyways.
Many dog lovers were in a total uproar that this fellow shot the dog.
Would I have shot a dog if it was going after my birds?
As I am sitting here typing I would probably say "NO!".
 I would , however, go chase after the dog with a broom. If the dog was say, a pit bull or some other scary aggressive dog I might think differently. But like I said, I wasn't there and I do not know the details.
The dog in question was a brittany spaniel which is a hunting dog breed.
My first reaction is "awww poor dog. This is terrible!".
 I like dogs and I think this situation could have been prevented.
 I blame this incident 100% on  the OWNERS of this wayward dog.
I saw an interview of the owners. They are two fat couch potatoes. They were whining that their dog "just wanted to play (with the rabbits)"
Really
Idiots.
Brittanys are hunting dogs.
This would not have happened if they got off the couch , put a leash on the dog and didn't let him wander off on other people's property to do his business.
There was a similar story in 2007 that happened in Newburyport. A young couple were out walking with their 6 month German shepherd mix dog. They had their dog off leash but did not pay attention to his where abouts. They also admitted that their dog did not "come back" when called to. The dog wandered off to a private farm. The dog had enough time to claw his way up and under a enclosed pen and viciously attack their chickens.The owner of the chickens tried to get the dog away from the chickens but the dog was in such  a frenzy he felt he had no choice but to put the dog down.
There were LOTS of comments regarding this situation.
Again, this was a very sad and preventable situation.
Some of the comments were  obnoxious and irritating.
One woman wrote that the "dog life was worth more than the chickens".
Those chickens were that property owners pets. I can bet this same type of woman when a dog jumps on you aggressively turns around and blames you for it, and that the dog "just wanted to play".
I seen enough of these types of cases on "Judge Judy".
Judge Judy is an animal lover but she get's annoyed with these irresponsible dog owners  blame other people for their own stupidity and negligence.
The sad part is that the dog had to pay the price.

the Jack Russell terriers of the bird world

Parrotlet- forpus Coelestis
I have  new little boarder this week. An adorable parrotlet. He looks similar to a lovebird but tiny.
As you can see he likes to be hand-fed cooked food for breakfast.
He is a little bird with a HUGE personality.
This morning when I was cleaning his cage he ran over to my hand and gave me a chomp.He did not want my hand in his cage and he let me know it!
 I can't help but think that these little parrotlets are the Jack Russell terriers in the bird world.
Cute and smart but bossy, self determined and nippy!
The first night at my home, he let me know he did not want to sleep in the same shared room with the other birds.
 He squawked for an hour in protest.I took him upstairs next to a night-light (Where "Dover" my cockatiel boarder usually stays) He then settled right down and fell asleep.Thank God.
He also likes in food dishes placed in a certain arrangement or he will not eat.The same goes with the order in which his food is served.
He is really cute but he is a liitle" Mr. Bossy-boots!"

the wild pigeons of Salisbury beach part 85

For Christmas, my husband bought me two pigeon DVDs.
 One of them is a presentation by Dr Colin Walker from the "Flying Vet" on veterinary cases involving pigeons. (Yes, I know I am boring. I read and re-read  my many text-books on parrots and pigeons)
 The other DVD he bought me is called "Up on the Roof".It is about a rogue group of tenants in NYC that keep and raise pigeons in rooftop aviaries for flying events with other rooftop pigeon hobbyists.
The DVD was published in 2008.
This is mostly a documentary focusing on these tenants of Puerto Rican and Italian descent.These lower income renters talked about how pigeons "kept them off the streets" busying themselves with the care, breeding and training of their birds.. Much to dismay of their wives (It was mostly men who were involved in this hobby) they kept to themselves obsessively competing and trading with other roof top hobbyists.
As their neighborhood started to grow and became more "gentrified"  their decade(s) long residency changed. Their $300.00 a month rent jumped to $1,500.00. These older apartments now needed updating to be up to'code".
These folks were pushed out and so were their birds.
 The landlords wanted these guys to "get rid of their birds and aviaries" NOW "because of sanitation reasons and the "new" tenants complained.
There were many unweaned babies still in nests. The key word(s) are "get rid of their birds and aviaries".
 I feel sick to my stomach knowing the fate of these pigeons since they had  no "animal rights" protection.
At some point when Salisbury beach gets updated I think the same fate will befall the pigeons there. I might find myself scrambling to save one or two nests before they and the contents are cruelly destroyed.
And that is if the property owners don't kick me away from their property.
I have no doubt this will happen. Six years ago an old abandon bath-house on the beach was torn down right in the middle of spring time when there were nesting birds residing inside.
No one cared.

