Not the merriest time of year

Everyone can yak on about how this is a time of sharing, giving, brotherly love, yadda yadda yadda... all I can say is, you must not work, nor have ever worked, in retail. Christmas is possibly the nastiest season of them all. People are hurried, rushed, and it's your fault. They tend to be snappier, ruder, more impatient, and it's all your fault. I get more grinches this time of year than all the other months combined. Sometimes people insult you personally, sometimes people act like you have personally wronged them. But I can assure you that customers can be HUGE jerks... and when you're dealing with hundreds of people a day, it really starts to wear you down.

Parrots DO argue with each other

Havoc, my severe macaw, is just learning to talk, and lives in my great room. Pickle, my quaker, lives in the bird room, which is adjacent to the great room. If no birds are out for fly-time, I leave the bird room door open. The coversation between Havoc and Pickle went like this:

Pickle: "Pickle, Pickle, Pickle!"
Havoc: "TICK-LE. TIIIICK-LE."
Pickle: "PICKLE PICKLE PICKLE!!!"
Havoc: "What? TICKLE."

Proof that birds do argue. I hope she didn't convice Pickle his name is Tickle.

The answer to the age-old question....

.... do birds burp?

Yes, they do. And it smells like rancid seed.

OSU Stomps Michigan

Ok, really, it was a very close game. OSU gets kinda weird sometimes when it plays Michigan, the whole psychological thing and all.... But Tressel was hired for one thing and one thing only - BEAT MICHIGAN!!

I took the day off work because 1) I'm an alumni and I shouldn't have to ever miss a televised game 2) uhh it's MICHIGAN 3) no way was I driving to work on campus during a home Michigan game 4) it's MICHIGAN.

Personally, I think all the stores around campus should close the day of the Michigan game. Really, they aren't even justifying staying open with the piddly amount of business they do. Hopefully I'll never work a Michigan game again... think it's too early to put in for a personal day for next year?

dumb and dumbererererer

This seems to be a blog where I complain a lot about retail customers... but really, they're the most fascinating people! You've got to wonder how people like this have existed for so long on their own.

#1
For some *odd* reason, my employees felt this guy needed a fish expert and sought me out. Well, they were wrong. What he needed was a heater for his aquarium. He had a three gallon (yup, 3 gallons!) aquarium HALF full of water (yup, 1.5 gallons!), and wondered why his fish kept dying. He had a couple of mollies! Well, I informed him of the fact that his winter-cold apartment and inky dinky tank were too small for anything, but he could try goldfish. His response was he thought mollies were goldfish. I just KNOW i'm going to end up putting "these are tropical fish that require heaters" on every single tank.

#2
A woman waited on me to finish with above guy. Said she had purchased a relatively expensive automatic litter box a few months ago and it was already broken. She assumed the motor had burnt out (good lord maybe her kitty needs to see a vet!!). She complained about having to buy another kind of litterbox in the mean time (cheapos are like $4). She didn't have the receipt, which pretty much ended it for me as I can't do anything without some kind of proof she got it at my store (and you wouldn't believe how often people try to cheat us!). I recommended she call the company and see what they could do for her in terms of replacement or troubleshooting. Without batting an eye, she informed me that I would call the company for her, and she would try whatever they said, then call me back later to update me... Uhhh ok... Now, if it hadn't been for the fact that we had just went through a really boring seminar on customer service, I would have told her no. And, in fact, I will do that from now on, as I do have certain tasks I have to get done every day and help customers that need help I can provide.

So I call up their 800 number and explain to the guy that this chick is apparently phone shy and that I will have to be the go-between. He asks model number. I don't know! Woman points to her model, I have someone bring it to me, read it off. Operator is annoyed I don't have it in hand. Ohhh, buddy, don't start a pissing contest with me, I guarantee I'll win! So he goes through this reboot procedure, expecting me to do it along with him, which I will NOT do because I am not taking that enormous litter box out and then finding all the little parts I lose and sticking it all back in the box. I write down all the information, along with their number, and hand it to the woman who is just standing there waiting for me. Well, now, she doesn't believe that'll work. Ok, well, I don't care, try it anyway. She wants to know if she has to send it back to them if she has to pay for the shipping. I point out the number I just gave her AGAIN and tell her that they can answer those questions as I haven't the faintest idea.

