One Small Item (Six Sentence Story), Good Fences, Sammy’s Poetry Day, and Brian’s Thankful Thursday

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Ms. G had gotten back in town from the funeral and hit the ground running, having not even had time to scoop litter boxes or do much of anything else around her own house in the past two days.

Not only was she in the midst of re-readying a house for the market (the expected closing did not happen), she was also in the midst of setting out to right a wrong, one of her favorite activities.

Upon finally deciding to kick her boyfriend of over 30 years out of the house, a woman up the street had also made the rush decision to sell her house simply to get away from the memories and had engaged the services of a realtor.

Said realtor had convinced the woman, "sell it to me [for a ridiculously low bargain price] and I'll repair and flip it and you won't have to worry about doing anything," which was really low of her and unfortunately for her, Ms. G found out and loathes when such things are perpetrated on clients by a fellow realtor.

Swinging into action, she'd gotten the client to give her a copy of the contract, which she'd been silly enough to sign, and there, between lines 97 and 99 was something which Ms. G could use to help the woman legally get out of the contract, as the realtor in question had not met one tiny condition.

Ms. G had also convinced the woman to use her home's equity to update and pretty it and stay in it, saving herself a ton of trouble selling and moving as well as keeping her payment on the house lower than an apartment rental; said scummy realtor got a lot more than she bargained for when Ms. G took up the client's cause.

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

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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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It's Angel Sammy's Poetry Day!  This week's image and my poem:    

When preacher Dwight L Moody

on his deathbed did lay,

with his last breath he looked up,

and to his wife did say:

I see the gates of Heaven opening.  

I never did it justice.

(True story.)

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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 we figured out the problem with the water bill.  Someone was a little too generous in leaving the water dripping during all the freezes last month, and i'm very thankful that's all it was.

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Today is:

Ayyám-i-Há -- Baha'i (intercalary days, devoted to service and gift giving; through Mar. 1)

For Pete's Sake Day -- Wellcat Holidays asks us, who is Pete, and why do things for his sake?  think about that as you celebrate this today

Intercalary Days -- Baha'i (through Mar. 1)

Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day -- some student programs at universities are set for this weekend, as encouraged during National Engineers Week 

Levi Strauss Day -- his birth anniversary

Liberation Day -- Kuwait

National Chili Day  

National Personal Chef Day -- heaven knows we all have one of those; some websites list it today, some on July 16

National Pistachio Day

Rooks Nesting Day -- Olde England (12 days after Candlemas on the Julian Calendar)

St. Alexander's Day (Patriarch of Alexandria)

St. Isabella of France's Day (Patron of the sick)

Tell a Fairy Tale Day -- shouldn't this have been two days ago, on Wilhelm Grimm's birth anniversary?

The Man In Black Day -- Johnny Cash's birth anniversary

Thriller Day -- Michael Jackson's album "Thriller" hit #1 today, and stayed there for 37 weeks

Anniversaries Today:

Grand Teton National Park is established, 1929

Grand Canyon National Park is established, 1919

Birthdays Today:

Marshall Faulk, 1973

Erykah Badu, 1972

Mark Dacascos, 1964

Michael Bolton, 1953

Johnny Cash, 1932

Fats Domino, 1928

Betty Hutton, 1921

Tony Randall, 1920

Jackie Gleason, 1916

Margaret Leighton, 1922

Tex Avery, 1908

Madeleine Carroll, 1906

Jean Vercors, 1902

William Frawley, 1887

Herbert Henry Dow, 1866

John Harvey Kellog, 1852

William "Buffalo Bill" Cody, 1846

Levi Strauss, 1829

Honore Daumier, 1808

Victor Hugo, 1802

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Jerome Robbins' Broadway"(Musical), 1989

"Deathtrap"(Play), 1978

Today in History:

Origin of the Epoch of Ptolemy's Nabonassar Era, BC747

An earthquake in Lisbon leaves 20,000-30,000 dead, 1531

Christiansborg Castle, Copenhagen burns down, 1794

The Bank of England issues its first banknotes, 1797

Vice-admiral William Bligh ends the siege of Fort Amsterdam, Willemstad, 1804

Napoleon Bonaparte escapes from Elba, 1815

In New York City a demonstration of the first pneumatic subway opens to the public, 1870

HMS Britannic, sister ship to the Titanic, is launched at Harland \& Wolff, Belfast, 1914

The Original Dixieland Jass Band records the first jazz record, for the Victor Talking Machine Company in New York, 1917

Robert Watson-Watt carries out a demonstration near Daventry which leads directly to the development of RADAR in the United Kingdom, 1935

