It's not like i'm a hero or something

When did normal and to be routinely expected behavior become something people have to fawn over you for?

A few days ago, as i passed the flower shop where i sometimes do contract work while on the way to the shelter, i had a very funny thought.  What if they still owed me more money for the last time i worked with them?

Of course, they didn't and don't, and i have no idea why that thought popped, uninvited, into my head.  A prescient moment perhaps?

Because two days later, i did actually receive a check from them.

Immediately i knew it was a mistake, for two reasons.  First, they already paid me for my last stint.  Second, it said "Dance Recital" on the stub.  Dance recital? i thought.  No, i don't dance, and i haven't been to a recital since Little Girl's last one at home school co-op a few years back.  Does not compute.

So i got on the horn, as Sweetie would say, and got Ms. C on the phone.  "Oh, I hope I sent it to the right M!" she told me.

No, i replied, you didn't.  She asked if i had worked a dance recital.  No, i replied again, and further said i would return the check the next morning when i went to clean the cat shelter, since i would be right there.

"Oh, thank you so much!" Ms. C gushed.  It's easy enough, i told her, i'll see you tomorrow.

When i went in to return the check, it got a bit weird and uncomfortable for me.  She kept thanking me, like i had done something huge.

Well, what else would i have done?  Cashed it?  Sooner or later, the other M would have called to ask about her check.  Then they would have looked into it, and no matter how much i would try to protest it was a mistake, that i thought they had found an error from Mother's Day deliveries and it was meant for me, no matter then if i promised i would pay them back, the trust would have been broken and i would never have been hired by them again.  The suspicion would have always been there that i just wanted to keep what wasn't mine, and that would have been true.

Also, there is what James Herriot, the veterinarian who wrote All Creatures Great and Small said when he was asked to help with insurance fraud because "No one would know."

"I would know," was Herriot's response, which the person he said it to didn't understand at all.

What price a clear conscience?  The cost of a minute or two to make a phone call and return what clearly wasn't mine to keep.

Worse, why is such a thing considered so special these days that the person who made the error has to thank me profusely, over and over?  Has the world gotten that bad?

Let's hope not; i don't want the simple, right thing to do to be considered special or heroic.


Today is

Aizen Matsuri -- Shoman-in Temple, Osaka, Japan (celebration of Aizen Myo-oh, greatest of the 8 Buddhist guardian gods)

Armed Forces Day -- Great Britain; Guatemala

Burning of the Three Fires/Cremation of the Three Trees -- Thann, France (name depends on how you translate; celebration of the founding of the town in the 12th century, when three "stars" moved to a spot over the forest and stopped, leading to a village being established here)

Crab Races -- Fairy Calendar (Pixies, Elves, and some Fairies)

Day of Aestas -- Ancient Roman Calendar (culmination of the festival that begins the summer)

Feast of the First Martyrs of the Church of Rome -- remembrance of the first Christians killed in Rome by order of Nero as scapegoats for the fire in Rome

General Prayer Day -- Central African Republic

Independence Day -- Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire)

Kirkpinar Oil Wrestling Festival -- Edime, Turkey (648th annual, the oldest wrestling festival in the world, through July 6)

Kuan Yin Festival -- Chinese Buddhist (through Aug. 7; enlightenment of Kuan Yin/Guan Yin, August 6)

Ladies of Country Music Show -- Waretown, NJ, US

Leap Second Time Adjustment Day -- if one is needed

Meteor Day -- because of the Tuskunga Event

National Corvette Day -- US

National Ice Cream Soda Day

Prayer Day -- Central African Republic

Pridie Kalendas July (Day Before the Kalends of July) -- Ancient Roman Calendar (a day when dies comitiales -- citizen committees -- voted on political and criminal matters)

Revolution Day -- Sudan

St. Theobald of Provin's day (Patron of bachelors)

Veterans Day -- Netherlands


Birthdays Today:

Michael Phelps, 1985
Fantasia Barrino, 1984
Ralf Schumacher, 1975
Leonard Whiting, 1950
Harry Blackstone, Jr., 1934
Susan Hayward, 1919
Lena Horne, 1917



Today in History:

Jews are expelled from Berne Switzerland, 1294
The Spaniards are expelled from Tenochtitlan, 1520
Native American forces under Blue Jacket attack Fort Recovery, Ohio, 1794
French  acrobat  Charles Blondin crosses Niagara Falls on a tightrope, 1859
The 1860 Oxford evolution debate at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History takes place, 1860
The first transcontinental train trip across Canada departs from Montreal; it arrives in Port Moody, British Columbia on July 4, 1886
Albert Einstein publishes the article "On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies", in which he introduces special relativity, 1905
The Tunguska event, probably caused by a meteor or comet fragment, occurs in remote Siberia, 1908
The Regina Cyclone hits Regina, Saskatchewan, killing 28; it remains Canada's deadliest tornado event, 1912
Congo gains independence from Belgium, 1960
The first leap second is added to the UTC  time system, 1972
The Royal Canadian Mint introduces the $1 coin, known as the Loonie, 1987
East Germany and West Germany merge their economies, 1990
The United Kingdom transfers sovereignty over Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China, 1997
After nearly 7 years in space, the Cassini spacecraft becomes the first to orbit the planet Saturn, 2004

No Comparison

"Mom, I got to work with both cows and horses today!" Bigger Girl announced.

"That's nothing, I got to work with fools and morons!  They are more dangerous," Sweetie responded.

Having dealt with all of the aforementioned, i can attest that Sweetie is right.


Today is

Autonomy Day -- French Polynesia

Camera Day -- internet generated, but a fun one to celebrate

Feast Day of Saints Peter and Paul -- Christian
     St. Paul, Patron of Greece, Malta, rope makers, tentmakers, upholsterers
     St. Peter, Patron of clockmakers, fishermen, Russia; against fever, foot trouble, wolves

Haro Wine Festival -- Haro, LaRioja, Spain

Hug Holiday -- while the National Hug Holiday Week has been moved to the beginning of May, this is the original day, and was for quite a while, so go give someone a big hug!

Independence Day -- Seychelles

Montreaux Jazz Festival -- Montreaux, Switzerland (through July 14; one of the world's greatest music festivals)

National Almond Butter Crunch Day

Oharai/Grand Purification Festival -- Shinto

Oregon Bach Festival -- University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, US (through July 15; international gathering of musicians, master classes and performances, and family events so even the youngest music fans can fall in love with the works of J.S. Bach)

Purplehull Pea Festival and World Championship RotoTiller Race -- Emerson, AR, US (through tomorrow; the tiny town of Emerson, population 368, puts on a big show)

Runic Half-month Feoh (wealth) commences

Waffle Iron Day -- don't know why today, but it's a great gadget, and if you have one, pull it out and use it today

Wicked Fairies Summer Debate -- Fairy Calendar (i'd love to hear this!)


Birthdays Today:

Fred Grandy, 1948
Richard Lewis, 1947
Gary Busey, 1944
Robert Evans, 1930
Ray Harryhausen, 1920
Slim Pickens, 1919
Nelson Eddy, 1901
Antoine de Saint-Exupery, 1900
William James Mayo, 1863


Today in History:

An Irish monastic chronicler records a solar eclipse, 512
Jacques Cartier makes the European discovery of Prince Edward Island, 1534
The Globe Theatre in London, England burns to the ground, 1613
Alexander Macdonell and over five hundred Roman Catholic highlanders leave Scotland to settle in Glengarry County, Ontario, 1786
Coal is discovered on Vancouver Island, 1850
Ninety-nine people are killed in Canada's worst railway disaster near St-Hilaire, Quebec, 1864
France annexes Tahiti, 1880
The first known recording of classical music, Handel's "Israel in Egypt", is made on a wax cylinder, 1888
Street railway in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, commences operation, 1891
Doukhobors burn their weapons as a protest against conscription by the Tsarist Russian government, 1895
France grants 1 km² at Vimy Ridge "freely, and for all time, to the Government of Canada, the free use of the land exempt from all taxes," 1922
Joseph-Armand Bombardier of Canada receives a patent for sprocket and track traction system used in snow vehicles, 1937
Isabel Perón is sworn in as the first female President of Argentina, 1974
The Seychelles  become independent from the United Kingdom, 1976
The space shuttle Atlantis docks with the Russian Mir Space Station for the first time, 1995
Two car bombs are found at Piccadilly Circus, in the heart of London, 2007

The Heat is On

And the A/C is running almost non stop.

There are "don't go outside" warnings both because of the heat, and because the stifling heat keeps the air quality poor.  Poor to the point where it's not safe to be outside for long periods of time.

We joke about the heat, about how you know you are from south Louisiana if you find 100°F "a little warm."  That our four seasons are almost summer, summer, still summer, and Christmas.  Some day we only actually have two, wet and hurricane, with hurricane being just a bit hotter.

A cold snap is under 70°F, and we call that "gumbo weather."

Some people leave their cars running in the parking lot while they are in the store.  Otherwise you will brand yourself with the metal part of the seat belt buckle.

Pot holders from the kitchen come out to the car with you so you don't burn your hands on the steering wheel, and you learn young to either wear long pants or bring a towel if you have vinyl seats and don't want to scorch your legs.

How important is our air conditioning?

Well, there was an awful boating accident out on the Atchafalaya, and a few dozen Cajuns ended up at the Pearly Gates at once.  St. Peter had some awful news for them.

