Gallivanting to Galveston: Do i or don't i?

Well.

Today i was supposed to be able to post a Wordless Wednesday picture of my packing skills.  Thanks to Grandpa, i have stealth ninja packing skills, and can stuff things in places where you didn't know there were places.

Life happened, as it often does.

Sweetie got laid off from work yesterday.  Then the A/C people came and figured out what the problem has been all this time.  Two months now, and we finally know.

Most of the time, this particular problem is not covered by the warranty company.  After waiting several hours, and calling more than once and holding for about 45 minutes each time, and then getting cut off when someone finally answered so i had to call back and hold again, the verdict was in.

Because it took the repair company three visits to figure out what was wrong, it will be covered, except the freon (or whatever they are using these days).

Yesterday was spent sweating buckshot over whether i was even going to be able to go on my trip, after all the planning and buying gumbo ingredients and everything.  If we'd had to pay for the repair, i would have had to stay home.

So, no pictures of my packing skills, in which i could show you how i can get everything, (almost) including a kitchen sink, into a Honda.

Which Honda, by the way, Sweetie also locked the keys into yesterday, necessitating a call to Pop-a-Lock.

When life happens around here, it's in spades.

Anyway, the repair to the A/C, instead of hundreds, will be manageable because of the warranty company, in spite of how long it took them to determine this and how long it took me to actually get a human on the phone at their company to confirm this fact.

Thus today, i am packed and everything is in Humphrey the Honda, and i'm cleaning the shelter, and leaving when it's all done.

Galveston, by G-d's grace, here i come!

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

Defeat of Jesse James Days -- Northfield, MN, US (a bank raid reenactment, plus parade, races, rodeo, and more; through Sunday)

Farmers and Threshermens Jubilee -- New Centerville, PA, US (steam engines, threshing the old fashioned ways, and fun; through Sunday)

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 

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

Peach Days Celebration -- Brigham City, UT, US (delicious peaches and family fun; through Saturday)

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
Imagine(Lennon album release), 1971


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