Saturday, March 31, 2018

Timely (Ten Things of Thankful)

(Because some people like Blogger and some like WordPress, i am putting the same content at both.  If you would prefer to read this on the other site, it is linked here.)



Ten Things of Thankful


Sometimes, quite thankfully, things fall into place at just the right time.

Just in time, i noticed the spinach in the fridge was about two days away from not being usable, so i finished it off.

We finished work yesterday and Sweetie, when we got home, said it was just in time, his back was just beginning to give him a twinge.  He was able to head it off with sitting down and taking a naproxen.

Just in time, i realized we were going to be out of cat food and the vet's office would be closed for the weekend, then someone stepped in and gave me a bag.

One of my clients handed me an extra $20 (he said, "Thanks to you, I don't have to stay home and clean before my mother-in-law shows up!"), and that was just what we needed for gas money to finish out the week.

Just in time, i remembered that i do have a card for nephew Dre for his big celebration this evening, so i didn't go out and spend money on another one.

Mike-Next-Door found the chain saw and agreed he will help us finish cutting back the stump when he mows the lawn, just as i was about to start making calls about renting one.

Just in time, i managed to trick Hibiscus (a/k/a Biscuits, because she is at least two biscuits shy of a Pillsbury tube) to get back in her room at the shelter, no need to run the risk of being bitten.  (Biscuits is the perfect cat if you have always wanted to have an abusive relationship with a feline -- she never means to bite, and she's always sorry and promises it will never happen again.)

Dr. D is going out of town, and called me to give me her list of what she wants done just as i was sitting at the table and had both pen and paper handy.  (How often does that happen, by the way?  It doesn't!)

Just in time, i received word about a friend's loss of a sibling.  If i hadn't heard when i did, i would have put my foot in it by asking her how he was doing instead of being able to call and offer help.

Finally, in my mind, the best "just in time" or "at the right time" of all time, i am very thankful that "You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly" (Romans 5:6) and "But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship." (Galatians 4:4-5)

The wonderful Ms. Josie Two Shoes hosts Ten Things of Thankful.  If you have some thankful things to share, post them and link up, we would love to have you.


   
    An InLinkz Link-up
   
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Today is:

Bunsen Burner Day -- on the birth anniversary of its inventor, Robert Wilhelm Eberhard von Bunsen, in 1811

Buy Some New Socks Day -- because all the websites that list it agree you are worth it

Cesar Chavez Day -- Arizona, California, Colorado, Michigan, New Mexico, Texas, Utah,& Wyoming, US

Culture and Traditions Day -- Micronesia

Day Everyone Says "31" a Lot -- Fairy Calendar

Daylight Saving Time begins -- Palestinian Territories

Edinburgh International Science Festival -- Edinburgh, Scotland (a massive celebration of science and technology; through Apr. 15)

Eiffel Tower Day -- inaugurated this day in 1889

Festival for Luna -- Ancient Roman Calendar (moon festival)

Full Sap Moon -- this is a variation of the Full Worm Moon, and in 2018 is also the Paschal Full Moon (the first full moon of spring, the very next Sunday after this moon is Easter); also called the Full White Moon or Full Virgin Moon

Holy Saturday -- Christian (a/k/a Black Saturday, Holy Saturday, Easter Saturday, or Easter Eve)

Hot Guitar Day -- the day Jimi Hendrix first set fire to his guitar in 1967

Jum il-Helsien (Freedom Day) -- Malta

King Nangklao Memorial Day -- Thailand

Lazarus Saturday -- Orthodox Christian
    Lazarovden -- Bulgaria (along with celebrating the raising of Lazarus, there are fertility rituals, especially involving young maidens, and honoring the goddesses of spring and love)

Lord's Evening Meal -- Jehovah's Witness

Magha Puja Day -- Buddhist (celebrations of the teachings of Buddha to an assembly of holy men)

National Clams on the Half Shell Day

Oranges and Lemons Day -- St. Clement Danes Church, London, Enlgand (traditional children's service based on the rhyme that begins "Oranges and lemons/say the bells of St. Clement's)

Pesach/Passover -- Judaism (began yesterday evening, through the evening of April 7)

"She's Funny That Way" Day -- pay tribute to the women in your life, and how they keep you laughing; sponsored by Brenda Meredith of Dahomey Publishing, Inc.

