Now for today's good news.

"Guess what!" Red-Headed Alec called out as he came in from spending a couple of days with friends in another town.  "I passed the driving test!  I can drive now, all legal!"

Good for you! i cheered.

"Yeah, it went great.  While I was taking the driving part of the test, someone took an illegal left turn right in front of me, and I was able to see what they were going to do, and I slowed down and so I didn't hit them.  Then, someone ran a stop sign right in front of me when I didn't have a stop sign at all, and I anticipated that they weren't going to stop, and so I slowed and didn't hit them!

"So then the instructor says, 'Well, I was going to make the test more difficult and take you through a couple of more turns, but you just anticipated two potential accidents and avoided them, so I'd say you've done more than enough.'  And we went back and I got my license!"

That's wonderful, i repeated a couple of times.

A few minutes later, he got a call from his Nana -- the grandmother who adopted him and raised him, and who is now not always in her right mind, but tries when she can remember to.

"Yes, Nana, I passed!" i heard him say.  "Yes, I did great!  How much?  It's only $20 to get the car put in my name if it's a donation?  Wow!  But what about the repairs?  Uh-huh, yeah.  Oh!  Great!  Thank you, Nana!"

"Guess what now!" he grinned.  "The car that my mom is supposed to give me is only going to cost $400 to fix, and only $20 to get it in my name!  So all I need now is more work!"

You will get that, i said.

"Yes, because on the way here I stopped at the McDonald's, and I walked straight in and asked for the manager.  When he came up, I grabbed his hand and said, 'Hello!  My name is Alec White, and I want to work here.  In fact, I'm ready to be put to work this moment if you wanted!  I have filled out the application, and you can call the four-star restaurant where I worked when I lived in that town, and they will tell you that I am a great, hard worker!'  And the manager said, 'Come in Wednesday at 9am for an interview.'  So I'm going to have a job. and then a car, and someday I'm going to get that GED and get into culinary school!  I haven't ever given up on that, and I won't!"

Good news and determination make a good mix.


Today is:

Armistice Day/Poppy Day/Remembrance Day/Veterans Day

Bonza Bottler Day

Constitution Day and King's Birthday -- Bhutan

Day of Remembrance of the Volhvs/Einherjar Feast -- Asatru/Slavic Pagan Calendar (Norse "Feast of the Fallen")

Death/Duty Day

Fasching/Karneval -- Germany; Netherlands (official beginning of next year's pre-lent celebration starts on 11/11 at 11:11, when the Council of Eleven, in colorful fools caps, meet to plan the upcoming festivities)

Four Ones Day -- it is 11/11, after all

Hollantide Day a/k/a Hallow-tide -- Isle of Mann (season of All Saints, first day of Winter, celebrated in conjunction with Martintide, the Feast of St. Martin of Tours)

Independence Day -- Angola(1975); Poland(1918)

Independence of Cartagena City -- Colombia

Lacplesis -- Latvia (Remembrance Day)

Lunantishees Day -- Ireland (Fairies who guard the blackthorn trees, cutting a branch today, the old calendar's November 1, means bad luck.)

National Sundae Day

Old November Eve -- In the old calendar, this was actually All Hallow's Eve

Origami Day -- Japan

Pepero Day -- South Korea (similar to a Valentine's Day, when couples exchange Pepero brand cookie sticks)

Pocky and Pretz Day -- Japan (see Pepero day, but substitute the Japanese brand cookie sticks)

Republic Day -- Maldives

Singles Day -- China (Guang Gun Jie, literally "bare sticks day", celebrating the single life on the calendar date that has the most 1's)

St. Martin's Day a/k/a St. Martin of Tours's Day (Western), Martinmas (Old England) (Patron of beggars, cavalry, equestrians, geese, horses, innkeepers, Pontifical Swiss Guards, quartermasters, reformed alcoholics, riders, soldiers, tailors, vintners/wine growers and makers; against alcoholism, impoverishment; highly celebrated through Sweden, Switzerland, and the island of St. Martin/St. Maarten and Patron of over 25 diocese, cities, and countries around the world)
     Beggar's Day -- Netherlands (children act as beggars on St. Martin's Day, similar to trick-or-treat in English speaking countries)
     Martinigians -- Sursee, Switzerland (a celebration of the day in front of Town Hall)
     St. Maarten Day -- Sint Maarten

St. Menas of Egypt's Day (Patron of falsely accused people, peddlers, traveling merchants)

Veterans of Foreign Wars Day -- Federated States of Micronesia


Anniversaries Today:

Vietnam Women's Memorial is dedicated, 1993
Route 66 is established by the US Highway System, 1926
The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetary is dedicated, 1921
Washington becomes the 42nd US State, 1889


Birthdays Today:

Leonardo DiCaprio, 1974
Peta Wilson, 1970
Calista Flockhart, 1964
Demi Moore, 1962
Marc Summers, 1951
Bibi Andersson, 1935
Jonathan Winters, 1925
Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., 1922
Alger Hiss, 1904
Pat O'Brien, 1899
George Patton, 1885
Victor Emmanuel III, 1869
Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky, 1821
Abigail Smith Adams,1744


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Shadowlands"(Play), 1990An Early Frost(TV movie), 1985
"Prisoner of Second Avenue"(Play), 1971
 "La Plume de Ma Tante"(Revue), 1958
"God Bless America(Song, first public performance)", 1938
"The Tinker's Wedding"(Synge play), 1909
"Society"(Thompson play), 1865


Today in History:

The Congress of Carnuntum: Attempting to keep peace within the Roman Empire, the leaders of the Tetrarchy declare Maxentius and Licinius to be Augusti, while rival contender Constantine I is declared Caesar of Britain and Gaul, 308
41 pilgrims land in Massachusetts, sign Mayflower Compact, 1620
Massachusetts passes 1st US compulsory school attendance law, 1647
Gottfried Leibniz demonstrates integral calculus for the first time to find the area under the graph of y = ƒ(x), 1675
The F.H.C. Society, also known as the Flat Hat Club, is formed at Raleigh Tavern, Williamsburg, Virginia, as the first college society in the US, 1750
Chrysanthemums are introduced into England from China, 1790
British and Canadian forces defeat a larger American force, causing the Americans to abandon their Saint Lawrence campaign, 1813
Mary Edward Walker, the 1st Army female surgeon, is awarded the Medal of Honor, 1865
The Victorian Aboriginal Protection Act is enacted in Australia, giving the government control of indigenous people's wages, their terms of employment, where they could live, and of their children, effectively leading to the Stolen Generations, 1869
The 11/11/11 cold wave: Many cities in the U.S. Midwest broke their record highs and lows on the same day as a strong cold front rolled through, 1911
The Tomb of the Unknowns is dedicated by US President Warren G. Harding at Arlington National Cemetery, 1921
Prime Minister Alexandros Papanastasiou proclaims the first recognized Greek Republic, 1924
U.S. Route 66 is established, 1926
Patent number US1781541 is awarded to Albert Einstein and Leó Szilárd for their invention, the Einstein refrigerator, 1930
The Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia is opened, 1934
Kuwait's National Assembly ratifies the Constitution of Kuwait, 1962
NASA launches Gemini 12, 1966
Antigua and Barbuda joins the United Nations, 1981
The General Synod of the Church of England votes to allow women to become priests, 1992
New Zealand Tomb of the Unknown Warrior is dedicated at the National War Memorial, Wellington, 2004
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II unveils the New Zealand War Memorial in London, United Kingdom, commemorating the loss of soldiers from the New Zealand Army and the British Army, 2006
The RMS Queen Elizabeth 2 (QE2) sets sail on her final voyage to Dubai, 2008