At the last minute!

"Um, mom, I need to interview you and write the answers so I can turn this in today," Little Girl informed me on the way to school.  Which school, by the way, is only about a 7 minute drive from our house when the lights are long.

You've waited until the last minute, haven't you? i asked, shaking my head.

"Well, I just have to interview someone about their job, and fill in these blanks.  So, what is your job?"

Janitor! i replied.  Or you could call me a housekeeper, or chief cook and bottle washer.

"What do you do in a typical day?"

Scrub things and make them clean again, i replied.  Also, laundry.  Lots of laundry.  Mostly i just clean whatever my clients want me to clean.  Like today, i'm going to go scrub grout for a client who wants to reseal it in her kitchen, it's all grubby.

"What training did you get to become a janitor, and did you go to college?"

Well, i had chores as a kid, and i worked in Grandpa's office cleaning and sterilizing equipment among other things.  Also, lots of training cleaning up after you rug rats!

"Mom, don't get so personal!  Did you go to college, and what did you study?"

Yes, i went to college, and i majored in English Literature, History, and Religious Studies.  Which qualifies me to either scrub, watch kids, or ask if you want fries with a meal.

"What are three things you like about your job?"

Well, i like putting fresh sheets on beds and making them look pretty, because everyone should have a nicely made bed to come home to after a hard day's work.  Also, i like killing germs, especially in sinks and on TV remotes and such.  Leaving a bathroom smelling fresh and appealing is a good thing, too.

"What are three things you dislike about your job?

Days when i have 8 loads of laundry about kill me.  Also, it's a pain when the kids leave the toys everywhere and you have to clean up before you can clean up, if you know what i mean.  And i've always loathed vacuuming, for some reason.

At that point, we had arrived at the school. 

"Okay, just one more question, and I'll write the answer when I get inside.  Would you recommend this job to someone, and why or why not?"

It's great work to be able to make someone's house nice for them for when they come home and get paid for it, unlike at home where no one thanks you and there's no pay.  Being your own boss can be great, as you can get out and get clients if you need more work, or refuse people if you decide you don't want to work so much, or if the client is crazy!

"Thanks!" she said, and hopped out of the van with her backpack in one hand, the paper and pencil she had been using in the other.

Shaking my head, i remember those last minute dashes to finish things.  Sometimes i'd get stuff done early, sometimes not.  The apple isn't far from the tree.


Today is:

Blessed Father Jacques Leval Day -- Mauritius (physician turned priest who lived among and ministered to the poorest of the poor in Mauritius; people of all faiths make a pilgrimage to his tomb today)

Bonza Bottler Day

Chrysanthemum Day or Kiku no Sekku -- Japan

Day of the Victims of Holocaust and of Racial Violence -- Slovakia

Festivity of Our Lady of Aranzazu -- Oñati, Basque

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Awareness Day -- spreading the word about the very preventable problem of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders

Full Harvest Moon a/k/a Full Corn Moon/Indigo Moon/Wise-Crone Moon (with so much food ripe for gathering, harvesting can go on well into the night by the light of the hugely full Harvest Moon)
     Binara Full Moon Poya Day -- Sri Lanka (began yesterday evening)
     Chusok -- South Korea (Harvest Moon Festival;  a harvest festival and day to give homage to the ancestors and celebrate family)
     Han'gawi -- North Korea (Harvest Moon Festival; a harvest festival and day to give homage to the ancestors and celebrate family)
     Taw Thalin Full Moon -- Myanmar
     Zhongqiu Jie / Chong Chao -- China; Macau; Taiwan (Mid-Autumn Festival or Moon Festival, the birthday of the earth god T'u-ti Kung, celebrating the harvests, family, and eating moon cakes, matchmaking, sky lanterns, Fire Dragon Dances, and more)

Husker Harvest Days -- Grand Island, NE, US (the largest irrigated working ag show on a permanent site in the US; through Thursday)

Independence Day -- Tajikistan

Karasu-zumo -- Kamigamo-jinja Shrine, Kyoto, Japan (a distinctive local festival where the Shinto priests imitate crows)

Liberation Ceremony -- Petange, Luxembourg

Milk-Bathing Festival -- Fairy Calendar

National Day -- North Korea(1948)

National Sports Day -- Indonesia

National Steak Au Poivre Day

St. Peter Claver's Day (Patron of African missions, inter-racial justice, race relations; Colombia; Lake Charles, LA; Shreveport, LA; Witbank, South Africa; against slavery)

Synaxis of Ss. Joachim and Anna -- Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches

Teddy Bear Day -- internet generated, but since it's so much fun to have one, celebrate your old friend

Wienerschnitzel Day

Wonderful Weirdos Day -- we all have a few in our lives, they remind us to be true to ourselves, so thank them today; sponsored by Wellcat Holidays


Anniversaries Today:

California becomes the 31th US State, 1850


Birthdays Today:

Michelle Williams, 1980
Michael Buble, 1975
Goran Visnjic, 1972
Rachel Hunter, 1969
Adam Sandler, 1966
Hugh Grant, 1960
Mario Batall, 1960
Angela Cartwright, 1952
Michael Keaton, 1951
Tom Wopat, 1951
Joe Theisman, 1949
Billy Preston, 1946
Otis Redding, 1941
Sylvia Miles, 1934
Cliff Robertson, 1925
James Hilton, 1900
Colonel Harland Sanders, 1890
Alf Landon, 1887
Leo Tolstoy, 1828
William Bligh, 1754


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Welcome Back, Kotter"(TV), 1975
"Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids"(TV), 1972


Today in History:

William I, The Conqueror, dies in a horseriding accident, 1087
The New England colonies declare war on the Wampanoag Tribe, 1675
The first steam engine arrives in the US colonies, 1753
The first recorded black to graduate from a US college, Alexander Lucius Twilight, receives a BA from Middlebury College, 1817
Charles Durant, the first US aeronaut, flies a balloon from Castle Garden, NYC to Perth Amboy, NJ, 1830
The first plate glass photograph is taken by John Herschel, 1839
California becomes the 31st state and the territories of New Mexico and Utah are created, 1850
The Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works is finalized, 1886
Orville Wright makes the first one hour plane flight, 1908
J. Verdrines becomes the first person to fly at over 100mph, 1912
First actual case of a computer bug being found: a moth lodges in a relay of a Harvard Mark II computer at Harvard University, 1947
Hurricane Betsy makes its second landfall near New Orleans, Louisiana, becoming the first hurricane to do over $1billion in actual unadjusted damages, 1965
The four-day Attica Prison riot begins, 1971
The Palestine Liberation Organization officially recognizes Israel as a legitimate state, 1993
At exactly 01:46:40 UTC, the Unix billenium is reached, marking the beginning of the use of 10-digit Unix timestamps, 2001
The "Ophel Treasure", about 1,400 years old, is discovered near the foot of Temple Mount in Jerusalem, 2013