"I'm so sorry," he said, "but your accommodations aren't ready yet!  We don't have everything quite up to spec, yet.  But I've got good news.  The devil has agreed to put you up down there temporarily until we get it all set up."

Well, the Cajuns were amenable to that, and headed down.

A month later the devil called St. Peter. "You know them Cajuns you got down here?  Got 'em out!"

"What?" St. Peter asked, and the devil answered, "Got 'em out!  Right now!"

"Well, we aren't quite ready," St. Peter started to protest, "are you having any trouble with them?

"Trouble!  Mais, ah, tell you trouble.  Since you sent this whole group down here, they done held 3 bingos, 4 bazaars, 2 jambalaya dinners, and a crawfish boil, and if they raise another $500 they gonna air condition the whole place!"


Today is

Constitution day -- Ukraine

Festival of Terrible Poetry -- according to The Daily Bleed, and since there is some hilarious, if terrible, poetry out there, go find some, and bust a gut

Insurance Awareness Day -- now who do you think invented that!?!

Maonyesho ya Saba Saba -- Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (Dar es Salaam Trade Fair)

Mnarja / L-Imnarja Festival begins -- Buskett Gardens, Malta (folk festival for Sts. Peter and Paul, begins this evening and continues through the 29th)

National Bomb Pop Day -- Thursday before US Independence Day, to kick off the celebration with the original red, white, and blue bomb pops

National Handshake Day --it's been over a week since World Handshake Day, so you should have had some practice by now


National Tapioca Day

Paul Bunyan Day -- the tall tale hero of the lumberjacks; celebrated at different times in some parts of the country, but most sites cite this date

Ra goes forth to propitiate the Nun -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Soviet Occupation Day -- Moldova

Stonewall Rebellion Day -- now seen as the start of the gay liberation movement in 1969

St. Irenaeus' Day (Patron of Mobile, Alabama)

St. Paul's Feast -- Kato Paphos, Cyprus

St. Peter's Eve -- English Christian tradition, night of bonfires and continuation of midsummer celebrations

Thanksgiving for Useful Fairies -- Fairy Calendar

Vidovdan (Festival for St. Vitus) -- Eastern Orthodox Christian


Anniversaries Today:

Harry S. Truman marries Bess Wallace, 1919


Birthdays Today:

Kellie Pickler, 1986
Steve Burton, 1970
John Cusack, 1966
John Elway, 1960
Kathy Bates, 1948
Gilda Radner, 1946
Turkan Soray, 1945
Pat Morita, 1932
Mel Brooks, 1926
Richard Rodgers, 1902
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, 1712
John Wesley, 1703
Peter Paul Rubens, 1577
Henry VIII, King of England, 1491


Today in History:

Fighters of the First Crusade defeat Kerbogha of Mosul, 1098
Ottomans defeat Serbian army in the bloody Battle of Kosovo, opening the way for the Ottoman conquest of Southeastern Europe, 1389
Guadeloupe becomes a French colony, 1635
The coronation of Victoria of the United Kingdom, 1838
The Théâtre de l'Académie Royale de Musique in Paris premieres the ballet Giselle, 1841
The first conformation dog show is held in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England, 1859
Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria and his wife Sophie are assassinated in Sarajevo by young Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip, the casus belli of World War I, 1914
The Treaty of Versailles is signed in Paris, formally ending World War I, 1919
The Irish Civil War begins with the shelling of the Four Courts in Dublin by Free State forces, 1922
Israel annexes East Jerusalem, 1967
COMECON, as part of the last vestige of the Soviet Bloc, is formally disbanded, followed by the Warsaw pact 3 days later, 1991
Slobodan Milosevic is deported to ICTY to stand trial, 2001
The Republic of Montenegro is admitted as the 192nd Member of the United Nations, 2006

Business as Usual, Part 2

There was a bag tucked over in the corner where i couldn't see it, and one of the kittens had teed on the outside of it. As i gently mopped the mess and emptied the bag without getting anything on the contents, i told #2 Son i thought i had something of his over there.

"Yeah!  That's mine!  I've been looking for it since Florida!  It even has my toothbrush!"

Does this mean you haven't brushed your teeth since Florida?

"Uh, yeah, it kinda does."

Oh, sixteen-year-boy.


Today is

Canadian Multiculturalism Day -- Cananda

Day of National Unity -- Tajikistan

Day of Turkmen Workers of Culture and Art -- Turkmenistan

Day Sacred to the Lares -- Ancient Roman Calendar

Decide to Be Married Day -- sponsored by Barbara Gaughen-Muller; to focus on the joy of couples deciding to be married

Festival of Jupiter Stator -- Ancient Roman Calendar (Jupiter, Stayer of the Rout, god who helped soldiers especially to stand their ground)

Findle-Fritter's Stoat Wheedling Event -- Fairy Calendar

"Happy Birthday to You" Day -- tune composed this day in 1859

Henley Royal Regatta -- Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England (through July 1st)

Independence Day / National Day -- Djibouti

Initium Aestatis -- Ancient Roman Calendar (three day festival for the goddess of summer, which season they saw as beginning on this day)

Martyrdom of Joseph & Hyrum Smith -- Mormon

Mixed Races Day -- Brazil

National HIV Testing Day -- US

National Orange Blossom Day

Seven Sleepers Day (Siebenschläfertag) -- Germany

Smithsonian Folklife Festival -- Smithsonian Institute, Washington, D.C., US (through July 1, then again July 4-8; a model of research-based presentations of contemporary living cultural traditions of people around the world)

St. Ladislaus' Day (Patron of szekszard, Hungary)

Sunglasses Day -- a reminder to wear those shades, protect your eyes from UV damage!


Birthdays Today:

Gabi Wilson, 1997
Madylin Sweeten, 1991
Ed Westwick, 1987
Drake Bell, 1986
Tobey Maguire, 1975
Julia Duffy, 1951
James Daughton, 1950
H. Ross Perot, 1930
Bob "Captain Kangaroo" Keeshan, 1927
Helen Keller, 1880


Today in History:

General James Wolfe begins the siege of Quebec, 1759
Joseph Smith, Jr., founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and his brother Hyrum Smith, are murdered by a mob at the Carthage, Illinois jail, 1844
George Dixon becomes the first black world boxing champion in any weight class, while also being the first ever Canadian-born boxing champion, 1890
The first solo circumnavigation of the globe is completed by Joshua Slocum from Briar Island, Nova Scotia, 1898
Sailors start a mutiny aboard the Russian Battleship Potemkin, denouncing the crimes of autocracy, demanding liberty and an end to war, 1905
Capt. Lowell H. Smith and Lt. John P. Richter perform the first ever aerial refueling in a DH-4B biplane, 1923
The United States decides to send troops to fight in the Korean War, 1950
The world's first nuclear power station opens in Obninsk, near Moscow, 1954
The world's first ATM is installed in Enfield, London, 1967
The President of Uruguay dissolves Parliament and heads a coup d'état, 1973
U.S president Richard Nixon visits the U.S.S.R., 1974
France grants independence to Djibouti, 1977
The current international treaty defending indigenous peoples, ILO 169 convention, is adopted, 1989
Slovenia, after declaring independence two days before, is invaded by Yugoslav troops, tanks, and aircraft, starting the Ten-Day War, 1991
Bill Gates resigns from Microsoft to focus on his charity work, 2008
Tests show radioactive cesium is present in small quantities in residents of Iitate and Kawamata, Fukushima, towns located 25 miles from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, 2011

Hopeful Message

Well, i received three letter from my health insurance company today.

All 3 inform me that different parts of my recent treatment, including the hospitalization, will be covered.

Wow.  It could have all been so much worse.  There's no way to know how much in deductibles and co-pays i will end up with, but at least the basics will be covered.

Then i turn from my computer and get asked a question, which leads to me looking for an email, and a news story catches my eye.  There's a doctor in Rushville, Illinois, who only charges $5 for an office visit, still.  He's been the only doctor in town for 57 years.  My hat is off to him and his staff, the full story is here.

Now, if only we can figure out how to replicate what he's doing, we won't have to worry so much about what is covered and what isn't.

Meanwhile, at least my insurance agreed that i need the care.

And now, to help me forget the lady who is suing the little league catcher story (don't let me rant!), a joke:

One day Thibodeaux went up to Boudreaux.

 "You know Boudreaux, I think somethin' wrong wit me."

Boudreaux said, "Mais, Thibodeaux, tell me what's your problem.?"

"Well, Boudreaux," Thibodeaux said. "My whole body is in pain. Everywhere I press on my body it hurts.  See?  When ah press on my arm, it hurts!  When ah press on my chin, it hurts!"

"Thibodeaux, I think I know what's wrong with you." Boudreaux replied.

"Tell me Boudreaux, what could it be?"

"Thibodeaux, you need to see the doctor because your finger's broken."

