budgie
i had to take my brother's budgie to the vet for a pedicure at the weekend as he and his girlfriend were on holiday.

the budgie doesn't like me because it doesn't see me very often. it also decided that it didn't like the vet and it reeeeeally didn't like the nail clippers. so it escaped, flew around the surgery a few times, hid on the curtain rail, had to be chased down by a highly irritated vet on a ladder, got caught, had one foot done, bit me so hard i dropped it, flew straight back up to the curtain..... "catch it!" said the vet, and i am there leaping around thinking, "oh yeah love, let's see you sprout a pair of wings and get up there after it"...

anyway. eventually all was done and the budgie sulked all weekend. you'd think they couldn't have facial expressions. you'd be wrong.

idiot from the deeds store at work this morning dropped a box of deeds and i tried to catch it. broke 3 of the beautiful, elegantly french manicured nails that i have been cherishing since new year (resolution: have a manicure every week, thought i might as well do something i could actually stick to).

now i have bitten ugly short fingernails that don't match the other hand and i know exactly how the budgie felt...
( rachelswipe with a fork, Mon 25 Feb 2008, 18:42, 12 replies)

It's like your life
Is destined to always be qotw worthy!

*Sympathy clicks*
( jim_bob can herd cats., Mon 25 Feb 2008, 18:46, closed)

As Piston Said
There seems to be a hardcore of posters with quoteworthy lives. The rest of us mere mortals just strive to reach their lofty heights. *dreams*
*clicks*
( Duke Of Belmsford has got 99 records, but Jay-Z ain't one, Mon 25 Feb 2008, 19:03, closed)

Next time, wear gloves.
I have a cockatiel, and when she gets snarky she bites. Generally she doesn't bit me, as I'm her Human (birds always bond to one human and no one else), but she's taken chunks out of others before while hissing at them.

It's only right, after all- in my house the cat chirps, the bird hisses and bites, and the dog is afraid of them all.

As to having a life worthy of QOTW- it ain't all it's cracked up to be, believe me. I often wish I had one of those quiet, boring lives I hear about...
( The Resident Loon Not a demographic. Do not measure., Mon 25 Feb 2008, 21:16, closed)

owwwww, that had to hurt!
I had a housemate who always had the most amazingly well-manicured nails (they were false and she did them herself) and she pulled one off once. It made me wince so badly :( *click* in sympathy!
( Maladicta, Mon 25 Feb 2008, 23:15, closed)

wow!!
you had a manicure that lasted almost 2 months? I'm impressed.
( flirting with badgers What? It sounded good at the time., Tue 26 Feb 2008, 1:19, closed)

I'm with flirting with badgers
I was proud when my nice nails lasted 2 weeks!
(misskitty reeks of sex and turpentine; laudanum afternoons, Tue 26 Feb 2008, 2:12, closed)

Never mind your pedicure!
How often do budgies get their nails done that it couldn't wait until your brother returned form holiday?
(BeatsWork, Tue 26 Feb 2008, 6:16, closed)

Forget the budgie's nails
You should have put it in a microwave.
(frankspencer, Tue 26 Feb 2008, 9:04, closed)

no no
the manicure is weekly. i make them last about 2 hours before i smudge them!

i think my brother booked the appointment for when he was on holiday deliberately as he couldn't be arsed to go. but about every 6 months is vetinary recommended, i can now tell you.

and frank that's just mean, budgies are a bit 1970s but they are very cute!

i can see with a cockatiel, but wouldn't you crush a budgie if you held it in a pair of gloves? easy lennie!!
( rachelswipe with a fork, Tue 26 Feb 2008, 9:57, closed)

Bird aggression.
I was told the other week by a close friend while checking out his parrot:

His dads parrot (same breed but older) has learned a plethora of amusing and appropriate phrases, but is still aggressive with anyone other than his dad. His grandma was talking to the bird and making smoochie kissing noises to which it was responding. Stupidly, she puckered her lips against the cage and you can guess what happened.
For those that don't know, a parrot's beak is incredibly strong. They make short work of brazil nuts etc. It's basically like a pair of wire-cutters.
Poor grandma had to go to hospital and have her lip stitched back together.
(Greencloud Wanted to go fishing on, Tue 26 Feb 2008, 10:12, closed)

Gloves and birds
I can't imagine why you would crush a bird if you wore gloves- even a basic pair of wool gloves would do to protect your skin, as they'd just get a beakfull of wool instead of flesh. You just need to not squeeze it hard, no matter how appealing it might be to do the little bastard in...
( The Resident Loon Not a demographic. Do not measure., Tue 26 Feb 2008, 14:10, closed)

My cockatiel
is indestructible (heh indestructible cock, one for a few posts up there... ow!) I got him from a family who he'd basically driven crazy and didn't want him any more, and my ex once slammed a door during a row just as he landed on it and tried to follow her out of the room. That woman had a PHD in room-shaking door-slamming, and this was one of her trademark belters.... caught the birds head right in the door jamb. I thought he was dead instantly. He lost a shit load of feathers, squawked once and flew down and landed on my head. He is the terminator of the avian world. Made the ex feel terrible for what she'd done too, but in keeping with the karma line, I took him when we split (as she would have just let him die) and now he's driving me off my head with his incessant screeching.
( baw__bag contains traces of nuts on, Wed 27 Feb 2008, 4:41, closed)