I am FASCINATED by the people that come into the store. Some treat us like slaves, some like heros, and still others don't even acknowledge our existence. I think I could just sit up in the office and watch people all day long. Retail really sours you on people, though. You get about one bad egg a day, it could be someone trying to cheat the store, somebody using you as a scapegoat, or just some jerk that gets a kick out of tormenting people. I know I'm certainly sick of people. I am definitely a homebody, and sometimes I think if I never saw another person again it might be too soon!

Havoc learns cute new things

I've done really well not making this a blog soley about the cute antics of Havoc, my severe macaw... who sadly is STILL on layaway as I had a few unexpected expenses. However, today, she learned a few new things...

She now flips over on her back so I can rock her like a baby. She doesn't wait to make sure my hands are there to support her - she hangs from my chest and just drops. Thankfully I am pretty watchful!

The other cute thing is I left the office today, with her happily chewing on a pen cap, to do something very quickly and come back... just after i hit the door, i hear her cry, "HAVOC!!!" and poke my head back in to see her running towards the door.

Awww! She didn't want mommy to leave!

On a not so amusing note, I found that Biff, my female plumheaded parakeet, has learned to EXACTLY make the same annoying quaker scream that my quaker parakeet, Pickle, makes. Joy. Now there's two of that god awful sound.

Flea Market Birds??

You may or may not know, but I am getting out of the bird breeding game... since becoming a manager at the pet store and my online store becoming successful, I just don't have the time to devote to the little babies anymore without my own pets losing out. So, I'm selling off all non-pets.

Among other birds, I'm trying to sell a few of the more rare kinds... specifically, a very expensive, very rare cockatiel (I nearly had to have one shipped from Hawaii, they are so hard to find!!), and a pair of fischer's lovebirds, one lutino, one split to lutino. It is almost impossible to find anything even SPLIT to lutino around Ohio. I know, I've looked. I had both of these birds flown in from a special breeding facility in California who is well known in the serious breeder community to raise *the* *best* *lovebirds.* I had each flown in at different times. Between vet checks, shipping, etc, I have about $600 invested into this pair of birds. I'm asking $225 with their cage, toys, and nestbox. (a normal fischer's runs about $75, split $100, lutino $125-150, whereas you can get a peachfaced lovebird for about $40).

Sounds reasonable, right? Problem is, a lot of idiots raise lovebirds. These kinds of people are found in every type of pet - dog, cat, reptile... the ones that are just breeding to breed, to make money, and the animals may or may not be kept in great conditions, are probably overbred, and live short, miserable lives. Kind of like people that sell animals at flea markets. That's disgusting. You'll burn in hell (should such a place exist).

These cheapo type people think that good quality birds are overpriced. All lovebirds should be $50 or less. Indeed, you can find a pair of lovebirds for probably $80. However, my birds are fischer's lovebirds, not peachfaced, which are not as common. These are a particular mutation that is hard to come by in this area. These are from the best breeders in the United States.

I am TIRED of reading e-mails from interested parties that want me to cut my "unreasonable" price down. If you can find anybody selling what I'm offering for less, TAKE IT with my blessing!! You won't. I know of one other breeder in Ohio that raises fischer's, and they have only split lutinos, not full. In asking a reasonable price for my animals, I am ensuring they go to a loving home with people who are getting what they pay for, probably know what they are doing, and most definitely do not sell them at flea markets. One person today wanted me to breed my birds for her to buy the babies out of the nest. GROSS! That's just terrible to do that to the babies. When I raise an animal, I love it start to finish. I am responsible for that soul and I want to entrust it to somebody who feels the same. Shame on you people for wanting me to lower myself and treat these animals like meat.

If you want crappy birds that are unhealthy and genetically weak, then go buy somewhere else. I have standards.

Retail Store Etiquette

This kind of crap happens to me all the time. I'm pretty sure the jerks don't realize how rude they are (but then again, they probably do) so I'm going to point it all out so you can hopefully avoid this stuff. Remember: I may be smiling and acting polite on the outside, but you have no idea what I'm really thinking!!