 

Today is

Armed Forces Day -- Azerbaijan

Barcode/UPC Day -- the first scanner, at Marsh's Supermarket in Troy, Ohio, scanned its first item, a pack of Wrigley's gum at 8:01am this day in 1974

Beautician's Day -- on a couple of websites, while other list other days; if yours puts the "beauty" in beautician, remember her next time you go have your do tended to

Flag Day -- Romania

Handing Back of Tiger-Get-By's Presents -- Fairy Calendar

Holiday for the Shemsu of Heru -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Independence Day -- Madagascar; Somalia

International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking

International Day in Support of Victims of Torture

National Canoe Day -- Canada

National Chocolate Pudding Day

St. Pelayo's Day (Patron of abandoned people, torture victims; Castro Urdiales, Spain; Torreira, Portugal)

Sunthorn Phu Day -- Thailand


Birthdays Today:

Jennette McCurdy, 1992
Derek Jeter, 1974
Chris O'Donnell, 1970
Harriet Wheeler, 1963
Greg LeMond, 1961
Chris Isaak, 1956
Eleanor Parker, 1922
Babe Didrikson Zaharias, 1914
Colonel Tom Parker, 1909
Peter Lorre, 1904
Pearl S. Buck, 1892
Lord Kelvin, 1824
Abner Doubleday, 1819


Today in History:

Roman Emperor Julian is killed during the retreat from the Sassanid Empire; General Jovian is proclaimed Emperor by the troops on the battlefield, 363
The legendary Pied Piper leads 130 children out of Hamelin, German, 1284
Richard III is crowned king of England, 1483
Francisco Pizarro is assassinated in Lima, 1541
W. K. Clarkson patents the first bicycle, 1819
The Christian  holiday of Christmas is declared a federal holiday in the United States, 1870
The Science Museum in London comes into existence as an independent entity, 1909
The United Nations Charter is signed in San Francisco, 1945
William Shockley files the original patent for the grown junction transistor, the first bipolar junction transistor, 1948
The Berlin Airlift begins, 1948
The Saint Lawrence Seaway opens, opening North America's Great Lakes to ocean-going ships, 1959
The Universal Product Code is scanned for the first time to sell a package of Wrigley's chewing gum at the Marsh Supermarket in Troy, Ohio, 1974
Indira Gandhi establishes emergency rule in India, 1975
The CN Tower, the world's tallest free-standing structure on land, is opened to general public, 1976*
Biologists J. Craig Venter and Francis S. Collins announced that their research groups had mapped the human genome, 2000


*It is still the tallest in the Western Hemisphere

Business as Usual

As we entered church and sat down, i noticed that the fly on her slacks was unzipped, so i whispered to Bigger Girl to XYZ.

"Thanks, mom," she whispered back, "especially since i ran out of clean underwear and I'm going commando!"

Noting the expression on my face, she added, "And besides, these pants are a bit too big, they feel like they are going to fall off!"

Let's hope not, especially here, i said drily.

"Ya think!?" she asked.

Life continues.


Today is

Arbor Day -- Philippines

Discovery Day -- NL, Canada

Elf Thumping Day -- Fairy Calendar

Feast of the Optional Holiday -- pick one, and celebrate it or don't, your option!

Festival of Ranting and Vaporing -- sponsored by The Daily Bleed

Fiesta of Santa Orosia -- Jaca, Spain

Gotanshin Sai -- Kitano Tenmangu, Kyoto, Japan (festival to commemorate the birth of Lord Sugawara, with ceremonies to ward off summer infections)

Independence Day -- Mozambique

Lawn Tennis Championships at Wimbledon -- Wimbledon, England (through July 8)

Leon Day -- Noel spelled backward, the turning point on the calendar when Christmas starts getting closer; those who make Christmas/Noel gifts need to start thinking about their projects

Ludi Taurii -- Ancient Roman Calendar (Games of the Bull, a two day festival held once every five years)

National Catfish Day

National Fried Okra Day

National Strawberry Parfait Day

Please Take My Children To Work Day -- sponsored by mamasaid.net; give a full- or part-time stay-at-home mom a break today!

Sense of Humor in Bed Appreciation Day -- i'm not touching this one

Slovenian Sovereignty Day / National Day -- Slovenia

Statehood Day -- Croatia

St. Eurosia's Day (a/k/a Orosia; Patron of Jaca, Spain; against bad weather)

St. Molaug's Day (Patron of Argyll, Scotland; against mental illness)



Anniversaries Today:

Virginia becomes the 10th US State, 1788


Birthdays Today:

Scott Terra, 1987
George Michael, 1963
Sonia Sotomayor, 1954
Jimmie Walker, 1949
Phyllis George, 1949
Carly Simon, 1945
June Lockhart, 1925
Sidney Lumet, 1924
George Orwell, 1903


Today in History:

The Book of Concord or Concordia, the historic doctrinal standard of the Lutheran Church, is published, 1580
Elena Cornaro Piscopia is the first woman awarded a doctorate of philosophy, from the University of Padua, 1678
Maria Theresa of Austria is crowned Queen of Hungary, 1741
Lucien B. Smith of Ohio patents the first version of barbed wire, 1867
Battle of the Little Bighorn and the death of Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer, 1876
Dr. Douglas Hyde is inaugurated the first President of Ireland, 1938
The Diary of Anne Frank is published, 1947
The Berlin airlift begins, 1948
The Korean War begins with the invasion of South Korea by North Korea, 1950
CBS broadcasts the first color television signal, 1951
First live global satellite television programme – Our World, 1967
Mozambique achieves independence, 1975
Microsoft  is restructured to become an incorporated business in its home state of Washington, 1981
Croatia and Slovenia declare their independence from Yugoslavia, 1991
Kim Campbell is chosen as leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada and becomes the first female Prime Minister of Canada, 1993
An unmanned Progress spacecraft collides with the Russian space station Mir, 1997
The Soufrière Hills volcano in Montserrat erupts resulting in the death of 19 people, 1997
The Harvard School of Health Study concludes that since 1980 the number of adults with diabetes has doubled, 2011

Hospital Dietary and Nutrition Services Notes

Hospital Dietary and Nutrition Services Notes:

Patient is a full blown PITA.  Claims to be a vegetarian, and when we tried to put eggs on her plate, thanked me but said no.  When asked about diary, said she is intolerant.







She wouldn't even eat the hash browns.  When told the lunch menu items on the vegetarian menu were macaroni and cheese and french fries, she asked for salad and fruit.  When given a fruit cup, she noted that pasteurized fruit cups have sugar and very little nutritional value left.

The only thing she was willing to eat all week were the side salads and fresh cut up fruit or whole fruit.  She picked at the steamed veggies and picked the vegetarian red beans off of the rice and said that potatoes are for fattening pigs and corn for fattening cattle, and neither are real vegetables except the non-GMO corn, whatever that is, and it has to be served raw, of all things.

She keeps saying crazy stuff like that sugar is poison, white food is white like cocaine or heroin because those foods are as addictive as the drugs, and that she gave up all but the food the Good Lord grows out of the ground years ago so she could lose her weight and she's kept it off the same way and she isn't about to change now.

Patient won't accept peanut butter, she says peanuts are the wrong kind of protein for humans to digest, since they aren't real nuts, but legumes.  The real nut here is her.

Her kids keep smuggling in stuff from health food stores that looks like nuts and seeds and rabbit food.  Flipping insane.  Claims to eat an almost totally "raw vegan" diet, whatever that is.  It sounds subversive.

The only normal thing about her is that she loves coffee.  She says she's a Louisiana girl and will have her coffee, black as the swamp mud and hot as the bayou, it's part of the religion of the region.  Being a coffee drinker myself, this i get.

The rest of it is nutty bat-crap crazy, and if you people ever assign me a patient like this again to try to feed, I Quit!

Today is

America's Kids Day -- founded to encourage parents to teach their children the value of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness

Bannockburn Day -- Scotland (decisive battle of the first Scottish War of Independence, led by Robert Bruce)

Burning of the Lamps in Egypt at Sais -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar, a celebration of Isis and Neith (date approximate)

Calcio Fiorentino -- Florence, Italy (reviving 16th century style football in period costumes, through the 28th)

Carabobo Day -- Venezuela

Celebration of the Senses -- Wellcat Holidays urges you to enjoy all five (six?) of your senses today

Countryman's Day -- Peru

Day of the Caboclo -- Amazonas State, Brazil

Descendent's Day -- a day for all the world's citizens to take an accounting of their activities during the prior year and how those will affect those who come after us

Feast of Rahmat (Mercy) -- Baha'i

Festival of the Tarasque -- Tarascon, France (legendary dragon tamed by St. Martha)

Flying Saucer Day -- anniversary of Kenneth Arnold's 1947 sighting, while flying near Mt. Rainier, of 9 metallic, circular objects he could not identify

Fors Fortuna -- Ancient Roman Calendar (rites and festival for the goddess of good luck and fortune)

International Fairy Day -- day for collectors, believers, and artists to share their love for the little folk

La Festa Del Gigli -- Nola, Campagna, Italy (Festival of the Lilies, in honor of St. Paulinus)

Log Cabin Day -- The Log Cabin Society, dedicated to preserving log cabins and the old fashioned ways of life

Lost Handkerchief Day -- Fairy Calendar

Macau Day -- China

Manila Day -- Philippines

Mother's Day -- Kenya

Museum Comes to Life Day -- another fun and funny day someone came up with

National Creamy Pralines Day

Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day, Quebec

Singing on the Mountain -- Grandfather Mountain, Linville, NC, US (traditional and modern gospel music, with local and nationally known artists and speakers)

St. John the Baptist's Nativity Day and related Midsummer celebrations (Patron of baptism, bird dealers, converts, children with convulsions, epileptics, farriers, French Canadians, lambs, monastic life, motorways, printers, tailors; against convulsions, epilepsy, hail and hailstorms, and spasms; Patron of over 60 cities and countries around the globe)
    Inti Raymi -- Peru (Incan Sun Festival)
    Jaanipaev -- Estonia
    Jani -- Latvia
    Jónsmessa -- Iceland (feast of St. John the Baptist, considered a magical night when cows can speak, seals take on human form, finding magical stones and herbs is propitious, and rolling naked in the dew is healing.)
    Midsummer Day -- England
    National Holiday -- Quebec
    Saint Jonas Festival or Jonines -- Lithuania
    Surinal -- North Korea

Swim a Lap Day -- just for fun!

