If It's Hectic, and Insurance Related, It Must Be My Life, a Random and Happy Tuesday Post

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It's time once again for a random and happy Tuesday, linking up with Stacy's Random Thoughts at Stacy Uncorked and Sandee at Comedy Plus.  

First, the definition of spoiled is a Chihuahua sitting in your lap with a heating pad:

The last couple of days have been hectic, to say the least.  Grandpa needed Sweetie to run errands here in town (since he doesn't come up here any more, he doesn't trust himself to drive out of town).  The Big Boss wanted errands.  Ms. G, my every Wednesday lady, let me come on Monday instead since Dr. D was out of town.  Of course, i still had Ms. JAI as usual (she is every other Monday afternoon).

We burned a whole tank of gas just on one day of work and errands and traffic madness.  Not to mention that i've got to get ready to be out of town overnight (leaving today).  No, we don't keep it straight without a list.  Some days the list has over two dozen separate items.

Yes, somehow, some way, it all got done, even with the insurance trouble.

This is in no way a paid ad, i now have great respect for Geico Insurance.  State Farm has, one by one, dropped my children.  Last time is was #2 Son, and we didn't get the notice from State Farm about it, so he was driving around with no insurance and we had no idea. One quick call to Geico, and it was taken care of.

Now it was Little Girl.  Someone she worked with (military) had driven her car and ended up in a minor accident.  State Farm dropped her, so we called Sweetie's friend, Insurance Dude.  He sells Progressive.  Progressive decided that the other driver was going to have to be on the insurance, even though he is now assigned to another base and Little Girl never sees him, and they were going to charge her $4,000 for six months of basic liability.  Yeah, um, no.

Again, Geico to the rescue.  She told them the situation, she is now covered for $1,000 for six months, and has more than just the basic liability.  They saw no reason to put the other driver on the insurance, since it was only a one time thing and he's not going to be behind the wheel of her vehicle ever again.

Let's get a bit more random, shall we?  Here's a highway sign and i'm sorry i couldn't get a better shot from the passenger seat:

It says, "Santa's coming, have you been a good driver?"

Finally, more of the pictures Grandma sent (i have no clue where she gets this stuff), things to let you know that just when you think you've seen everything, you have not.

A blessed and beautiful Christmas Eve or Happy Hanukkah to all who are celebrating, and a wonderful Tuesday to those who are not!

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Today is:

Adam the Patriarch & Eve the Matriarch's Day -- Catholic Christian (Adam, Patron of gardeners and tailors; Eve, Patron of tailors)

Aofangadagskvold -- Iceland (arrival of the 13th and final Yule Lad)

    Icelandic Yuletide Lad of the Day, Kertasnikir -- Candle-beggar, who, as children did before light bulbs, wants the treat of a precious candle, and will steal one if he can

Bonfires on the Levee -- Louisiana, US (began among the Cajuns, now a big celebration for everyone, lighting the way for Papa Noel)

Calendas -- Oaxaca, Mexico

Celtic Tree Month Beth (Birch) commences

Christmas Eve

Constitution Day -- Transdniestra

Declaration of Christmas Peace -- Old Great Square of Turku, Finland's official Christmas City

Feast of the Seven Fishes (La Vigilia) -- Italy (traditional serving of seven kinds of seafood at dinner)

Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols -- King's College Chapel, Cambridge University, Cambridge, England (special Christmas Eve performance by the Choir of King's College held since 1918)

Independence Day -- Libya(1951)

Kolada -- Asatru/Slavic Pagan Calendar (various celebrations of the gods until Dec. 31)

Last Minute Shoppers Day

Mistletoe Time -- traditional day on which to hang the mistletoe

Modresnach -- Germanic/Scandinavian/Anglo-Saxon Odinist festival celebrating midwinter and motherhood (date approximate)

National Egg Nog Day

Noche Buena -- Spain and Spanish speaking countries

Remember to Read the Instructions First Night -- when assembling the kids' toys, of course

Silent Night, Holy Night Celebrations -- Austria (in honor of the hymn's composition in 1818)

St. Trasilla's Day (Patron of single laywomen)

Tolling the Devil's Knell -- All Saints Parish Church, Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, England (the church bell tolls once for each year since the birth of Christ, signaling when the Devil's demise was heralded)

T'owd 'oss -- Richmond, North Yorkshire, England (A tradition of dressing in hunting clothes and blowing the hunting horns on Christmas Eve.)

Utter Day -- Fairy Calendar (Every word uttered by the fairy folk becomes a physical object he/she must wear for the rest of the day.)

Yap Constitution Day -- Micronesia (regional)

Zerowork Season begins -- seriously, unless you work in retail, how much work really gets done between now and New Year's Eve at your office?

Birthdays Today:

Ryan Seacrest, 1974

Stephanie Meyer, 1973

Ricky Martin, 1971

Diedrich Bader, 45, 1966

Anil Kapoor, 1959

Mary Higgins Clark, 1929

Ava Gardner, 1922

Howard Hughes, 1905

Johnny Gruelle, 1880

Matthew Arnold, 1822

James Prescott Joule, 1818

Kit Carson, 1809

Debuting/Premiering Today:

The Aristocats(Disney animated film), 1970

"Amahl and the Night Visitors"(Opera, first performance and the first opera ever televised), 1951

"The Perry Como Show"(TV), 1948

"Aida"(Opera), 1871

Today in History:

The Byzantine church Hagia Sophia in Constantinople is dedicated for the second time after being destroyed by earthquakes, 563

Thomas Wolsey is appointed English Lord Chancellor, 1515

Kiritimati, also called Christmas Island, is "discovered" by James Cook, 1777

"Silent Night" is composed by Franz Joseph Gruber; it is first sung the next day, 1818

The Eggnog Riot at the United States Military Academy begins that night, wrapping up the following morning, 1826

Fire devastates the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., destroys 35,000 volumes, 1851

Henry Ford completes his first useful gas motor, 1893

Irving Fisher patents an archiving system with index cards, 1912

The first radio transmission of NCRV in Netherlands, 1924

NORAD Tracks Santa for the first time in what will become an annual Christmas Eve tradition, 1955

Shooting begins on "The Cage" the pilot for the Star Trek series, 1964

The crew of Apollo 8 enters into orbit around the Moon, becoming the first humans to do so, 1968

Cyclone Tracy devastates Darwin, Australia, 1974

The first European Ariane rocket is launched, 1979

For the first time since the death of Lenin, the bells of St. Basil's Cathedral, on Red Square in Moscow, ring to celebrate Christmas, 1990

The Spanish police thwart an attempt by ETA to detonate 50 kg of explosives at 3:55 p.m. inside Madrid's busy Chamartín Station, 2003

A video of SpaceX's latest test (on December 17) of the company's Grasshopper rocket with vertical takeoff and vertical landing, is released; the rocket rose 131 feet, hovered and landed safely on the landing pad, 2012