Millions more to go.

"Would you be able to take me to get my ID tomorrow?"  Young Jacob had been dropped at our house for a visit, as he cannot drive for a while.  Epilepsy that's not fully controlled and driving do not mix.

Sure, i told him, what time do you want me to pick you up?

"Well, I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow, too, but I lost my wallet again, so I want to go get a replacement ID before I see the doc."

That, i told him, can by handled by the "mini DMV" as i call it, the one that only does certain things, like replacing a lost ID.  They open at 8am -- do you want to wait in line before or after they open?

"Before.  Could you pick me up a bit after 7am?  It's out on Hoover Road."

Sure.  After i turn from the highway onto Hoover, what next?

"Take a left onto the gravel road that's right after the long, green fence, and I'll be waiting at the end of the driveway."


And that is why, the next morning, bright tailed if not bushy eyed after feeding kittens at 5am, i was pulling onto a gravel driveway all the way out on Hoover Road at 7:20 in the blessed morning, as my father sometimes says.

"Thank you so much!" Young Jacob said, as he climbed in.

How long did you have to wait? i asked.

"Not long, but I don't have an alarm clock and the Game Boy that I sometimes use died because I played for four hours straight and I can't find the charge cord, so I was afraid I overslept."

What about your phone? i asked.

"Oh, I haven't been able to find it, either, since I ran off the road the other day.  But I did find this one in my truck, and I don't know where it came from.  So I'm going to put some minutes on it and use it until I can buy one."

Is there anything you haven't lost lately? i asked.

"My mind," he said with a smirk.

Good for you, i told him, as i lose mine regularly.

"Yeah, with your kids, I can imagine.  Each of yours is a special apple, that's for sure.  Even #1 Son.  Did you know he is scared of the new place I'm moving to?"

Oh, you are moving?

"Yeah, to be closer to work.  Walking distance.  I'll be rooming with a guy I've known for several years.  It's over behind the dog park, you know the area?  It's really not a great neighborhood, but I've been hanging around there for years with my friend, so the people out there know me and won't be telling me I'm the white boy on the wrong end of town.  But your son, he's scared of the place, and when I take him there, he won't roll the windows down!"

It's sad, i thought to myself, that there are still parts of any town in this country where people might feel unsafe for being the wrong race.  Something is still fundamentally wrong with that.

So, i asked, after you get your ID, what will you do?

"Oh, my mom will be picking me up in a couple of hours to take me to the doctor."

You mean, you plan to just hang around here until then? i asked as i pulled into the parking lot.

"Yeah, I guess I'll find out how good I am at entertaining myself."

Well, how about instead i wait with you, as it's only 20 minutes until they open and we will be first in line, and then you can come back you my house.  Your mom has dropped you there before, and it's just around the corner from your doctor, so i could take you if she runs into a problem.

"You wouldn't mind that?" he asked.

Of course not, i said, and i meant it.  It really did only take us about 8 minutes after the doors opened.


A bit of a side story here.  Little Girl lost her phone a while back.  She has been convinced that she had it in the usual spot when she went to sleep one night, but it wasn't there in the morning.  She has torn the room apart and cleaned it thoroughly multiple times, and looked all through the rest of the house, too.


The afternoon after i had run Young Jacob on his errand, my phone rang.  Imagine my surprise when the call ID said it was Little Girl's phone!

As i answered, i just had a weird feeling, and i was right.

"Hi, do you know whose phone this is?" Young Jacob asked.

Yes, i answered, it is my daughter's phone that she has been looking for since forever!

At that moment i smiled over at Little Girl, and her eyes opened widely in surprise.

:"Where is it?  Who has it?" she yelled.

It's Young Jacob, and you must have left it in his truck, i told her.

"How!  What!  I thought it was in the house!  And I've torn stuff apart looking!" she sputtered.

Well, i said into the phone to Young Jacob, she's been without it this long, you go ahead and use it for a few days until you can replace your own, i'll send the charge cord to work with Sweetie tomorrow.

