Always on Friday After 3:30

 It was a typical Friday in that i was downstairs scooping the litter boxes while Dave Ramsey was giving someone advice.  That's when i heard the thunk of #2 Son's steel-toed boots stepping over the boxes we use to keep the tiniest kittens in the kitchen when they are too young to run around the house.

The thunk was followed by a mew, and #2 Son yelling in distress.  One of the kittens had run right under his foot as he stepped over, and was limping.

By the time i got into the kitchen, he was holding the kitten which had blood dripping from its foot.  He headed right for the car, no carrier, just the kitten in his hands, and i grabbed wallet, phone, and keys, and ran after him.

Of course, i thought, these things only happen on Fridays after 3:30, when most vets have headed home already.  A call as i drove through the neighborhood to the highway confirmed that indeed, Dr. Bea, my favorite and the closest vet, had left the office already.

That meant i had to jump on the interstate and go straight to the emergency clinic that is just a mile up the road from the shelter.  While on the way, i called the shelter and asked to speak to either Cathy or Miss W. immediately.  When Cathy came to the phone, i told her the situation and asked her to call ahead and authorize the vet visit.

As much as i hate merging onto interstate traffic and talking on the phone (in fact, i consider being on the phone in the car a major no-no, and i make the kids answer), this was one time i'm glad i did, as the lady behind the counter was ready to take little Romani back there with no hesitation.  Usually they have a bucketload of paperwork, wanting to be certain someone is responsible to pay.  This time, it had already been faxed to them.

#2 Son was distraught as we left, so i took him straight home.  Then Little Girl and i got up to the shelter to do our usual Friday routine.  On they way they called us.  It looked worse than it was, a laceration that they had already glued shut and bandaged.  She needs antibiotics for ten days to make sure there is no infection.  After all, i agree -- those boots of his get worn to the creek and tons of other places, heaven only knows what's on them.

We picked her up after we finished at the shelter.

She has a pink camo bandage on her left hind leg, and is still so young she was just learning to walk right anyway, so now she just rolls in circles. 

She goes back for a recheck on Monday, but i may take her to Dr. Bea for that.  The animal emergency people are nice, they are a regular vet's office, too, but if it's not an emergency they make the shelter cats wait until all the paying clients have been seen and they have a minute between appointments to tend to them.  This means you bring the shelter cat to them in the morning and it may not be seen for several hours.  She's too little to go several hours, as she needs her bottle.

Always on a Friday.  If there's going to be excitement, it's going to be on a Friday, after 3:30.


Today is:

American Beer Day

Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival -- Banff, AB, Canada (38th annual; through next Sunday)

Big Bang Day -- London, England

Blue Ridge Folklife Festival -- Ferrum College, Ferrum, VA, US (largest celebration of authentic folkways of Virginia)

Boxer Shorts Day -- ?????

Cernova Tragedy Day -- Slovakia

Cranky Co-Worker's Day -- because we all have occasional bad days; sponsored by Wellcat Holidays

Emma Crawford Festival and Memorial Coffin Race -- Manitou Springs, CO, US (spooky fun for the whole family)

Feast of Osiris in Abydos -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Forgiveness Day -- a day to reconcile or forgive, for your own peace of mind; sponsored by Positive Peaceful Partners and the Center of Unconditional Love

Good Bear Day -- on Theodore Roosevelt's birthday, celebrating the stuffed toy created in his honor

Gormanudr -- Old Icelandic Calendar (beginning of "Innards Month," after all the animals have been butchered and fresh innards figure predominantly in the menu, as the rest of the meat has been preserved for winter)

Hogeye Festival -- Elgin, TX, US (Road Hog Car Show, crowning of King Hog and Queen Sowpreme, Cow Patty Bingo, and more!)

Independence Day -- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines(1979); Turkmenistan(1991)

London Bridge Days -- Lake Havasu City, AZ, US (come celebrate London Bridge; through tomorrow)

Make A Difference Day -- US (Whoopie Goldberg once said that if every American would donate 5 volunteer hours a week, it would be the equivalent of several million full time jobs; whether or not it's strictly accurate, volunteering is a great thing to do no matter where you live.)

National Potato Day

Navy Day -- US (on T.R.'s birth anniversary)

Radio Day -- US (US Commerce Dept. issued the first broadcasting license this date in 1920)

Scared Silly: Halloween in Prospect Park -- Brooklyn, NY, US (hauntingly good fun all weekend)

St. Frumentius' Day (Patron of Abyssinia; Ethiopia)

Sylvia Plath Day

Texas Book Festival -- Austin, TX, US (one of the nation's most prestigious literary festivals, especially celebrating renowned Texas authors; through tomorrow)

Tunch Puddling -- Fairy Calendar (a contest of throwing twigs in a pond -- awards are for artistically thrown twigs and throwing style, among other things)

World Day for Audiovisual Heritage -- International

Xterra Kapalua Trail Run -- Kapalua, Maui, HI, US (extreme trail runs of 6k and 10k; through tomorrow)

Yambilee Festival -- Opelousas, LA, US (a sweet festival, all about the nutrient packed sweet potato; through the 30th)


Birthdays Today:

Jayne Kennedy, 1951
Carrie Snodgrass, 1946
John Cleese, 1939
Ruby Dee, 1924
Roy Lichtenstein, 1923
Bette Babray, 1920
Dylan Thomas, 1914
Emily Post, 1872
Theodore Roosevelt, 1858
Niccolo Paganini, 1782
Captain James Cook, 1728
Erasmus, 1466


Today in History:

Constantine the Great is said to have received his Vision of the Cross, 312
Founding of the city of Amsterdam, 1275
Founding of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1682
US Navy forms, 1775
Missouri governor Lilburn Boggs issues the Extermination Order, which orders all Mormons to leave the state or be exterminated, 1838
R.H. Macy & Co. opens its first store, on 6th Ave. in NYC, 1858
Boss Tweed is arrested, 1871
The first underground New York City Subway line opens, 1904
The first published reference to "jazz" appears, in Variety, 1916
Chuhei Numbu of Japan sets the long jump record at 26' 2 1/2", 1931
"You Bet Your Life," with Groucho Marx, premiers on ABC radio, 1947*
Benjamin O. Davis Jr. becomes the first African-American general in the United States Air Force, 1954
Mauritania and Mongolia join the United Nations, 1961
The British government suddenly deregulates financial markets, leading to a total restructuring of the way in which they operate in the country, in an event now referred to as the Big Bang, 1986
The U.S. prison population tops 1 million for the first time in American history, 1994
Gliese 229B is the first Substellar Mass Object to be unquestionably identified, 1994
Stock markets around the world crash because of fears of a global economic meltdown, 1997
The Boston Red Sox win the World Series for the first time in 86 years, 2004
The SSETI Express micro-satellite is successfully launched from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome, 2005


*(Ultimate result of this a few years later is, of course, the funniest line ever on TV, when a man with 8 kids admitted to Mr. Marx that he did indeed love his wife, and Groucho countered with, "I love my cigar, too, but I take it out of my mouth sometimes!")