My presentation went somewhat awkwardly but well. There were only two sophomores and Dawn, so I did not have much of an audience. I explained to them the daily work that I have been doing (which consisted mainly of my cleaning schedule) as well as some of the things I did in my free time, like tame birds. I received no questions from anybody in the group other than "can I hold that bird", as everything I explained was believed to be relatively straightforward. I was most excited to tell them about the birds that had been successfully tamed down to some degree, mainly mango, the lovebird, and lemon, the budgie, who today, I learned has the capability to talk very well. This is largely because I am proud to have tamed and trained a lovebird, because usually, lovebirds are insane when untamed. They typically like to shred papers, make chirping noises, and occasionally throw things. Mango was different. He/She was very unused to the new environment, which I believe made him more timid. I took advantage of this by introducing myself as a friend and showing him I am not a threat by taming him. And thus began his training.
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My project went very well and was so easy to finish I am having trouble finding things to write about regarding it. My project was to set up a cage to be taken home with a single, or a pair of lovebirds. I probably had the easiest project in all of the 11th grade. Each cage comes with a set of four dowel rod perches, I left one to be set up by the future owner of the cage, as well as adding a natural wood perch to one side. The only real thing that stands out to me is how astoundingly easy it was. One Thing I think I should have done differently is maybe add some bedding in with it along with filing a couple of the cups with food.
After my internship concludes, I am planning on doing volunteer work for Birdsmart every Sunday for as long as I can, for a couple of reasons. One is that I could potentially start working there one day, but mostly because I enjoy the work I do there and the effect it has on others, which has proven to be positive. Another is because my parent is completely reluctant to "live with a bird in the house" and Lorna and Juan have been so kind as to allow mango to become a store bird, which means I can visit him anytime and do not need to pay for boarding, So I will be seeing him every Sunday or so. All of this is amazing but would be a lot more simple if my mom would just let me bring the bird home. My advice to future interns would be to choose something they would enjoy doing, preferably something they could get a job out of in the future. This is under the assumption that they are going to college. My idea is to give them an Idea of a job they could work after college, which will be easier if they have had relations to the store and/or store owner. As for advice on the internship part of internship, Pick something that you can have fun with while also having it be something practical for your future needs, this way its more difficult to loose work ethic, which Is important considering you'll be there for 4 1/2 weeks.
The thing I am definitely most thankful for is the chance to care for a bird for free, as I have wanted one for a very long time and continue to long for the companionship of a bird. I am also thankful for how flexible my mentor was. Sometimes I lost track of time and forgot to sift the stands, But Lorna always let that go so I could head home on time. As well as being given the opportunity to try and tame several birds, ending in a very large amount of bites that I have now lost track of. Not to many exiting things have happened in the last few days, No one has come in with a crazy amount of birds we before lacked and given them to us, some guy came In today and gave us 3 parakeets, which unfortunately I didn't take pictures of because I forgot of doing so. A man who was looking for a lovebird came in today, and wanted to buy mango, the lovebird I am going to take home, which makes him the third person to want to buy him, and I am allowed to take him and a bag of food home for free. My mom doesn't understand what shell be missing out on If we don't adopt him. Internship has really helped me take my mind off of most things, Including college, for the most part. And while I have not learned of any new majors, I have become more interested In a particular major, Ornithology. Ornithology, like literally all other biological sub-studies, is the study of a specific kind of organism, in this case, birds. Earlier, I was merely considering this possibly being a major, however, now that I have been dealing with birds for around a month, I have begun to appreciate them more than I did before. Which leaves me with the (possible) majors of mechanical/electronic engineering, herpetology, and ornithology. So far.
My iPOL will cover everything I have done thus far (with small details removed because I wont have enough time) including, but most likely not limited to, my day-to-day work, shocking events that have occurred (i.e. the 138 lovebirds that we received from a rescue), my project (of course), the workers I often see there, along with my mentor, not a visual slideshow, because the presentation will be live, and also because we lack a projector and most of the silence necessary to perform it, what I have learned to appreciate during internship and why, and so on. I will do this by using nothing but the list of things that are required to be covered, because I am able to answer/perform them with quite literally no notice whatsoever. And of course I will be doing this at the shops location because that is where it resides and I have no other choice. Nikki Im sorry for making you read all that yesterday but I need that bird and Its good to have that stuff written down, thanks.