"Thank you, again!" he said.

Just don't lose it! i said, and he laughed.

"Don't worry, I won't," he said, and hung up.

Well, i said to both girls, at least we now know what happened to that phone.  You dropped it in Young Jacob's truck when he gave you a ride to the store.

At that moment, Bigger Girl piped up, "That's one mystery in life down, ten million more to go."



 
Today is

Act Like A Caveman Day -- internet generated, just to be fun, especially if your neighbors think you are crazy anyway

Annie Oakley Days Festival -- Greenville, OH, US (keeping alive the legacy of "Little Miss Sure Shot" with a shooting contest today as well as a pilgrimage to her grave, then tomorrow starts the Melodrama performances, ugly boot contest, Family Fun Games, and more; through Sunday)

Bayreuther Festspiele -- Bayreuth, Germany (Wagner festival, through Aug. 28)

Be Adamant About Something Day -- it's good practice

Berne Swiss Festival -- Berne, NE, US (Swiss food, dancing, yodeling, a stein-toss, and lots more family fun; through Saturday)

Calgary Folk Music Festival -- Calgary, AB, Canada (one of Calgary's biggest and most fun festivals ;through Sunday)

Commonwealth Constitution Day -- Puerto Rico

Culinarian's Day -- another one here because of the internet, but a good excuse to let your inner chef go wild, and enjoy the results

Ebernoe Horn Fair -- Sussex, England (ancient horn fairs were pagan fertility rites, now just a fun time for all)

Eve of the Hathor Festival -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Festival of the Knee-Knockers -- Fairy Calendar

Furrinalia -- Ancient Etruscan Calendar (Furrina, goddess of the sacred grove and spring on Janniculum hill)
      also Ancient Roman Calendar (to honor those who searched for underground water sources)

Great Texas Mosquito Festival -- Clute, Texas, US (Annual salute to the fact that if you can't beat 'em, and when it's mosquitoes, you can't, you might as well celebrate 'em.  There's something for all ages, including the Skeeter Beaters Baby Crawl, a Mosquito calling contest, and a Mr. & Mrs. Mosquito Legs Contest, plus games, rides, carnival food, and more; through Saturday)

Guanacaste Day -- Costa Rica

Guayaquil Day -- Guayaquil, Ecuador

Ilyap'a -- Ancient Inca Calendar (festival of the lightning god; date approximate)

National Chili Dog Day

National Hot Fudge Sundae Day

Nova Scotia Bluegrass and Oldtime Music Festival -- Bible Hill, NS, Canada (Canada's longest running bluegrass festival and a great event for the whole family; through Sunday)

Quilt Odyssey 2013 -- Hershey, PA, US (national quilt competition, through Sunday)

Republic Day -- Tunisia

St. Christopher's Day (Patron of archers, automobile drivers/motorists, bachelors, boatmen, bookbinders, busdrivers, cab drivers,epileptics, fruit dealers, fullers, gardeners, lorry drivers, mariners, market carriers, porters, sailors, taxi drivers, transportation/transporation workers, travellers, truck drivers/truckers, watermen; Baden, Germany; Barga, Italy; Brunswick, Germany; Fubine, Italy; Havana, Cuba; Mecklenburg, Germany; Rab, Croatia, St. Christopher's Island; Saint Kitts; Toses, Girona, Calalonia, Spain ;for a holy death; against bad dreams, epilepsy, floods, hailstorms, lightning, pestilence, storms, sudden death, toothache)

