R(est) I(n) P(ieces)

The laptop is in intensive care, and may not make it.

Bigger Girl's laptop is not reparable.

#2 Son's computer has stopped recognizing the mouse and keyboard, meaning we have to plug them into USB adaptors, once i go buy a couple. It also means that the motherboard is probably on its way out.

We are back to mainly sharing one computer, and it is making all of us crazy, which shows how dependent on technology we have become.

The non working door stops will soon be in pieces at the recycling center. If we don't do something about this soon, we might all be in pieces, too. The timer we use to make sure we all get our share of the "good" machine keeps disappearing, resulting in arguments about whether someone's time is up or not.

Anybody have a spare timer? That, or a zoo to sell the kids to.


Today is

Ambarvalia -- Ancient Roman Calendar (purification festival to Ceres, date approximate)

Arbor Day -- Aston-on-Clun, Shropshire, UK

Ascension of Baha'u'llah -- Baha'i

Coal Miner Days -- Novinger, Missouri, US (a turn of the century coal mining town celebrates its heritage)

Democracy Day -- Nigeria

End of the Middle Ages Day -- considered such by many historians because of the fall of Constantinople on this day

Indianapolis 500

Mayoring Day -- Rye, Sussex, England (also called Mayor's Sunday, and the favorite festivity is a "hot-penny scramble", in which the mayor throws hot pennies for children to catch, dating back to the days when there was a mint in Rye, and the pennies were hot from the mint)

Mount Everest Day

National Coq Au Vin Day

Oak Apple Day / Royal Oak Day -- England (celebration of the restoration of the monarchy)

Rogation Sunday/Chrouchmas Sunday

Runic Half Month of Odal commences

Rural Life Sunday/Soil Stewardship Sunday

St. Bona's Day

UN Peacekeepers Day -- International


Anniversaries Today:

Rhode Island becomes the 13th US State, 1790
Wisconsin becomes the 30th US State, 1848


Birthdays Today:

Noel Gallagher, 1967
Melissa Etheridge, 1961
Adrian Paul, 1959
Annette Bening, 1958
LaToya Jackson, 1956
Danny Elfman, 1953
Anthony Geary, 1947
Al Unser, 1939
Paul Erlich, 1932
John F. Kennedy, 1917
Tenzing Norgay, 1914
T.H. White, 1906
Bob Hope, 1903
G.K. Chesterton, 1874
Patrick Henry, 1736


Today in History:

Ottoman armies under Sultan Mehmed II Fatih capture Constantinople after a siege, ending the Byzantine Empire, 1453
Charles II (on his birthday) is restored to the throne of Great Britain, 1660
Treaty of Middle Plantation establishes peace between the Virginia colonists and the local Natives, 1677
The right of Canadians to keep Indian slaves is upheld at Quebec City, 1733
In Patrick Henry's historic speech against the Stamp Act, he answers a cry of "Treason!" with, "If this be treason, make the most of it!" 1765
Present constitution of Switzerland takes effect, 1874
Chemist John Pemberton places his first advertisement for Coca-Cola, the ad appearing in the Atlanta Journal, 1886
Igor Stravinsky's ballet score The Rite of Spring receives its premiere performance in Paris, provoking a riot, 1913
Ocean liner RMS Empress of Ireland sinks in the Gulf of St. Lawrence with the loss of 1,024 lives, 1914
Bing Crosby, the Ken Darby Singers and the John Scott Trotter Orchestra record Irving Berlin's "White Christmas", the best-selling Christmas single in history, for Decca Records in Los Angeles, 1942
Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay become the first people to reach the summit of Mount Everest, 1953
First of the annual Bilderberg conferences, 1954
Amputee Steve Fonyo completes cross-Canada marathon at Victoria, British Columbia, after 14 months, 1985
Space Shuttle Discovery completes the first docking with the International Space Station, 1999