Holidays gone in a blink

I don't know but did this year seem like Christmas and the holidays came and went in a "New York minute"? All that preparation, and it's like it never happened.(!)
It seems like this year people took down their decorations right on New Year's day. Usually you see at least wreaths or lights still hanging around til Valentine's day.I haven't seen many discarded Christmas trees on the side of the road either.
Another thing I found odd is right on New Years Day ALL the Christmas supplies were cleared off the shelves in the stores. Generally you'll see the stuff hanging around (again) til Valentine's day with huge clearance prices.This is the time of year I usually stock up on the  heavily discounted wrapping paper and bows in which I hoard away for next year.I wonder if stores got smart and stored the stuff away in their warehouse for next year rather than take a loss at stuff that didn't sell at a profit. I don't know, but this is the first time in all the years have I noticed this.
 I suppose this is a good thing that the stale old decorations are out of sight. Sometimes, old scrotty decorations hanging limply on houses is really kind of depressing.
Regardless, I put my decorations away on New Year day like I do every year. I do, however, I  keep my Christmas cards up on my mantle until the end of the month.
I still enjoy looking at them.:-)

the great cockatiel caper

Yesterday was for the most part  just a normal day.
 I did my chores, walked Mattie and traveled to Beverly to get art supplies at a real art store.
 (*Note: Never buy "art supplies" at those crappy craft stores like Micheals or Joanne fabric. It is the worst low quality crap. I made the mistake of buying acrylic paints at Micheals. The color is off and it flows like sludge. I found out the paints were made in China too. Their "so called" acrylic paints and canvas boards are a complete waste of money)
Anyways....
I got home around 2:00pm and saw that my answering machine was blinking. I didn't even take off my coat. These days I worry it is an emergency call from my mother so when I see the light blinking I check it right away.
This time it was from my cousin. The call was made at about 10:35am. She was out walking her dogs with her little nephews at Cashman park. She spotted a man frantically trying to lure his pet cockatiel perched high in the trees to come down.She said the bird has been up on the tree for about 24 hours.
 I called her back right away.
She was of course home at this point.She said she didn't know if the guy got his bird. She had called me hoping I had some ideas to help this guy out. I told her I would head down to the area to see if the cockatiel was still in the tree.
I packed a short ladder, a covered pet carrier, a net and millet treats. I left my hat and gloves in the car despite the chilly temps because for the most part 'tiels are afraid of hats and gloves. The poor thing must be starving so the lure of a bunch of juicy millet may entice him to come down.
 I didn't see anybody by the park that fitted my cousin's description nor did I see any birds other than seagulls around or near the trees and park area.
 I walked around whistling listening for any kind of response or any kind of bird sounds.
Nothing.
I went from one end of the park to the next looking around and listening.
 Still nothing.
Cockatiels are generally migratory flock birds but usually stay within a 20 mile area. Regardless, they are small easily frightened birds with predators all around.
I do not know if the owner retrieved his bird or if the bird flew off and he gave up. I do not know. Regardless, I will keep my eyes and ears open.

