(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.)
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Time to put another week in the books with a list of things for which i am thankful.
While i seldom know where to start, today i know for certain to begin with yesterday evening. Or a bit before.
Sweetie and i got done with Ms. GA’s house and actually had time to go home for a few hours and take a nap, and if you think i am not very thankful for that, you don’t know me very well, do you!
Along about the time we were to go to the shelter, it began to rain. Upon getting there, we were very thankful some generous donor gave the shelter a generator, as the electricity was out in that whole area, but we had lights and A/C and all was well.
A new young volunteer and her mother were there, and i was very thankful for her help (her mother spoke little English and mostly stood and watched and assisted her daughter, which was fine). We got everybody in the cages and offices fed and watered, while the lady who does colony rooms took care of them.
The real adventure happened when Jake, the nice man who takes photos of the kitties for us to put online, walked in and said, "Somebody's car has a flat tire!"
Guess who. Okay, no need to guess.
Sweetie has a bad back, and it was still drizzling and he can't get water in his ears (he's had special surgery on his ears and water in them could lead to the kind of infection that can kill you, and no i am not exaggerating).
At that moment, i became more thankful for Jake than i've ever been before.
We didn't have to unload all of my equipment from the trunk to find the spare, a big thankful.
The spare is full size and worked, a bigger thankful.
Jake stood with me in the drizzle and joked as mostly he changed the tire and i assisted. Every time i asked him, do we do this or that next? he would say, "Well, if we have to do it the way they taught us in Driver's Ed, okay, we'll do it that way!" HIs attitude helped make everything easier as we both stayed as happy as you can be while changing a flat in a cold drip of rain.
When i pulled the tire off, i saw the problem right away -- a nail, right in the tread. There's a thankful, Kevin and Lenny will fix it free since we bought the tire from them.
Once the spare tire was on and we were on our way, we pulled into the nearest gas station (notice how we don't call them service stations any more because there is no service?) to see if it had an air machine as the spare was a bit low. Not only are we thankful they had one, i am even more thankful that it was not cantankerous and actually took my credit card (the last time i tried to use one of those card only machines, i tried three times, it told me three times it could not use my card and i would not be charged, and i got three $1.50 charges on my bill but no air).
Not long after we got to the house, the rain was gone, i am always thankful for rain that comes and then does not overstay its welcome.
Also, Mike-Next-Door mowed the lawn, he had finished about one hour before the rain started. It's always a thankful thing when the timing of getting the lawn mowed works.
Please join us and our gracious and wonderful hostess Kristi from ThankfulMe, write up your own list and link up to Ten Things of Thankful.
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Today is:
10,000 Crestonians 4th of July Celebration -- Creston, IA, US (lots of history and fun, through the 6th)
Armed Forces Day -- Great Britain
ARRL Field Day -- American Radio Relay League's most popular on-air operating event, in which amatuer/ham radio operators practice and drill for communications during emergencies; through tomorrow
Autonomy Day -- French Polynesia
Camera Day -- internet generated, but a fun one to celebrate
Feast Day of Saints Peter and Paul -- Christian
St. Paul, Patron of Greece, Malta, rope makers, tentmakers, upholsterers
St. Peter, Patron of clockmakers, fishermen, Russia; against fever, foot trouble, wolves
a recognized holiday in Chile; Holy See; Italy; Malta[l-Imnarja]; Peru; GR and TI, Switzerland; Wallis and Fortuna
Haro Wine Festival -- Haro, LaRioja, Spain (a festival that includes a Battle of Wines, where wine is thrown from buckets at opposing teams; on the feast day of the city's patron, San Pedro)
Rat-Catcher's Day -- often cited because some of the earliest legends of the Pied Piper claim he took the children on the Feast Day of Sts. Peter and Paul
Great American Picnic Day -- various dates given, with the most common being the final Saturday of June
Hug Holiday -- while the National Hug Holiday Week has been moved to the beginning of May, this is the original day, and was for quite a while, so go give someone a big hug!
Independence Day -- Seychelles
Ladies of Country and Bluegrass Music Show -- Waretown, NJ, US (at the historic Albert Music Hall)
National Almond Butter Crunch Day
Oharai/Grand Purification Festival -- Shinto
Runic Half-month Feoh (wealth) commences
Smithsonian Folklife Festival -- Smithsonian Institute, Washington, D.C., US (the theme of this year's festival is the social power of music; through tomorrow)
Veteranendag -- Netherlands (Veterans Day)
Waffle Iron Day -- don't know why today, but it's a great gadget, and if you have one, pull it out and use it today
Wicked Fairies Summer Debate -- Fairy Calendar (i'd love to hear this!)