St. Balbina's Day (Patron of those with scrofulous diseases or stroma)

Thomas Mundy Peterson Day -- New Jersey, US (the first African-American to legally cast a vote in the US, this date in 1870)

Transfer Day -- US Virgin Islands

Vigil to Mourn China's Annexation of Tibet -- anniversary of the day in 1959 when the Dalai Lama fled to India


Birthdays Today:

Pavel Bure, 1971
Ewan McGregor, 1971
Marc McClure, 1957
Angus Young, 1955
Edward Francis "Ed" Marinaro, 1950
Al Gore, 1948
Rhea Perlman, 1948
Gabe Kaplan, 1945
Christopher Walken, 1943
James Earl "Jimmy" Johnson, 1938
Herb Alpert, 1935
Richard Chamberlain, 1935
Shirley Jones, 1934
John Jakes, 1932
Gordie Howe, 1928
Cesar Chavez, 1927
William Daniels, 1927
Leo Buscaglia, 1925
Henry Morgan, 1915
John "Jack" Johnson, 1878
Andrew Lang, 1844
Mary Boykin Miller Chesnut, 1823
Edward Fitzgerald, 1809
Nikolai Vasilevich Gogol, 1809
Joseph Haydn, 1732
Andrew Marvell, 1621
Rene Descartes, 1596


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"'night, Mother"(Play), 1983
"The Shadow Box"(Play), 1977
"The Best Man"(Play), 1960
"The Glass Menagerie"(Play), 1945
"Oklahoma!"(Musical), 1943
"Le Chasseur Maudit/The Accursed Huntsman"(Symphonic poem), 1883


Today in History:

Bernard of Clairvaux preaches his famous sermon in a field at Vézelay, urging the necessity of a Second Crusade; Louis VII is present, and joins the Crusade, 1146
King Ferdinand & Queen Isabella sign decree ordering Jews to convert or be expelled from Spain, 1492
Jews are expelled from Prague, 1745
Commodore Matthew Perry signs the Treaty of Kanagawa with the Japanese government, opening the ports of Shimoda and Hakodate to American trade, 1854
Thomas P Mundy of Perth Amboy, NJ, becomes the first African American to cast a vote, 1870
The Eiffel Tower, commemorating the French Revolution, opens, 1889
Richard Pearse allegedly makes a powered flight in an early aircraft, 1903
Serbia accepts Austrian control over Bosnia-Herzegovina, 1909
Construction begins on the RMS Titanic, 1909
Construction of the RMS Titanic is completed, 1912
The United States takes possession of the Danish West Indies after paying $25 million to Denmark, and renames the territory the United States Virgin Islands, 1917
Daylight saving time goes into effect in the United States for the first time, 1918
The Royal Australian Air Force is formed, 1921
The Dominion of Newfoundland joins the Canadian Confederation and becomes the 10th Province of Canada, 1949
Remington Rand delivers the first UNIVAC I computer to the United States Census Bureau, 1951
In the Canadian federal election, 1958, the Progressive Conservatives, led by John Diefenbaker, win the largest percentage of seats in Canadian history, with 208 seats of 265, 1958
The 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, crosses the border into India and is granted political asylum, 1959
The Soviet Union launches Luna 10 which later becomes the first space probe to enter orbit around the Moon, 1966
Explorer 1 re-enters the Earth's atmosphere after 12 years in orbit, 1970
The USS Missouri, the last active United States Navy battleship, is decommissioned in Long Beach, California, 1992
Netscape releases the code base of its browser under an open-source license agreement; the project is given the code name Mozilla and is eventually spun off into the non-profit Mozilla Foundation, 1998
Amid unrest in the Mideast, activists claim China has launched the largest crackdown on dissenters in recent years, 2011

Friday, March 30, 2018

Swinging Good Time (Feline Friday) and Friendly Fill-ins

(Because some people like Blogger and some like WordPress, i am putting the same content at both.  If you would prefer to read this on the other site, it is linked here.) 