1) Don't stab me with your credit card. A lot of people just THRUST out their card and poke me in the soft part of my hand. Don't do that. Gently hold it out please. I will get it. I won't drop it. I promise.
2) Don't put your money on the counter if I am holding out my hand for it. That really makes me want to throw the change at your face.
3) Don't move your hand away if I'm giving you your change or receipt in an order that you don't want to receive it in. God forbid you take an extra second to move your change to where you want it. I didn't like playing hot hands as a child, and I don't like playing it now. Take it how I give it to you and move on, I've got a line.
4) Don't ask me if a different store has a certain product. Do I look like I work at that store? Why would I help out a competing store? Do a little research yourself.
5) Don't buy $20 worth of pet stuff and then tell me how spoiled your pets are. I drop more than $20 a DAY. My favorite are the people that buy shitty pet food and then tell me their pets are spoiled. They're not spoiled, they are malnutritioned. Huge difference.
6) Don't bitch about prices to me. I don't set them. I don't care.
7) Don't bitch about us not having a certain item that you want. I don't order them. I don't care.
8) Don't tell me long drawn out stories about how happy your betta is to wiggle around when he sees you coming. That's stupid. And I don't care. I will initiate conversation with you if I feel it necessary.
9) Don't complain to me about the size of the animal's cages - that kind of stuff needs to be taken up with the owner or corporate or somebody waaaay more important. I can't do anything about it and it just makes me feel like I'm a big lump of crap. Go to the top of the food chain.
10) Don't try to return things you bought at other stores. We're actually aware of what products we sell, and what we don't.
11) Don't call the store to get prices on a million items. Come in and shop like normal people. No pet store has a staff just to go around and check prices for people who call. Usually it's the cashier, who usually has a line of people to ring up.
12) Don't assume you know more than the salesperson. I agree, pet store people are notoriously stupid. However, I have not met anybody who has known more about birds than I, except my professors at college, of course. I had to lecture somebody the other day who started to complain about the size of a bird's cage - even though it's bigger than the minimum size AND she gets out ALL the time! Also, I would say I am an expert on fish, turtles, and dogs. So if you're coming to me with a cat question, you've got me. But don't just assume that pet store people don't know what they're talking about.
13) Don't infer that I am lucky to have the job I have. I am terribly overqualified for my current position, and every single time I walk in the front door it is a reminder of how horrible it is to work in this economy with a house payment, car payment, bills, and some fuzzy dependents. And you trying to make me feel like I'm lucky really makes me want to chop my head off.
14) Don't ask to see the manager just to hand her an application. She hates that, it wastes her time. I hate that, it brings her close to my register so she can find something to complain about. Plus, my hands work perfectly well at grabbing and filing an application.
15) Don't ask for the manager if you have a pet question. Ask for whoever is an expert in that area. I don't know how many managers our company has that don't even OWN pets. It's a lot though. We've got one at our store, one at a nearby store..

Ok, I am really tired now. So I'll stop. I'm sure I've got a lot more though. Can you tell I really hate customer service? That's gotta be some of the hardest money ever earned. Well, have a nice night all!

Greenies are not evil.

Wow, a post with nothing in it about the store! :)

So, I'm sure a lot of the dog lovers have heard about the recent Greenies accusations. That said, let me tell you all this. I have worked in pet retail for years. Every time they have a slow newsday, they run that story. It's true. And for the next few weeks, we get a lot of Greenies returned, and after a few months, Greenies sales go back to normal. Every time I tell a customer that this story gets run a lot, they look at me like I'm stupid. WHO WOULD KNOW? You, or the person who sells them? I get absolutely nothing out of selling you Greenies, why would I make something like that up? They also run the story about dogs that need adopted, about puppy mills, and about "designer" (in other words, mutts) dogs. They rotate them pretty regularly, but you hear all four stories in a year, every year.

Now, back to Greenies. I feed my dogs Greenies. I am not stupid, uneducated, or foolhardy. In fact, I find that most of the people that refuse to feed Greenies after watching the news have not researched it farther than that. Let me be the first to tell you that there is no such thing as an unbiased media source. I don't watch the news if I can help it - they make everything out to be ten times worse or ten times better than it actually is. It drives me nuts. They can take something like a person tripping over a tree root into this long, horrible story. So, number one, don't trust the news. You have to sift through many, MANY different sources, from both sides, to find out what you think. That means you've gotta use your noggin. You may not arrive at the same conclusion I did, but well, this is my blog and only my opinion is going to be represented. So nyah.

