Thursday, September 17, 2026

Foil and Foiled (Six Sentence Story), Good Fences, and Brian's Thankful Thursday

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(Two Sixes for the price of one today.)



Ms. G is out of town this week, trying to convince her niece to take her expert advice on a real estate deal before the niece makes a huge mistake, and Ms. G is the kind of real estate agent who generally knows exactly what she is talking about.


It was most convenient as i'd told her a few weeks ago i would not be able to work on that day anyway, as Bigger Girl, our eldest daughter, was coming in from Seattle for a few days and we'd be spending it at Grandma and Grandpa's house with her and as many other family members as could make it.


Getting to see and hug her in person was a delight, and almost as soon as i arrived she and i left to go by the bank where she's had an account since she was knee high to a grasshopper to get her debit card replaced and change her mailing address to Seattle so i no longer have to get her mail here and then resend it to her.


Then we went to an independently owned grocery we both like and she picked up ingredients to cook a meal for all of us, accommodating my vegetarian tastes and making sure she did not even look at the pepper shaker when cooking Grandma's portion.


She cooked, i tended Grandma and cleaned up the kitchen after, #2 Son, Daughter-in-Law, Annie and Little Ben came to enjoy the feast and make sure Bigger Girl could finally meet her niece and nephew, we all feasted and talked and had a great time, and a portion was set aside for #1 Son, who will go visit today as he couldn't get off work yesterday.


For a finish, she pulled out flavored chocolate bars in very fancy foil wrappers, espresso, chocolate truffle, and maple bourbon, a fitting sweet end to a lovely visit.



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Yesterday's post was of a car sporting a funny bumper sticker which read, "Got Blinker Fluid?"


For those who don't understand, the people around here very often do not and will not bother to use their "blinkers," or turn indicators, on their cars in order to signal to others their intent to turn or to change lanes.


In yesterday's comments, Java Bean pointed out, "It's like they think it's leaking secrets to the enemy or something," and sometimes it can feel like it actually is if you put on your blinker to move over and the person already in the lane surges forward to foil you and not allow you in.


I understand the spirit behind the question, though, it is simply asking people what in the world is wrong with using the doggone things and since it's so simple, why don't you just do it.


It's a tongue-in-cheek reminder you don't need to maintain them or keep them up, just use them, the bulbs last a long time and are easy to replace if one burns out, which seldom happens (especially as seldom as they are used here).


If you drive, and don't use yours, i leave it to you to answer the question, "Got Blinker Fluid?"



Linking up with Denise at Girlie On The Edge Blog, where she hosts Six Sentence Stories, and the cue is Foil.     





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While Good Fences Around the World seems to have gone the way of the dodo bird, i still enjoy looking for and posting interesting fences, so i will!






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Angel Brian's Family of Brian's Home - Forever hosts the Thankful Thursday Blog Hop.   It's time to share something for which i am thankful.  


Today i am thankful for a wonderful day spent with Bigger Girl.






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Today is:


Birthday of Crown Prince Tupouto'a 'Ulukalala -- Tonga


Citizenship Day -- US


Eleven Days of Global Unity -- Day 7, Women (sponsored by We, the World


Feast of Hathor -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)


Fundacion de Melilla -- ML, Spain


Hummer/Bird Celebration -- Rockport and Fulton, TX, US (ruby-throated hummingbirds and other avian species are the stars of this show; through Sunday)


International Country Music Day


National Apple Dumpling Day


National Heroes Day -- Angola


National Teach Ag Day -- US (streamed live from CHS Inc. headquarters)  


Niketeria -- Ancient Greek Calendar (date approximate)


Operation Market Garden Remembrance -- Netherlands


Pledge Across America Day -- US (beginning of Constitution Week, every school is invited to join a synchronized Pledge of Allegiance across the whole nation, from 8am Hawaiian time to 2pm Eastern; schools are also encouraged to have an exercise of some kind about the US Constitution)

     on the anniversary of the ratification of the U.S. Constitution on Sept. 17, 1787, or on the school day nearest if it's a weekend


Responsible Dog Ownership Day -- sponsored by the AKC    


Stigmata of St. Francis' Day


St. Hildegard von Bingen's Day (author of treatises on natural healing and the first musical composer whose biography is known)


