your so bored and lonely you can't even spit!

• your so bored and lonely you can't even spit! - Opinions
  • shop till you drop - works for me every time!
  • Go for a walk someplace where there are lots of people (sm) - Carolina MT
    • Also, I have email friends who are online only (sm) - Carolina MT
  • You did the right thing, start posting on Gab Board :) - Sara
  • Try ..... - Gina

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She is awfully hard to communicate with.  She turns things around so much.  She is actually  pleasant when we talk about sewing projects, old times, silly stuff the kids do things like that. 

But when she gets to telling what to do and how to do it, that is when it gets annoying.  She has done that to me and H both today.  She was telling H how to clean a closet and me dieting tips.  LOL. 

I've had all kinds of birds but only a couple types of finches, none of them Blues.  I do know that finches tend to be colony birds and prefer companionship as a rule.  I think she is probably missing her best buddy and she is also afraid because she doesn't know what happened.  If there was any blood involved with the dying bird, this will terrify birds even more.  (They don't even like it if you wear red nailpolish.)  That might account for the odd chirping.  It might be to your benefit to try to find out what the other bird died from because if it had anything to do with something that is still in Roxy's environment, this will upset her. 

Some birds bond for life and will never accept another companion.  Others can resist a companion at first but then get used to them.   This is breeding season.  I would think she would be accepting of another bird right now. 

My first suggestion would be to get a mirror and put it in her cage and see if that helps calm her down.  Just seeing another finch like her buddy might help.  Then, if you want to try getting another bird (which I would definitely do if she accepts the mirror bird), get one and put it in a separate cage right beside this one.  Don't just put it smack into her cage.  She could attack it for not being her buddy or for territorial invasion.  But if the new bird is sitting in its own cage (can be a small travel cage for the trial) and yours acts like she wants to go be with it, then put them together for short periods of time at first and watch them carefully to be sure she doesn't attack the new bird.  If they are compatible, then you've got yourself a new pair and Roxy has a new best friend.  Also, it would be wise to keep the birds in separate cages for a while and watch the new bird's droppings, even have them checked out by a vet for parasites, etc., before you let them live together to be sure the new one is perfectly well.

One other thought that comes to mind is perhaps you had a male and female and did not know it.  I confess I do not know how easy it is to tell the sexes of Blues.  I'm used to the larger birds and using blood tests to be sure, as I paired and bred for sale.  But a blood test is impractical on a finch as they really can't afford to lose any blood because of their small size!!!  BUT, one could have killed the other since this is breeding season and birds, even finches, can get very aggressive towards one another, even those of the same sex. 

I would suggest contacting a Blue breeder and find out more about their personalities and habits.  And if you buy your second bird directly from a breeder, you can be more sure it will be a healthy one.  The ones that end up in pet shops aren't always the best of the clutch. 

I wish you luck and please know you have my sympathies in your loss.  These little guys are really easy to get attached to.  Please feel free to e-mail me if you have any questions I might be able to answer.

'Tit's okay.  I'm just psyched a few people clicked on the link!  Right before I went to bed last night there were only about 5 clicks to see what I wrote, and one of them was mine makin' sure the link worked! 

Right after I posted, there was a woman in the stall pulling the baby (okay, foal) out of the mamma horse (mare).  I still don't know if it was a boy (colt) or a girl (filly), but haven't logged on yet today to see if they put something on their website to tell one way or another.  I don't see any nuggets hanging down, but I don't think the camera zooms in to check under the hood. 

That website, marestare.com has oodles of live cams posted on the internet for people to watch horses (even donkeys!) give birth.  My boss was on IM last night and I let her know and both she and her daughter got to watch it.  I think they are hooked!  Good clean entertainment...well, maybe not CLEAN...even I was ooged out at seeing what I can only imagine was the placenta hanging out of the horse until she expelled it.  But still, of all the junk out there on the internet...good stuff in my opinion! 

Okay, let me start off by saying, I'm writing this for the primary purpose of venting.  I'm not asking for advice or expecting support, but I would appreciate no bashing on this one. 

