Mom, I just had the worst...

...day at work!"  Bigger Girl came in looking downcast.

What happened?

"Well, Jody brought her pet bird, a macaw, and it was great!  At first.  She had to take it to the vet, and couldn't bring it back home because she had to give it medicine during the day.  So Ms. Sharon told me to put it in the closet in my cube."

Note that she calls the sterilization room, where she spends a great deal of time washing and sterilizing things, and which is a solid beige square room, her cube.

"Well, later on, someone noticed some DNA contamination had occurred in the lab, and they didn't know if it was the bird, because no other animals that are not part of their research are supposed to be on property, which is why they can't keep barn cats to help with the rodents, but anyway no other animals had been there so they thought it might be the bird, and to make sure nothing else happened or got contaminated, I had to rewash and re-sterilize EVERYTHING in the room!  It's going to take forever, and I've left my sanity in the sterilization room sink!"

That's too bad, i commiserated.

"Well, let me tell you, it's a good thing the Fourth is over.  You don't want to hand sparklers to the person who left her sanity in the sterilization room sink!"

Well, i can agree with that.


Today is

Action Mesothelioma Day -- UK (bringing "meso" cancer into the spotlight)

Birthday of the 14th Dalai Lama / World Tibet Day -- Tibetan Diaspora, to bring awareness to the cause of restoring freedom to Tibet

Buy Yourself a Toy You Always Wanted As a Child Day -- internet sites that list this suggest you then donate it to a child in need

Calgary Stampede -- Calgary, AB, Canada (100th Anniversary, The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth; through the 15th)

Day of the Capital -- Kazakhstan

Edmonton International Street Performers Festival -- Edmonton, Alberta, Canada (the finest street performers anywhere; through the 15th)

Ettelbruck Rememberance Day -- Ettelbruck, Luxembourg (remebrance of Patton's 3rd Army liberating the area from the Nazis)

Feast of Isaiah the Prophet -- Roman Catholic

Fill an Aquarium Day -- they are fun and entertaining; probably spread around the internet by an aficionado who wants to share the love

Fishermen's Day -- Marshall Islands

Great International Chicken Wing Society Cook Off -- Reno, NV, US (through the 8th)

Independence Day / National Day -- Comoros (1975)

Independence Day / Republic Day -- Malawi (1964)

Iriya no Asagao-ichi -- Kishibo-Jin Shrine, Taito Ward, Tokyo (morning glory flower festival, buy one for good luck, through the 8th)

Ivan Kupala Day -- Belarus; Poland; Russia; Ukraine (through tomorrow; Feast of St. John the Baptist in Orthodox Churches using the Julian Calendar)

Jan Hus Day -- Czech Republic

King Mindaugas Day / Statehood Day -- Lithuania

Laura Ingalls Wilder Pageant -- DeSmet, SD, US (get a taste of pioneer life, this weekend plus the next two)

Los Sanfermines -- Pamplona, Spain (bull running, through the 14th; don't be bored, be gored!)

Ludi Apollinares -- Ancient Roman Calendar (first day of games in honor of Apollo; through the 13th)

Millenial Fairy Olympics -- Fairy Calendar (through the 14th)

National Fried Chicken Day

Old Albums are Frisbees Day -- if you have nothing to play them on, and they are scratched anyway, why not?

Old-Time Fiddlers' Jamboree and Crafts Festival -- Smithville, TN, US (through tomorrow; with 32 categories of old-time bluegrass music!)

Pictou Lobster Carnival -- Pictou, NS, Canada (through the 8th)

Portland Historic Races -- Portland International Raceway, Portland, OR, US (through Sunday; if you love classic cars, and car races, this is the place to watch vintage cars, matched for age and horsepower, compete on a world class track)

Ra o te Ui Ariki -- Cook Islands (House of Ariki[Tribal Chief])

Shab e-Barat -- Bangladesh (Night of Records)

St Godelieve of Ghistelles's Day (Patron of difficult marriages, healthy throats, in-law problems, throat diseases, victims of abuse, victims of verbal spouse abuse)

St. Maria Goretti's Day (Patron of children, teen girls, martyrs, poor people, rape victims, young people; Albano, Italy; against poverty, the death of parents)

Take Your Webmaster to Lunch Day -- because your online business depends on keeping him/her happy and well fed; sponsored by Wellcat Holidays

Ways with Words -- Dartington, Devon, England (The UK's most stylish literature festival, through the 16th)



Birthdays Today

Matthew O'Leary, 1987
Gregory Smith, 1983
Tia and Tamera Mowry, 1978
Jennifer Saunders, 1958
Kenny G, 1956
Geoffrey Rush, 1951
George W. Bush, 1946
Sylvester Stallone, 1946
Burt Ward, 1945
Ned Beatty, 1937
Dalai Lama, 1935
Della Reese, 1932
Janet Leigh, 1927
Pat Paulsen, 1927
Merv Griffin, 1927
Bill Haley, 1925
William Schallert, 1922
Nancy Reagan, 1921
Sebastian Cabot, 1918
Laverne Andrews, 1915
Frida Kahlo, 1907
Beatrix Potter, 1866
John Paul Jones, 1747


Today in History

Richard I (Richard the Lionheart) is crowned King of England, 1189
Papal bull of Pope Clement VI protecting Jews during the Black Death, 1348
Jan Hus is burned at the stake, 1415
Richard III is crowned King of England, 1483
Portuguese sea captain Diogo Cão finds the mouth of the Congo River, 1484
Sir Thomas More is executed for treason against King Henry VIII, 1535
Córdoba, Argentina, is founded by Jerónimo Luis de Cabrera, 1573
The dollar is unanimously chosen as the monetary unit for the United States, 1785
In Jackson, Michigan, the first convention of the United States Republican Party is held, 1854
Louis Pasteur successfully tests his vaccine against rabies; the patient is Joseph Meister, a boy who was bitten by a rabid dog, 1885
David Kalakaua, monarch of the Kingdom of Hawaii, is forced at gunpoint, at the hands of the Americans, to sign the Bayonet Constitution giving Americans more power in Hawaii while stripping Hawaiian citizens of their rights, 1887
Dadabhai Naoroji elected as first Indian Member of Parliament in Britain, 1892
The British dirigible R34 lands in New York, completing the first crossing of the Atlantic Ocean by an airship, 1919
The first Major League Baseball All-Star Game is played in Chicago's Comiskey Park; the American League defeats the National League, 4–2, 1933
The last remaining Jewish enterprises in Germany are closed, 1939
Anne Frank and her family go into hiding in the "Secret Annexe" above her father's office in an Amsterdam warehouse, 1942
The Hartford Circus Fire, one of America's worst fire disasters, kills approximately 168 people and injures over 700 in Hartford, Connecticut, 1944
Davis Phinney became the first American cyclist to win a road stage of the Tour de France, 1986
The Nathula Pass between India and China, sealed during the Sino-Indian War, re-opens for trade after 44 years, 2006