The good guys thread

[kuhio98]

After years of searching, man reunites with beloved pet

BUTTE, Mont. - For the first time in a half a decade, Mike Taylor sees his bird Love Love

"I've been kind of looking for him this whole time," Taylor said.

The 25 year-old macaw he'd owned for years was stolen from his home in Great Falls, he said. Taylor spent more than five years searching.

"I've always kind of looked on Craigslist and everything," he said, about his efforts to find Love Love.

Then last week, Taylor's friend Steve Campbell told him something that gave him hope.

"I said, 'No I know that's your bird," Campell recounted. He said he saw Love Love at Montana's Parrot & Exotic Bird Sanctuary (MPEBS) in Butte.

Taylor immediately called them up.

"He started to describe various things that only he would have known," said MPEBS founder Lori McAlexander.

From one blind eye, to a funny growing beak and a backwards toe, to loving the game "peek-a-boo-" McAlexander said Taylor gave a spot-on description of the bird she'd been caring for. She knew it was Taylor's macaw.

Turns out, she thought Love Love was girl and named Scarlett- from the person who surrendered the bird to the sanctuary.

Now, Scarlett is back to Love Love- and can finally go back home.

"Hangs upside down already, let me grab his beak, does his peeky-boo, likes to tuck his head," said Taylor, about how fast Love Love picked up his old tricks again.

Taylor said it's been a long time, but he could tell the bird recognized Taylor right away.

"Very heart touching," Taylor said. "He's to himself again already, he really is. I mean, he [didn't] forget."

[kuhio98]

‘Random act of pizza’: Chicago Tribune buys lunch for Boston Globe newsroom

In what's being called a "random act of pizza" in the wake of last week's deadly bombings at the Boston Marathon, staffers at the Chicago Tribune ordered lunch on Monday for the Boston Globe.

"We can only imagine what an exhausting and heartbreaking week it's been for you and your city," the Tribune staff wrote in a letter addressed to the Boston Globe newsroom. "But do know your colleagues here in Chicago and across the country stand in awe of your tenacious coverage. You make us all proud to be journalists."

"We can't buy you lost sleep, so at least let us pick up lunch," the letter accompanying the 60 pizzas, salad and soda read.

A Chicago Tribune staffer told Yahoo News that the newsroom pooled funds on Friday for the order from Regina Pizzeria in Boston's South Station.

Hungry Globe staffers appreciated the gesture.

[cassiesmom]

Boston boat owner: Give cash to victims, not me

(NEWSER) – The Watertown man whose boat was destroyed after Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was found hiding in it is touched that people are raising funds to buy him a new one—but he wants them to save their money for bomb victims. "It makes me feel wonderful that people are thinking like that," but "I don't want that really," David Henneberry tells WCVB. "I would wish that they donate it to the One Fund Boston. They lost limbs. I lost a boat."


Read more: http://www.newstalk1130.com/articles...#ixzz2RUTlDTya

[kuhio98]

New swan arrives at Bay Indies

VENICE, Fla. - The lonely male swan at Bay Indies Mobile Home Park is lonely no more.

After weeks of fundraising, residents at the park purchased a new female swan for $1,000 from a seller in Wisconsin. The effort was in response to the death of the previous female. Residents say the swan was killed by a coyote or fox. The male was left by itself, until Monday afternoon.

The new swan arrived at Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport around 4pm. It traveled on board a Delta flight. Gerri Monnier, a Bay Indies resident who led the effort to buy the new swan, was there to pick it up.

"We wanted to hurry this up. A lot of our residents are snowbirds. They are headed back up north and they wanted to see the swan," she said.

In its wooden crate, the swan was placed in the back of an SUV by a Delta employee with a forklift. When the swan arrived at Bay Indies, some of its feathers were ruffled after a long day of traveling. The swan jumped out of its crate, and chased a bystander down the road before it eventually jumped in the water. The male and female immediately noticed each other. As they approached, the swans bumped chests and made a heart-shape with their necks and beaks. It was love at first sight. Dozens of Bay Indies residents watched the two interact for the first time.

"It is wonderful. We have had one lonely swan, so it's wonderful to see the two of them together," said resident Joan Bodenlos.

"It's just marvelous," said resident Carol Sanders.

The hope is for the new female to provide safety and companionship for the male. Many of the residents are hoping the two will have some "little swans" in the future.

Now comes the difficult task of naming the pair. Residents at the mobile home park will vote. Right now, some of the choices are, Bay & Indie, Adam & Eve, and Lucy & Desi.

[lizbud]

I wanted to see the swans & found local news video coverage of them together.

http://www.mysuncoast.com/videos/7_s...b0b0dafe4.html

[kuhio98]

I wanted to see the swans & found local news video coverage of them together.

http://www.mysuncoast.com/videos/7_s...b0b0dafe4.html

Awwwwww

[kuhio98]

Back in the Saddle

Riding horses has always been a big part of my life. Ironically, the man I married was allergic to them. After riding I'd have to take off my clothes in the basement, then dash upstairs to shower.

My daughter, Kaylin, was also allergic to horses as a small child but, like me, she loved them. Luckily her allergies cleared up enough that she could ride comfortably. It was something we really enjoyed together.

In 2005, after 17 years of marriage, my husband and I decided to get a divorce. Shortly before our final court date I learned I had stage III breast cancer. I was 38 years old, divorced, and fighting for my life.

Over the next two years I had a double mastectomy, 11 other surgeries for infections, 16 rounds of chemotherapy, and six weeks of daily radiation. When you're getting chemo your white blood cell count is low and you don't heal normally. But I insisted on riding with my daughter. On one of our rides I got thrown from my horse, and I hung on so hard I ripped all the skin off my hands. In agony I looked at Kaylin and said, "I can't do this," and I wasn't just talking about riding.

Then for Christmas 2006, Kaylin -- who was 12 -- did something that said "You are going to do this, Mom." She called my parents and siblings to ask them to chip in for a special gift. When I came downstairs Christmas morning, there was a beautiful Western saddle sitting under the tree. I was blown away.

Now that I'm in complete remission, my life and passions have been restored in many ways. And about a year ago I was finally able to take that beautiful saddle, put it on our family horse, and ride again.

-- Lauren, Highlands Ranch, Colorado