That's One Way to Return the Neighbor's Power Tool (Wordless Wednesday) and Words for Wednesday

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Linking up with Wordless Wednesday, Catsynth, Keith, 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 the words/prompts are supplied by jabblog and can be found here at River's blog.

This week's words/prompts are:

1.inane  

2.trees  

3.wind  

4.effervescent  

5.landmark  

6.method

and/or:

1.zero  

2.simple  

3.clockwork  

4.brain  

5.study  

6.size

use either list or both, or mix and match, just have fun.

Charlotte's colour of the month is Gold.

(Please note this is not about me, even if it is written in the first person).

I have two choices today.

First, I can go to work, where we are supposed to be doing a LANDMARK STUDY on some METHOD one of the researchers has come up with, which anyone with a BRAIN larger than the SIZE of a pea can see isn't going to make a hill of beans of difference to anyone.  

While there, I can listen to INANE questions thrown at me like CLOCKWORK, and watch people get paid for doing ZERO work of any quality all while thinking they are the cream of the crop.

Choice number two, I can use one of my many saved up sick leave days, stop at my favorite trattoria for a lunch to go and something fun and EFFERVESCENT to drink, and head out to someplace where I can hear the WIND in the TREES, smell the flowers, listen to the birds, and watch a beautiful Gold and pink and purple sunset.

It's SIMPLE.  If I make choice number one, today might be the day I lose it and get canned and until I finish my current training program, I can't afford to let it happen.  Where's my phone? (cough, cough!)

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Today is:

Adhesive Postage Stamp Day -- the first adhesive postage stamps went on sale on this date in 1840 in Great Britain

Anxiety Disorders Screening Day -- if you have symptoms, get checked, there is help   

Army Day/St. George's Day -- Bulgaria

Beverage Day -- an internet holiday that encourages you to try a beverage you've never had before

Coronation Day -- UK (anniversary celebration of the coronation of King Charles III)

Festival of Min -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (a four-day festival celebrating male fertility; date approximate)

Great American Grump Out Day -- encouraging everyone to avoid grumpiness and rudeness for 24 hours; who knows, you might enjoy it so much it will stick!

International No Diet Day -- for reasons not to diet, but focus on health instead, click here

Joseph Brackett Day -- birth anniversary of Shaker author of the song "Simple Gifts"

Martyrs' Day -- Syria

Mounikhia / Munichia -- Ancient Greek Calendar (festival of Artemis, date approximate)

National Crepe Suzette Day

National Day to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy -- US   

National Nurses Day -- US, start of National Nurses Week

National School Nurse Day -- US (the school nurse is there to help!)  

National Tourist Appreciation Day -- during US National Travel and Tourism Week

National Walk, Bike or Roll to School Day -- US (encouraging kids to have fun, get their exercise, and get to school under their own steam by walking, biking or rolling their wheelchair to school under supervision as part of an event) 

No Homework Day -- sponsored by Wellcat Holidays (celebrated on Monday if it falls on a weekend)

Occupational Safety and Health Professionals Day -- US (info here)  

Remembrance for Eyvind Kelve -- Asatru/Norse Pagan Calendar (pagan martyr)

St. George's Day -- Eastern Orthodox Churches (the day to visit graves and decorate, leave special food, and provide entertainment for the dearly departed) related observance:

     Shepherd's and Herdsman's Day -- Bulgaria

St. Gerard of Lunel's Day (Patron of epileptics and Montesanto, Italy; against epilepsy and headaches)

Yale Lock Day -- the Yale lock was patented this day in 1861

Anniversaries Today:

David Duchovny marries Tia Leone, 1997

Princess Margaret marries Anthony Armstrong-Jones at Westminster Abbey (the first televised royal wedding), 1960

Birthdays Today:

Gabourey Sidibe, 1983

Leslie Hope, 1965

Roma Downey, 1964

George Clooney, 1961

Tom Bergeron, 1955

Tony Blair, 1953

Lynn Whitfield, 1953

Alan Dale, 1947

Ben Masters, 1947

Bob Seger, 1945

Willie Mays, 1931

Orson Welles, 1915

Stewart Granger, 1913

Rudolph Valentino, 1895

Gaston Leroux, 1868

Rabindranath Tagore, 1861

Sigmund Freud, 1856

Robert E. Peary, 1856

Maximilian Robespierre, 1758

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Entertaining Mr. Sloan"(Play), 1964