Mr Emerson part 3

After writing the last two posts about Mr Emerson I've been transported back via the "hot tub time machine" circa 1976-1977 to my days working in the nursing home.
I worry about the real probability of having to place my father in a nursing home. We are doing our best to keep him home. I'm sure there are some nursing homes that are quite nice but the ones I worked in weren't exactly top shelf.
I keep going back remembering some of the things that went on in the nursing homes  that I had worked at..There were some elderly ladies living there which would've been better suited for an "assisted living" residence. They did their morning walks, they were alert and social. Perhaps there was no place for them to go.Some of these ladies were crammed in four at time in one room. All of their personal belongings were summarized in one drawer in a  bureau and a shared space in a closet. I think back and wonder if they had any options.Long after working there I still visited some of my favorite patients until they passed on.
The men there were a little more difficult to deal with. There was one elderly gentleman who looked like the actor Ben Kingsley. He was quiet and liked to be by himself. He was diagnosed with a syphilis induced dementia.Some of the aides and nurses feared him because of 'his history". But he was always pleasant, soft spoken and polite to me.
Then there were a few male patients that weren't so nice.
Mr "Frits..something" was a the grandfather of one of my high school classmates. Maybe this was the problem once I mentioned to him I was her classmate.  For some reason, after that, he targeted me..
 He started saying really dirty x-rated stuff to me. Stuff that I didn't understand. I knew it was nasty and gross by his tone.These were pre-"Monica Lewinski/ Bill Clinton" times. So I reported him to the fat nurse. She got in his face about this and he started to cry  vehemently denying" these terrible accusations". The fat nurse then got in my face yelling at me for "making stuff up to get out of working".(!) I then felt really bad about speaking up and I was hoping that perhaps I misinterpreted what he had been saying to me.
The next day, he started up his shenanigans again.
I then flat out refused to go near him.
There was another dirty old man patient there who had some weird illness that made his head really huge. He would seek out female patients that were totally out of it and ones that were physically incapable of fighting off his "advances". I heard one little lady weeping who was seated behind the communal dining room table. I turned around and saw that this creep had taken her paralyzed hand and stuck it down his pants.
 I was appalled.
I pulled her hand out and wheeled him out of the room.
The poor little lady was whimpering like an injured puppy.
 It was terrible.
Believe it or not some of the aides thought this was funny. (!)
After that incident I kept my eye on him.
Some of the staff was definitely strange as well..
The head cook, "Chuck", was one of them.
He looked like Mr Potatoe Head.But the thing that grossed me out about him was his teeth.
When he smiled I almost puked. His teeth looked like they were covered with cream of wheat.
My sister worked in the kitchen for a short period of time. She was the one who pointed out the nasty teeth  situation to me.
 About a week or so later after my sister resigned from the job the phone rang at about 3:30am  in the morning. I picked up the phone. It was a call from some guy who specifically asked for my sister.. The voice on the other end of the receiver sounded exactly like "Chuck" begging that he "couldn't live without her" and then abruptly hung up. We never did find out who made that call but to me, "Chuck" was highly suspect.
Then there was the big lazy gay aide. I didn't care if he was gay or the fact that he wore make-up to work. What pissed me off about him is that he got paid more than me because he was a male!.
And he bragged about it!
That was soooo totally unfair. I had more patients to care for than him and had to do the same amount of physical heavy lifting! Sexism was alive and well.
If for some reason, out of my control, that my father has to go to a nursing home at least I have an idea from my past experiences what to watch out for.
I do hope that time never comes.