Today is freestyle post day and I have a shot at getting a bird as a pet so expect a rant.
As you all Know, Lorna has offered the chance for me to take home a lovebird for free, but there's still some things to cover, like vet bills, food/ water, a cage, and the attention needed to keep him/her emotionally well. None of this is any problem. vet bills consist of a $60 annual checkup, unless an injury occurs, which is more than unlikely, food is inexpensive, a free pack of food has been offered to come with the free bird, which should last quite a while, and water is readily available, a utility cage with food/water dishes is $30, with the tools at home I can make my own perches even though Lorna said she would provide some, and I have more than enough free time to give my bird plenty of attention. Besides this, my Dad is ok with me having a bird because he acknowledges that me having a bird will only have positive long term and frankly, short term effects on me and other members of the family, so why have I not brought the bird home? My mom. She has always been against me having a bird. In this case, by "always" I really mean eight years, and yes that is how long I have been fighting for this to happen. Some of you may ask, Why? the true reason is unknown. However, the "reasons" she has on her list of concerns regarding keeping a bird consist of, and are limited to; 1. The expense of yet another pet in the house. Which will be covered by me. 2. The mess created by a (love)bird. Which is no issue because they are at most six inches long and can do no more than throw seeds with a range of around ten centimeters, which, by the way, can also be solved by purchasing a seed catcher. 3. The noise. Lovebirds are only noisy as a collective, and rarely make chirps and cheeps as individuals, and I would only be keeping one individual . So this is not an issue. Besides the fact that is she was truly concerned about noise, she would not have gotten a pair of guinea pigs that inhabit the largest room In the house, which squeak relentlessly when hungry, and a pair of dogs that run towards the front door screaming and barking when they hear someone tap on a piece of wood that they think is someone knocking on the front door. 4. Oh no a bird that got its wings clipped this is animal abuse. There is no more obvious of a sign that someone has no viable experience with birds than them crying about a bird having its wings clipped. as long as its done right, the bird remains unharmed. It's similar to clipping nails, you remain unharmed so long as you don't clip too far up, and if you do your nail doesn't grow back. doing this is a way of ensuring your pet doesn't escape and get mauled to death by a cat, hawk, raccoon, dog, fox, coyote, or escape to die of disease, and severely lowers the chance of them running into a window or wall. Or bookshelf. Or chandelier. Or maybe, If they're clumsy flyers, fly into the fireplace at the wrong time. I think I have properly conveyed my point. Wing clipping is better than death, at least in my opinion. 5. Boarding. My parents are concerned about the cost of boarding the bird while going on trips. It costs $7 a day to board a bird at Birdsmart, and with the things Lorna and Juan have been offering me, probably even less than that. Not to mention that we could fold up the cage to free space in the car and use a carrier for the bird while we drive. These are all the reasons that she has listed to not allowed me get a bird, and as you can see, there are solutions to every single one of them, and yet, my house, and my room, remain bird-free. Hence why I put quotes around the word "reasons" before, because they are simply not good enough to be considered reasons. Now give me my bird. Lorna and Juan are very nice and tolerant people that enjoy the work they do and do it pretty damn well, they are good at talking to and addressing others, which suits them for the typical retail store they work in. These are all qualities that I wish to either acquire or, If I already have, improve upon. being exposed to this has really helped me discover what kind of job I want after college (because we all know I'm not going to go straight for my dream job aright after college) and I am considering working at Birdsmart every Sunday after my internship is over.