Today in History:

Spanish and German Imperial troops sack Rome, which many consider the end of the Renaissance, 1527

Mongol emperor Babur defeats the Afghans and Bengals, 1529

Henry VIII orders that English Bibles be placed in every church, 1536

Louis XIV of France moves his court to Versailles, 1682

The first African-American Masonic Lodge (African # 459) forms Prince Hall, Boston, 1787

John Deere produces the first steel plow, 1833

James Gordon Bennett, Sr. publishes the first issue of the New York Herald, 1835

The Glaciarium, the world's first mechanically frozen ice rink, opens, 1844

Dr John Gorrie patents a "refrigeration machine", 1851

Linus Yale patents the Yale lock, 1851

Chief Crazy Horse of the Oglala Sioux surrenders to United States troops in Nebraska, 1877

The Eiffel Tower is officially opened to the public at the Universal Exposition in Paris, 1889

George V becomes King of the United Kingdom upon the death of his father, Edward VII, 1910

George Herman "Babe" Ruth, of the Boston Red Sox, slams his first home run, against the New York Yankees, 1915

The German zeppelin Hindenburg catches fire and is destroyed, 1937

John Steinbeck is awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his novel The Grapes of Wrath, 1940

Bob Hope performs his first USO show, 1941

Roger Bannister becomes the first person to run the mile in under four minutes, 1954

Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and French President François Mitterrand officiate at the opening of the Channel Tunnel, 1994

Chaiten Volcano erupts in Chile, forcing the evacuation of more than 4,500 people, 2008

The second largest intraday point swing in Dow Jones Industrial Average history occurs, 2010

Wal-Mart becomes the largest company by revenue on the Fortune 500 list, 2013

84 abducted schoolgirls are released in exchange for Boko Haram suspects in Nigeria, 2017

France bans too thin fashion models and makes labeling of digitally enhanced photos mandatory, 2017

One million plant and animal species are now at risk of extinction according to a major new UN report, 2019

An Irish organization repays a 170-year-old favor, raising over $2 million (to date) for US Navajo Nation and Hopi Reservation badly affected by COVID-19. In the 1840s, the Choctaw Nation sent $170 to aid Irish during the potato famine, 2020

The Canadian province of Alberta declares a state of emergency over unprecedented wildfires, 2023

The coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla takes place at Westminster Abbey, 2023

British prime minister Keir Starmer and Indian prime minister Narendra Modi sign a free trade agreement, 2025

So Long, Farewell, a Random and Happy Tuesday Post

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It's time once again for a random and happy Tuesday, linking up with Stacy's Random Thoughts at Stacy Uncorked and Sandee at Comedy Plus.  

For the last time in what will probably be a long time, i arrived at Carl's to find him in his sleep chair.

He had to be, they'd unmade his bed and used it as a staging area for packing his things.

It's okay, he never did mind being in the chair, and sometimes slept in it rather than the bed simply because he wanted to.

The dryer had four dryer balls still, but not the same for as last time.  The blue one is back and one of the large ones is missing now.  Funny how things happen in that house, and we'll see if they continue in the coming months.

Speaking of which, last week someone asked if i'd ever seen both the green and red aprons in the same place at the same time.  Yes, it used to be i would hang both from the hook in his room where they are supposed to be, but lately we can only find one at a time, and i have no idea where they go or how they get back.  Carl might know, but he wouldn't know how to tell me.

Mr. L's clothes were in the washer, and since i was going to need to use it and i knew they were going to be busy (once they could pry themselves out of bed), i went ahead and dried and folded them, taking yet another thing of Ms. V's plate.

Carl's room was in such a higgle piggle i almost didn't know where to begin, and decided to start simple, see if i could find the bed linens (on the floor in the kitchen, of course) and get the first load going.  Next is clean the bathroom so he can shower as soon as he gets up.

Gets up for the second time, that is.  The first time Carl got up, he just came in looking for his throat spray and morning meds, then went back for another round of sleep.

Later, he came in and kept jogging in place as i tried to ask him some questions.  Once he quit saying, "Hey, I'm jogging!" with a grin he finally agreed yes, he did want his shower.

I'd cleaned the kitchen area, moving items including Ms. V's extensive lists of stuff she wanted and needed to do or take, cleaning under them and then gently putting them right back, when he came out of the shower laughing.

