Hi all,
We were happily working away on a customers large pastel this afternoon when we heard a "noise" ,on looking up noticed a (large!) blackbird had got into the workshop and was batting way at the non opening windows the landlord kindly gave us.
After the usual "hoots and hollers" we thought the best way to get rid of it was to hold up full sheets of corri and try to shepherd it out of the door. After 10 mins or so we manged to get the bird out the door.
Hooray!............
On restarting work we found a great big dropping right in the middle of the pastel! after the usual sick feeling we decided to 'fess up and tell the customer,she duly arrived and decided to have a far larger mount than planned to hide it,needless to say she got the job f.o.c.
Can anyone beat that for a "furry friend" type indiscretion?
Regards,Mike.
You'll never believe this......
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John
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We have often had people leave a deposit on a picture, but never a bird. 
HOW Much!?
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Bill Henry
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My encounter with a wild beast was posted previously on TFG a while back
************
The weather has been nice up here. I’ve got the back door open to let in some air.
This past Saturday, I’m sitting at the computer doing some bookkeeping when I hear a “scritch, scritch”. I turned around and about 3 feet from me is this bloody, giant, fire-breathing chipmunk – sitting on his hind legs and glaring at me malevolently.
Despite my usual cool, sophisticated demeanor, I jumped about a foot.
Apparently as startled as me, he/she ran behind the water heater. Fine! I am blocking access to the front of the shop with some foam board (Bainbridge 3/16”, 32 x 40) and trying to poke at him with a stick of metal moulding (Nielsen #15-21, if you must know) when a customer came in. She is halfway through making her mat selection when she let out a yelp. The wily creature ran over her foot, became as frightened as the customer, and ran towards the back and settled under my desk. Fine!
Luckily, she (the customer) hurried through her frame selection, so I could return to hunting this elusive varmint (the chipmunk). As I approached the desk with cunning and stealth, he/she (I’ll name it Randolph for clarity) ran from under the desk with a potato chip in his mouth. … can’t for the life of me figure out how it got there. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!
Since he looks like he’s a rodent who has trouble making decisions, I opened the front door to give Randolph a second opportunity to leave . I return to my desk, hoping that he has found some egress when I hear multiple screams from the Karate School next door. Yessss! Randolph found his way out!
… Nooo! The shrieks drove Randolph right back in. Crud! He found his way under one of our work stations where there more places to hide than a fun house. And now Dennis, the owner of the school, is annoyed with me, too. Great!
I sat there typing, trying not to make any sudden moves, watching him scope out the place more thoroughly than a fire marshall, and hoping that he’ll get bored and find some greener pastures outside … but with an abundance of tasty treats still under my desk, that seemed unlikely.
I lost sight of him, so at this point, I wasn’t sure if he’d gone or not. I didn’t want to close up for the weekend with the possibility that he was still here. It’s not likely that personal hygiene is one of his stronger points.
I thought about asking Carolyn (my wife) to come down with the dog, but Molly has had mixed success in making friends with squirrels, so I wasn’t not sure she’d be too successful with another critter of that ilk.
But, I came down here on Sunday (not my usual routine) with Molly, just to be sure. After finding the remaining treats under the desk (M&Ms from what I can gather), Molly decided to nap. If Randolph is here, he and Molly had arrived at some kind of secret arrangement to which I was not privy. So, maybe I’m safe.
Shhh! … I think I hear giggling from under the ‘fridge.
************
Tuesday:
He’s bAAaack!
I just saw him peeking in my back door again. Rowlbazzle!
Turns out that another tenant in the building has been feeding him snacks. That Bozo wasn’t here last weekend, so Randolph ended up at my place apparently looking for his daily allotment of Screamin’ Yellow Zonkers {carmelize pop corn}. He’s reportedly been in other units and received approximately the same warm welcome there.
The only time of year I need a screen door is during the annual October Wasp Nesting Festival, but last year I pasted several images of spiders around the door jam and that seemed to discourage all but the most farsighted insects from entering.