Swing a Kid Day -- if swimming isn't right for you

Tabarka Music Festivals -- Tabarka, Tunisia (Salsa Festival, through July 1, Jazz Festival, the week following; perfect weather for music, workshops, seminars, and performances by local and international artists)

Zuni Corn Dance -- Zuni Native Americans (for fertility of land and people, through the 27th)


Anniversaries Today:

Eton College is founded by Henry VI, 1441


Birthdays Today:

Sherry Stringfield, 1967
Joe Penny, 1956
Mick Fleetwood, 1947
Jeff Beck, 1944
Michele Lee, 1942
Phil Harris, 1904
Jack Dempsey, 1895
Roy O. Disney, 1893
Ambrose Bierce, 1842
Henry Ward Beecher, 1813


Today in History:

Battle of Cedynia, the first documented victory of Polish forces, takes place, 972
A sudden outbreak of St. John's Dance causes people in the streets of Aachen, Germany, to experience hallucinations and begin to jump and twitch uncontrollably until they collapse from exhaustion, 1374
John Cabot lands in North America at Newfoundland; the first European
exploration of the region since the Vikings, 1497
Miguel Lopez de Legazpi founds Manila, the capital of the Republic of the Philippines, 1571
Samuel de Champlain discovers the mouth of the Saint John River, site of Reversing Falls and the present day city of Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, 1604
The colony of New Jersey is founded, 1664
Kingston, Jamaica is founded, 1692
The Premier Grand Lodge of England, the first Masonic Grand Lodge in the world (now the United Grand Lodge of England), is founded in London, England, 1717
The first republican constitution in France is adopted, 1793
The decisive battle in the war of independence of Venezuela from Spain, the Battle of Carabobo takes place, 1821
First performance of O Canada, the song that would become the national anthem of Canada, at the Congrès national des Canadiens-Français, 1880
The first exhibition of Pablo Picasso's work opens, 1901
Mary Pickford becomes the first female film star to get a million dollar contract, 1916
The first airmail service in Canada from Montreal to Toronto begins, 1918
Siam is renamed Thailand by Plaek Pibulsonggram, the third prime minister, 1939
The Soviet Union makes overland travel between the West with West Berlin impossible, 1948
The United Kingdom grants Zanzibar internal self-government, 1963
Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud completes his first mission, becoming the first Arab and first Muslim in space, as a Payload Specialist, 1985
John Isner of the United States defeats Nicolas Mahut of France at Wimbledon, in the longest match in professional tennis history, 2010

Jailbreak

The night wasn't as sleepless as the previous had been and the morning passed as usual.  Then the doctor came in to say that the MRI was clear, no bone involvement, no tendons punctured.  That meant i could go home and finish the original antibiotic prescription and follow up the next week with my own doctor, who came to see me each day in the hospital also.

The rest of the swelling, they said, was fluid and trauma, and would go down soon.

They also ordered me to try to use the hand as little as possible.

Yeah, right.

Sweetie brought me home to dishes piled high, screaming kittens, and not so fresh litter boxes.

Then the kids flooded the upstairs bathroom again.

Ah, home, sweet chaos.


Today is

Anubis Ceremony -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

ARRL Field Day -- amatuer/ham radio operators practice and drill for communications during emergencies; through tomorrow

Dandruff Dance -- Fairy Calendar (Goblins and Gnomes)

Dano -- Korea (traditional festival of spring and farming, 5th day of 5th lunar month)

Duan We Jie -- China; Macau; Taiwan (Dragon Boat Festival, main celebrations)

Father's Day -- Nicaragua; Poland

Festival of the Purple Void -- only one internet reference, and not explained there, either, but since purple is my favorite color, and a Purple Void sound like something fun to celebrate, i'm including it!

Galesburg Railroad Days -- Galesburg, IL, US (annual festival dating back to 1854; through tomorrow)

Great American Backyard Campout -- sponsored by the National Wildlife Federation

Grand Duke's Birthday & National Day -- Luxembourg

Kupala -- Slavic Pagan Calendar (Summer Solstice celebration, always on St. John's Eve, as the pagans hid their celebration by naming it "Ivan Kupala", their name for John the Baptist)

Let It Go Day -- sponsored by Wellcat Holidays; whatever you are holding on to, just let it go and the day will get better

Mermaid Parade -- Coney Island, Brooklyn, NY, US

National Day of Remembrance for Victims of Terrorism -- Canada

National Pecan Sandy Day

National Pink Day -- the color or the flower, your choice

Night of the Fairy Goddesses Aine and Finnen -- Ireland (watch out for the antics of the little people on Midsummer's Eve)

Pixie Day -- Ottery St. Mary, Devon, England (reenacting of the "Revenge" of the Pixies who bothered the town until midsummer, 1454)

Polar Bear Swim -- Nome, AK, US (since 1975, as soon as they can break through the ice!)

Poop Out Early Day -- act pooped out, see if you can cut out early; your success at pooping out early may vary

Public Service Day -- UN

St. Agrippina (Patron against bacterial diseases and infections, evil spirits, leprosy, storms and thunder; of Mineo, Italy)

St. Ethelreda's Day (Patron of those with neck and throat ailments, widows; University of Cambridge)

St. John's Eve -- start or culmination of many midsummer festivals, including:
     Dragaica Fair -- Buzau, Romania
     Golowan Festival -- Cornwall
     Jaaniohtu -- Estonia  
     Kupala Days begin -- Belarus; Poland; Russia; Ukraine
     Ligo / Lani -- Latvia (pagan midsummer celebration originally dedicated to the god Janis
     Midsummer Eve -- Denmark; Sweden
     Midsummer Festival -- Portugal

St. Joseph Cafasso's Day (Patron of captives, prisoners, prisons)

Typewriter Day -- patented this day in 1868 by Christopher Latham Sholes

Victory Day -- Estonia

Viking Festival -- Frederiksund, Denmark (the most famous Viking cultural event in Denmark, with two weeks of plays and festival, as well as two markets and a Viking camp recreation)


Birthdays Today:

Jason Mraz, 1977
Selma Blair, 1972
Frances McDormand, 1957
Clarence Thomas, 1948
June Carter Cash, 1929
Bob Fosse, 1927
Alan Turing, 1912
Edward VIII, King of England, 1894
Alfred Kinsey, 1894
Johannes Gutenberg, 1400 (estimated)
Ptolemy XV Philopator Philometor Caesar, BC47 (Son of Cleopatra VII and Julius Caesar)


Today in History:

The world's oldest parliament, the Icelandic Althing, is established, 930
First Battle of Uji, starting the Genpei War in Japan, 1180
First War of Scottish Independence: The Battle of Bannockburn, south of Stirling, begins, 1314
The mutinous crew of Henry Hudson's fourth voyage sets Henry, his son and seven loyal crew members adrift in an open boat in what is now Hudson Bay; they are never heard from again, 1611
The French residents of Acadia are given one year to declare allegiance to Britain or leave Nova Scotia, Canada, 1713
Empress Catherine II of Russia grants Jews permission to settle in Kiev, 1794
Christopher Latham Sholes receives a patent for Type-Writer, 1868
The Rocky Mountains Park Act becomes law in Canada, creating the nation's first national park, Banff National Park, 1887
The International Olympic Committee  is founded at the Sorbonne, Paris, at the initiative of Baron Pierre de Coubertin, 1894
The College Board administers the first SAT exam, 1926
Wiley Post and Harold Gatty take off from Roosevelt Field, Long Island in an attempt to circumnavigate the world in a single-engine plane, 1931
The 1946 Vancouver Island earthquake strikes Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada, 1946
The Antarctic Treaty, which sets aside Antarctica as a scientific preserve and bans military activity on the continent, comes into force, 1961
Title IX of the United States Civil Rights Act of 1964 is amended to prohibit sexual discrimination to any educational program receiving federal funds, 1972
Himmy, of Australia, weighs in at domestic cat record 20.7 kg (45 lb) , 1982
Nintendo 64 goes on sale in Japan, 1996
Japan's Iwate prefecture experiences a 6.7 magnitude earthquake, 2011

Funny Meeting You Here

Some of the stuff that goes on in a hospital you don't want to blog about, necessarily.  It's either TMI, or simply gross, or a repeat of the same thing day after day.  Sometimes it's just the crazy things that go on in hospitals, like meds that have to be taken very early in the morning on an empty stomach and that require you to not eat for one hour after, either, and that the pharmacy won't send up until 9am and you don't want to think about it any more.

Sometimes, too, inspiration just doesn't hit.

The x-ray was fine, but the swelling is not down enough for the doctor's liking, so she ordered an MRI.

Now, i've had one before, and it was grueling.  It was a multiple hour ordeal.  This one was about 20 minutes, but i had to lie on my stomach and hold my hand out over my head.  It's so cold in there, too, with a continual cold breeze.  It's a good thing i insisted on bringing my blanket.

Me and my temperature that's taken every few hours and never goes above 97°F no matter how active i am.

My little escape from the ward for a test today resulted in a most delightful encounter, though.  The person conducting the MRI came out and, as everyone does, asked me what happened.  As i described the cat fight i'd been in and lost, he looked at me and asked if i worked with the cat rescue.  When i said yes, he asked, "Didn't we adopt a cat from you a few years ago?  Named Blanca?"

