Consideration

As a self-employed janitor/housekeeper, one of the banes of my existence is having someone cancel at the last minute.

Every day of the week has been committed to cleaning a home or office (or more than one home or office).  If it's your day, you can count on the fact that i haven't given your time slot to anyone else, i will come clean your place (unless i'm on my deathbed).

In return, i am counting on the money i will earn by cleaning your place, so i am counting on you to let me know ahead of time if you won't need me for any reason.  You will be out of town?  Fine, just let me know the week before.  You will be having the family reunion and 27 people will be at the house and there will be no room for me to even get in, much less clean?  Great, just let me know the week before.  

If you let me know enough in advance, sometimes i can get extra work, or i can schedule a one time cleaning for someone who has been asking for that.  Also, that way i know how to budget the money that will be coming in.

If you cancel the day i'm supposed to come, i am very likely to be cranky and short of funds, which can make me more cranky.

Friday is my busiest day, so when i left the house yesterday i knew what was ahead.  Or i thought i did.  During Bible study, i got a text from Ms. J asking if i could come on Monday instead, as she had company.

On Monday, i already have Ms. S, and i do not have my "crew" (Sweetie and Bigger Girl) to help me.  If i'm given enough notice, i might be able to switch days for you, but i need notice.

Ms. J understood, and said something no one has ever said before.  "Since this was my fault for not letting you know ahead of time, I want to pay you anyway.  Consider it a bonus, and you can't refuse!"

Well, since you put it that way, i won't refuse.  Such consideration is greatly appreciated.

Bigger Girl came and helped me with Ms. G's house, and i got to spend extra time since i was there so early.  It worked out great.  There was even time for me to rest between Ms. G's house and going to the cat shelter, which is good because the place was very, very busy.  It takes a lot more time and energy to feed and water the cats when you have to also stop and talk to people who are trying to pick out a cat to adopt.

Speaking of the shelter, i think we set another record for adoptions.  September, i believe, ended with over 140 kitties finding new homes!

Today is:

Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta -- Albuquerque, NM, US ("Where Dreams Take Flight" for 9 days of fun)

Armed Forces Day -- South Korea

Bat Appreciation Month -- hooray for Bat Conservation International!

Blessing of the Fishing Fleet -- Church of Saints Peter and Paul and Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco, CA, US (a festival today and tomorrow, with a blessing offered on the first Sunday of October each year)

Bonn Phchum Ben -- Cambodia (Ancestors' Day; through the 3rd)

Children's Day -- Singapore

Christmas Seal Campaign begins

Chuuk Constitution Day -- Chuuk, Micronesia

Cut Out Dissection Day -- let's find alternatives for school kids!

Feast of St. Therese of Lisieux a/k/a Therese of the Child Jesus or The Little Flower of Jesus (Doctor of the Church; Patron of African missions, AIDS patients, air crews/aircraft pilots/aviators, florists/flower growers, missionaries, sick people, those who have lost parents, tuberculosis; Australia; France; Russia; several cities around the world; against bodily ills and tuberculosis)

Feast of the Hunters' Moon -- Fort Ouiatenon Historic Park, West Lafayette, IN, US (a re-creation of French and Native American life of the mid-1700s at a fur trading outpost; through tomorrow)

Festival of Penha -- Rio de Janiero, Brazil (through the 31st; pilgrimages to the Church of Our Lady of Penha)

Firepup's® Birthday -- have fun learning fire safety from Firepup

Flattering Finals -- Fairy Calendar

Ghatasthapana -- Nepal (start of a nine day Hindu festival, the longest and most auspicious festival in the Nepalese annual calendar)

Global Diversity Awareness Month begins -- to foster and further our understanding of the value of people of all races, genders, nationalities, ages, religions, sexual orientations, classes, and physical disabilities

Guoqing Jie -- China; Hong Kong; Macau (National Day/Founding of the Republic)

Homemade Cookies Day

Independence Day -- Cyprus(1960); Nigeria(1960); Palau(1994); Tuvalu(1976)

