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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)
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