"They kept shooting me down," he said, talking, i assumed, about some video games he'd been playing with friends over the weekend.  He also talked about grenade launchers and trackers and smiled the whole time, so i'm guessing he had a good time.

Then it was time for breakfast.

"Where are my keys?" he asked, then added, "biscuit!"

You want to go get a biscuit? i asked and he smiled.  "And coffee, yum!"

I handed him the keys and he walked out, then walked back in.  "Where's my coat?"

It was a cool morning, but not a coat morning and his coat was not in the closet, obviously already packed.  I suggested a thick pullover, and he rejected it as too hot, although it would not have been as hot as the coat.  We compromised on a thinner pullover and he left.

Ms. V got up early for her and i showed her what i was doing, re-cleaned the parts of the bathroom Carl had messed while in there, sorting so they could see everything in the bathroom and other areas to decide what to take, put the towels and other items he's just used in the laundry basket for Thursday, and etc.  She was pleased and about that time, Carl walked back in with his breakfast.

As soon as he discarded the pullover, i hung it up.  No need to make more work for all of us and he wouldn't need it later in the day when they left.

I also snagged the keys and gave them to Ms. V.  Knowing Carl, he'd take them with him and then they wouldn't be able to use or move his car (there's no spare).  She hung them up with all the other extra keys by the hall door in the laundry room.

"Where's my phone?" he started asking.  It was supposed to be in his overnight suitcase which was packed so haphazardly i took it aside to a clear area of the floor and repacked it.  Yes, the phone was in it.

Around this time one of his best friends came over to say good-bye.  He and his wife were there with the dog, which added to the fun atmosphere, although Carl kept trying to pick up his iPad and saying, "I have to find out how often I can come back to visit, and how long I can stay."

Ms. V reassured him he would be allowed to come home as often as he wanted and stay as long as he liked.  I told him about a church friend whose son is there and loves it so much when his mom asks him to come home for a month in summer he refuses because he doesn't want to miss his golf tournament.  This seemed to make him feel better.

As all of us ran around getting things done, i asked Ms. V what else she needed.

"Could you call the glasses place and see if Carl's glasses are ready?  The number is written right here."

She pointed to her calendar and i called the number and got the Cracker Barrel restaurant!  I laughed and looked up the number myself, called, argued with the AI answering machine i did not have the order number, and finally demanded to speak to someone who was able to tell me they would probably arrive in two to three days.

Next, Ms. V asked me to take a luggage tag off of one of the pieces of luggage they were not taking along, rewrite it with Carl's name and the address of the place where he was moving to, and put it on his suitcase.

While doing so, i kept hearing a beeping, it was his alarm clock, packed, still running on the backup battery, and sounding the wake-up call at his usual time.  I dug it out of the box it was in and turned it off.

Then i turned to see Carl stashing the remainder of his breakfast in the fridge in his apartment.

You don't want to put it here, i told him, you want it in the other fridge, anything left in here won't get eaten because you won't be here to eat it.

He gave me a funny look, then moved it to the other fridge.

Once i'd accomplished as much as i could and had to go to my next job, i hugged everyone, told Carl i'd see him when he came to visit, and assured Ms. V i'd be back next week to start deep cleaning the apartment.

While across the street with Ms. S and Mr. D, i kept looking out the window and noted the arrival of Carl's brother and sister-in-law, and a couple of hours later, they were gone.

It's just a so long for now, though, because he will be back from time to time, and meanwhile, we're all  hoping great things for our friend Carl.

How about some funnies.

Have a blessed and beautiful Tuesday, everyone!

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Today is Cinco de Mayo, the Anniversary of the Battle of Puebla in Mexico (and an excuse to celebrate anyplace that beer brewers want to make a minor battle into a big deal to increase beer sales today!).

Thanks to Barb Kowalik and The Cat Blogosphere for the event badge.         

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Today is:

Arbegnoch Qen -- Ethiopia (Patriots' Victory Day)

Arrival Day -- Guyana

Bevrijdingsday -- Netherlands(Liberation Day)

Bonza Bottler Day™

Cartoonists Day -- celebrates the first color cartoon ever published, The Yellow Kid, on this day in 1895.

