Okay, here's a quick Ernie update before work. Yesterday morning Ernie was still indeed there. He looked none the worse for wear, in fact he seemed to be settling in quite well, despsite the fact that last night they tried the following to get rid of him:
*Catch him with the net
*Spray him with the hose
*Put dogfood by the door (which Ernie apparently quite liked and ate during the night when the door was closed.
*Shoot him with an airsoft gun (a gun that shoots, little plastic balls)
*Hold a mirror by the door (shiney reflective object?)
So we had roughly five miiiillion people come swimming yesterday, it was great :P. Ernie didn't seem to mind, he just swooped around in the rafters, occasionally coming down to drink pool water in a quiet moment. I had a million children come up to me ("lifeguard, there's a bird!" "Did you know there's a bird in here?!" "Is that bird supposed to be in here").
I'm frantically trying to make sure no one drowns in the crowded pool when french frie lady came back to discuss strategy with her friend in tow. I felt like screaming at her "I don't care if the bird is still in here! A 12 year old boy just bit a hole out of the new foam frisbee and that child is going to drown the second she lets go of her mat!" They didn't take the hint, sadly.
During lesson time we finally got an expert in. He came in with a net and a teenage boy in tow, looked at Ernie for a bit and left. Apparently it would cost $100 to get him out. Boss man says no. Too bad, I'd like to see him try, that net didn't look any better than ours.
So the plan is to leaave food and water in the lobby with the door open to entice him over. The lobby is also cooler so maybe he'll stay and we can get him this morning as it has a much lower ceiling. We'll see, I think Ernie is happy to be the pet bird for a while longer.