Feline Friday was started by Steve, The Burnt Food Dude, and i'm going to believe it's because he likes cats.
He has handed hosting duties off to Sandee, of Comedy Plus, and it's simple to join, just follow the link to Sandee's page for the rules and the code.

Sometimes Tripod SissyCat and i sit on the porch swing together.





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McGuffy's Reader

Friendly Fill-Ins are easy to do. There are four statements: the first two statements are provided by Ellen of 15AndMeowing, and the final two are offered by McGuffy Ann Morris of McGuffy's Reader. They try to make sure the statements will be fun to both answer and share. The linky will be posted at or about 12:00 AM on Friday. Please head over to one of their sites, link up, and share your thoughts! 

My fill-ins for the statements are underlined:

Week 99: March 30, 2018:

1. For Easter (or Passover), I                             .

2. My favorite Easter (or Passover) treat is                                 .

3. Lately, the song                    is stuck in my head.

4. The A-Z Blogging Challenge                          .


1. For Easter, i go to the sunrise service (and generally freeze), then we head to NOLA to go out to dinner with the whole family.

2. My favorite Easter treat is (was) Elmer’s Gold Brick Eggs.  Although i generally eschew refined sugars now, i used to love those, they are a NOLA product and much beloved here.

3. Lately, the song _________ is stuck in my head.  There is no one song.  Every morning, i wake up and think of a hymn or praise chorus, and if anything gets stuck it is that, and it is a different one each day.

4. The A-Z Blogging Challenge is fun, i’m sorry it took me a couple of years to discover it.


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Today is:

Alcohol-Free Weekend 2018 -- US; sponsored by National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (this year's theme is "Changing Attitudes:  It's not a 'rite of passage.'"  

Check for Change in Every Coin Return You Pass Day -- because someone has a sense of humor and put it on the internet

Culture and Traditions Day -- Micronesia

Daylight Saving Time begins -- Jordan; Syria

Doctors Day -- US (begun by Eudora Almond in 1933 because she thought her husband, Dr. Charles B. Almond deserved recognition for his hard work; www.doctorsday.org for ideas on how to thank your doctor)

Fairies of the First Wand Reunion Dinner -- Fairy Calendar

Feast of Janus and Concordia -- Ancient Roman Calendar

Festival of Bast -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (cat goddess; date approximate)

Festival of Reality Fabrication  -- internet holiday to celebrate your imagination

Festival of Salus -- Ancient Roman Calendar (god of health)

Good Friday/Passion Friday -- Christian (remembrance of the crucifixion of Jesus)
    National Hot Cross Bun Day -- US (always on Good Friday)
    Procession of the Mysteries -- Taranto, Italy
    Via Crusus (Way of the Cross) -- San Fernando, Philippines (reenactment of the Passion)

Grass Is Always Browner On The Other Side Of The Fence Day -- remember how good you have it; sponsored by Wellcat Holidays

I am in Control Day -- remember Alexander Haig's words on this date in 1981? well today, if you find the phones won't stop ringing, the kids got into the glue again, the coffee maker is on the fritz, and somebody dyed the poodle purple, stand up and declare that you are in control!