I have 2 boys playing little league this year on the same team.  Last night they had a game against the 1 team I really wanted them to beat.  I absolutely cannot stand 1 of the kid's mothers on the other team.  She is at every sports function and likes to run everything.  She is very pushy and will do anything to have her kid come out on top (suck up to the head coaches, offer to run the boosters, make ridiculous posters to hang on her front porch for the kids on the bus to see).  You get the picture? 

Ordinarily I keep my distance from her because just the sound of her know-it-all voice gets on my nerves.  Last night I stood in the same spot I always stand in.  My kids were the home team and I was near the first baseline (my kids play first and second base and pitch).  She ends up 3 feet from me.  The first couple of innings were fine.  Let me say that I do not boo the other team or make any remarks at all about their players.  I am there to cheer my sons' team on and my sons. 

Now to the technicalities, the last 2 games we have been short an outfield ump.  The only ump we had was the one behind the catcher.  Usually when this happens, if there's someone in the bleachers who's willing to ump the outfield, they can make $10.  Last night, this guy volunteers, who happens to be this other woman's dad (hence, the grandfather of a kid on the opposing team).  As unhappy about this as I was, I said nothing.  I figured he deserved the benefit of the doubt. 

He made several calls early on that seemed fair, so I pretty much dismissed the bias I thought he might have.  Then about halfway through the game, we have a runner on first and third and our kid up to bat.  He hits it and the runner on first goes to second while the runner on third goes home.  The ball made it to the infield and the shortstop tries to catch the runner going to second.  Our runner makes it second base just before the other kid does and the other kid ends up on top of him and he drops the ball.  Now, the outfield ump (gramps), calls our kid safe and we got a run in.  The catcher ump turns around and calls the kid out, saying it was a forced play and he didn't have to tag the kid and he thinks the other kid made it to the base first.  How he saw that from his distance is beyond me.  Secondly, when he called the kid out after the fact, he gave no explanation for it.  The coaches didn't even know. 

Now this is when I got a litte irritated.  I yelled out that our kid was on the base first and the other ump called him safe.  I'll admit I was a little heated and was talking rather loudly to my mom.  I was not talking about any of the kids.  I was stating that the other ump's eyes (catcher's ump) must be pretty good to see that far away when the ump who was right there called him safe (gramps).  I probably did go on a little longer than I should have, but it not only cost us a run, it also gave us 3 outs to end the inning. 

At this point, the woman sitting 3 feet away, says "Enough already!"  I turned and said "I don't think I was talking to you!"  I then turned back to my mom and the 1 coach and asked what the call was and why.  This woman then addresses me by name and begins telling me the rules of baseball.  Now mind you, this woman has never played baseball in her life (we went to the same school) and the only kid she has in baseball a son younger than my oldest.  Furthermore, later on in the game, she had no clue what the infield fly rule is (and even I knew that one), my point being she doesn't know the game that well.  So after she starts telling me this, I looked at her and said "I've heard enough of out you!"

Needless to say, 2 bad calls later, we lost the game.  I'm still fuming.  I realize this is only a game and it's not our first loss.  But this woman's know-it-all attitude really has me PO'ed.  She's been picked up for shoplifting and I really wanted to explain to her what shoplifting is and why you shouldn't do it, but I didn't.  I know I'm going to have to see her at every sporting event because she pushes her kid to play sports year-round.  She had 3 kids before she even got married and milked the system for all she could.  Now she's a daycare provider and I actually took my kids to her once years ago, before I really knew her, and my kids hated going there because all she did was watch TV.  The kids had to be quiet and they had to watch her shows.  They weren't allowed to go outside to play until her soaps were over. 

Okay, I feel better.  I just really needed to vent this one.  I think the next time we play them, I will stand on the opposite side of the field from her and maybe wear earplugs, so I can't hear her either.

can you get for trailers these days? Honey, grow a thick skin and quit trying to prove you're something you're not! How about a sense of humor.....I always find those that have to boast about what they have actually have the least.