Again, keep in mind that I have a degree in Zoology, and years of experience in pet retail, dog kennels, dog training, and at a vet's office.

Greenies are not evil. Greenies help prevent tooth and gum diseases that could otherwise cause your dog illnesses and even death. According to the Greenies people, the recent case is the first one they've been contacted about. So if there are all these problems with Greenies, why are they just getting official complaints NOW? I'm not saying Greenies are perfect. If anything, we've learned there is no perfect dog treat. Greenies are not 100% digestible. Duh. Nothing is. If it were 100% digestible, then your dog wouldn't poop. And dog food companies would make food like that. Can you imagine how great it would be for a dog not to poop because it has absorbed everything in its food?? Yeah, it's not going to happen people.

If your dog swallows a big chunk of anything, you're going to have problems. That's why you've got to supervise your dog when you give it treats and chews. They're like little kids, always getting into trouble! Case in point? My sheepdog, Roofus, at about four months, got a lamb bone (from the pet store, $1.29) for a chew. The next day, he had an intestinal blockage. $620 later, he was ok, but sheesh. Did I sue the bone people? Did I rant and rave about unsafe bones? No. My other dogs did, and continue to, do fine with those bones. Now I know not to give Roofus any of that kind. He does well on Greenies, which he only gets occasionally as they are really expensive and have a very high protein level.

Nothing is safe, watch your dog.

Yes, I've seen the photos of dogs getting Greenies removed surgically. I've also seen the photos of dogs getting pieces of the sofa removed, keys, pennies, remote controls, carpeting, etc removed. SUPERVISE YOUR DOG. If he can't chew that stuff, don't give it to him or give him the Lil Bits they've got. If he likes to chew your sofa while you're away, lock him in a crate until you get home or restrict him with a baby gate. Pet owners are not helpless, you need to use common sense and do what's best for your pet without bashing everybody around you.

The whole Greenies thing actually reminds me very strongly of McDonald's and the coffee thing - the person suing them because the coffee was too hot and they got burned (loser). Yeah, coffee is hot. Now McD's has signs up all over saying how hot the coffee is. Trouble is, Greenies has always put "Supervise your pet while chewing" on every single bag of greenies. I guess you could beat people over the head with a jumbo greenie, but I somehow think they still won't get the point.

I'm just tired of people harassing me about Greenies when they don't know what they're talking about. After the tenth customer of the day it gets pretty old. I'm sorry you don't like Greenies, I really doubt I'll change your mind. But it doesn't make me stupid or uninformed, quite the opposite. Some people at the pet store actually DO know what's going on. Too bad the customers don't.

New Dog Scuba Diving Designs

I have recently started making dog scuba designs. Of COURSE I started with corgi... don't ask why. There's just something about those nubby little legs!! I love to scuba dive and I didn't see any reason why doggies shouldn't be able to do it too - on shirts, of course! So far I have the dalmatian and the corgi. Hopefully I'll get a beagle and sheepdog up soon, perhaps the border collie. How do I decide which breeds to do? Well, I usually start with the breeds I own, and then if one catches my fancy or if I sell a lot of a particular breed, I'll do that one next. These are some cute designs, I've got powder blue tangs (Dory from Finding Nemo), a boxfish, a red crab, some great looking coral... Check em out at http://www.cafepress.com/menageriemayhem/1236846

I also added a few new doggie tees! A "Property of Obedience School" shirt, "Obedience School Dropout," and "It's my party and i'll bark if i want to!" t-shirt. I'm always looking for cute or catchy sayings for these shirts so keep checking back for more. :)

St. Patrick's Day Design!!

Nobody gets sicker of St Paddy's Day than I do. Suddenly everybody's Irish, and it's beer, beer, beer. So, I decided to make a St. Patrick's Day design that actually FEATURED something irish - an irish wolfhound! I personally love these guys, because they are big and hairy with their outta control hair! My new design shows him inside a circle, holding a beer mug, and around the outside it reads "Famous Seamus Lager." I want to feature this product on more irish breeds, but right now I am concentrating on the bird section. The Mid American Exotic Bird Society (http://www.maebs.com) has their big Columbus bird expo in two days!! I'm donating a few of my "Be" line t-shirts, so I am trying to get as much done as possible before the show. I'll be at the expo, cya there!