Land Day Commemoration -- West Bank/Palestinian remembrance

Limited Liability Day -- because no one can be responsible for everything

Pencil Day -- the pencil with an eraser top was patented this day in 1858 by Hyman Lipman

Pesach/Passover -- Judaism (begins this evening, through the evening of April 7)

Runic Half-Month Ewhas (Horse) begins

Spiritual Baptist/Shouter Liberation Day -- Trinidad and Tobago

St. Leonard Murialdo's Day (Patron of apprentices)

Take a Walk in the Park Day -- begun by someone who wanted to get out of the office

Turkey Neck Soup Day

Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day -- US (information here)  

World Marbles Day (always on Good Friday)   


Birthdays Today:

Scott Moffatt, 1983
Jason Dohring, 1982
Norah Jones, 1979
Matt Doran, 1976
Mark Consuelos, 1971
Celine Dion, 1968
Ian Ziering, 1964
Tracy Chapman, 1964
M.C. Hammer, 1962
Paul Reiser, 1957
Robbie Cotrane, 1950
Eric Clapton, 1945
Astrud Gilberto, 1940
Warren Beatty, 1937
John Astin, 1930
Rolf Harris, 1930
Peter Marshall, 1930
Richard Dysart, 1929
Peter Marshall, 1927
Frankie Laine, 1913
Sean O'casey, 1880
Anna Sewell, 1820
Vincent Van Gogh, 1853
Francisco Jose De Goya, 1749


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Agnes of God"(Play), 1982
"Applause"(Musical), 1970
"Jeopardy"(TV), 1964
"Verkaufte Braut/The Bartered Bride"(Comic opera), 1866


Today in History:

The first recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet, BC240
Ketsugan, Zen teacher, performs exorcisms to free aizoji temple, 1422
Henry VIII divorces Catherine of Aragon, 1533
British and coalition forces march into Paris after the defeat of Napoleon, 1814
Dr. Crawford Long of Georgia, US, performs the first operation with anesthesia (ether), 1842
A pencil with attached eraser is patented by Hyman L Lipman of Philadelphia, 1858
Alaska is purchased from Russia by US Secretary of State William Seward, for $7,200,000 (about 2 cents per acre), 1867
Amelia Earhart becomes the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic, 1932
Einstein announces his revised unified field theory, 1953
The Yonge Street Line, the first subway in Canada, opens in Toronto, 1954
President Ronald Reagan is shot in the chest outside a Washington, D.C., hotel by John Hinckley, Jr., 1981
The oldest copy of Codex Holmiensis, dating from 1280, is returned to Denmark from Sweden after 300 years, and 45,000 Inca artifacts are returned to Peru's Machu Picchu after spending 100 years at Yale University, 2011
Uhuru Kenyatta is declared the rightful winner of the Kenyan presidential election by the Supreme Court, 2013
Slovakia sets a new precedent by electing Andrej Kiska, a millionaire, as president; Mr. Kiska is the first president without ties to the Communist party to be elected since the breakup of the former Czechoslovakia, 2014
North Carolina repeals its controversial bathroom law that restricted transgender use,  2017

Thursday, March 29, 2018

Letting It Out (Six Sentence Story) and Good Fences

(Because some people like Blogger and some like WordPress, i am putting the same content at both.  If you would prefer to read this on the other site, it is linked here.)




This is one of those times where i just have to vent, so i will.

The person whose check bounced last week has made good on almost all of it, with the remainder to come this Monday, and the cause was outside of her control.

My biggest complaint is how the bank, where we both do business, handled everything.

First, they took so long approving her check when i deposited it that i was late for my next job, then they bounced it even though they had approved it and she had overdraft protection.

After that, they did not give me credit for two more deposits until after they had taken out their pound of flesh and charged me overdrafts.

If Sweetie was not enamored of this particular institution, and if it were not actually one of the better banks in town (yes, the horror stories from other banks are worse), i think i would take my business elsewhere after this.


Linking up with Girlie On The Edge Blog, where she hosts Six Sentence Stories, and the cue is Vent.   

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Gosia, of Looking for Identity, has taken over Good Fences, and it's now Good Fences Around The World.  Post a picture of a fence or gate, link back to her blog, and go visit others to see what interesting fences there are out in this big world.   

