And Another Thing

Every time i think we have plans set, it's another thing.

Monday morning i woke up ready to run a few quick errands, pick up a few things, and get back in time for the arrival of the Sheba and her retinue.

Just as i was pulling out of the parking lot of the store, i got a call from one of my best friends.  Sherry is one brave lady, 5 years older than me, back in school for her master's degree.  She is majoring in things like disaster preparedness and responses to terrorism.  She is part of the Red Cross here, in charge of several things. and knows everyone who is in charge of emergency responses around here.

She was supposed to be in a meeting by 9am, and helping open a shelter later in the day, after her classes.  Instead, she called me at 7:30am to tell me she had just been rear ended, and could i come get her.

Her car was broken, she had just dropped her husband at work in his car, and he was trying to get a ride to her location.  Meanwhile, a serious neck injury several years ago is always compounded when she is pushed or knocked around in any way.  Her speech was already slurring.

Thanks to the traffic, it took me quite a while to get to her, but we were at the ER soon after, her husband taking care of the car, and the one of her eight children who was home and didn't have work that day ready to go get his license (he had lost his, and went to get it replaced) and then meet us.

The diagnosis was slight brain swelling with no hemorrhage, thank goodness.  She was given anti-inflammatory medication and sent home, with everyone to watch and make sure she didn't get a headache or more speech trouble.  They expect the slightly blurred vision and pressure to clear up.

When i got back home, many hours later than i expected, it was to a call from Grandpa.  Their generator has been fixed, the storm is not as bad as feared, he has consulted several experts he knows, they are not coming before today.

We still may end up with Sheba, but not for as long.

Meanwhile, schools are closing, people are battening down the hatches, and at Sweetie's work, all are on high alert.  They will be required to stay on site starting Wednesday for the duration.

#1 Son arrived home safely.  We've refilled prescriptions and had our generator do a successful test run.

Monday was a beautiful, sunny day, all the laundry got done that really desperately needed it and dried on the line.

Updates will be forthcoming as i can.

Oh, and if you want irony, look at the last item in today's History section.


Today is

Be Kind to Humankind Week:  Touch a Heart Tuesday

Birthday of Nephthys -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Crackers Over the Keyboard Day -- internet generated: are we supposed to go crackers over our keyboard, or tempt fate by eating crackers over our keyboard?

Festival for Luna -- Ancient Roman Calendar

Festival for Sol -- Ancient Roman Calendar

National Cheese Sacrifice Day (Now you know why you purchased the cheese for the sacrifice! To let it age properly before the actual sacrifice. Still doesn't answer why we sacrifice it, anyway, or to whom.)

National Cherry Turnover Day

Race Your Mouse Around the Icons Day -- Wellcat Holidays suggests this to pep yourself up as you wait for things to come up on the screen

St. Augustine of Hippo's Day (Patron of brewers, printers, theologians; Bridgeport, Connecticut; Cagayan de Oro, Philippines; Carpineto Romano, Italy; Ida, Philippines; Isleta Indian Pueblo; Kalamazoo, Michigan; Ponte Nizza, Italy; Saint Augustine, Florida; Superior, Wisconsin; Tucson, Arizona; Valletta, Malta; against sore eyes)

St. Hermes of Rome's Day (Patron of Acquapendente, Italy; Forte dei Marmi, Lucca, Italy)

Subway Day -- this date in 1965, 17-year-old Fred DeLuca opened what became the first Subway Sandwich Shop

Tvimanuor -- Old Icelandic Calendar (Double Month begins)


Birthdays Today

LeAnn Rimes, 1982
Jack Black, 1969
Jason Priestley, 1969
Shania Twain, 1965
Scott Hamilton, 1958
Ben Gazzara, 1930
Charles Boyer, 1899
Leo Tolstoy, 1828
Elizabeth Ann Seton, 1774
Johann von Goethe, 1749


Today in History

The Third Crusade begins with the siege of Acre, 1189
6,000 Jews are killed in Mainz, accused of being the cause of the plague, 1349
St. Augustine, FL, founded, making it the oldest continuously occupied European city and port in the US, 1565
Henry Hudson discovers Delaware Bay, 1609
William Herschel discovers a new moon of Saturn, 1789
The first steam locomotive in the US, the "Tom Thumb", runs from Baltimore to Ellicotts Mill, 1830
The first issue of Scientific American magazine is published, 1845
The United States takes possession of the, at this point unoccupied, Midway Atoll, 1867
Caleb Bradham renames his carbonated soft drink "Pepsi-Cola", 1898
James E. Casey begins the United Parcel Service in Seattle, WA, 1907
WEAF in NYC airs the very first radio commercial, for Queensboro Realty, at a cost of $100 for ten minutes, 1922
Toyota Motors becomes an independent company, 1937
Nippon Television broadcasts Japan's first tv show and ad, 1953
Motown releases what would be its first #1 hit, "Please Mr. Postman" by The Marvelettes, 1961
Martin Luther King, Jr. gives his I Have a Dream speech; Emily Hoffert and Janice Wylie are murdered in their Manhattan flat, prompting the events that would lead to the passing of the Miranda Rights, 1963
The National Centers for Disease Control announce a high incidence of pneumocystis and Kaposi's sarcoma in gay men; these will soon be recognized as symptoms of an immune disorder, which will be called AIDS, 1981
Iraq declares Kuwait to be its newest province, 1990
Charles, Prince of Wales and Diana, Princess of Wales divorce, 1996
An electric blackout leaves 500,000 + without power and shuts down 60% of London's Underground, 2003
Hurricane Katrina begins to make landfall on the Gulf of Mexico, 2005