St. James' Day (The Apostle, brother of St. John and son of Zebedee, the first Apostle martyred; Patron of apothecaries/druggists/pharmacists, arthritis sufferers, blacksmiths, equestrians and horsemen, furriers, knights, laborers, pilgrims, soldiers, tanners, veterinarians; Altopascio, Lucca, Italy; Antigua, Guatemala; Bangued, Philippines; Brentino Belluno, Italy; Caltagirone, Italy; Cassine, Italy; Chile; Cicala, Catanzaro, Italy; Comitini, Italy; Compostela, Spain; Galicia, Spain; Gavi, Italy; Guatemala; Hettstedt, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany; Jemez Indian Pueblo; Loiza, Puerto Rico; Medjugorje, Bosnia-Herzegovina; Montreal, Canada; Nicaragua; Pistoia, Italy; Rivarolo Canavese, Italy; Sahuayo, Mexico; Seattle, Washington; Spain; Tesuque Indian Pueblo; against arthritis and rheumatism; sometimes called Jacob, the Latinized version of his name, also Iago and Jaques in Romance languages) related observances
     Dia Nacional de Galicia -- Galicia, Spain (National Day of Galicia, a/k/a Apostole Santiago, St. James the Apostle's Day)
     The Pilgrimage of Santiago de Compostela -- Galicia, Spain (one of the world's largest pilgrimages still, to the church that has the supposed relics of St. James, culminates on the Saint's feast day)
     Loiza Aldea Fiesta -- Puerto Rico


Birthdays Today

Brad Renfro, 1982
Louise Brown, 1978
Matt LeBlanc, 1967
Walter Payton, 1954
Barbara Harris, 1935
Estelle Getty, 1923
Walter Brennan, 1894
Maxfield Parrish, 1870


Today in History

Diocletian appoints Maximian as Caesar, co-ruler, 285
Constantine I is proclaimed Roman emperor by his troops, 306
The Edict of Pistres of Charles the Bald orders defensive measures against the Vikings, 864
Sebastián de Belalcázar, on his search for El Dorado, founds the city of Santiago de Cali, Colombia, 1536
Don Diego de Losada founds the city of Santiago de Leon de Caracas, modern-day Caracas, the capital city of Venezuela, 1567
Henry IV of France publicly converts from Protestantism to Roman Catholicism, 1593
James VI of Scotland is crowned James I of England, bringing the Kingdoms of England and Scotland into personal union; political union would occur later, 1603
Ignacio de Maya founds the Real Santiago de las Sabinas, now known as Sabinas Hidalgo, Nuevo León, México, 1693
British governor Charles Lawrence and the Nova Scotia Council order the deportation of the Acadians; thousands of Acadians are sent to the British Colonies in America, France and England, and some later move to Louisiana, while others resettle in New Brunswick, 1755
Horatio Nelson loses more than 300 men and his right arm during the failed conquest attempt of Tenerife (Spain), 1797
Costa Rica annexes Guanacaste from Nicaragua, 1824
The first commercial use of an electric telegraph is successfully demonstrated by William Cooke and Charles Wheatstone between Euston and Camden Town in London, 1837
The Japanese daimyo begin returning their land holdings to the emperor as part of the Meiji Restoration reforms, 1869
Kikunae Ikeda of the Tokyo Imperial University discovers that a key ingredient in Konbu soup stock is monosodium glutamate (MSG), and patents a process for manufacturing it, 1908
Sir Thomas Whyte introduces the first income tax in Canada as a "temporary" measure, 1917
The first transatlantic two-way radio broadcast takes place, 1920
Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union (TASS) is established, 1925
At Club 500 in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis stage their first show as a comedy team, 1946
Italian ocean liner SS Andrea Doria collides with the MS Stockholm in heavy fog and sinks the next day, killing 51, 1956
The Republic of Tunisia is proclaimed, 1957
Louise Brown, the world's first "test tube baby" is born, 1978
Israel and Jordan sign the Washington Declaration, which formally ends the state of war that had existed between the nations since 1948, 1994
K.R. Narayanan is sworn-in as India's 10th president and the first Dalit— formerly called "untouchable"— to hold this office, 1997
Air France Flight 4590, a Concorde supersonic passenger jet, F-BTSC, crashes just after takeoff from Paris killing all 109 aboard and 4 on the ground, 2000
Pratibha Patil is sworn in as India's first woman president, 2007
Wikileaks publishes classified documents about the War in Afghanistan, one of the largest leaks in U.S. military history, 2010