St. Lambert's Day (Patron of Middelaar, Netherlands)


Thimphu Tsechu / Thimphu Drubchen -- Thimphu, Bhutan (three-day Drukpa Buddhism tshechu festival, sacred masked dances dedicated to Bhutan's protective spirit which tourists may watch but are strictly prohibited from taking pictures; this is Bhutan's largest tshechu and has been held every year since 1867)


Time's Up Day -- created by Wellcat Holidays; time's up on holding that grudge, you need to make amends with people today, since you aren't guaranteed a tomorrow


VFW Ladies Auxiliary Day -- anniversary of founding in 1914



Anniversaries Today:


The Constitution of the United States is signed, 1787

American Professional Football League (later the NFL) founded (a/k/a the Swallowing Up of Weekends), 1920




Birthdays Today:


Patrick Mahomes, 1995

Chuck Liddell, 1969

Kyle Chandler, 1965

Rita Rudner, 1956

Cassandra "Elvira" Peterson, 1951

John Ritter, 1948

David H. Souter, 1974

Ken Kesey, 1935

Maureen Conolly, 1934

Anne Bancroft, 1931

Roddy McDowall, 1928

George Blanda, 1927

Hank Williams Sr., 1923

Chaim Herzog, 1918

Warren E. Burger, 1907

Jerry Colonna, 1904

John Willard Marriot, 1900

Andrew "Rube" Foster, 1879

Baron Friedrich Von Steuben, 1730



Debuting/Premiering Today:


"Home Improvement"(TV), 1991

"Head of the Class"(TV), 1986

"M*A*S*H"(TV), 1972

"McMillan and Wife"(TV), 1971

"Mission: Impossible"(TV), 1966

"Bewitched"(TV), 1964

"The Fugitive"(TV), 1963

"Car 54 Where are You?"(TV), 1961

"Outward Bound"(Play), 1923



Today in History:


The Battle of Thermopylae, fought between 300 Spartans, led by their king, Leonidas, and the Achaemenid Empire begins, BC480

Arabs conquer Alexandria, and destroy its library for the last time, 642

Netherland sailors discover Mauritus, 1598

Massachusetts Bay Colony gets a new charter, 1691

Presidio of San Francisco is founded in New Spain, 1776

US Constitution is adopted by the Philadelphia convention, 1787

Sprinkler system for extinguishing fires is patented by Phillip W. Pratt, 1872

The Wright Flyer flown by Orville Wright, with Lieutenant Thomas Selfridge as passenger, crashes killing Selfridge, who becomes the first airplane fatality, 1908

The first transcontinental airplane flight, from New York to Pasadena, is completed after 82 hours 4 minutes, 1911

The Okeechobee Hurricane strikes southeastern Florida, killing upwards 

of 2,500 people, the third deadliest natural disaster in United States history, behind the Galveston Hurricane of 1900 and the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, 1928

The Canadian steamship SS Noronic burns in Toronto Harbour with the loss of over 118 lives, 1949

Television is first broadcast in Australia, 1956

Malaysia joins the United Nations, 1957

Bangladesh, Grenada and Guinea-Bissau join the United Nations, 1974

The first Space Shuttle, Enterprise, is unveiled by NASA, 1976

The Camp David Accords are signed by Israel and Egypt, 1978

Vanessa Williams becomes the first black Miss America, 1983

Estonia, North Korea, South Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, the Marshall Islands and Micronesia join the United Nations, 1991

The first version of the Linux kernel (0.01) is released to the Internet, 1991

Fourpeaked Mountain in Alaska erupts, marking the first eruption for the long-dormant volcano in at least 10,000 years, 2006

A drill finally reaches the 33 Chilean miners trapped after the Aug. 5 CopiapΓ³ mining accident, 2010 

In an attempt to curb child marriages, Indonesia raises the legal marriage age of females to 19, the same as males, 2019

Seventy years after they were declared extinct in India, cheetahs are re-introduced to India from Namibia at the Kuno National Park in Madya Pradesh state, 2022

Aided by tax rebates, Norway becomes the first country to have electric vehicles outnumber petrol vehicles, 2024

Wednesday, September 16, 2026

Good Question (Wordless Wednesday) and Words for Wednesday

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Linking up with Wordless WednesdayCatsynthKeith, and Sandee at Comedy Plus.     