Dog breed silhouettes

I've been working on a lot of dog breed silhouette merchandise for the past few days. These products are only found in the "by breed" sections, and I'm doing them in no particular order. So far I have about twenty four breeds done, including the yorkie, porcelaine, harrier, borzoi, otterhound, and many others. The products these designs are currently available on are the white t-shirt and bumper sticker. Right now the design is an "i", then a heart, and then the dog breed silhouette.

Here's a humorous story for you about my real life pet store job -
It's been VERY cold at work... we come in each morning, and it's 64 degrees. Obviously, we're cold. The animals are cold. Finally corporate decided to do something about it, and sent an HVAC guy. The guy pokes around, and we find something very interesting... we don't have a gas meter! We haven't had one probably since we've opened; our gas bill is always the minimum. So that's why it is so cold - we live on solar energy and from the store next door. I really have to wonder why nobody at corporate wondered about these $12 gas bills in the middle of January. At the same time, I wonder if someone DID notice, and decided since we weren't actively complaining, to just ignore it. I bet on the latter.

Another story...
Took the boys to the park today. It's a park that has offleash hours for your dogs. I was walking along to the back where the rest of the dog owners were (they meet in a different section of the park each day to avoid disturbing other activities), when this dad playing t-ball with about a dozen kids over to the side started yelling at me to "leash those dogs!!" I had several good responses that I yelled back, including "why don't you leash your kids?" Unfortunately, Roofus chose that moment to run over and poop by them. Sigh. So I march over to clean it up. Unfortunately, the boys all ran over with me, and of course, puppies and kids, well, the dogs were overrunning the kids so I just turned away and the dogs followed me. I never did get to clean up the dog poo. Oh well. I tried. I still don't know why you would go to the park during offleash hours and yell for people to leash their dogs. That's kind of... stupid.

woohoo!

Well guys, I started out my little store at the end of October, shortly after I discovered I was going to need gallbladder surgery - and I don't have insurance! (needless to say, the store has paid for my surgery many times over!) Since the launch of Menagerie Mayhem, though, my Google pagerank has been a big fat ZERO. I started marketing the snot out of it - links, paid ads, classifieds... if i could find a way to sneak my name in there, i did.

And, well, today, three months and some later, it paid off. Today my Google pagerank went from squat to FIVE! A big FIVE!! Yay! Thanks to everybody for making this happen, because it would not have without you! I look forward to bringing you a wide variety of pet merchandise for years to come.

Tons new designs!!

I created many more designs today! Also, all the breeds (minus irish wolfhound and soft coated wheaten) have "is my furry kid!" bumper stickers now. :)

New designs:
Born to Run! Celebrating Greyhounds and their athleticism.
Race to the Foodbowl This is available in either brown or gray. It's a cute design I just thought up today for greyhounds. It reads, "The only thing my greyhound races to now is the foodbowl!"
Chow Chow A new fuzzy design! Of COURSE I couldn't forget the chow! They're one of the fluffiest breeds!
I added a new Miscellaneous section, including t-shirts that aren't breed specific. I'm going to try to get a lot of dog humor in there. :) There are a few new designs, "Some people have kids, I have dogs!" and a really cute "peace, love, pawprint" design.
Fat Dog Products! This is just hilarious! A big fat mutt dog has just sat on his human kids!

Another new corgi design!!

I know, I just can't stay away from those darned little corgis... but come on, they're so darned cute! Imagine what I have planned for my FAVORITE dog breed, hehehe!!

This design is for the dirtbike riders out there... it is a freestyle motocross design. Merlin the corgi throws a sick trick on his red dirtbike. He does a can-can, a trick where the rider has to swoop one leg over to the other side and then back again before he lands. So this design is called the Corgi Can-Can!

New breeds, new corgi design!

I know, I said no new breeds... but I did forget a few retrievers so I HAD to add them!! :) I added the Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever, Flat-coated Retriever, and Curly-Coated Retriever. Enjoy!!