Mr. Emerson part 2

It happened sometime in either 1976 or 1977, I can't remember the exact date.
My mother was doing the laundry and pulled out a tattered orange and pink house-dress. She turned to me and said, "what's this?"
I replied, "oh that's  Mrs. McCarthy's dress. I promised to fix it for her since this is her favorite dress. It's missing two buttons and it has a tear on the side".
"Why can't THE nursing home take care of it?"
"Cuz, the people who work in laundry don't do that sort of thing. I promised her I would wash it and repair it  over this weekend"
And I did.
Poor Mr Emerson was slumped over to the side of his wheelchair asleep after eating his dinner. He was wearing a tailored shirt which was now way to big for him and a slate colored cashmere sweater. His face had dried egg on it left-over from breakfast and his clothing was a mess.
Even though I was still just a kid, I couldn't stand to see dirty faces and dirty clothes.
I said,' Mr Emerson you have a dirty face. Let me get a face cloth to wipe your face".
He mumbled something but I don't know he said.
"Your sweater's dirty too. Cashmere has to be hand-washed. I'll wash it for you"
I put his sweater on the stand and I was going to take it home with me to wash by hand.
Being a normal teenager, my mind was occupied by thoughts of going to the beach, the drive-ins and pizza.  I forgot to take the sweater home with me. As a result, the sweater got tossed into the regular nursing home laundry basket by the morning shift along with pee stained sheets, towels and underwear.
The sweater was ruined.
I asked the head nurse scheduled on that shift why they threw a cashmere sweater in with the rest of the laundry.  I explained that I was going to take it home and  hand-wash it for him. I can't remember if it was fat nurse that chained smoked that wore skin tight shit-stained polyester pants exposing her lumpy ass or the 'quiet" nurse whom I spied on  numerous occasions indulging in the patient's pills. Anyways she said in a threatening tone, "you better not be taking the patient's stuff home with you!"
I stood there dumb-founded.
Did she think I was stealing  a dirty sweater?!?
I had a couple of patients who would ask me to replace buttons on dress or to fix a hem. Sometimes they would ask me to pick up yarn or candy at the local five and dime store.I didn't mind. The five and dime store was on route to the nursing home anyways.They would whisper to me that "the fat nurse was mean". Even Mr Emerson would sometimes sing a little song called "mean to me" when she was on shift.
Similar to Mr Emerson, my father is having a terrible time feeding himself. He take over an hour to eat and gets half of it all over himself. It really bothers me to see him covered in food. A standard size bib doesn't really help and he gets pissy when you try to help him. So I made two long "bibs" that would cover his lap out of terry-cloth material. One with string ties and the other with velcro attachments. I made them so they just look like towels with funny sayings on them and not like "bibs" because I know he would chuck them across the room in protest.
I'll be "checking on him" this weekend since my mother needs a badly needed outing with her girl-friends. He is still at home but his condition has been deteriorating rapidly.
One day at a time, that's all..

Mr Emerson

My cousin was mentioning how Robert Deniro reminded her of my father.
I paused for a minute and thought, 'yeah, he did  remind me of Deniro". They are both tough guys with this certain edge to them.
Sadly, he's not like that now.
The Parkingson Disease has all but crippled him. He can barely get out of bed. My mother now has a therapist come to the house to help him with simple tasks. What is worse than the physical atrophy is the dementia.I will not go into detail about this but it is terrible.
My long time girl-friend went through the same thing with her father. Both men were very similar in background (both working class Italians with head-strong personalities) I would talk to her about personal and irrational behaviors that my father would do and she would shrug her shoulders in a matter-of-fact way and say, 'oh yeah, my dad did the same thing".
There would be times you would have a nice normal conversation with him and then like a flip of a switch, you could see the change in his coloring and expression on his face that something shut down. He would fight you on anything and everything. Christmas day, it took the three of us to get him out of the car and into his wheelchair with the yelling and swearing. With all that fight in him he looked so small and fragile in the wheelchair.  And then I thought of Mr Emerson.
As I mentioned in previous posts, as a high school kid  I worked in a nursing home to pay for Community College.
Mr Emerson was a patient in the nursing home.
He was the big honcho of the (then) famous Emerson carpet company. He must have been wealthy because he was one of few residents in the nursing home that had a private room. .Many times I would find him asleep leaning to the side in his wheelchair.It was difficult to move him even though his musculature had atrophied making him very small, his arms and legs were extremely rigid.
 At the time I just thought of Mr Emerson as just a sweet little old man.He would sing funny little songs. I wonder what he was like in his heyday as a successful businessman. He must have been commanding and impressive.
I try to remember my father the way he was in his heyday as the tough guy, the wise guy.
.