any For this blog post, I am supposed to give updates on how my project is going, however, there are a few complications. My project is to set up a cage, preferably a utility cage, because the only other cages we have are breeder cages, for use with a lovebird, because we have 122 of them, and we need to encourage people to buy them. The problem is we don't have utility cages at the moment, and will be getting more on February first. The good news is, once they do arrive, the process of completing the project will be very simple. I need to put in the basic necessities for a lovebird, like perches and food/water dishes, which in reality is the same for any other bird, but maybe throw in a couple extra perches. These two and a half weeks have by far been some of the most glorious days in my life, I have been faced with many opportunities I have wished for for a very long time. One of the many is the ability to obtain a bird for free, because I have wanted a bird for 7 years, because birds are cool. The bird I would be looking to take home, as stated before, is a little lovebird with a peach face, yellow chest, green/yellow pied back & wings, a blue tail, and a very polite attitude, for the most part. Today I successfully got him/her to step up on my finger without even touching them, with the motivation of millet. I would put a video of them eating millet, but I cant because weebly requires me to pay for that. Sorry. sadly I cant take the bird home (yet) because while my Dad is ok with it, my mom is relentlessly, and unreasonably continues to veto the possibility of that happening, which I am working on. My internship differs greatly from normal school life, Almost everything is different, the schedule, the work, the freedom to do various other things, being able to interact with mass amounts of birds, etc. School is much more academically focused and while there is more than plenty to learn from working here, most of the work is manual labor or using experience with birds to work with birds which gives you more experience with birds to then use with more birds, and so on. also working with something you like to work with, whether it be birds or not, is much more fun than doing assigned and mandatory work. I doubt that this will influence my approach to school in any noticeable way.
I have very little limitations to basically anything in my internship, Lorna is very laid back about what she allows me to do, which I am thankful for. One of the few limitations I have, however, is a lack of time. The store opens at 10:00 and my mom is unwilling to let me stay past 4:00 because of traffic, which leaves me 6 hours. I have to spend some of this time working, which is easy, but time consuming. Especially now with all the birds that came in this weekend, which I'll get to later. I have two floors to sweep after I'm done cleaning the around 30 (occupied) cages in the main room, and then the 13-16 cages in the nursery, and then at the end of the day I sift the sand out on the bird perch stands. In other news, a man came in this weekend on Saturday and brought in 65 lovebirds for us to sell, which I had missed because I had just left. Then, on Sunday, brought in another 50 (estimate) for us to sell, taking up 10-11 cages total. Remember how I said I could get a $20 finch for free because I qualify for an employees discount? well the lovebirds are selling for $40 a pair, so Lorna said I could have one for free (instead of the finch) which obviously I would take. The Images of the birds In the cages are all taken from separate cages and the three (pictures) at the end are of the bird I want, he/she is really nice. There are very little challenges that I face at my internship if I do at all, Today I had to sweep the floors all under all of the bird cages, but that was only a matter of time I had to worry about. The most challenging thing for me Is probably taming birds, hence why I didn't choose it for my project, sorry Nikki. Taming parakeets is one thing, but something like a peach front conure and really anything above that is just taking a chance, you have to count on the bird that it's not going to be stubborn and take too long to tame, because more time means more bites, and some birds just don't want to be tame.
Sorry, no pictures on this one. There are two project ideas I have on mind right now. I could try and tame various birds in the store, which is fun, but poses a slight risk to the bird escaping, or getting hurt, and is quite painful more than half the time. My other Idea that was actually suggested by Lorna is to build and set up a cage for use with a small bird that a customer could buy. Personally, I would rather do the second option, only because the other one is such a gamble, you don't know whether or not you will make any progress with the bird because of a lack of knowledge towards their personality, and because a lot of birds are very stubborn. Because of this, I would much rather stick to taming being a recreational activity than a mandatory one. On another subject, a man came in today and brought a total of 13 baby finches for us to keep and sell, five of which are already fledglings, and eight that are not yet fully weened (ready to be taken home), all of which were the most rare or a very rare breed of finch. The most rare, and ironically the highest in quantity we received are the black-cheeked zebra finches, the most recently produced color breed of zebra finch that I am told by Lorna you find almost nowhere. Two of them are cinnamon, and one is a snowy-white, all very rare and unlikely to see from a person not dedicated to breeding, which means they were all by chance, which is pretty cool. I was talking to Lorna about prices (because she mentioned that they were a very rare breed) and she mentioned that I am qualified for an employees discount and could take one of the rare breed babies for free if I really wanted one. This is beyond anything I would've thought possible before this internship and I continue to be amazed at how many opportunities Lorna allows me to pursue. this, the taming, and many other freedoms granted to me by her would not be possible at almost any other bird or retail store and I am very grateful to have such an opportunity, even if one as such is not available for me at the time. Which I am working on. 1. Jesse