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill announces that his nation has an atomic bomb, 1952

Vincent Massey is sworn in as the first Canadian-born Governor-General of Canada, 1952

National Public Radio incorporates as a non-profit corporation, 1970

Egypt and Israel establish full diplomatic relations, 1980

The Sandinistas are defeated in Nicaraguan elections, 1990

On Baghdad Radio Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein announces the withdrawal of Iraqi troops from Kuwait, 1991

In New York City, a truck bomb parked below the North Tower of the World Trade Center explodes, killing 6 and injuring over a thousand, 1993

The United Kingdom's oldest investment banking institute, Barings Bank, collapses, 1995

Mount Hekla in Iceland erupts, 2000

Republic of Macedonia President Boris Trajkovski is killed in a plane crash near Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2004

After winning a Liberal Party of British Columbia ballot, Canadian politician Christy Clark becomes the second woman to be Premier of British Columbia, 2011

Scientists in Illinois announce they've developed stretchable batteries that can power a new generation of flexible electronics, 2013

The Global Seed Vault in Svalbard, Norway, receives its 1 millionth seed on its 10 year anniversary, 2018

The city of Venice, Italy, introduces a day visitor tax, 2019

Scientists publish research about a possible "lost continent," Balkanatolia, that may have linked southern Europe with Asia, providing passageway for animal migrations 35 to 38 million years ago, 2022

Winter storm deposits snow in parts of southern California for the first time in decades, 2023

The US has its first measles death in over 20 years when a child dies in Texas during an outbreak affecting 124 people, 2025

Funny Bathroom Sign (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 lissa on her blog.

This week's prompts are: 

1. train

2. loop

3. scream

4. puzzle

5. bowl

Charlotte's  colour of the month is Electric Rose.

Our cat, Link Linker the Stinker, pictured above, has been keeping us on the crazy TRAIN the last few months.

Months ago, he began to "lose his meals" frequently and was losing weight, so off to the vet he went.

The vet said he was basically healthy and to put him on a special food, and we did.  This was back when we still had both Tripod SissyCat and Charismatic Enigma SissyCat, and all three of them liked and ate the stuff.

Then we lost the two girl kitties, and food again became a problem when Link suddenly didn't want his specialty diet.  He started to lose weight again.

The vet said since he wasn't losing his meals any longer, to put him on canned food.  Then came the real PUZZLE, figuring out what was really going on with him.

One vet thought she felt a lump in his abdomen, so we had an x-ray, nothing.  While waiting for the x-ray appointment, we decided if he was ill, we should just give him anything he wanted to eat.

I bought cans and then the LOOP started.  He'd stand over his BOWL and cry until we'd put food in it.  Some days he would eat it, some days he'd just wander off.  

We tried flavor after flavor, and for a while he seemed to like all of them, but then he would reject some.  It was especially hard at night as he'd stand by the bedroom door and SCREAM until one of us came out to try to feed him again.

He's gone back to the vet twice for blood work.  There is absolutely nothing wrong with this cat.  He's in his early teens and healthy as can be, no kidney or liver trouble, no thyroid problem, just a pickiness problem. 

It seems he likes some of the canned foods and not others, but if we mix some from the can with the Electric Pink label, the one which is salmon flavor, with the ones he doesn't like as much, he will eat them.

Meanwhile, with all these vet visits, he has cemented his reputation as a sterling cat traveler and patient.  He doesn't sing the song of his people on the way to or from the vet's office, and while there is silent, friendly and lets them do anything they want, even draw blood or put him in a harness for an x-ray with no complaint.

As long as we can keep him in food he likes, all is well in his world.

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Today is:

Dairokuten-no-Hadaka Matsuri -- Chiba, Japan (around this date; one of Japan's "naked" festivals, as participants wear only a loincloth as they wrestle in the cold, wet mud, bringing luck to the community as they run through the crowds smearing the lucky mud on the onlookers)

Dag van de Revolutie -- Suriname (Day of Liberation and Innovation)

Februaristaking -- Netherlands (commemoration of a strike against the Nazis)

Festival of Ptah -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Inconvenience Yourself™ Day -- enrich your life by looking for ways to make a positive impact on the world, even if it inconveniences you 

Kitano Baika-sai (Plum Blossom Festival) -- Kitano Tenman-gu Shrine, Kyoto, Japan

Lesser Eleusinian Mysteries -- Ancient Greek Calendar (date approximate)

Let's All Eat Right Day -- in honor of the birth of Adelle Davis in 1904, an early pioneer in good nutrition

National Chocolate Covered Peanuts Day -- some sites say any nuts will do, some specify peanuts; take your pick

National Clam Chowder Day -- not to be confused with New England Clam Chowder Day, back in January

National Day -- Kuwait

People's Revolution Day/People Power Day -- Philippines

Pistol Patent Day -- Samuel Colt received US Patent #138 for the first pistol on this day in 1836

Quiet Day -- can't find the history behind this one, but mommy wants one!

