Don't Drink the Water, Either

#1 Son came in to visit, see a home team game, and finish up the business with the auto transfer.  That involved getting the proof of insurance in his name, and then a trip up to the local mom and pop grocery store to visit the notary public for the act of donation.

In Louisiana, notaries have to take a very long, complicated course and pass it, and can do many of the same things lawyers can do.  They can't argue in front of the bar, but they are civil law notaries, commissioned for life, and can do many of the other things you need lawyers to do in other states.  That is because back in the day when this was established, some parishes would only have a lawyer or two at the parish seat, and it was up to notaries to take care of legal matters for anyone who couldn't travel that far, or didn't want to.  Sort of like us having public school text books, into the 1930s, that showed pictures of paved roads for the kids in the areas of the state that had never seen one.

Yes, it's true.  But i digress, again.

So the fact that we can find a notary at the local mom and pop grocery across the highway is a good thing.  Thus we went over for the paperwork, with licenses, title, insurance, and etc. in hand.  And money.  It always involved money.

The very nice notary up there asked what we were in for, and i said transferring title of a car to my son as an act of donation.  That means he's not paying me for it, and there's no tax involved in the transaction.  He looked up at my son and told him, "You're lucky they are giving it to you."

"Yes, but it's old, 130,000+ miles," he said.

"What's a young guy like you doing with such an old car?" he asked.

"It will do until I can get more settled up in Kansas," #1 Son answered.  "Besides, it doesn't matter so much what it looks like if it drives well."

"What in the world is up in Kansas that you are going up there?"

"My new job and my fiancee," he grinned.

"Oh, a girl.  You don't ever put her in the back of the car, do you?"

"No," he answered.  "Her parents are strict, and I like that."

Besides, i interjected, my kids know i don't want to see any grandkids until there are rings on those fingers.

#1 Son smiled at me and the notary said, "Well, be careful.  My wife got pregnant 7 times in the back of my Oldsmobile.  Never trust an Oldsmobile.  Here, sign this at the yellow x."

After all the signing, he said, "You should get your new title within 2 weeks.  If not, come back here and I will redo the paperwork for free.  If you wait more than 30 days, I have to charge you the fees again."

"Oh, one more thing," he said.  "Be careful up there, tornadoes.  And don't forget, stay out of the back seat."

"I will" my son answered.

Maybe he shouldn't drink the water while he's at it.  Just in case.


Today is:

Anne Bradstreet Day -- Massachusetts, US (by Proclamation of the Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to honor Anne Bradstreet, America’s first poet, who is also recognized as the first published woman poet in the English language)

Biosphere Day -- Noosaville, Australia

Cherokee Strip Day -- Oklahoma, US (anniversary of the last land run, in 1893, which opened Native American land to white settlers)

Collect Rocks Day -- i guess it means besides all the ones in my head

Crown Prince's Birthday -- Tonga

Eleven Days of Global Unity -- Day 6, Children & Youth (sponsored by We, the World)

Festival for Ra, Osiris, and Horus -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Independence Day -- Malaysia(1963); Mexico(1910); Papua New Guinea(1975)

International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer -- UN (commemorates the signing, in 1987, of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer)

Martyrs' Day -- Libya

Mayflower Day -- the ship left England on this day

National Cinnamon Raisin Bread Day

National Guacamole Day

National Heroes' Day -- St. Kitts and Nevis

National Play-Doh Day -- unofficial; get some anyway and be a kid again for a little while

Owain Glyndwr Day -- Wales

Rosh Hashanah -- Judaism (begins at sundown)

St. Cornelius' Day (Patron of cattle, domestic animals, earache sufferers, epileptics; Kornelimunster, Germany;against earache, epilepsy, fever, twitching )

St. Cyprian of Carthage's Day (Patron of Algeria, North Africa)

St. Euphemia's Day (Patron of Rovinj, Croatia)

St. Ludmilla's Day (Grandmother of St. "Good King" Winceslaus; Patron of converts, duchesses, widows; Bohemia; Czech Republic; against in-law problems)

Stepfamily Day -- US and others who choose to recognize it (if you have stepfamily you love, celebrate it wherever you live)

Tolkien Week begins

Wife Appreciation Day -- unofficially celebrated the 3rd Sunday in September

Women's Friendship Day -- created by Kappa Delta Sorority, meant to encourage women to celebrate their bonds with friends

Working Parents Day -- internet generated, enjoy if you are a working parent or have a working parent you want to thank


Birthdays Today:

Marc Anthony, 1968
Jennifer Tilly, 1961
David Copperfield, 1956
Mickey Rourke, 1956
Robin Yount, 1955
Ed Begley, Jr., 1949
Peter Falk, 1927
B.B. King, 1925
Lauren Bacall, 1924
Allen Funt, 1914
James Cash Penney, 1875
Hildegard of Bingen, 1098


Today in History:

The Massachusetts village of Shawmut changes its name to Boston, 1630
Handel's "The Messiah" premiers in Dublin, 1741
The Great Seal of the United States is used for the first time, 1782
Russians set fire to Moscow shortly after midnight – the city burns down completely days later, 1812
Slavery is abolished in all French Territories, 1848
The Cherokee Strip, in Oklahoma, is opened, making land available to white settlers, 1893
Roald Amundsen discovers the magnetic south pole, 1906
William Durant, carriage-maker, founds General Motors Corp., 1908
Juan Perón is deposed in Argentina, 1955
Malaysia is formed, 1963
Cape Verde, Mozambique and Sao Tome and Principe join the United Nations, 1975
Shavarsh Karapetyan saves 20 people from the trolleybus that had fallen into Erevan reservoir, 1976
An earthquake measuring 7.5-7.9 on the Richter scale hits the city of Tabas, Iran killing about 25,000 people, 1978
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines join the United Nations, 1980
The Montreal Protocol is signed to protect the ozone layer from depletion, 1987
The Pound Sterling is forced out of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism by currency speculators and is forced to devalue against the German mark, 1992
Denmark elects its first female Prime Minister, Helle Thorning-Schmidt, 2011