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Words for Wednesday was begun by Delores and has become a moveable feast of word or picture or music prompts to encourage us to write stories, poems, or whatever strikes our fancy.   


This month, River is providing the prompts on her blog.


This week's words/prompts are:


1.extravagant  

2.koala  

3.plane  

4.charged  

5.potatoes  

6.alone


Charlotte's colour of the month is Vivid Tangerine.


Yesterday was the second half of my annual physical with Dr. BowTie.


Part one was a few weeks ago when i went and gave them the samples of half of my blood and some other fluids (you know who you are!) and had an ECG, eyes and hearing checked, blood pressure in each extremity (to make sure you don't have blocked arteries anywhere), weight (holding steady), and a whole bunch of stuff we talk about at the big appointment, which was the one yesterday.


Dr. BowTie is on a whole other PLANE of existence as far as i am concerned, and it's not just because he always wears a bow tie (the one yesterday really had some Vivid Tangerine in it) but because he actually takes time and treats the whole patient, as well as making sure you get as much attention as you need.


The office is nice, nothing EXTRAVAGANT, and i was a bit early so asked to use the "little girl's room."  The nurse said sure and then added, "Let's get a sample just in case he wants more tests."  She handed me a cup for fluids (you know who you are!) and when i came out, the room was ready for me.


I sat in there ALONE for a few minutes, but not long enough to feel like maybe the staff had gone on a break and not told me.  He came in and of course asked how i was doing, and also how Grandma and Grandpa are doing (he and Grandpa have been very good friends for years and served on certain boards together).


We talked about my sleep habits, and while i'm not a KOALA, getting 18-22 hours of sleep a day, or even a cat with its average of 16, neither am i sleep deprived.


He said i am keeping my weight in good check and my muscle mass up, and he asked how i was doing it.  I told him i do a lot each day, chase a child, clean floors and bathrooms and kitchens, and just keep going.  I told him i figured it was harder for death to catch a moving target, and he laughed and agreed.


My blood sugar is excellent, and with no history of diabetes in the family, i shouldn't ever have trouble with it, unless i start a "white diet" of white bread, white flour, white rice, white sugar, white POTATOES, etc.


No signs of coronary artery disease, blood pressure is under control (all females on both sides of my family get high blood pressure over 50), liver and kidney function is spot on, thyroid is stable, all my lipid profile is about textbook perfect.  He said i look great and he also tests for mental acuity and i'm not showing early symptoms of any kind of trouble in that arena.


On the whole, my warranty is renewed for another year as long as i don't step out in front of a bus.


The insurance company is CHARGED for the visit and pays it all, because they'd rather you get a check-up and stay healthy, they have less to pay for you in the long run this way.


It's nice to have this done for another year, although taking the twins in for their glamor shots (mammogram) is up this Friday.


Never take good health for granted.




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Today is:


Anne Bradstreet Day -- Massachusetts, US (by Proclamation of the Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to honor Anne Bradstreet, America’s first poet, who is also recognized as the first published woman poet in the English language)


Cherokee Strip Day -- Oklahoma, US (anniversary of the last land run, in 1893, which opened Native American land to white settlers)


Collect Rocks Day 


Eleven Days of Global Unity -- Day 6, Children & Youth (sponsored by We, the World


Festival for Ra, Osiris, and Horus -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)


Independence Day -- Malaysia(1963); Mexico(1910); Nicaragua; Papua New Guinea(1975)


International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer -- UN (commemorates the signing, in 1987, of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer)


Martyrs' Day -- Libya


Mayflower Day -- the ship left England on this day in 1620


National Cinnamon Raisin Bread Day


National Guacamole Day 


National Heroes' Day -- St. Kitts and Nevis


National Play-Doh Day -- unofficial; get some anyway and be a kid again for a little while


National Rehabilitation Day -- US (on the Wednesday of National Rehab Awareness Week)


National School Backpack Awareness Day 2026 -- US (or anywhere else that you want to weigh your child's backpack on the 3rd Wednesday of September, to make sure it's not heavy enough to hurt them)   


National Teaching Assistants' Day -- UK    


Owain Glyndwr Day -- Wales


Rhishi Panchami -- Nepal (continuation of the women's festival, a holiday for Female Employees Only)