Awaiting your snappy, defensive comeback...

My daughter's both take dance at a local dance studio.  Nothing fancy, nice people, etc, and have been going there now for over 3 years.  Last night my 8-year-old left her coat there (denim jacket with embroidered butterflies --from Kohl's I think) and a pink scarf.  I thought nothing of it, she'd let coats there before without problem, and I knew I'd be back there tonight for my other daughter's dance class, also I was too tired to go back (16 miles round trip) to get it....she told me she left it there when we pulled into the driveway.  So get there tonight and no jacket or scarf. Someone there actually stole it (so it appears).  I am so po'ed it is not funny.  I made a sign asking for its return, saying "lost", etc, and if anyone had accidentally taken them home with them (though they were both pretty distinctive).  I just cannot believe someone there stole them.  I see these people 9 months out of the year.  This is a very small community with hardly any crime and someone steals a coat and scarf.  I called the owner and left a message for her, hoping against hope that she took them home for some reason (they have a lost and found box), but still waiting on her call.  If no one coughs it up I am certainly going to make a lot of noise there next Tuesday night and talk to every parent and let them know that someone stole my kid's coat.   

as well as the ones that answered this!

My 86-yo dad is the same way.  Sticking his nose into my business.  He also constantly rags on me about my son not mowing the grass, etc.  I have explained to him that I LIKE to mow the grass and to please drop it and he just keeps on and on.  One day he walked in my office and shook his finger at me and said, "You just wait, you just wait, y'all are drinking way too much pop."  This because I buy it when it's on sale and it lasts a very long, long time.  And, by the way, neither my son nor I are overweight.  Older people just can't (anyways he can't) realize I am 53 years old and have lived on my own without his valuable input for a long time.  He just doesn't have anything else to do. 

The thing that really bugs me is when he comes over and just plops down in here when I am working and I tell him he can't be in here when I'm working and he gives me all kinds of excuses ("I can't see read what you're typing") and I have to just keep the screen minimized until he goes.  He just doesn't get it.  The other day I told him to go over and check on my cousin's new fence, and that got his train of thought going in a different direction and off he went.  He called me one day and told me not to commit to the big diocesan pledge thing that's going on, that I am to tell them I am a single parent just barely scraping by, etc., etc., and I wanted to tell him I am not quite that destitute yet, but I just agreed. 

Oh, and I have an extremely screwed-up sister, too, who Dad thinks can do no wrong and her son is the greatest, etc., etc.  Oh, the stories I could tell about her!  Well, it was me who gave him a place to live after Katrina and it was me who gave him my couch for his new house because he didn't have one (another delusional idea, he thinks he is broke), not her, so I just keep quiet and keep civil and remind myself he's old.   When it gets to be too much I tell his sisters, who tell him to back off then he does for a while.  All part of life. 

I always have my TV on in the next room just for noise and every now and then to catch something going on. If it was turned off now I think I would be asleep! 

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
  
• 1 lb chicken breast, skinned, boned, cut into 2 x 1/2 inch strips
  
• 1-2 teaspoon chili powder
  
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin (not in original recipe)
  
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
  
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  
• 1 cup thinly sliced onion
  
• 1/2 cup green bell pepper, strips
  
• 1/2 cup red bell pepper, strips
  
• pizza dough, for 12 inch pizza (you can use refrigerated pizza crust if you like)
  
• 1/2 cup mild salsa
  
• 2 cups monterey jack cheese, shredded

• Heat oil in large skillet.
  
• Add chicken and cook, stirring frequently until lightly browned.
  
• Stir in seasonings.
  
• Add onions and bell peppers, cook an additional minute or so until vegetables are crisp-tender.
  
• Heat oven to 425°.
  
• Sprinkle pizza pan with semolina flour and press dough into pan.
  
• Pre-bake dough until it is a very light golden brown, about 6 minutes.
  
• Remove from oven and scatter chicken over crust, spoon salsa over chicken, spread vegetable mixture over that, and finally, top with cheese.
  
  
• Bake for another 15 minutes until crust is golden brown.