Children's Day -- Japan (Kodomo-no-hi); South Korea (Orininal)

Constitution Day -- Kyrgyzstan

Coronation Day -- Thailand (crowning of King Bhumibol Adulyadej in 1950)

Day of Adoration of Anubis -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Europe Day -- Council of Europe

Give Local America -- US (encouraging people to support local charities with the largest crowdfuning event in history)  

Halfway Point of Spring/Autumn

Hidirellez  -- Turkey (arrival of spring and a religious holiday of the Alevi peoples, celebrating the meeting on Earth of the Prophets Al-Khidr and Elijah; begins this evening and goes through tomorrow)

International Day of the Midwife  

Lag B'Omer -- Judaism (began sunset yesterday, ends at nightfall)

Lusophone Culture Day -- Community of Portuguese-speaking countries

National Chocolate Custard Day

National Ferret Day -- UK  (previously sponsored, but the link is no longer available)

National Hoagie Day

National Astronaut Day -- US (in honor of Alan Shephard)

National Teacher Appreciation Day -- US

Perfect Game Day -- Cy Young pitches baseball's first officially recorded perfect game on this day in 1904

Pithi Chrat Preah Neanng Korl -- Cambodia (Royal Ploughing Ceremony, to mark the beginning of the rice growing season)

Save Lives Clean your Hands Day -- WHO (the day gets its own web page)   

Senior Citizens Day -- Palau

St. Judith's Day (Patron of Prussia)

Totally Chipotle® Day 

World Asthma Day -- International (Global Initiative for Asthma; this year's theme is "Access to anti-inflammatory inhalers for everyone with asthma - still an urgent need")  

Anniversary Today:

The American Medical Association is founded, 1847

Birthdays Today:

Harry Cavill, 1983

Danielle Fishel, 1981

Tina Yothers, 1973

Brian Williams, 1959

Richard E. Grant, 1957

Jean-Pierre Leaud, 1944

Lance Henriksen, 1943

Michael Palin, 1943

Tammy Wynette, 1942

Michael Murphy, 1938

Pat Carroll, 1927

Ann B. Davis, 1926

Alice Faye, 1915

Tyrone Power, 1913

James Beard, 1903

Nelly Bly, 1864

John Batterson Stetson, 1830

Karl Marx, 1818

Soren Kierkegaard, 1813

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Damn Yankees"(Play), 1955

Today in History:

Rebel barons begin a chain of events that leads to King John of England's eventual signing of the Magna Carta, 1215

Kublai Khan becomes ruler of the Mongol Empire, 1260

Jews are expelled from Speyer Germany, 1430

Christopher Columbus lands at Jamaica and claims it for Spain, 1494

In France, the Estates-General convenes for the first time since 1614, 1789

Citizenship is denied to Jews of Canton of Aargau Switzerland, 1809

Mary Kies becomes the first woman issued a US patent, for a method of weaving, 1809

The American Bible Society organizes in NY, 1816

Emperor Napoleon I dies in exile on the island of Saint Helena, 1821

In Belgium, the first railway in continental Europe opens between Brussels  and Mechelen, 1835

The American Medical Association forms in Philadelphia, 1847

Cinco de Mayo in Mexico: troops led by Ignacio Zaragoza halt a French invasion  in the Battle of Puebla, 1862

The first train robbery in the US occurs in North Bend, Ohio, 1865

Sitting Bull leads his band of Lakota into Canada to avoid harassment by the United States Army, 1877

The Music Hall in New York City (later known as Carnegie Hall) has its grand opening and first public performance, with Tchaikovsky as the guest conductor, 1891

Cy Young pitches the first perfect game in modern baseball history, 1904

Coco Chanel introduces Chanel No. 5, 1921

John T. Scopes is arrested for teaching evolution in violation of Tennessee's Butler Act, 1925

West Germany gains full sovereignty, 1955

Alan Shepard becomes the first American to travel into outer space, 1961

Bobby Sands dies in the Long Kesh prison hospital after 66 days of hunger-striking, aged 27, 1981

The government of Sudan signs an accord with the Sudan Liberation Army, 2006

Mass protests in Greece erupt in response to austerity measures imposed by the government as a result of the Greek debt crisis, 2010

Scientists announce the discovery of the oldest & most distant galaxy known to man, EGS-zs8-1, 2015

King Vajiralongkorn is crowned King of Thailand, 2019

Scientists publish findings of what is believed to be Africa's earliest known burial, a three-year-old boy, 78,000 years ago, in a cave in Kenya, 2021

Skype, the pioneering online video calling service established in 2003, is taken offline for good, 2025