Birthdays Today:
Prince Aristide Stavros of Greece and Denmark, 2008
Amanda Donohoe, 1962
Sharon Lawrence, 1962
Fred Grandy, 1948
Richard Lewis, 1947
Gary Busey, 1944
Robert Evans, 1930
Ray Harryhausen, 1920
Slim Pickens, 1919
Bernard Herrmann, 1911
Nelson Eddy, 1901
Antoine de Saint-Exupery, 1900
James Van Der Zee, 1886
William James Mayo, 1863
George Washington Goethals, 1858
Julia Clifford Lathrop, 1858
Debuting/Premiering Today:
Moonraker(Film), 1979
Today in History:
An Irish monastic chronicler records a solar eclipse, 512
Jacques Cartier makes the European discovery of Prince Edward Island, 1534
The Globe Theatre in London, England burns to the ground, 1613
Alexander Macdonell and over five hundred Roman Catholic highlanders leave Scotland to settle in Glengarry County, Ontario, 1786
Coal is discovered on Vancouver Island, 1850
Ninety-nine people are killed in Canada's worst railway disaster near St-Hilaire, Quebec, 1864
France annexes Tahiti, 1880
The first known recording of classical music, Handel's "Israel in Egypt", is made on a wax cylinder, 1888
Street railway in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, commences operation, 1891
Doukhobors burn their weapons as a protest against conscription by the Tsarist Russian government, 1895
France grants 1 km² at Vimy Ridge "freely, and for all time, to the Government of Canada, the free use of the land exempt from all taxes," 1922
Joseph-Armand Bombardier of Canada receives a patent for sprocket and track traction system used in snow vehicles, 1937
Isabel Perón is sworn in as the first female President of Argentina, 1974
The Seychelles become independent from the United Kingdom, 1976
The space shuttle Atlantis docks with the Russian Mir Space Station for the first time, 1995
Two car bombs are found at Piccadilly Circus, in the heart of London, 2007
News that European Union members agree on a deal to help some struggling Eurozone members causes world stock markets to soar, 2012
The Beijing Times reports that up to 30% of the Great Wall of China has disappeared, partly due to natural forces of decay and partly due to people stealing bricks, 2015
Iraqi forces retake the remains of the destroyed Great Mosque of al-Nuri from the Islamic State; it was the symbolic site where their leader had declared a "caliphate", 2017
Love your thankfullnesses.
ReplyDeleteAir is free at service stations here. And it is about time we changed the name too. Service is rare.
Aww those tires have a way of showing us thankfuls. My first car had worn tires and I could not afford replacements. I was in college and working nights. Frequently, while driving home from work I'd get a flat. Rarely did I have to change one all the way as truck drivers would help me. It's like angels came in semis.
ReplyDeleteWhen we focus on the positive things, there are so many things to be thankful for. Thankful that God is watching over us and knows when we need help and He provided help.
ReplyDeleteThe thankfuls were plentiful and much needed too!
ReplyDeleteYay, Jake! :-)
ReplyDeleteI knew it was your tire that was flat and I'm ever so grateful you had help. We had a nail in our tire several months back on a 'run flat tire' and when that happens it has to be replaced. Four hundred dollars later we had a new tire.
ReplyDeleteHave a fabulous thankful weekend, my friend. ♥
Wow! Lots to be grateful for ~ so glad you and hubby are safe and that you were in the parking lot not on the road ~
ReplyDeleteHappy Day to you,
A ShutterBug Explores,
aka (A Creative Harbor)
We had the same nail experience, but managed to drive by a tire place.
ReplyDeleteSo much to be grateful for!
Hooray for people being able to change a tire in drizzling rain and in good spirits.
ReplyDeleteThat is a wonderful list of thankfuls. I hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend! XO
ReplyDeleteI'm thankful for the amount of rain we've had in the past couple of days. My thirsty country sorely needs it. I'm thankful too, that your spare tyre was okay and you had help to change it.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry about the flat tire incident, but it sounds like it went as smoothly as possible, given the circumstances. (Oh, and you should be able to get those charges off your credit card statement by calling the credit card company to explain.)
ReplyDeleteFlat tires are tough (though a nail can, of course, be fixed)... I don't seem to have much luck with air or vacuum vending machines... fortunately I put any and all change in the console of the car, so I usually have enough quarters if the need arises.
ReplyDeleteHave a good week.
Yeah for Jake fixing your flat tire, in the drizzling rain no less!
ReplyDeleteI love the timing. . .the lawn getting mowed before the rains set in. It is always a pleasure to read your posts and see how you look at the sunny side of things.
It's not always easy to find thankfuls in flat tires! Great list! It's nice that tires can be repaired, too, because they are darn expensive! (Walmart fixes them for $10.) I remember my mom telling stories about everyone having patch kits during the War because you couldn't get tires and that was when they had innertubes inside and you couldn't get those, either! Great list!
ReplyDeleteThis was a wonderful list of "perfect timing" blessings that made what would have been a bigger problem more manageable. I am so thankful for the tire change assistance, and that the air machine worked... machines that won't read my card really frustrate me (yes, patience is still a class in session in my life :-)
ReplyDeleteI was most happy just to read that you got to go home early enough for a nice nap. I know how hard you work, and how long the hours are, and if anyone deserves the luxury of a nap, it's you!
I hope this week is going well for you, and that the rains come and go gently, you have no more need of torrential downpours for a decade or so! XO