Inter-American Water Day -- begun in 1992 by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the Inter-American Association of Sanitary and Environmental Engineering (AIDIS) and the Caribbean Water and Wastewater Association (CWWA) 

International Day of Older Persons -- UN

International Frugal Fun Day -- created by Shel Horowitz, author of The Penny-Pinching Hedonist; some of his ideas for how to celebrate are here 

International Music Day -- information from the International Music Council 

Investiture of the Captains Regent -- San Marino

Issaquah Salmon Days Festival -- Issaquah, WA, US (celebrates the return of the spawning salmon to the hatchery; through tomorrow)

Kalends of October -- Ancient Roman Calendar; also

     Day Sacred to Fides -- (goddess of faithfulness and keeping your word)

     Festival of Juno Sororia -- Ancient Roman Calendar (Juno the Sister, protector of young women at puberty)

Kentucky Apple Festival -- Paintsville, KY (apples, music, arts and crafts, antique cars, rides, food, and fun; through tomorrow)

Knox County Scenic Drive -- Knox County, IL, US (drive through up to 100 miles of scenic rural Spoon River Valley, with attractions at every stop; this weekend and next)

Little Golden Books Day -- the first twelve were published on this day in 1942 (Baby's Book of Objects, Bedtime Stories, Mother Goose, Nursery Songs, Prayers for Children, The Alphabet from A to Z, The Animals of Farmer Jones, The Golden Book of Fairy Tales, The Little Red Hen, The Poky Little Puppy, This Little Piggy and Other Counting Rhymes, Three Little Kittens)

Marching Band Festival -- Blinn College, Brenham, TX, US (if you love marching bands, this is the place to be; 42nd annual, 36 high school bands participating, 3,500+ musicians, and a special performance by the Blinn College Buccaneer Band as well)

Morro Bay Harbor Festival -- Morro Bay, CA, US (a working waterfront at play; through tomorrow)

Month of Freethought -- inspired by Freethinkers who emigrated to the US in the 19th century

National Apple Harvest Festival -- Gettysburg, PA, US (this weekend and next)

National Book It! Day -- teachers across the US can join together with Pizza Hut to encourage the love of reading each school year from today through March 31

National Lace Day -- US (a day for lace fanciers to share their love of lacemaking!  there's no history of who started this day, and other dates are given on some websites)

National Walk Your Dog Week begins -- a campaign to bring awareness of and fight the increasing problems in the US with canine obesity 

O'qituvchi va Murabbiylar Kuni -- Uzebekistan (Day of Teachers and Instructors)

Pancasila Sanctity Day -- Indonesia

Popcorn and Tears Movie Appreciation Night -- go see a tear jerker; if guys don't want to go, make them stay home and vacuum

Pudding Season begins (Time to preserve meat from slaughtering for the winter by making meat puddings.)

Pumpkin and Apple Celebration -- Woodstock, VT, US (lots of hands on fun with apples and pumpkins; through tomorrow)

Qatar Prix L'arc de Triomphe -- Longchamp Race-course, Paris, France (one of the world's greatest horse races, first run in 1920; celebrations and events through tomorrow)

Ram Mating Ceremony -- various towns and villages in Turkey (through the 20th, each village setting its own date; after being separated from the females for two months, the rams are returned with ceremonies to ensure good luck and lots of babies next spring)

Right-Brainers Rule Month begins (because left handers / right brainers are in their "right" minds)

Spoon River Valley Scenic Drive -- Fulton County, IL, US (15 villages participate in arts and crafts, antiques, collectibles, demonstrations, and showing off the beauty of the fall foliage; through tomorrow and again next Saturday and Sunday)

St. Remigius of Rheims' Day (Patrn of France; Rheims, France; against epidemics, fever, plague, religious indifference, snakes, and throat pain)

St. Romanos the Melodist's Day (hymn writer of the early 6th Century whose surviving works are still sung)

Unification Day -- Cameroon

US Fiscal Year begins (Why in October?)

