Because life is exhausting, Pippa is eggbound, and of course she waited until the weekend. Yesterday I drove her to an ER vet in St. Paul (about 80 miles away) because nowhere in town was open. They found she has a soft-shelled egg that she is having trouble laying, but they were reluctant to do surgery without trying medication first, because surgery can have fatal complications (you may remember Turkey, who died during surgery to collapse an unusually large egg she could not pass on her own). They gave me meds for her and sent us home with instructions to come back if she gets worse before Monday.

On the way home, my right front fender liner in my car, which was loose from sustaining damage from frozen snow buildup on the roads over the winter and which I haven't been able to afford to get fixed, caught on a crack in the blacktop and completely ripped off. This means it's not safe for me to drive back to St. Paul until I can get my car fixed...which I can't do until Monday at the earliest.

The good news is that I'm still able to drive locally at normal speeds (it's 160 miles round-trip to the ER vet and the speed limit is 70 mph almost the whole way, and I'm not comfortable driving a damaged car like that), so if Pippa can just hang on until tomorrow at 7am, I can call my vet and get her in for a day admit. T_T So far she's doing okay but is obviously uncomfortable--she is in a hospital cage in the bathroom being kept humid, and she's getting meloxicam, extra-strength liquid calcium, and misoprostol (yes, apparently they can use misoprostol to try to induce labor in birds, too), and I'm checking on her regularly.

Please send good thoughts for Pippa that she can make it through this T_T Also, if you're so inclined to donate to my Ko-Fi, this has been A ROUGH month--I've had about $2000 in vet bills just since mid-July, and now I'm going to have car repair bills, too -_-

(Beatrix is still doing well!)

Please help my friend in Tasmania find her lost bird! (There is a screenshot of the Facebook post below with the descriptive information on case the Facebook link doesn't work or if you don't have Facebook.)

There’s been an unfortunate update, which I’ll copy and paste below: Hi, all, Thank you so much to everyone who donated!  We were able to make it to Minnesota safe and sound.  Unfortunately, a new issue has arisen.  Not only does the university not reimburse for moving expenses, I found out today that I don't actually get a full paycheck until September 28th (see the attached photo for the email from payroll--names removed to protect the employees).  I get about $450 net on the 17th, and then I don't get paid again until September 14th, at which time I'll net around $200. Clearly this is not enough to pay my rent or bills for September, or even the rest of August.  I did email the university to see if there are any temporary hardship measures I can use to cover the gap, but I haven't heard back yet.  Again, anything you can donate, or any signal boosting you can do, is appreciated.  <3

So I don’t often do this, BUT a dear friend of mine whom I have known for almost 20 years, @coloradojessica, is trying to self-publish her urban fantasy novel and has started a Kickstarter for this purpose.  She is a talented writer with a sharp wit and a vivid imagination.  Please donate if you can, or help spread the word!  (She has pointed out that the main character has a bird tattoo, so it is tangentially bird-related.  :D )

(For future reference, if you would like to only see the explicitly bird-related posts on this blog, I tag everything that’s not explicitly bird related with “#not bird”, so you can use that to filter out non-bird-related content.)

Anything you can donate is appreciated!  If you’re not comfortable with GoFundMe, I also have PayPal and Venmo; message me for the details if you’d rather use either of those!  And thank you so much to those who have already donated!

As some of you may know, I've had difficulty finding a steady job after graduating with my PhD.  Fortunately, I have been hired for a tenure-track position beginning August 2018 at St. Cloud State University!  This is the Holy Grail of academic job positions, and I honestly never thought I would get there.  There is, however, one problem. Whereas most universities will reimburse for moving costs, the Minnesota State university system has it written into their employees’ union contract that universities cannot reimburse for moving expenses, so I am on the hook for all of my moving costs.  I saved a bit of money from my previous job as an adjunct, but unfortunately I was unable to find a full-time job for the summer, so I am supporting myself by teaching an online course for St. Cloud State, as well as working a part-time job at a department store and doing some odd jobs (yard work, etc.) for extra money.  I have managed to find an apartment in Minnesota and pay the associated fees, but as of now, there is no way I will be able to afford to pay for a moving truck or the tow dolly for my car I need to be able to actually move to Minnesota from where I currently live in Colorado. Once I can get to Minnesota, I will be much more stable and will hopefully never have to do this again!  In the meantime, however, things are pretty touch-and-go regarding whether or not I will actually be able to get there.  Any amount you can donate helps, or if you can't donate, please help spread the word!  Thank you so much!