That's when i recognized him, remembering that he had said at the time he worked here, and his wife was a hospice nurse.  Indeed, he and his wife had wanted a white kitten, and they came to our house when we had a litter that had two white kittens to pick one before they were even weaned.  Blanca was white with blue eyes and deaf and hilarious, with a great, wildly playful, friendly personality.  The couple visited our house about half a dozen times to see and play with their cat before she was weaned and spayed and they were able to take her home, and they love her, she's been a marvelous cat.

He told me the whole neighborhood loves the cat, neighbors come to visit to play with her!  It's the great stories like that which make Kittyville worth maintaining.

Now we await MRI results.  If there is no tendon involvement, and the rest of the swelling is just soft tissue damage, i should go home very soon with instructions to take my oral antibiotics for the full course of ten days and follow up with my own doctor later.  If there is, well, then we deal with that.


Today is

Anti-Fascist Struggle Day -- Croatia

Day of Remembrance of the Victims of the Great Patriotic War -- Belarus

Dragon Boat Festival Holidays begin -- China (through the 24th)

Elfin Music Festival -- Fairy Calendar

Festival of 1 Lithe -- Hobbit Calendar

Heidi Festival -- New Glarus, Wisconsin (through the 24th; celebrations of the town's Swiss heritage)

Louisiana Peach Festival -- Ruston, LA, US (through tomorrow; Ruston grows some peaches worth celebrating!)

Morat Commemoration Day -- Switzerland

National Chocolate Eclair Day

National Onion Rings Day

Soap Microphone Day -- grab your soap in the shower and pretend you are on stage! (promise i won't tell)

Sternwheeler Days -- Port Marina Park, Cascade Locks, OR, US (through the 24th; reliving the days of the mountain men)

St. Acacius' Day (Patron against headaches)

St. Nicetas' Day (Patron of Romania)

St. Thomas More's Day (Patron of adopted children, civil servants, difficult marriages, large families, lawyers, politicians/politicos/statesmen, step-parents, widowers; Arlington, VA; Ateneo de Manila Law School; Pensacola-Tallahassee, FL; University of Malta; University of Santo Tomas Faculty of Arts and Letters)

Stupid Guy Thing Day -- included under protest; "guy things" aren't necessarily stupid, it should just be Guy Thing Day; sponsored by Wellcat Holidays

Take Your Dog to Work Day -- www.takeyourdog.com (depending on where you work, what did your dog do to deserve this?)

Teacher's Day -- El Salvador

World's Ugliest Dog Contest -- Sonoma-Marin Fair, Petaluma, CA, US



Birthdays Today:

Eric Stretch, 1980
Donald Faison, 1974
Carson Daly, 1973
Mary Lynn Rajskub, 1971
Kurt Warner, 1971
Amy Brennenman, 1964
Dan Brown, 1964
Freddie Prinze, 1954
Cyndi Lauper, 1953
Meryl Streep, 1949
Lindsay Wagner, 1949
Todd Rundgren, 1948
Pete Maravich, 1947
Ed Bradley, 1941
Kris Kristofferson, 1936
Joseph Papp, 1921
Billy Wilder, 1906
Anne Morrow Lindbergh, 1906
John Dillinger, 1903


Today in History:

Ptolemy IV of Egypt defeats Antiochus III the Great of the Seleucid kingdom, BC217
Bilbo Baggins returns to his home at Bag End, (Shire Reconning), 1342
The  Jewish quarter of Prague is burned and looted, 1559
Galileo Galilei is forced by Inquisition to "abjure, curse, & detest" his Copernican heliocentric views, 1633
A poisonous cloud from Laki volcanic eruption in Iceland reaches Le Havre in France, 1783
The British Parliament abolishes feudalism  and the seigneurial system in British North America, 1825
Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee procession in London, 1897
The Flag of Sweden is adopted, 1906
The Flag of the Faroe Islands is raised for the first time, 1919
Erwin Rommel is promoted to Field Marshal after the capture of Tobruk, 1942
The Cuyahoga River catches fire, which triggers a crack-down on pollution in the river, 1969
The Canadian  House of Commons  abolishes capital punishment, 1976
Charon, a satellite of the dwarf planet Pluto, is discovered, 1978
The largest hailstone ever recorded falls in Aurora, Nebraska (7inch diameter, 18.75 inch circumfrence), 2003
Eastman Kodak Company announces that it will discontinue sales of the Kodachrome Color Film, concluding its 74-year run as a photography icon, 2009

The antibiotics they are using are some kind of strong.  Eventually the vein they are putting them in gets tired and needs a rest.  The veins themselves let you know by hardening up, you can touch the skin over it and feel it.

As i had predicted, there was little sleep, as the vein gave it up around midnight, with two more bags of meds to go until morning.  The nurse and i had been discussing it, and we hoped to get another good vein in the arm, but not the crook of the elbow (where i wouldn't really be able to bend the arm much at all) or in the back of the hand, as it's the "good" hand now.

Two others were tried, and both refused to rise to the occasion.  One vein rolled and got blown, the other had only one good spot and it was on a valve, which is highly painful.  Back of the hand was the only option, but i've got two huge ones there that are easy sticks, so we went with it and i'm dealing with the very minor compared to everything else aggravation of a hep lock on it.  Port hooked around the back of the thumb, line twice around the wrist and threaded between pinkie and ring finger, it can't be easily yanked as i move and it's not in the way getting caught on a fork as i eat or the pen as i write something.

The rest of the night went as predicted, fall asleep, wake when you need meds, fall asleep, wake when they need vitals, fall asleep, wake when it's time for a trip to the loo.  It's okay, i have the rest of my life after i'm well to sleep.

It's funny the thoughts that come to you in the middle of such a night.  No, not the big questions about life, the universe, and everything.  My beliefs are that G-d will take care of me now as He did when i lost Tori.  No, i don't have all the answers, but He does and i'm content to leave it that way.

No, my middle of the night fuddled brain musings go more like:

why, of all the times i have to land in the hospital, was it when i decided to skip shaving for a day or two?

how many times tomorrow will everything be totally quiet and then someone will arrive at the same time that the phone rings and it's time to get meds?


why, when one of the female nurses or PCAs offer to refill my stainless-steel-super-duper-double-walled-never-leaks-never-sweats-Flylady water bottle, does she put the top back on just to where it is snug like it's supposed to be, but when a male nurse or PCA does it he feels he has to prove his strength is akin to Samson's by tightening it down so much that we have to ask a nearby maintenance worker to get it open?


why do radio and TV stations, when they have to play that emergency signal and let us know about some emergency, never, ever interrupt the commercials, no matter how dire the emergency is, but wait for the show or the music to come back on?  

(Really, have you ever heard them interrupt a commercial?  Can you hear the conversation now; "Boss, there's an emergency, the whole planet is about to be fried by invaders from planet Z!"  "Fred, don't you dare play that emergency signal during the commercial break!  Wait until we cut back to the show, our sponsors pay the bills!")

My breakfast is now predictable.  Watery oatmeal, coffee, fruit juice, and a piece of fruit or small cup of cut fruit.  It's enough, and more than some people on the planet get, so i'm grateful.  The very nice man from nutrition services, who claims he wants to talk to me more about my diet because he's a sugar addict, too, has learned, and tries his best with the other meals.  There's only so much you can do, and i'm glad for Bigger Girl's huge purse that can smuggle in plenty of other choices.  (She carries a purse so big, and with so little in it, she could probably smuggle in half of a health food store if she wanted.)

The doctor came by after noon, and decided i need an x-ray to rule out bone infection in the place where the swelling is still worst.  They are concerned also about whether or not the cat may have had something on her teeth that could have lodged in there.

So a nice orderly came, and the PCA got me an extra gown to wear backward so i wouldn't be flying with my flaps down and scare the natives, and when i was rolled out of my room in a wheel chair i said, "Oh, scenery!"  They continue to think i'm funny, and indeed, i got a million of 'em, all bad.

As we came back, the orderly said , "I'm almost sorry that went so fast, x-ray wasn't busy at this moment, and you didn't get to stay out long."  Smiling, i told him it was okay, any trip out of the asylum, no matter how short, was welcome.

In the midst of it all, poor Sweetie about had a meltdown.  His adventures would fill a book, i'm sure, but the worst was when he got to church to prepare for the big event and was asked if he got the email  "What email?" he asked.  "I'm not at work this week, I'm up here as I have the week off, and my work email is the only one you guys have!"

Long story short, they decided instead of pure white button down shirts, of which he has about 10, all pressed and ready, they were going to ask all the men to wear black button down shirts, of which he has one, which is dirty, since i'm not there to do laundry and his work clothes can wait until he's back at work and needs them.

Frantic calls located one black shirt at a local department store that he could get to and get back on time, and it happened to be his size, and they were even willing to take it out of the packaging they always come folded in and steam it for him so that it would be ready for the big night when he got back to the church with it.  Thank you, Dillard's; i'm not a clothes horse who has to were designer stuff, but you came through in the clutch, and i won't forget it.

Oh, and the x-ray?  No results yet.  Another night to go through before i see the doctor, more meds to hang, more traveling with my leash.  It's all good, G-d is in charge (which is good, because if i were, i would foul it all up big time). 