Also, I have an AWESOME new design... I was putting on my bluejackets jersey, and I realized, hey, merlin would look GREAT as a hockey player! Thus the Columbus Corgis was born! I plan on creating a few more merlin designs too, so if you love pembroke welsh corgis, be sure and check it out! The link to my Columbus Corgis design is http://www.cafepress.com/menageriemayhem/1203071 . I want to get one of him as a motocross rider up soon. :) Hopefully get a few other breeds in there too!

Terriers... Shepherds.. Hounds... oh My!

Added some great new designs today! I have this one design on my store I call "Parrots." I know, very unique, right? Well, I took the same concept for dogs! I take a certain type of dogs, we'll say, Shepherds. I put SHEPHERDS on a t-shirt, distress the words a bit. In front of THAT, I put a type of shepherds in a pretty blue font that is NOT distressed. Say, Australian. This is the result: http://www.cafepress.com/menageriemayhem.47402178 . View a larger image to really get an idea of the design. I have them designed right now for all the shepherds, hounds, and terriers available on my site. Quite a few!!

Oh, and a shout out to 4 Crazy Dogs for affiliate linking me, I've been getting some hits off there. She's got some nice stuff, be sure and stop by!

Late night...

Working on making more "My is my furry kid!" bumper stickers. They will be available for all the dog breeds I carry... eventually. They are quick to make but take a long time to post up and categorize.

Here's an interesting story about my real life job today.. I work at a pet store. This woman comes in, to the pet store, the PET store, to buy some food for her puppies. I had out a quaker parakeet, trying to get her used to people (she's VERY shy, and shy birds don't sell), because we were slow and well, that's my job. This woman heard the bird call and immediately jumped back about ten feet. She asked where the bird was, and a nearby employee informed her that I (the cashier) had a bird on my shoulder. The woman was terrified. I thought she was going to cry. I had the employee come get the bird so he could put her away for the woman, and as soon as he had the bird she ran into an aisle and hid. She called out that she was scared of every kind of animal and to keep them away from her. I guess she was petting some dogs the owner said was really nice and she was bitten three times (which tells me she doesn't know how to read dogs at ALL).

Eventually she got brave enough to come check out, even though we had already put the bird away. I am still fascinated by the fact that the woman was close to losing it at the very thought of being near another animal, and yet she came into a PET STORE. I mean duh. If you are that terrified of animals, don't go into a store that sells them. I can't keep the parrots caged all day long, that's cruel (and it will eventually make them mean). Seek medication. Have your boyfriend pick up the food. Something. I am claustrophobic. I don't go to places that have small spaces. If you're afraid of animals, don't go somewhere that may have them. We do get a lot of arachnaphobes in our store, and that's ok, they just take a wide berth around the tarantulas. They don't have panic attacks.

I also had a man that insisted that his plecostomus was going to die because it had eaten all the algae in his aquarium and now had nothing to eat. I informed him that algae was always growing in his tank whether he could see it or not, but he insisted on seeing the algae wafers, because a "professional" (and he surely did emphasize that word) told him that he HAD to feed it those. Now, it is completely unnecessary and even harmful to feed your single pleco an algae wafer everyday. Not only is your pleco now going to grow like mad, he won't eat the entire wafer (until he is bigger anyway), so there is a whole lot of waste in your tank. So I was annoyed on two different levels, one, that what I said meant nothing, and two, that I wanted to throw my degree in his face (I have an emphasis in icthyology), but I would also be pretty embarassed that I only work at a pet store. So. I guess the moral is, don't spend money on things that you don't need, and don't assume the person working at the store is stupid until that is proven.

More store updates tomorrow......

Getting so much done today it's crazy..

I spend my days off from my day job working on my online store. I know, I'm pathetic. But it is enjoyable, and the more time I spend on it, the better it gets, and the more sales I get! Plus, look at all the new species I added today:
Black-Capped Conure
Blue-Throated Macaw
Dusky Conure
Golden-Capped Conure
Grand Eclectus
Green Cheeked Amazon
Green-Cheeked Conure
Half-Moon conure
Lilac Crowned Conure
Maximillian Pionus
Mealy Amazon
Military Macaw
Noble Macaw
Patagonian Conure
Peach-Front Conure
Plum-headed Parakeet
Red-Sided Eclectus
Solomon Island Eclectus
Senegal Parrot
Vosmaeri Eclectus
White-Fronted Amazon
Yellow Headed Amazon

That's quite a list! All categorized by species and everything. I'd like to get little drawings done for everybody too, but it looks like that's going to take years. My desktop is literally covered in post-its for ideas and plans I have for this store. At the moment, I have no plans to add any other species to the store UNLESS specifically requested to. I am carrying quite a few rare bird species, so I don't expect to see a lot of sales from them, but I don't want to clutter up the store any more than it already is unless there are some people out there that would like their species on a t-shirt.