I found an image of an owl online and plopped on the file cabinet just inside the back door. It’s a Philippine Owl, actually, but I suspect that Randolph is both geographically and taxonomically challenged, so this might work.
****************
Thursday:
I’ve seen the varmint poking around the bushes in the back, but he hasn’t tried to sneak into the store again. The picture of the owl seems to be working.
It seems to scare away mongooses and wart hogs, too. I haven’t seen any of those guys for months.
************
The weather has been nice up here. I’ve got the back door open to let in some air.
This past Saturday, I’m sitting at the computer doing some bookkeeping when I hear a “scritch, scritch”. I turned around and about 3 feet from me is this bloody, giant, fire-breathing chipmunk – sitting on his hind legs and glaring at me malevolently.
Despite my usual cool, sophisticated demeanor, I jumped about a foot.
Apparently as startled as me, he/she ran behind the water heater. Fine! I am blocking access to the front of the shop with some foam board (Bainbridge 3/16”, 32 x 40) and trying to poke at him with a stick of metal moulding (Nielsen #15-21, if you must know) when a customer came in. She is halfway through making her mat selection when she let out a yelp. The wily creature ran over her foot, became as frightened as the customer, and ran towards the back and settled under my desk. Fine!
Luckily, she (the customer) hurried through her frame selection, so I could return to hunting this elusive varmint (the chipmunk). As I approached the desk with cunning and stealth, he/she (I’ll name it Randolph for clarity) ran from under the desk with a potato chip in his mouth. … can’t for the life of me figure out how it got there. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!
Since he looks like he’s a rodent who has trouble making decisions, I opened the front door to give Randolph a second opportunity to leave . I return to my desk, hoping that he has found some egress when I hear multiple screams from the Karate School next door. Yessss! Randolph found his way out!
… Nooo! The shrieks drove Randolph right back in. Crud! He found his way under one of our work stations where there more places to hide than a fun house. And now Dennis, the owner of the school, is annoyed with me, too. Great!
I sat there typing, trying not to make any sudden moves, watching him scope out the place more thoroughly than a fire marshall, and hoping that he’ll get bored and find some greener pastures outside … but with an abundance of tasty treats still under my desk, that seemed unlikely.
I lost sight of him, so at this point, I wasn’t sure if he’d gone or not. I didn’t want to close up for the weekend with the possibility that he was still here. It’s not likely that personal hygiene is one of his stronger points.
I thought about asking Carolyn (my wife) to come down with the dog, but Molly has had mixed success in making friends with squirrels, so I wasn’t not sure she’d be too successful with another critter of that ilk.
But, I came down here on Sunday (not my usual routine) with Molly, just to be sure. After finding the remaining treats under the desk (M&Ms from what I can gather), Molly decided to nap. If Randolph is here, he and Molly had arrived at some kind of secret arrangement to which I was not privy. So, maybe I’m safe.
Shhh! … I think I hear giggling from under the ‘fridge.
************
Tuesday:
He’s bAAaack!
I just saw him peeking in my back door again. Rowlbazzle!
Turns out that another tenant in the building has been feeding him snacks. That Bozo wasn’t here last weekend, so Randolph ended up at my place apparently looking for his daily allotment of Screamin’ Yellow Zonkers {carmelize pop corn}. He’s reportedly been in other units and received approximately the same warm welcome there.
The only time of year I need a screen door is during the annual October Wasp Nesting Festival, but last year I pasted several images of spiders around the door jam and that seemed to discourage all but the most farsighted insects from entering.
I found an image of an owl online and plopped on the file cabinet just inside the back door. It’s a Philippine Owl, actually, but I suspect that Randolph is both geographically and taxonomically challenged, so this might work.
****************
Thursday:
I’ve seen the varmint poking around the bushes in the back, but he hasn’t tried to sneak into the store again. The picture of the owl seems to be working.
It seems to scare away mongooses and wart hogs, too. I haven’t seen any of those guys for months.
Don't take life so serious, son, it ain't nohow permanent! – Porky Pine