Today is

Alexandra Rose Day -- in the tradition started by Queen Alexandra 100 years ago, roses and rose emblems are sold in London and the UK, with the money going to charity

Arrephoria -- Ancient Greek Calendar (Athens, festival to honor Pallas Athena, date approximate)

Baby Boomer Recognition Day

Father's Day -- Egypt; Jordan; Lebanon; Syria; Uganda

First Nations Day / National Aborginal Day -- Canadian Native People

Go Skateboarding Day -- and break something?  leaving this to the young

Helen Keller Festival -- Tuscumbia, Alabama, US (through the 24th)

London 2012 Festival -- London, England (cultural festival leading up to the Olympics and beyond; through Sept 9)

Little Bighorn Days -- Hardin, MT, US (celebrating the life and legends of the American West; through the 24th)

Martyr's Day -- Togo

Midnight Sun Baseball Game -- Fairbanks, AK, US (begins promptly at 10:35pm local time, and played without any artificial lights allowed)

National Aboriginal Day -- NT, Canada

National Peaches & Cream Day

Newfoundland Discovery Day -- Canada

Recess at Work Day -- www.recessatworkday.com

Shakespeare on the Green -- University of Nebraska, Omaha, NE, US (through July 8; nonprofit professional productions of the Bard's works, including preshow seminars, workshops, period music and entertainment)

St. Alban's Day (Patron of epileptics, people with hernias; against epilepsy, hernias, kidney stones)

St. Aloysius Gonzanga's Day (Protector of young students, young men; Patron of AIDS Caregivers and patients)

Tiger-Get-By's Third Birthday -- Fairy Calendar

Ulloortuneq -- Greenland (National Day)

Watermelon Thump with World Champion Seed Spitting Contest -- Luling, TX, US (through the 24th; fun for all, and lots of juicy watermelon, bring lots of wet wipes!)

We Tripantu -- Chile (Mapuche natives winter solstice festival)

World Handshake Day -- no one likes them fishy, and it's not a contest; practice a firm grip and a smile!

World Music Day


Anniversaries Today:

New Hampshire becomes the 9th US State, 1788


Birthdays Today:

Kris Allen, 1985
Prince William, 1982
Juliette Lewis, 1973
Berkeley Breathed, 1957
Meredith Baxter, 1947
Michael Gross, 1947
Ray Davies, 1944
Mariette Hartley, 1940
Maureen Stapleton, 1925
Jane Russell, 1921
Jean-Paul Sartre, 1905
Al Hirschfeld, 1903
Reinhold Niebuhr, 1892
Daniel Carter Beard, 1850
Martha Dandridge Custis Washington, 1731
Increase Mather, 1639


Today in History:

Jews are expelled from Nurenberg Bavaria by Emperor Maximillian, 1498
The Incident at Honno-ji takes place in Kyoto, Japan, 1582
In Montreal in New France, a slave known by the French name of Marie-Joseph Angélique is put to death, having been convicted of the arson that destroyed much of the city, 1734
Halifax, Nova Scotia, is founded, 1749
The first Victoria Cross is awarded during the bombardment of Bomarsund in the Åland Islands, 1854
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police fire a volley into a crowd of unemployed war veterans, killing two, during the Winnipeg General Strike, 1919
The first successful west-to-east navigation of Northwest Passage begins at Vancouver, British Columbia, 1940
Columbia Records introduces the long-playing record album in a public demonstration at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City, 1948
Ellen Louks Fairclough is sworn in as Canada's first woman Cabinet Minister, 1957
In handing down the decision in Miller v. California 413 US 15, the Supreme Court of the United States establishes the Miller Test for obscenity in U.S. law, 1973
SpaceShipOne becomes the first privately funded spaceplane  to achieve spaceflight, 2004.
Pluto's newly discovered moons are officially named Nix & Hydra, 2006
Greenland assumes self-rule, 2009

Wherever you go

there you are.

And  indeed, that's where i am.

No, i'm not on anything stronger than acetaminophen.  They did offer me lortab, or whatever it is, to sleep, but i declined, as i hate how i feel when i'm on that stuff.  My normal mental state is fuzzy enough, i don't need help from drugs.  Or interference, however you want to see it.

The night was mostly sleepless as is normal in a hospital.  As i told the nurse, it's okay, i'm not here to sleep, i'm here to get meds.  She liked that.

Also, i'm trying to be a balanced patient.  You don't want to be one of those that treat nurses like waitstaff and have a bad attitude and expect to be catered to every moment so that they are so relieved to see you go they wouldn't care if you went out feet first.  Nor do you want to be one of those to whom they screech, "Why didn't you tell me your IV line was bleeding 20 minutes ago!!!" and they have to hear a response such as, i didn't want to bother you, or, i thought it would stop soon.

You want to be somewhere in the middle of that.

Since i was on an IV that made noises every 30 seconds or so all night, it meant not much sleep, just fits and starts.  And because the IV pump is plugged into the wall, i had to learn how to unplug my "leash" and take it with me on my frequent trips to the WC.  Also, it's as cold as brass in winter in here (even the nurse was wearing thermal underwear, i kid you not, when we talked about it she showed me) and with my extra blanket it wasn't enough.  When i'm cold, i don't sleep well.

As soon as i reasonably could i called Bigger Girl to get her to drop off another extra blanket on her way to work.  She did, and said she was going to work with cows, playing cow poke to move them along.  She made me laugh by promising not to punch any cows if i promised not to punch any nurses.

Breakfast was as i feared.   In Edwardian England, when you said "vegetarian", and there were plenty of them, people gave you vegetables and fruit.  Now, you say "vegetarian" and they give you white bread, white flour biscuits, white rice, white potatoes, grits, etc., then wonder why you don't eat.  It took talking it through with a nutrition specialist to get fruit and pure fruit juice.  He also has realized i mean it when i say i want salad at every meal, no dressing.  No bread, no dairy, no sugary dessert.  Usually, i only eat raw food, but in desperate times i'm going ahead and eating oatmeal -- yes, i mean it when i say don't put sugar or milk on it!  The veggies are cooked, too, but at least they are used to low fat diets and don't worry about it when i say no butter.  Restaurants often ignore that request.

For dinner, i gave in and ate the "modified" beans and rice.  That means they made it for restricted diets, no meat, no added sodium, just cooked beans and cooked white rice, and i scraped off and ate the beans and left most of the rice.

What really strikes me as funny in hospitals is how they serve you breakfast at 7am, lunch at 11am, and supper at 4pm, no snacks between, and then wonder why patients are about to chew their arms off by midnight.

The wonderful doctor in charge of me, whose name i cannot pronounce, came in and looked at me around noon and said i'm not progressing as quickly as she would like.  (No gory details, i promise, and no pics of the swelling and such.  The camera phone wouldn't take a good enough picture so close anyway.)  So she has added two more antibiotics, including one that we give cats when they have the runs for no specific reason we can find.  Somehow, between that and the cooked food and the fact that i am not getting my usual probiotic, i'm probably going to be, well, to be delicate, as "irregular" as some French verbs the time i get out of here.

Ol' Bessy is mostly behaving, except when the nurse ran over her cord with the IV pole and she decided she was unplugged and being an old gal she can't hold her charge and hibernated.  It took a while, but with replugging everything and giving her time to get more juice in her, she's back up and running.

My own doctor came in and told me that i will probably be here until Thursday, maybe longer.  It all depends.  If it improves soon, great.  If not, surgical consult.  We don't want that.

Sweetie is working at the church and trying to hold down the fort at home with the help of the kids.  They are feeding the kittens, and Miss W dropped them some more formula.

One of the pastors from the church came to visit, which surprised me.  They are busier than the one legged man in a butt kicking contest over there this week, so i figured there wasn't going to be time for any of them to get away.  You get over 1,000 guests on your campus for 5 days and you are busy!

As is typical in a hospital (or anywhere else in life, whom am i trying to kid?), every time i was indisposed in some way someone came or tried to call.  Miss W, my dad, my mom, all tried to call when i was having the IV changed or was talking to a doctor.  The hospital chaplain came in just at the same time as the person from nutrition services.  Sometimes it's a circus.

Then everyone is gone just as suddenly, and that's when i rest or get online.  It doesn't last long.




Today is

Aimless Wandering Day -- use the extra daylight to wander someplace with nothing particular to do

American Eagle Day

Anne and Samantha Day -- remembrance for Anne Frank and Samantha Smith, and their contributions to our world

Cuckoo Warning Day -- if you hear the cuckoo today, it will be a wet summer

Daylight Appreciation Day

Day of the National Flag -- Argentina (Anniversary of General D. Manuel Belgrano's Death)

Feast of the Great Spirit / Great Mystery -- various Native Americans (through tomorrow)
     Cherokee call the spirit Asgaya Galun Lati
     Iroquois call the spirit Orenda
     Lakota call the spirit Wakan Tanka
     Zuni call the spirit Awonawilona

Festival for Summanus -- Ancient Roman Calendar (the god who threw thunderbolts at night)

Festival of the New Knee -- Fairy Calendar

Finally Summer Day -- Summer Solstice

Hogueras de San Juan -- Alicante, Spain (through the 29th, with the night of the 24th being the most magical as the festival is for St. John, whose day that is)

Hump Day -- Tasmania (because it is the shortest in the year, Taswegians today feel they are over the "hump" of winter.)

