BUSTER DEMANDS AN APOLOGY!

Buster's routine every night is inviolable! No matter what else goes on in the house he knows at 5:30 or if we finish dinner earlier, it is time for him to be let out of his cage.

All I hear is, "Time to watch TV!", "Are you ready?", "Are ya comin'?", "Wanna play?" over and over again. Sometimes I get mad because I am trying to finish something and he insists and insists until my hair sort of stands on end.

Last night after dinner I was searching on-line for my son's Christmas present which needed to be ordered to get it in time. Buster thought otherwise!

I kept telling him to wait, I'd be done in a few minutes. Of course he nagged and nagged and nagged!

Finally I finished and went to get him out of his cage and get new seeds. He came out briefly but wouldn't come to me. Then he went back inside his cage. I thought, "Here comes the waiting game." Buster makes me wait about as long as I made him wait.

Tonight, however, he waited and waited and didn't come out. Finally I thought, good grief, he wants an apology first.

So...I said, "Buster, mommy's sorry. I'm sorry I made you wait." He came up to the top of his cage and started to moon me with his red feather butt (he does this when he's mad at us). I stopped him and said, "Buster, I said I was sorry." After I said this, miraculously he turned around and came to me!

You have no idea what it is to deal with a very intelligent bird! Humbleness helps.

BUSTER TAKES A WALK!

The only reason Buster stays in his cage during the day is because he needs to be monitored constantly! He chews on everything. I worry he'll chew on an electric cord and fry himself! He love furniture and rugs too. We had to get a new dining room set because Buster "decorated" all the chair legs. Good grief, my house would be destroyed.

Parrots sense lots of things through their beak so Buster touches everything, rapping on it a few times to see what sound it makes. I often take him around the house and let him tap on glass, metal, wood, plastic, etc. announcing the name as he taps. He hasn't said anything after tapping but he probably will surprise me one day.

Well, Buster usually gets out of his cage after we eat dinner. It just so happened my husband, Dennis, was getting ready for work in his bathroom all the way at the other end of our home. Involved in cleaning up the kitchen I forgot Buster was out and he walked all the way to Dennis' bathroom.

Note: Buster walks pigeon-toed and more or less "oozes" across the floor, stopping to look at this and that. He only flies when falling off his cage. I don't think he knows how to fly but he enjoys playing "excellent flier" when I twirl him around the room. When he's had enough he grabs my finger with his beak hard but not hurtful.

You know how it is when a person is getting cleaned up, they are in their own little world where no one else exists. Dennis was shaving when he heard someone "knock" on the bathroom door three times. Thinking I was the knocker, he opened the door and heard a great big "HI!" from Buster.

Shocked describes his reaction best! Sometimes when Buster has done this he also asks Dennis, "Takin' a shower?" or "Go work?"