Gameplay

I was just discussing with rosefox (locked link here for my reference) that Magic: The Gathering, Fluxx, and Robert's Rules of Order all have a similar gameplay/mechanic. Specifically, the issue is figuring out which cards to play in what order, and then resolving which actually take place first. In Magic you have "first-in-last-out" and fast effects; in Fluxx you change the win conditions and what objects you and others own, as well as how many cards you're allowed to play; in Robert's Rules you have friendly amendments to motions, amendments to ByLaws, and Points of Order that can trump any action currently on the floor.

( Further examples, to the best of my recollection of the rules. )

And the same people in suits in a board room who game Robert's would never be caught dead with cards in their hands, let alone collectible ones.

First day with a new bird advice?

Soon I will be bringing home my new dusky conure (I'm calling her Kappa for now). She is nearly a year old, and has lived her whole life within view of one of her clutchmates. The store has a policy that the bird must come home by 2pm so it has time to get used to its new home on the first day. I'm wondering if it'd be best to put her in the new cage and leave her alone, put her in the new cage and stay within sight, keep her on me either within sight of the new cage or away from it, or keep her on a play stand near me and/or the cage.

I know that I can expect her behavior to be unsettled for the first couple weeks, for example she might be yelly and flock calling for her brother, or be quiet and scared of me, or be clingy and not want to leave me. I already bought the same diet that she's currently on (pellets, veggies, and pasta, with almonds and dried fruit as treats), and toys of the types they people in the store says she likes. Anything else I should be thinking of?

I can haz bird now!

And it makes me sad in a way. Poor little Kappa is a ball of feathers jammed into a top corner of her cage, her legs splayed on opposite walls as far as she can reach, staying as still as her little body can manage, except when she shivers in reaction. It's really sad and pathetic, and I know she's terrified of the changes - she's never been anywhere but that store, at least not since she was a tiny chick, and now she's been ripped from everything she knows and the brother and petstore workers that she loves. On the brief drive home she was so still that I kept checking to see if she was still alive, she scared me so (I had a nightmare the other day of her falling into a boiling pot of water).

Now she's clinging there to the two sides of the cage, legs spread out, not moving other than bits of quivering since she got home nearly 45 minutes ago, and I feel like a horrible person. I know she'll get over the first part of the fear in a couple days, and then continue to be "off" for a couple weeks, and after that she'll have a wonderful life, but this part hurts us both.

Edit: meig, your books fortuitously arrived today too. Thanks so much, I was expecting one or two books, not six!