St. Walburga's Day (Patron of boatmen/mariners/sailors/watermen, harvests; Antwerp, Belgium; Eichstätt, Germany; Gronigen, Netherlands; Oudenarde, Belgium; Plymouth, England; Zutphen, Netherlands; against coughs, dog bites, famine, hydrophobia/rabies, mad dogs, plague, storms)

Soviet Occupation Day -- Georgia

Teal Ribbon Day -- Australia (wear a teal ribbon, raise awareness of ovarian cancer) 

Birthdays Today:

Josh Wolff, 1977

Chelsea Handler,1975

Sean Astin, 1971

Tea Leoni, 1966

Carrot Top, 1965

Lee Evans, 1964

Neil Jordan, 1950

Ric Flair, 1949

Karen Grassle, 1944

George Harrison, 1943

Diane Baker, 1938

Tom Courtenay, 1937

Bob Schieffer, 1937

Sally Jessy Raphael, 1935

"Texas Rose" Bascom, 1922

Bobby Riggs, 1918

Anthony Burgess, 1917

Jim Backus, 1913

Millicent Hammond Fenwick, 1910

Adelle Davis, 1904

Zeppo Marx, 1901

Meher Baba, 1894

Enrico Caruso, 1873

Charles Lang Freer, 1856

Pierre Auguste Renoir, 1841

Xuande, Emperor of China, 1398

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"A Little Night Music"(Musical), 1973

"Toys in the Attic"(Play), 1960

"Wonderful Town"(Musical), 1953

"Your Show of Shows"(TV), 1950

"Natoma"(Herbert Opera), 1911

"Riders to the Sea"(Play), 1904

"Hernani"(Victor Hugo Play), 1830

Today in History:

The First Bank of the United States is chartered, 1791

The German Midiatisation is enacted, taking over 1,000 German sovereign states into about 40 larger entities, 1803

Samuel Colt patents the first revolving barrel multishot firearm, 1836

The first US electric printing press is patented by Thomas Davenport, 1837

Hiram Rhodes Revels, a Republican from Mississippi, is sworn into the United States Senate, becoming the first African American ever to sit in the U.S. Congress, 1870

The US Steel Corp. is organized under J P Morgan, 1901

The Stanley Cup: Ottawa Silver 7 sweep Toronto Marlboroughs in 2 games, 1904

Marie-Adélaïde, the eldest of six daughters of Guillaume IV, becomes the first reigning Grand Duchess of Luxembourg, 1912

Oregon places a 1 cent per U.S. gallon tax on gasoline, becoming the first U.S. state to levy a gasoline tax, 1919

Diplomatic relations between Japan and the Soviet Union are established, 1925

Glacier Bay National Monument (now Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve) is established in Alaska, 1925

Francisco Franco becomes General of Spain, 1926

Charles Jenkins Laboratories of Washington, D.C. becomes the first holder of a television license from the Federal Radio Commission, 1928

The USS Ranger is launched. It is the first US Navy ship to be built solely as an aircraft carrier, 1933

In occupied Amsterdam, a general strike is declared in response to increasing anti-Jewish measures instituted by the Nazis, 1941

The first Pan American Games are held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1951

Cassius Clay defeats Sonny Liston, 1964

The first unit of the Pickering Nuclear Generating Station, the first commercial nuclear power station in Canada, goes online, 1971

President Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines flees the nation after 20 years of rule; Corazon Aquino becomes the first Filipino woman president, 1986

In the Cave of the Patriarchs in the West Bank city of Hebron, Baruch Goldstein opens fire with an automatic rifle, killing 29 Palestinian worshippers and injuring 125 more, 1994

In the Irish general election, the Fianna Fáil-led government suffered the worst defeat of a sitting government since the formation of the Irish state, 2011

The World Health Organization removes India from the list of polio endemic countries, 2012

Hundreds of pro-Russian protesters block the Crimean parliament and demand a referendum on Crimea's independence, 2014

The XXIII Winter Olympic Games close in Pyeongchang, Korea; Norway wins a record 39 medals, 14 gold, 2018

The influential film review site Rotten Tomatoes implements changes to the site after internet trolls target the new Captain Marvel film, 2019

Turkey widens probe into buildings that collapsed during the Feb 6 earthquakes arresting 184 people, 2023