My Internship Is very similar to yours in the way that we are both learning many things about things we take interest in, only mine usually involves my flesh being torn apart to a small degree. Although I do lack the ability to collaborate with others, because there is none else there besides my mentor and two coworkers, sometimes one. 2. J.P. My internship is very similar to yours in that the social atmosphere is very relaxed and informal, but differs from yours in the way that you work, as mine requires manual labor while yours is working with computers. I am also surprised that you are able to work on whatever you want, that's pretty cool. 3. Karen From what I have seen, our internships differ from each other greatly, both in the academic and social aspect, as your work requires planning and entails collaboration, or interaction in general, with other interns, which mine lacks both of. One very predictable similarity, however, is that we both have much to learn. Over even the small amount of Time I have spent at my internship, I have learned a great deal about birds compared to what I knew before, both from some experience and from what I was told. In terms of what I can see myself learning and or experiencing in the near future, I can more than likely see myself being bitten by various birds, perhaps others who have not yet been bitten by yet, But also hopefully learning how to care for one myself, as this will probably be of great importance in the hopefully near future.
The social atmosphere of working here is different from that of a traditional office job, it is much more laid back than one as well, with my mentor at least. everyone is nice to each other in the way they talk and in my mentors case, what she allows. There is a mix of people being isolated and people socializing, as Juan needs to man the counter, while Lorna needs to manage finances, figure out where to get what birds from what breeders, and so on, hence why I see Juan around more often. This typically (depending on the context) Has little to no Impact on peoples work abilities. So far I have not been very surprised at how my internship is turning out. However, I am surprised at how quickly my work is over, most, If not all of my work is finished by 11:00-12:00. Another thing I am pretty surprised by, is how much freedom I have then on, I have very little to do which is nice because I have been working on hand taming the budgies, which is painful, but fun. At first they bite a lot, and while it hurts, their beaks posses very little offensive power compared to the other parrots and larger parakeets, which range from being able to pierce your skin to crushing your finger like a walnut shell. (INTERVIEW HAS BEEN UPDATED AND THE PICTURE IS SHOWN BELOW) (UPDATE) this post was accidentally deleted and reuploaded on jan. 14, 2019 For today's blog post, I was supposed to interview a coworker, but didn't find this out until I was home due to my phone not loading for me to see the requirements, so Ill just go over what I did today. Today was actually a lot more boring and with lower activity than normal, we had very little customers come in today and I mostly just spent time with birds, I made good progress with the little parakeet seen down below and will be bringing in a perch I made for small/medium sized birds tomorrow. Just like last morning, I started off with cleaning all the birds cages, sweeping the floor, and dusting various different seed bags. and that was basically all I did in terms of mandatory work. I was also visited by Jesse during the last hour (his internship ends at 3:00). UPDATE: INTERVIEW SHOWN BELOW Name: Juan Carlos
2. Did high school help prepare you for this or not? how so? Very slightly, math helps with the cash register 3. Did you see yourself doing this job when you were younger? No, not At all 4. What does day to day life look like for you now, is there anything you would change? Employees more people, there is a constant amount of work to do and it is hard to keep up My mentors name Is Lorna, Her life mainly consists of handling everything that has to do with management in the store. She controls and manages finances, where they get their equipment (i.e. cages, toys, food/water dishes) as well as manually taking care of the birds themselves. She has a high school education and has been working with birds for all of her life. She has always been careful of who she allows to take home a bird to ensure that they get good homes, and will refuse to let you buy one if you have proven to inadequate in care taking. My hopes for this internship are mostly for things to go smoothly, and to be able to easily keep up with the requirements necessary to pass the internship with a good grades. As for ¨dreams¨ hope to be able to have fun with and be able to tame/ get along with the birds, they all have very different preferences and personality, so it will take some time, but they´re birds, why would I not want to do that? For fears, I mostly just fear about grades and being able to keep up with all the academic things while also being able to clean things, because that´s going to be over half of my internship, just cleaning after birds.
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