A word on custom work... it doesn't cost you squat, unless you don't want it available for anyone else. Then it depends on what it is, etc. I'm not going to spend a couple hours on one design to get four bucks from it, ya know? That's $2 an hour!

Also, dealer inquiries are welcome! Purchase 15 or more of one type of item (t-shirts, stickers, etc), get a big discount! Purchase 50 or more, get an even BIGGER discount! These things sell like hotcakes at bird fairs and other bird shows. Contact me at susan@menageriemayhem.com if you're interested.

I might be getting a yellow-collared macaw here in a week or so... I prefer a female, and the DNA is going on now, plus I haven't gotten a final cost yet, so there are a lot of things hinging on that. So if I get the bird (which I have already named Havoc in my head), you're going to see a LOT more mini macaw products showing up! I've already got plans for a few. I'm hoping to get out a lot more Christmas ornaments this year too.

Danger Parrots!

I discovered that I had apparently made a LOT of DANGER: This Vehicle Protected by a (whatever), bumper stickers! So today I posted them all. There were a couple new species though that I have not yet given their own sections... I hope to have the four species of eclectus up tomorrow, as well as the new birds. Hurray hurray, the birds have all been arranged alphabetically by species for easy navigation! What could be simpler than that? Just select your species and see everything that is available for that particular bird!

Rainbow Lorikeet Mayhem!

I started adding a lot of Rainbow Lorikeet designs today... I did a cute "Rainbow Lorikeet On Board" sticker for your car, available in bumper, oval, or rectangle, a "Danger" sticker, a tropical lightswitch cover, a Christmas ornament, a "Four Birds" design (which is REALLY colorful!)... I also plan on adding the Rainbow Lorikeet to the "Be" section as BE SPECTACULAR or BE BRILLIANT. More to come, of course!

Welcome to my Blog!

This is the Menagerie Mayhem first blog post ever... this way I can keep everything up to date with waaaay too much information, without having to send those annoying newsletters that everybody at Cafepress raves about. I hate newsletters. I get tons of newsletters in my inbox every week, they go straight to the trash unless the first few sentences contain a way for me to save all kinds of money. But they rarely do. So I don't anticipate making a newsletter for my store. So if you were looking forward to something like that I'm sorry. I would rather be making designs. :)

Anyhoo, right now I'm working on categorizing the bird section by species. It takes a loooooong time, because I have to find every single product for that species and place it in that section. Also, some species are missing products and I have to create them before I move on to the next one. So it's slow going. However, I did get all 170+ dog breeds done in the dog section in only a few days. This site was meant to have mostly bird stuff so it is a little more parrot-intensive, and that takes longer. Look forward to really easy shop-by-bird-species navigation within the next week.

Also, be sure to check out the Valentine's Day designs. They are cute! If you want them on something other than greeting cards/postcards, be sure to e-mail me and I'll make them available, it's not a big deal if I know somebody wants it.

Oh, the anti-hybrid dog (aka anti "designer dog") section is up and running, feel free to take a look! This section is dedicated to those opposed to breeding mongrels just because somebody is too lazy to find the breed right for them. And don't kid yourself - I see plenty of doodle dogs in the pound, too. Whenever you breed two different (very different) breeds, you can't be sure of what temperament, coat, or anything else you're going to get. Could be one, the other, or a combo of both! And they do have purebred dogs in rescues and pounds, so go there first. Why spend $600+ if you can get the dog for $100 AND save a life? And please don't send me any "k9 snobbery" e-mails, if you own one of these so-called designer mutts, you need to look at that yourself. A pound dog wasn't good enough for you? Couldn't take the time to save a life, had to go help create more mutts?

Well that's all for now folks, I do have a day job and it's about time to hit the hay. So adios!