Two in a Day

"Guess who got a job!" Little Girl said as she came into the kitchen.

Congratulations! i told her.  When do you start?

"Next week I will have orientation.  Oh, and I need a new pair of shoes, the non-skid kind.  They gave me a coupon for them."  

She handed me the coupon, which i decided i did not want to put in a "safe" place that i would subsequently forget, like i usually do, so it went straight into my wallet.

We'll go get the shoes tomorrow or Wednesday, i told her.

"Thank you!  Ms. Brianna told me to sing 'Happy Birthday', so I did, and guess what?  Sometimes I'm going to be wearing one of the character costumes and playing with the kids, and I'll have to sing 'Happy Birthday' with them!"

Sounds like something you'd enjoy, i noted.  Remember when you made your own costumes like that?  They were very well done.

"Please don't remind me!"

You did a fabulous job on those, though.  You ought to be proud.  (Note:  when she was 11, she found instructions on the web and made mascot costumes that looked so good, the school across the street asked her to wear one and be their mascot for field day.  She did all of the work herself, and used only materials we had around the house.  She gets it from Grandma, not me.)

"Well, I just don't like to be reminded of those costumes," she said.

"Guess who has a new job!" Young Jacob said, strolling in.

Why did you need a new job? i asked.

"You didn't hear that I got laid off?" he said.

No, and why would they do that?

"I was the only person working outdoor maintenance, so they laid me off and hired a company to do it.  So when I went in to work, they called me in and said I'd get paid through the end of the month, but I was laid off as of that moment.  Then I went outdoors and talked to the manager of the company they hired, and he hired me on the spot to work for them!"

That's thinking fast! i exclaimed.

"Yeah, so I work for them and start next Monday, and today I went and got a chauffeur's license so I can drive one of the big vans.  The owner is going to move me into managing because I've had my own lawn care business before, and he's going to pay for me to get my horticulture license, too!"

Well, that's the way to deal with getting laid off! i said.  Get another job before you even leave the property.

Then i joked, i know you aren't the type to 'let the grass grow under your feet!'

"No, I'm going to have a job no matter what," he said.  "If I have to, I'll use my grandmother's mower and go get jobs.  There's work out there, so there's no reason not to go do it!"

Well, i said, after a day like this, you need some comfort food, i said.  How about soup?

Sweetie came in at the mention of food, of course.

"Soup!  Oh, that looks good!  Can I get a sandwich, too?"

Chicken vegetable soup and cheese sandwiches, coming up.

A pot full of comfort food!

Today is:

American Diabetes Association Alert Day -- a day to remind people about how serious the illness is, and what the risk factors are 

Ann Arbor Film Festival -- Ann Arbor, MI, US (independent digital, 16mm and 35mm films, including experimental film; through Sunday)

Commonwealth Covenant Day -- Northern Mariana Islands

Day of Remembrance for Truth and Justice -- Argentina

Dies Sanguines -- Ancient Roman Calendar (sacrifices to the war goddess Bellona)

Einmanudur Month Begins -- Traditional Icelandic Calendar (Lone Month, the month dedicated to young men)
     Yngismannadagur -- Young Men's Day

Houdini Day -- see if you can pull a disappearing act in his honor

International Day for the Right to the Truth concerning Gross Human Rights Violations and for the Dignity of Victims -- UN

Kazimiras Diena -- Ancient Latvian Calendar (return of the larks)

Komoeditsi -- Asatru/Slavic Pagan Calandar (honors the great Bear God, Meveshii Bog and includes sacrifices to the Great God of Honey)

Left-of-Field Fanciers' Fortnight begins -- Fairy Calendar

National Chocolate Covered Raisins Day

National Revolution Day -- Kyrgyzstan

Pandia -- Ancient Greek Calendar (festival of Zeus that immediately followed the Greater Dionysia; date approximate)

St. Catherine of Sweden's Day (Patron against miscarriages)

St. Gabriel the Archangel's Day (traditional date, now usually celebrated in September; Patron of childbirth, diplomats, messengers, postal workers, stamp collectors, telephone workers)

St. MacCairthinn of Clogher (St. Patrick's "Strong Man" and fellow worker; Patron of Clogher, Ireland)

World Tuberculosis Day -- UN & WHO


Birthdays Today:

Peyton Manning, 1976
Alyson Hannigan, 1974
Lara Flynn Boyle, 1970
Sharon Corr, 1970
Mase, 1970
Mark "The Undertaker" Calaway, 1965
Annabella Sciorra, 1964
Star Jones, 1962
Donna Pescow, 1954
Louie Anderson, 1953
Alan Sugar, 1947
R. Lee Ermey, 1944
Bob Mackie, 1940
Steve McQueen, 1930
Byron Janis, 1928
Lawrence Ferlinghetti, 1919
Dorothy Height, 1912
Joseph Barbera, 1911
Clyde Barrow, 1909
Ub Iwerks, 1901
Dorothy Constance Stratton, 1899
Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, 1887
Edward Weston, 1886
Harry Houdini, 1874
Andrew W. Mellon, 1855
William Morris, 1834
John Wesley Powell, 1834
Fanny Crosby, 1820


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Nightline"(TV News), 1980
"Cat on a Hot Tin Roof"(Play), 1955
"Native Son"(Play), 1941
"Letter from America"(Radio), 1946


Today in History:

Turko-Mongol emperor Timur sacks Damascus, 1401
James VI of Scotland becomes James I of England, 1603
The first game law passed in American colonies, by Virginia, 1629
Roger Williams is granted a charter to colonize Rhode Island, 1664
Britain enacts Quartering Act, required colonists to provide temporary housing to British soldiers, 1765
Benjamin West of the US becomes president of Royal Academy of London, 1792
In Hiram, Ohio a group of men beat, tar and feather Mormon leader Joseph Smith, Jr., 1832
Canada gives African men the right to vote, 1837
Robert Koch of Germany announces the discovery of the bacterium responsible for tuberculosis (mycobacterium tuberculosis), 1882
Oscar Straus is appointed the first Jewish ambassador from US (to Turkey), 1887
A. A. Popov makes the first radio signal transmission in history, 1896
"Census of the British Empire" shows England rules 1/5 of the world, 1906
Greece becomes a republic, 1923
U.S. Congress passes the Tydings-McDuffie Act allowing the Philippines to become a self-governing commonwealth, 1934
The longest game in NHL history is played between Detroit and Montreal; Detroit scored at 16:30 of the sixth overtime and won the game 1-0, 1936
In an event later dramatized in the movie The Great Escape, 76 prisoners begin breaking out of Stalag Luft III, 1944
The British Cabinet Mission arrives in India to discuss and plan for the transfer of power from the British Raj to Indian leadership, 1946
Elvis Presley joins the army (serial number 53310761), 1958
NASA spacecraft Ranger 9, equipped to convert its signals into a form suitable for showing on domestic television, brings images of the Moon into ordinary homes before crash landing, 1965
The United Kingdom imposes direct rule over Northern Ireland, 1972
In Argentina, the armed forces overthrow the constitutional government of President Isabel Perón, 1976
Archbishop Óscar Romero is killed while celebrating Mass in San Salvador, 1980
In Prince William Sound in Alaska, the Exxon Valdez spills 240,000 barrels (42,000 m³) of petroleum after running aground, 1989
Discovery of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9, 1993
Apple Inc. releases the first version of the Mac OS X operating system, 2001
Bhutan officially becomes a democracy, with its first ever general election, 2008