So for those of you who remember the bout with depression I had earlier this spring, I have some good news: I’ve accepted a job as an adjunct professor at the university where I attended grad school, where not only will I be able to use my PhD, I’ll be making more money (maybe even a living wage!).

The issue I’m having now is that I begin the new job in mid-August, so I’ll get my last paycheck from my current job in mid-August, and then I don’t get paid again until the end of August, and I’ll only get paid for half of the month.  I have to make that last, then, until the end of September, because the university only pays once monthly.  I’m a little nervous about this, because I still have all my bills to pay and it’s going to be a challenge to afford food on top of that until I get paid in September.

On top of this, I currently live about 70 miles away from the university and need to save up for a deposit so I can move once my lease here is up at the end of November.  Until then I’ll be driving about 140 miles a day, four days a week.  I have a hybrid car, fortunately, but the gas expenses will still add up.  (And no, there’s no public transportation that will get me there in time to teach my first class.  I checked.  :/ )

I have a Ko-fi account where you can “buy me a coffee”--in reality, it’s just a $3 donation (the idea being that a coffee costs $3) that I can put in savings to help me survive until I get paid at the end of September.  I know a lot of you are in worse shape financially than I am, but if you can donate, or even just help spread the word, I really appreciate it!

All my followers have been a huge support to me over the years--the last year and a half, in particular, has been really difficult, and there were times that the only things that got me out of bed or kept me from taking drastic measures were my birds, and the the thought that you were all waiting for me to post a picture.  I know I haven’t been as active lately as I was in the past, but I’m hoping that will change once I get back into a job that allows me more freedom in terms of what I do with my time.  I really can’t thank you all enough--you mean the world to me and the birds.  <3 

UPDATE: Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who donated!!! The apartment search has been tough, since the Denver rental housing market is in a crisis right now. It’s been incredibly stressful trying to find a place--I’ve been spending every spare minute looking for apartments, and I’ve had to take time off work and use my lunch hour to go look at apartments and make phone calls to management companies.

I had an appointment to look at an apartment on the 19th, but before I could get there, it was rented out to someone who was able to make an earlier appointment. :/ I did get out to look at another apartment on the 20th, though, and put in an application. I haven't heard back about it yet, but I'm hopeful, since I know this management company will hold the apartment and not show it again until my application is processed and they hear back on whether or not I'll take it. 

Thanks to all of you, if I do get this place (and I don't see why I wouldn't, since I have a 20-year rental history with no evictions or late rent payments and my monthly income is about three times the rent), I'll be able to put a deposit on it immediately, which means I'll have somewhere to go November 1st. I really can't tell you how much it means to me that all of you were willing to donate so much. It's been a terrible year for me and I'm incredibly lucky to know so many kind-hearted and generous people who will step up for me during the difficult times. <3

I am once again in fairly dire life circumstances due to unstable housing.  I do have a job, but I haven’t had it long enough to be able to save up enough for a security deposit, and I need to be out ASAP, ideally November 1st.  Literally anything helps, but if you can’t donate, please help spread the word.  If you’re uncomfortable using GoFundMe, please message me and ask for my Venmo or PayPal account information.

I can’t tell you how fortunate I’ve felt in the past to have so many caring followers, and I appreciate every last one of you for everything you’ve done.  <3

I’ve really appreciated the help on this so far, and I really don’t want to seem ungrateful, but if you guys could donate just a little more or help signal boost, it would really, really help me out.

I recently was hired for a social work position at Denver Human Services.  My start date isn’t until August 8th, however, and I don’t know when I’ll get my first paycheck after that.

I filed for unemployment, but it takes four to six weeks for the claim to process, so even IF my claim gets approved, I still won’t get my first unemployment check until August 10th at the earliest (and possibly as late at the 24th).

I had to stop autopay on all my bills this month because I won’t be able to pay them when they’re due.  I cleaned my friend’s house for $50 this past week so I could have money to put gas in my car, and sold most of my kitchen appliances at a garage sale this weekend to try to get enough money together to pay for my prescription at Costco.

On top of this, I’m having difficulty with the electrical system in my car.  The wiring harness is starting to disintegrate and come detached from the frame.  I taped the harness back together with electrical tape and zip-tied it back to the frame at much as I could, but the headlights and dash lights still flicker.  I can’t drive it at night because of this and every time I drive it I worry that the electrical system is going to fail while the car is in motion.

Anything you can do, either by donating or signal boosting, is appreciated.  I just need to make it a few more weeks.