Ice Cream Soda Day

International Surfing Day

Inti Raymi -- Inca (festival of the sun god Inti);Sacsayhuamán Andes Mountain Natives (winter solstice and New Year festival)

Iron Skegge's Day -- Vikings (martyrdom of Iron Skegge, who died defending the temples of Maeri against Christians)

Martyr's Day -- Eritrea

National Vanilla Milkshake Day

New Identity Day -- an internet generated holiday, just have fun thinking about who you might want to be for a day

Solstice -- 23:09 UT; related observances:
     Litha / Yule -- Wicca/Pagan (northern hemisphere / southern hemisphere)
     Midsummer -- Midsummer Festivals begin -- Juhannus Day in Finland and Midsommar in Denmark and Norway, celebrated over the next several days in many Scandinavian traditions; often this time is also associated with betrayal, as the sunlight begins to decrease, this is when Baldur was betrayed, as well as Sigurd.
     Midsummer Baal -- Ancient Celtic Calendar

St. Michelina of Pesaro's Day (Patron of mentally ill people, people with in-law problems, widows; against death of children, insanity and mental illness)

Takekiri Eshiki Matsuri -- Kuramadera, Kyoto, Japan (bamboo cutting festival)

Wadjet Summer Solstice Ceremony -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate, but probably at solstice)

World Refugee Day -- UN


Anniversaries Today:

The University of Oxford receives its charter, 1214
West Virginia becomes the 35th US state, 1863


Birthdays Today:

Nicole Kidman, 1967
John Goodman, 1952
Lionel Richie, 1949
Bob Vila, 1946
Anne Murray, 1945
Brian Wilson, 1942
Danny Aiello, 1933
Martin Landau, 1931
Chet Atkins, 1924
Audie Murphy, 1924
Jean-Jacques Bertrand, 1916
Errol Flynn, 1909
Lillian Hellman, 1905
Scipio Africanus, BC236


Today in History:

Flavius Aetius' battles Attila the Hun; the battle was inconclusive, and Attila retreats, causing the Romans to interpret it as a victory, 451
Jews are expelled from Brazil by order of regent Don Henrique, 1567
The Irish  village of Baltimore is attacked by Algerian  pirates, 1631
A British garrison is imprisoned in the Black Hole of Calcutta, 1756
King Louis XVI of France and his immediate family begin the Flight to Varennes during The French Revolution, 1791
The U.S. vessel SS Savannah, the first steam-propelled vessel to cross the Atlantic, arrives at Liverpool, 1819
Queen Victoria succeeds to the British throne, 1837
Samuel Morse receives the patent for the telegraph, 1840
Alexander Graham Bell installs the world's first commercial telephone service in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, 1877
Caroline Willard Baldwin becomes the first woman to earn a doctor of science degree, at Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 1895
A rare June hurricane struck Canada's Gulf of St. Lawrence killing 35, 1959
The so-called "red telephone" is established between the Soviet Union and the United States following the Cuban Missile Crisis, 1963
The German parliament decides to move the capital from Bonn back to Berlin, 1991
The Wikimedia Foundation is founded in St. Petersburg, Florida, 2003

Sunday evening, my doctor told me to take an extra dose of antibiotic, and come see him in the morning.


Mostly i didn't sleep, but i was at his office at 7:45am.  My left hand looked scratched and bit but not too bad.  The right was swollen more, but he wasn't excessively concerned.  Yet.


He wanted me to get a splint, so i went to the medical device place where i discovered two things.  One, my insurance is no good there unless specific doctors have prescribed the device, and two, what my doc wanted, to keep the hand totally immobile, has to be custom made, which takes up to a week.


Instead i rigged a wrist wrap with a piece of stiff plastic, and immobilized my hand myself.  Nothing like not having time and money to do it the hard way to get you to think of a perfectly good easy way.


After being immobile for hours, as i napped or kept it elevated, it was swelling more.  Back to the doctor at around 3pm, and he took one look and said, "Hospital."


So i begged for one hour to pack and get back, which he was able to give me.  After all, admissions is open until 5pm, after that you have to go to the ER and sit around for 6 hours to get admitted.  A whirlwind trip home and i was back in under and hour.  The orders for admission hadn't even quite come through yet.


Sweetie had picked up Bigger Girl from work and dropped her at the hospital to see what room i would be in and get the car, which she will need.  Meanwhile, he has solo performances in the final rehearsal for Wednesday's big to do at church, so i told him to get his rump up there.  Better to have him up there singing his heart out on stage than sitting around the hospital bored.

Admissions was a hoot.  The nice person who walked me to my room thought i was a comedian, but i told her that my jokes and a few bucks will still only get you a cup of coffee.  She loved that, too.


Sunday night, on top of everything else, Ol' Bessy, my aging, ailing laptop, had decided she wouldn't get online without an ethernet cable directly into the router.  So it was with trepidation Monday that i brought her to the hospital with me. 


When i plugged her in, i didn't expect much, but she fired right up and connected with the hospital wifi with no trouble.  It's A Miracle!


Meanwhile, too everyone who asked, from physician assistant to nurse assistant to nurse to lab tech to doctor, i used the line that i decided to move a cat that didn't want to move and it won.  Seems i'm getting rave reviews upstairs, too.


The nurses are fabulous.  When i told the first one i was vegetarian, she pushed the doc to get me on the vegetarian regimen.  So dinner actually had a few things that i could eat, which was nice.  Then Bigger Girl brought me some real food from the salad bar at the health store, which was nicer.


The kids, as far as i can tell, are pulling together to keep kittens fed and stuff going at the house.  When i left, Little Girl was folding clothes.


Miss W was called and she will bring extra formula powder so the kids won't run out.  They know that it is very possible i will miss my shift cleaning the shelter on Friday.


But i am up here, bag and baggage, with my hand still swelling worse, with IV antibiotics doing what they are supposed to do.  The rest is up to the Good Lord.


Thibodeaux's son had become a doctor, so when Boudreaux decided he needed a new doctor, he decided his best friend's son was just the one.  So he went in and Dr. Thibodeaux examined him thoroughly.


Then Boudreaux axed, "So, what you tink, Doc?  Am i gone live to be 100?"


And Dr. Thibodeaux he say, "Now Boudreaux, you don' smoke, right?"  "Das right," Boudreaux answered.


"And you don' drink none either?" the doctor continued.  "Mais, no, i don' need none dat stuff!" Boudreaux replied.


"You not into fas' cars and loose wimmen and carousing, are you?" Dr. Thibodeaux went on.  "Now, you done knowed me since you was a bebe, Dr. Thibodeaux!  You know i don' go messin' aroun' on my Clothile, and the only car I ever done loved is my 1949 truck!"


"Well, den." the doc finally said, "wha' for you wan' to live to be 100?"






Today is

Birthday of José Gervasio Artigas / "Never Again" Day -- Uruguay

Butterfly Day -- an ecard holiday; if you know someone who loves butterflies, send an ecard, let them know you are thinking of them

Day of the Independent Hungary -- Hungary

Festival for Minerva -- Ancient Roman Calendar (goddess of arts, crafts, skill, war, and intelligence)

Festival of the Coming Ice Age -- can't find out anything about this one, but it sounds hilarious

Garfield the Cat Day (his birthday)

Iroquois Green Bean Ceremony -- Iroquois Native Americans (thanks for the bean harvest; through the 22nd)

Juneteenth -- US, celebrates the news of freedom on the day it came to slaves on Galveston Island, Texas

Labour Day -- Trinidad and Tobago

National Martini Day

New Church Day -- Swedenborgian Christian

Royal Ascot -- Ascot Racecourse, Ascot, Berkshire, England (through the 23rd)

Rusalka's Week begins -- Slavic Pagan Calendar (week long festival to honor the divinity of rivers)

Spooky Stories Appreciation Night -- because someone thought it would be a good night to tell a few scary tales

St. Boniface of Querfurt's Day (Patrn of Prussia)

St. Jude's Day (Patron of desperate situations, forgotten/impossilbe/lost causes, hospitals, hospital workers; Saint Petersburg, FL, US)

Tiger-Get-By's Second Birthday -- Fairy Calendar

World Sauntering Day

World Sicle Cell Day


Anniversaries Today:

Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, marries Sophie Rhys-Jones, 1999


Birthdays Today:

Zoe Saldana, 1978
Mia Sara, 1967
Paula Abdul, 1962
Kathleen Turner, 1954
Phylicia Rashad, 1948
Salman Rushdie, 1947
Elaine "Spanky" McFarlane, 1942
Gena Rowlands, 1930
Louis Jourdan, 1919
Pauline Kael, 1919
Pat Buttram, 1915
Lou Gehrig, 1903
Guy Lombardo, 1902
Moe Howard, 1897
Wallis Simpson, 1896
Charles H. Spurgeon, 1834
Blaise Paschal, 1623
King James I of England and VI of Scotland, 1566


Today in History:

King Louis IX of France orders all Jews  found in public without an identifying yellow badge to be fined ten livres  of silver, 1269
The Earl of Pembroke's army defeats Bruce's Scottish army at the Battle of Methven, 1306
English colonists leave Roanoke Island, N.C., after failing to establish England's first permanent settlement in America, 1586
Emanuel Swedenborg reports the completion of the Second Coming of Christ in his work True Christian Religion, 1770
Battle of Seven Oaks between North West Company and Hudson's Bay Company, near Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, 1816
The first officially recorded, organized baseball match was played under Alexander Joy Cartwright's rules on Hoboken's Elysian Fields (Hoboken, New Jersey)with the New York Base Ball Club defeating the Knickerbockers 23-1; Cartwright umpired, 1846
Over two years after the Emancipation Proclamation, slaves in Galveston, Texas, United States, are finally informed of their freedom; the anniversary is still officially celebrated in Texas and 35 other states as Juneteenth, 1865
Maximilian I of the Mexican Empire is executed by a firing squad in Querétaro, Querétaro, 1867
After all of the Southern States are formally readmitted to the United States, the Confederate States of America ceases to exist, 1870
The Herzegovinian rebellion against the Ottoman Empire begins, 1875
The first Father's Day is celebrated in Spokane, Washington, 1910
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg are executed at Sing Sing, in New York, 1953
Kuwait declares independence from the United Kingdom, 1961
In one of the first militant attacks by Hezbollah, David S. Dodge, president of the American University in Beirut, is kidnapped, 1982
Norway ratifies the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention of 1989, 1990
Prime ministers of several northern European nations participate in a ceremonial "laying of the first stone" at the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Spitsbergen, Norway, 2006

Crazy, You Know Better!

