Firstly, I am full of Vietnamese soup (or pho). The current time is [Buurrppp!] 02:00PM. My meal was a regular soup full of white vermicelli noodles and chicken without skin along with two small slices of jalapeno pepper, handful of bean sprouts and hand picked mint leaves.
I ate only the noodles and veggies and drank a glass full of Thai ice tea and the complimentary hot tea to wash down the foodstuff as a substitute for the soup. I’ve taken home the leftovers for dinner tonight.
Around 12:00PM and prior to eating this lunch with my bio-units, who got the beef noodle soup versions, I saw three white trail clouds being laid around the southwestern skies of the Bay Area. There were wispy clouds nearby as this one plane traveled in that general direction.
This particular trail cloud didn’t look straight and actually seemed to curve slightly downward as if to avoid the large wispy cloud above. Both trail clouds and wispy clouds did not stay for very long. If I am correct, the sky seems blue and the sunlight very bright. Yes, indeed, I know why. There were white mistiness and brown muck earlier this morning too.
Earlier, after eating breakfast, we went to walk around the Great Mall in Milpitas, CA. Maw and I did our slower strides for a good twenty-five minutes while Paw had his faster pace. We would always rest afterward in front of the water fountain where children played.
During our resting period for another fifteen minutes, we saw: an Asian baby wipe its face from ear to ear with a napkin, a black girl with blond hair and Asian girl (with the prettiest smile and dimples) throw their pennies into the fountain, an Asian boy (who seemed autistic) wipe the fountain with his sweat pants; another small Asian toddler playing with the water; and a South Indian boy smiling at us from his baby carriage. Both the toddler and father would look at me. (Hehehe).
My walks were not at all fast both yesterday and today. I have been feeling winded out lately. My left foot and my bad–left knee have been aching for the past few days. Last week and probably from eating too much salt during those special days of the month, my right foot felt full one night at bedtime.
I decided to drive us three near the foot of the hills. We drove by to see the ranches with horses on the right and a bunch of other houses on the left. Straight ahead there were those houses on the hills and there were sale signs at the base of one gate leading upward to the community.
I suppose the housing market is getting softer with the jobs getting the hardworking people nowhere fast. And that means a good sign for the buyers, who cannot afford to buy these bigger boxes of high brow amenities. I’m still stuck at my bio-units’ house, by the way.
After we got home from lunch at around 01:00PM, I noticed that one of the parakeets had stains on her left foot and discovered her vent was all messed up. Some feathers from the surround area have been plucked and it looks quite bald. I guess she could not pass her eggs, if any, because we didn’t provide a nest box for her or wanted more chicks than we could handle.
So my priority was clean her up, which I did by grabbing her; holding her under the faucet of running warm water and soaping the area well. I had to hold my tongue from screaming out loud as her sharp beak bit into my right index finger twice. Each time I adjusted her head between my index finger and thumb to hold her steady so she would not inflict pain upon me. She was a bad girl!
Then I decided to trim the beaks of her two brothers. One had a beak that turn almost inward toward his neck. I washed a nail cutter in detergent and then poured the boiled hot water to further disinfect the tool. I wasn’t sure if I would end up cutting the vein inside the beak but prepared Q-tips and alcohol to disinfect the area in case he bleeds. He was easy to grab because he didn’t know what I was planning to do with him. And in a few minutes he had his very first beak trim. He was a good boy!
The second one knew I would grab him. I had to slowly follow him around as he tried to escape within the confines of his cage. I had to point to and tap his beak to show why I was trying to grab him but he continued to elude my hand. Finally after five minutes of this chase, I grabbed him but not securely enough. I had to re-adjust him from left hand to my right hand so I could hold his head steady while I snipped off another length of this beak with the sound of ‘tick.’ I wanted to cut more but he made a peep noise and that meant he had enough. He was a good boy too!
Then I fed all five birds (except the sick one) their favorite oat groats as a reward for their cooperation and used the hair dryer on the wet one for a good twenty minutes. I think they understand they won’t be hurt by me too much; otherwise the birds would be screaming their heads off.
Next week, I plan to cut further upwards to control the growth of the boys’ beaks. Maintaining the health of exotic birds such as parakeets is a challenge. I try to avoid intervention whenever possible and let nature takes its course. But these bird are like bio-unit members to me. And when they are in distress there is no avoiding any help.
And yes, my help has extended to members of the both bio-unit and relatives, who ultimately turned their backs and bad attitudes to me (and mostly my bio-units, as well). This life experience has been observed both at work and at home. Strangers, on the other hand, seem more sincere because they cannot always get away with being rude or easily hurt by those that attempt to show kindness in the first place.
Why does this seem to be the case? I suppose this could mean that helping those in need does not always mean anyone related by blood or close at heart. Now I understand why people do not do business with bio-unit or relatives because this could create a conflict of interest. I wonder why certain people do not understand that basic premise and try to make a big deal when they cannot get their ways. As I mentioned before, angry people do seem spiffy at times.
P.S. Buuurrrppp! Ah me!
Copyright © FVDF. All rights reserved.
Sunday October 8, 2006 – 03:03pm (PDT) Edit | Delete | Permanent Link | 0 Comments
Leave a Reply