A local playground fence:




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Today is:

Barthelemy Boganda Day -- Central African Republic

Borrowed Days begin -- old English/Scottish/Irish legends about how March borrowed the next 3 days from April; these are still seen as weather prognostication days based on several different legends

Day of Redress -- Fairy Calendar

Knights of Columbus Founders Day

Little Red Wagon Day

Martyrs' Day -- Madagascar

Maundy Thursday -- Christian (a/k/a Holy, Green, Chare, Sheer, or Shere Thursday; commemoration of the Last Supper)
    Procession of the Addolorata -- Taranto, Italy

National Lemon Chiffon Cake Day

National Mom and Pop Business Owners Day -- as recognized by AICPA

Smoke and Mirrors Day -- some sites call it "Festival of Smoke and Mirrors Day," but appropriately no one knows who started it

St. Armogastes of Africa's Day (Patron of the poor and torture victims; against poverty and torture)

St. Gladys' and St. Gwynllyw's Day (the Welsh "Bonny and Clyde", who led a life of crime before their conversion)

Wear a Hat Day -- UK (a brain tumour awareness event and fundraiser)   

Youth Day -- Taiwan


Anniversaries Today:

Harry Hamlin weds Lisa Rinna, 1997
Yeshiva College (now University) is chartered in New York, 1928


Birthdays Today:

Hideaki Takizawa, 1982
Jennifer Capriati, 1976
Lucy Lawless, 1968
Elle Macpherson, 1964
Christopher Lambert, 1957
Kurt Thomas, 1956
Earl Christian Campbell, 1955
Karen Ann Quinlan, 1954
Bud Cort, 1950
George Blaha, 1945
Eric Idle, 1943
John Major, 1943
John Joseph McLaughlin, 1927
Pearl Bailey, 1918
Sam Walton, 1918
Eugene Mccarthy, 1916
Philip Ahn, 1905
Denton True "Cy" Young, 1867
Isaac Mayer Wise, Rabbi and Founder of Reform Judaism, 1819
John Tyler, 1790
Carlo Buonaparte, father of Napoleon Bonaparte, 1746


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Woman of the Year"(Play), 1981
"The King and I"(Play), 1951
"Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Combined Shows"(circus), 1919
"Mutt and Jeff"(Comic strip), 1908
"Jevgeni Onegin/Eugene Onegin"(Opera; Tchaikovsky Op. 24), 1879


Today in History:

The city of Salvador da Bahia, the first capital of Brazil, is founded, 1549
Treaty of Saint-Germain is signed, returning Quebec to French control after the English had seized it in 1629, 1632
Swedish colonists establish the first settlement in Delaware, 1638
Ludwig von Beethoven, age 24, debuts as a pianist in Vienna, 1795
Construction is authorized of the Great National Pike, better known as the Cumberland Road, becoming the first United States federal highway, 1806
Niagara Falls stops flowing for 30 hours due to an ice jam, 1848
The United Kingdom annexes the Punjab, 1849
Ohio makes it illegal for children under 18 & women to work more than 10 hours a day, 1852
Queen Victoria gives Royal Assent to the British North America Act which establishes the Dominion of Canada on July 1, 1867
Queen Victoria presides over the opening of Albert Hall in London, 1871
The Knights of Columbus are established, 1882
Dr. John Pemberton brews the first batch of Coca-Cola in his back yard, 1886
The North American Radio Broadcasting Agreement goes into effect at 03:00 local time, 1941
Ethel and Julius Rosenberg are convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage, 1951
NASA's Mariner 10 becomes the first spaceprobe to fly by Mercury, 1974
The Canada Act 1982 (U.K.) receives the Royal Assent from Queen Elizabeth II, setting the stage for the Queen of Canada to proclaim the Constitution Act, 1982
Catherine Callbeck becomes premier of Prince Edward Island and the first woman to be elected in a general election as premier of a Canadian province, 1993
Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia join NATO as full members, 2004
The Republic of Ireland becomes the first country in the world to ban smoking in all work places, including bars and restaurants, 2004
Thirty-five countries and over 370 cities join Earth Hour for the first time, 2008
A transistor-like transcriptor is built out of DNA and RNA molecules by American bioengineers at Stanford University, 2013