Vegetarian Festival -- Phuket, Thailand (lots of purification rituals and a rigid vegetarian/vegan diet are observed for spiritual cleansing and ensuring good luck; through Oct. 9)

Woofstock -- Wichita, KS, US (celebrate peace, love and pets; bring your pup and participate as all proceeds go to the Kansas Humane Society)

World Card Making Day -- Paper Crafts Magazine started it all in 2006 and suggests you have fun and make a card or two or three on the first Saturday of October each year

World Vegetarian Day

Anniversaries Today:

EPCOT opens, 1981 (Experimental Prototype City of Tomorrow, or, if you work there, the insider title, Every Person Comes Out Tired)

Walt Disney World opens, 1971

Stanford University opens, 1891

Yosemite National Park and Yellowstone National Park are founded, 1890

South African College is founded, 1829 (Now University of Cape Town)

Birthdays Today:

Zach Galifianakis, 1969

Mark McGwire, 1963

Esai Morales, 1962

Grete Waltz, 1953

Randy Quaid, 1950

Stephen Collins, 1947

Tim O'Brien, 1946

Rod Carew, 1945

Stella Stevens, 1936

Julie Andrews, 1935

Albert Collins, 1932

Richard Harris, 1932

George Peppard, 1928

Tom Bosley, 1927

Jimmy Carter, 1924

William Rehnquist, 1924

James Whitmore, 1921

Walter Matthau, 1920

Bonnie Parker, 1910

Vladimir Horowitz, 1903

James Lawrence, 1781

Richard Stockton, 1730

Henry III, King of England, 1207

Debuting/Premiering  Today:

Compact Discs, 1982 (Billy Joel's 52nd Street)

"Remington Steele"(TV), 1982

"Kung Fu"(TV), 1972

Night of the Living Dead(Film), 1968

"The Merv Griffin Show"(TV), 1962

"The Honeymooners"(TV), 1955

"This is Your Life"(TV), 1952

"Tom Corbett, Space Cadet"(TV), 1950

"Best Foot Forward"(Musical), 1941

Ford's Model T, 1908

World Series Baseball, 1903 (the Boston Americans beat the Pittsburgh Pirates)

Postal Special Delivery, 1885 (USPS began special delivery services)

Postcards, 1869 (in Vienna, Austria)

Today in History:

Alexander the Great defeats Darius III of Persia, BC331

The Russian Parliament accepts the annexation of the Ukraine, 1653

First session of the new French legislative assembly is held, 1791

Spain cedes Louisiana to France in a secret treaty, 1800

The first steamboat to sail the Mississippi River arrives in New Orléans, Louisiana, 1811

Maria Mitchell discovers a non-naked-eye comet, 1847

A cyclone strikes Calcutta, India, killing 70,000, 1864

Karl Marx' "Das Kapital" is published, 1867

The world's first postcards are issued, in Vienna, Austria, 1869

John Philip Sousa becomes the new director of the USMC Band, 1880

Thomas Edison opens the first electric lamp factory, 1880

The USPS begins special delivery mail service, 1885

Jews are expelled from major Russian cities, 1898

Arab forces under T.E. Lawrence, a/k/a Lawrence of Arabia, capture Damascus, 1918

An oil field accident cost aviator Wiley Post his left eye, but he used the settlement money to buy his first aircraft, 1926

The Pennsylvania Turnpike, often considered the first superhighway in the United States, opens, 1940

Mensa International is founded in the United Kingdom, 1946

First broadcast of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, 1962

The Concorde supersonic transport plane breaks the sound barrier for the first time, 1969

Walt Disney World opens near Orlando, Florida, United States, 1971

The United States returns sovereignty of the Panama canal to Panama, 1979

EPCOT Center opens at Walt Disney World, 1982

William Gibson's groundbreaking novel Neuromancer is published, introducing the word "cyberspace" to the English language, 1984

Denmark introduces the world's first legal modern same-sex civil union, 1989

The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom takes over the judicial functions of the House of Lords, 2009

A dedicated 3D TV channel, Sky 3D, launches in the UK, 2010