Those were my words to myself after, because really i do.

Someone from the rescue needed help getting a cat out of a carrier.  The cat is normally sweet tempered and purrs at the drop of a hat, but she was scared.  The other lady knew the cat better, it was used to her, but she was busy, so i tried to get it out.

By the time we got the animal back under control and in the carrier, blood was everywhere.  Both of my hands were chewed and scratched, the right one was worse.

Within half an hour i was in the small extension ER around the corner, it being closer than its sister facility, and less crowded this time.  The physician assistant looked at it (no, the doctor never even bothered with me), they scrubbed me with antiseptic, put on hospital strength antibacterial salve, added a few band aids, and sent me home with an antibiotic prescription and instructions to watch it carefully.

Two hours later. i called me own doctor, who told me to ice it and added ibuprofen to the mix.

So my right hand is swollen into almost uselessness, but the increase in swelling has stopped and the ibuprofen has taken the edge off.

This is the kind of bite that sometimes ends in surgery.  That's just what a busy mom needs, right?  Especially with the week i had planned, helping with a major assembly occurring at the church all week.  Yes, i've been asking the Lord how He expects me to clean toilets and sweep floors at the church all week with one hand.

My sense of humor is intact, though, enough for me to say i haven't yet gotten an answer!


 Today is

Autistic Pride Day -- shifting the view from "disease" to "different"

Constitution Day / National Day -- Seychelles

Eid el-Galaa -- Egypt (Evacuation Day; final withdrawal of British this date in 1956)

Foundation Day -- Benguet, Philippines

Go Fishing Day -- anniversary of the first American fly-casting tournament in Utica, NY

Helen Keller Day -- sponsored by the Lions Clubs

International Picnic Day

International Sushi Day

National Cherry Tart Day

National Heroes' Day -- Bermuda

National Oldtime Fiddlers’ Contest and Festival -- Weiser, ID, US (through the 23rd)

National Splurge Day -- adriennesiouxkoopersmith.blogspot.com

Queen Mother's Birthday -- Cambodia

Sagrado Corazon -- Colombia (Sacred Heart Day)

Solmanudur / Sun Month begins -- Icelandic Calendar

St. Gregory of Fragalata's Day (Patron of Fragalata, Sicily)

St. Osanna Andreasi's Day (Patron of school girls)

Tiger-Get-By's Birthday -- Fairy Calendar

Waterloo Day -- UK


Birthdays Today:

Nathan Morris, 1971
Carol Kane, 1952
Isabella Rossellini, 1952
Roger Ebert, 1942
Paul McCartney, 1942
Red Adair, 1915
E.G. Marshall, 1910
Bud Collyer, 1908
Jeanette MacDonald, 1903
Grand Duchess Anastasia Nicolaievna Romanova of Russia, 1901
E.W. Scripps, 1854


Today in History:

Li Yuan becomes Emperor Gaozu of Tang, initiating three centuries of Tang Dynasty rule over China, 618
Five monks from Canterbury report seeing "two horns of light" on the shaded side of the moon, probably witnessing the meteor impact formation of the Giordano Bruno crater, 1178
The Parliament of Ireland meets at Castledermot in County Kildare, the first definitively known meeting of this Irish legislature, 1264
French forces under the leadership of Joan of Arc defeat the main English army under Sir John Fastolf at the Battle of Patay, 1429
Samuel Wallis, an English sea captain, sights Tahiti and is considered the first European to reach the island, 1767
The U.S. Congress  declares war on the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, 1812
The Battle of Waterloo leads to Napoleon Bonaparte abdicating the throne of France for the second and last time, 1815
Charles Darwin receives a paper from Alfred Russel Wallace that includes nearly identical conclusions about evolution as Darwin's own, prompting Darwin to publish his theory, 1858
Susan B. Anthony is fined $100 (US) for attempting to vote in the prior year's US presidential election, 1873
Empress Dowager Longyu of China orders all foreigners killed, including foreign diplomats and their families, 1900
Aviator  Amelia Earhart becomes the first woman to fly as a passenger in an aircraft across the Atlantic Ocean, 1928
The "Finest Hour" speech is delivered by Winston Churchill, 1940
The Republic of Egypt is declared and the monarchy is abolished, 1953
Governor of Louisiana Earl K. Long is committed to a state mental hospital; he responds by having the hospital's director fired and replaced with a crony who proceeds to proclaim him perfectly sane, 1959
The AIDS epidemic is formally recognized by medical professionals in San Francisco, California, 1981
Astronaut Sally Ride becomes the first American woman in space, 1983
Kazakhstan launches its first satellite, KazSat, 2006

Happy Father's Day

To all the fathers out there.

The ones who ate leftovers without complaining.

The ones who came home tired and still played what felt like a zillion rounds of Candyland because mom was ill.

The ones who sat on the edge of the pool timing the races for swim meet, even in the heat, without asking for a break.

The ones who did and still do their best every day to be good fathers, unsung most of the time.

Thanks for being there, Dad.

Today is

Bunker Hill Day -- Suffolk County, MA, US (actual date; will be observed tomorrow)

Eat All of Your Vegetables Day / Fresh Veggies Day -- yes, i have this listed yesterday, too; internet sites disagree about the actual date, and you need your veggies today, too!

Father's Day -- El Salvador; Guatemala; Puerto Rico; US

Husband Caregiver Day -- to honor husbands who give health care to family members (wives, children, or extended family)

Independence Day/National Day -- Iceland

International Violin Day -- Stravinsky's birth anniversary

Ludi Piscatari -- Ancient Roman Calendar (fishermen's festival)

National Apple Streudel Day

Okinawa Day -- Japan/US (remembrance of signing the treaty, in 1971, to return Okinawa to Japan)

Pirate Radio Day -- no actual pirate (i.e., unlicensed) radio stations will admit to declaring this a holiday, but what do you expect?

Soviet Occupation Day -- Latvia

St. Botulph of Ikanhoe's Day (Patron of agricultural and farm workers, sailors, travellers; Bossal, England; Boston, England; Boston, MA, US; Botesdale, England; Botolph Bridge, Huntingdonshire, Englad; Botolph's Bridge, Kent, Englad; Botolph, Sussex, England)

St. Herve's Day (Patron of the blind; against eye diseases and problems)

Toadstool-Squatting begins -- Fairy Calendar (Leprechauns)

Vice President's Remembrance Day -- not officially, just a day to see how many vice presidents you remember

World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought -- UN


Anniversaries Today

Orpheus marries the nymph Eurydice, Ancient Greek traditional date


Birthdays Today:

Mark Walker, 1999
Lee Ryan, 1983
Venus Williams, 1980
Dan Jansen, 1965
Joe Piscopo, 1951
Barry Manilow, 1946
Art Bell, 1945
Newt Gingrich, 1943
Gene De Paul, 1919
Ralph Bellamy, 1904
M.C. Escher, 1898
Igor Stravinsky, 1882


Today in History:

Vlad III the Impaler (a/k/a Vlad Dracul or Count Dracula) attempts to assassinate Mehmed II (The Night Attack) forcing him to retreat from Wallachia, 1462
Matsunaga Hisahide assassinates the 13th Ashikaga shogun, Ashikaga Yoshiteru, 1565
Sir Francis Drake claims a land he calls Nova Albion (modern California) for England, 1579
Mumtaz Mahal dies during childbirth; her husband, Mughal emperor Shah Jahan I, then spends more than 20 years building her tomb, the Taj Mahal, 1631
The Battle of Bunker Hill, 1775
In the Kingdom of Hawaii, Kamehameha III issues the Edict of toleration which gives Roman Catholics the freedom to worship in the Hawaiian Islands, 1839
1,500 Sioux and Cheyenne led by Crazy Horse beat back General George Crook's forces at Rosebud Creek in Montana Territory, 1876
The Statue of Liberty arrives in New York Harbor, 1885
The College Board introduces its first standardized test, the forerunner to the SAT, 1901
 "Barney Google" cartoon strip, by Billy De Beck, premieres, 1919
Iceland declares independence from Denmark and becomes a republic, 1944
The Wooden Roller Coaster at Playland, which is in the Pacific National Exhibition, Vancouver, Canada opens; it is still open today, 1958
The New Democratic Party of Canada is founded with the merger of the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) and the Canadian Labour Congress, 1961
Five White House operatives are arrested for burglarizing the offices of the Democratic National Committee at the Watergate Hotel, 1972
With the death of the last individual, the Dusky Seaside Sparrow becomes extinct, 1987
The South African Parliament repeals the Population Registration Act, which had required racial classification of all South Africans at birth, 1991
Australian scientists report that they have "teleported" a laser beam, breaking it up and reconstructing it in another location, 2002