Bowling and Watermelon

Sweetie came in from work shaking his head, and said, "You aren't going to believe what's going on at work!"

At the moment, i thought better than to say that i would believe almost anything from the place where he words, and he continued on.

"The Big Boss has decided he needs to work on morale, so guess what we are going to do one day this week?"

When i couldn't for the life of me guess, he said, "We get to go bowling!"

Really?

"Yes!  They are paying for everything, and we even get to eat there, all we want.  Can you believe this?  I'm not sure what's gotten into him."

So, will you be bowling? i asked, hoping not.  His thumb is not quite healed up, and if he reinjures it he might never be able to play guitar correctly again.

"Are you crazy?  Of course not!" he said.  "No, but since I know how, and was pretty good at it once upon a time, I get to coach some of the younger ones who have never bowled before.  And get this!  He's set it up as a tournament, with teams and everything!"

It ought to be interesting, i noted.

"Interesting!  It's going to be a scream, watching these people trying to bowl.  And that's not the only crazy thing that happened today, either?"

It gets better? i asked incredulously.

"Yeah, it gets better.  Keith, who lives near The Big Boss' farm and keeps an eye on it for him, showed up today with his truck full of watermelons!  Big 40-50 pounders, and he decided to bring them to us.  The Big Boss told me to take 4 of them to his house, and the rest of us had a raffle!"

A raffle? i said, rather blankly.

"Yes, he had about 32 of them after I took four to The Big Boss' house, so all of us put our names in a hat and he raffled off the rest of them.  I have ours in the car!"

Well, that is a funny day, isn't it?

"That's not the best part!" he continued.  "The people at the Hotel wanted to bring theirs from the Museum over to the Hotel, so they brought over a luggage cart, and loaded these huge things on it.  Then Cass, who is 4'10" -- shorter than you! -- decided they looked like they might slip off.  So even thought she was wearing this really short skirt, she climbed up on top of them, straddling them, and posed for a picture!  Then they rolled them over to the Hotel with her riding on top of them to keep them from slipping off the luggage cart.  It was so funny!  I've set the picture as my computer screen background so I can show it to The Big Boss tomorrow!"

What next? i thought.  Those people continue to amaze me with their shenanigans, even after all these years.  Sweetie describes them as a band of 8-balls, and he's mostly right.

My only regret is that i won't be a fly on the wall while they are bowling.


Today is

Advice-to-the-Lovelorn-Day -- date, in 1896, the New Orleans Picayune first published the advice column of Dorothy Dix, Mother Confessor to Millions; it eventually ran in 300 papers for 55 years

Bonfire Night -- Northern Ireland (precursor to The Twelfth a/k/a Orangemen's Day)

Bowdler's Day

China National Maritime Day -- People's Republic of China

Convenience Store Day -- the first Seven Eleven opened on this day in 1927 in Dallas, TX; it was open 7am to 11pm, thus the name

Dinosaur Roundup Rodeo -- Vernal, UT, US (one of the top rodeos in the country; through Saturday)

Day of the Flemish Community -- Flemish community of Belgium, commemorates the Battle of the Golden Spurs of 1302

Feast of Theano, Philosopher, Mathmatician, wife of Pythagoras, patron of vegetarianism (date approximate, supposedly when she was born)

Feast of Min -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Free Slurpee Day at Seven-Eleven -- if you have these stores where you live, stop by between 11am and 7pm to get a free 11.7oz. Slurpee (TM) today

Hodag Country Festival -- Rhinelander, WI, US (at the Hodag "50" Track, a large open-air country music festival; through Sunday)

Imamat Day -- Ismailism

Naadam Festival -- Mongolia (a/k/a Revolution Day/National Day, traditional sporting events nationwide, but best at Ulaanbaatar, through the 13th)

National Blueberry Muffin Day

National Cheer Up The Lonely Day -- begun by Francis Pesek of Detroit, Michigan; he chose to spend his birthday as a day to promote kindness, especially the forgotten at nursing homes who have no visitors and shut ins

Oregon Trail Days -- Gering, NE, US (the oldest continuing celebration of the Oregon Trail; through Sunday)

Reading Guilt Day -- the day you are supposed to start reading that book you only read the Cliff's Notes on in school

St Benedict's Day (Patron of agricultural workers, cavers/speliologists/spelunkers, civil engineers, coppersmiths, farm workers/farmers, Italian architects, monks, people in religious orders, people who are dying, school children, servants who have broken their masters belongings, students; Europe; Heerdt, Germany; Norcia, Italy; Subiaco, Italy; against erysipelas, fever, gall stones, inframmatory diseases, kidney disease, nettle rash, poison, temptations, and witchcraft)

Turkey Rama -- McMinnville, Oregon (family fun on "Oregon's Favorite Main Street" that includes the "World's Largest Turkey BBQ"; through Sunday)

World Population Day -- UN

Worshipful Company of Vintners (Winemakers) of the City of London Annual Procession


Birthdays Today:

David Henrie, 1989
Marie Sernehold, 1983
Lisa Rinna, 1963
Richie Sambora, 1959
Suzanne Vega, 1959
Mark Lester, 1958
Leon Spinks, 1953
Giorgio Armani, 1934
Tab Hunter, 1931
Yul Brynner, 1920
E.B. White, 1899
John Quincy Adams, 1767


Today in History

Admiral Zheng He sets sail on his first exploratory expedition for the Ming Dynasty, 1405
Samuel de Champlain returns to Quebec, 1616
Jews are expelled from Little Russia, 1740
Halifax, Nova Scotia is almost completely destroyed by fire, 1750
Captain James Cook begins his third voyage, 1776
Jacques Necker is dismissed as France's Finance Minister sparking the Storming of the Bastille, 1789
French astronomer Jean-Louis Pons made his first comet discovery (he discovered 36 over the next 27 years, more than any other person), 1801
Vice President of the United States Aaron Burr mortally wounds former Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton in a duel, 1804
Waterloo railway station in London opens, 1848
Tijuana, Mexico, is formally founded, 1889
The Lumière brothers demonstrate film technology to scientists, 1895
Babe Ruth makes his Major League debut, 1914
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is first published, 1960
The first U.S. space station, Skylab, is destroyed as it re-enters the Earth's atmosphere over the Indian Ocean, 1979
According to the UN, the Earth's population crosses the 5,000,000,000 mark, 1987
The United States announces it will reestablish full diplomatic relations with Vietnam, 1995
Colton Harris-Moore, the so-called "Barefoot Bandit", is caught in the Bahamas after a 2 year manhunt, 2010