St. Cornelius' Day (Patron of cattle, domestic animals, earache sufferers, epileptics; Kornelimunster, Germany; against earache, epilepsy, fever, twitching)


St. Cyprian of Carthage's Day (Patron of Algeria, North Africa)


St. Euphemia's Day (Patron of Rovinj, Croatia)


St. Ludmilla's Day (Grandmother of St. "Good King" Wenceslaus; Patron of converts, duchesses, widows; Bohemia; Czech Republic; against in-law problems)


Stay Away From Seattle Day -- yes, really 


Stepfamily Day -- US and others who choose to recognize it (if you have stepfamily you love, celebrate it wherever you live)   

     originally founded as National Stepfamily Day in 1977 by Christy Borgeld


Working Parents Day -- internet generated, enjoy if you are a working parent or have a working parent you want to thank



Birthdays Today:


Nick Jonas, 1992

Sabrina Bryan, 1984

Alexis Bledel, 1982

Amy Poehler, 1971

Marc Anthony, 1968

Molly Shannon, 1964

Richard Marx, 1963

Jennifer Tilly, 1961

Orel Leonard Hershiser IV, 1958

David Copperfield, 1956

Mickey Rourke, 1956

Robin Yount, 1955

Mark McEwen, 1954

Henry Louis Gates, Jr., 1950

Susan Ruttan, 1950

Ed Begley, Jr., 1949

Elgin Gay Baylor, 1934

Anne Francis, 1932

Peter Falk, 1927

B.B. King, 1925

Lauren Bacall, 1924

Janice Page, 1923

Allen Funt, 1914

James Cash Penney, 1875

Francis Parkman, 1823

Anthony Panizzi, 1797

Hildegard of Bingen, 1098



Debuting/Premiering Today:


"Frasier"(TV), 1993

"Miami Vice"(TV), 1984

"Logan's Run"(TV), 1977

"Bridget Loves Bernie"(TV), 1972 (first mixed marriage portrayed on television)

"Mannix"(TV), 1967

"Shindig"(TV), 1964

"The Outer Limits"(TV), 1963

"Broadway"(Play), 1926



Today in History:


The Massachusetts village of Shawmut changes its name to Boston, 1630

Handel's "The Messiah" premiers in Dublin, 1741

The Great Seal of the United States is used for the first time, 1782

Russians set fire to Moscow shortly after midnight – the city burns down completely days later, 1812

Slavery is abolished in all French Territories, 1848

The Cherokee Strip, in Oklahoma, is opened, making land available to white settlers, 1893

Roald Amundsen discovers the magnetic south pole, 1906

William Durant, carriage-maker, founds General Motors Corp., 1908

Juan PerΓ³n is deposed in Argentina, 1955

Malaysia is formed, 1963

Cape Verde, Mozambique and Sao Tome and Principe join the United Nations, 1975

Shavarsh Karapetyan saves 20 people from the trolleybus that had fallen into Erevan reservoir, 1976

An earthquake measuring 7.5-7.9 on the Richter scale hits the city of Tabas, Iran killing about 25,000 people, 1978

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines join the United Nations, 1980

The Montreal Protocol is signed to protect the ozone layer from depletion, 1987

The Pound Sterling is forced out of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism by currency speculators and is forced to devalue against the German mark, 1992

Mexico celebrates its 200th anniversary of independence, 2010

Denmark elects its first female Prime Minister, Helle Thorning-Schmidt, 2011

NASA scientists announce the discovery of a circumbinary planet - a planet the orbits two stars instead of one, 2011

The National Zoo in Washington, D.C., announces a successful artificial insemination as Mei Xiang gives birth to her second giant panda cub, 2012

The brain-eating amoeba, Naegleria fowleri, is found in tap water near New Orleans, the first time ever detected in the U.S. water supply, 2013

The cycling land speed record for men and women is broken by Denise Mueller Korenek, riding at 183.932 mph (296.010 kph) at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, US, 2018

Britain's Kew Gardens now holds the world record for the largest living plant collection (16,900) on a single site according to Guinness World Records, 2021

A massive rockslide in Greenland creates a tsunami wave in the Dickson fjord, setting of earth tremors for nine days, 2023

Typhoon Bebinca is the strongest storm to hit Shanghai in 75 years with winds of 151km/h (94 mph), 2024