Tuesday, February 16, 2021

Random, Happy, and Counting Words on a Frozen Tuesday

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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.  


Part of today’s post is also a writing challenge. This is how it works: one of the contributing bloggers picked a number between 12 and 74. The submitted number is a challenge to participating bloggers to write at least one piece using that exact number of words. 

This month, the word count number is: 40

It was submitted by:  Karen of Baking in a Tornado


Links to the other Word Counters posts:

Baking In A Tornado                    

On the Border                                  


We know cat lovers who can put us to shame.  Mr. BA and Ms. GA washed their sheets but didn't get the bed remade before Abigail and Big Red got snuggled in the blankets, so they used the guest bed!


Ms. S was given a warning from her doctor that she's lost too much weight, and i can tell you why.  When i got her meal served up, she said, "I filled up on smells and now I'm not hungry!"


We've had quite a bit of ice, and very cold temperatures, with wires or poles down and no electricity in many places.  Ms. V and her family have a generator, so i was able to finish cleaning Carl's apartment anyway.


While i was cleaning, the family across the street called.  After the Flood of 2016, they stayed in Carl's apartment while rebuilding their house, and they were asking to use the apartment now during the power outage, it's so cold.


Ms. V told them, "Well, since 'mimi' is cleaning the apartment today, of course you can use it!  Otherwise, it wouldn't be fit for you to stay in there!"  Talk about pressure, i sanitized everything and hand scrubbed the floors.


Our neighborhood also has poles down, and i've never seen the trees so bent under the weight of the ice on them.   Those of us with generators are thankful during summer storms, and doubly so now.  Swamps don't need ice!


 Now for some interesting inventions, fun facts, and funnies, all courtesy of Grandma forwarding them to me:


Instead of a door knob, open the door with your foot!

Pedestrian crossing that can give extra time to the elderly or disabled.




Do you remember these and how to use them?






Funnies:






Finally, we've needed this place!


Have a blessed and beautiful Tuesday, everyone!






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Today is:


9-1-1 Day -- the first 911 call in North America was placed, demonstrating the new system, on this day in 1968


Akiyoshidai Yamayaki -- Akiyoshidai, Japan (dry grass on the mountain side is burned in this coming of spring ceremony; date subject to change)


Bonten Matsuri -- Miyoshi-jinja Shrine, Akita, Japan (two day festival to ask for good crops this year)


Do a Grouch a Favor Day -- internet generated attempt to get us to either get the grouches on our side, or make us cynical


Independence Day -- Lithuania (National Day/Restoration of Statehood)(1918)


International Pancake Day


Kyoto Protocol Day -- International (treaty on climate change; today is proposed as "Wear purple for Kyoto Day")


Mardi Gras -- Fat Tuesday, Carnival, the last day to feast before the Lenten fast begins tomorrow, greeted with revelry in many parts of the world; related observances and names:

     Scotland, Fasten's E'en or Bannocky Day

     Portuguese, Terça-feira Gorda

     Italian, Martedì Grasso

     Swedish, Fettisdagen

     Danish, Fastelavn

     Norwegian, Fastelavens

     Estonian, Vastlapäev

     Spanish, Martes de Carnaval

     German, Faschingsdienstag

     Hawaiian, Malasada Day

     Lithuanian, Uzgavenes

     Icelandic, Sprengidagur (literally, Bursting Day)

     also Pancake Day or Bursting Day, the day to eat the last of the eggs and butter in the form of some kind of fried cakes, and to eat until bursting


National Almond Day


Respectable Tales of Kelp-Koli -- Fairy Calendar (5 minutes only) 


Shrove Tuesday -- Christian


St. Juliana of Cumae's Day (Patron of the ill)


St. Onesimus' Day (runaway slave of Philemon, converted by Paul, of whom the Letter to Philemon was written)


Vasant Panchami / Saraswati Puja  -- Hindu (celebrating Saraswati, the goddess of knowledge)



Birthdays Today:


Christopher Eccleston, 1964

John McEnroe, 1959

Ice T, 1959

LeVar Burton, 1957

James Ingram, 1956

William Katt, 1951

Richard Ford, 1944

Barry Primus, 1938

Sonny Bono, 1935

Vera-Ellen, 1921

Patty Andrews, 1920

Jimmy Wakely, 1914

Hugh Beaumont, 1909

Richard McDonald, 1909

George Kennan, 1904

Edgar Bergan, 1903

Robert Joseph Flaherty, 1884

Johann Strauss, 1866

Nichiren, 1222

Emperor Yingzong of China, 1032



Debuting/Premiering Today:


"What's My Line"(TV Game Show), 1950

"Le Voyageur Sans Baggage"(Anouilh Play), 1937

"The Marquise"(Coward Play), 1927

"Chung Sai Yat Po"(Publication; first Chinese daily newspaper in US), 1900

"Werther"(Massenet Opera), 1892

"Ladies' Home Journal"(Publication), 1883

"Orpheus"(Liszt Opera), 1854

"Elegy Written in a Country Church Yard"(First Publication), 1751



Today in History:


9th recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet, 374

Pope Gregory the Great issues a decree saying that "God bless you" is the correct response to a sneeze, 600

English king Charles I accepts Triennial Act, requiring the king to assemble Parliament at least once every 3 years, 1641

The first known check (cheque) is written, for 400 English Pounds Sterling (currently on display at Westminster Abbey), 1659

Kentucky passes a law permitting women to attend school under certain conditions, 1838*

Weenen Massacre: Hundreds of Voortrekkers along the Blaukraans River, Natal are killed by Zulus, 1838

American Charles Wilkes discovers Shackleton Ice Shelf, Antarctica, 1840

The Battle of Sobraon ends the First Sikh War in India, 1846

Studebaker Brothers wagon company, precursor of the automobile manufacturer, is established, 1852

The French Government passes a law to set the A-note above middle C to a frequency of 435 Hz, in an attempt to standardize the pitch, 1859

The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks forms, 1868

The "Ladies Home Journal" begins publishing, 1883

The first Chinese daily newspaper in the US, Chung Sai Yat Po, begins publication in San Francisco, 1900

The first US Esperanto Club organizes in Boston, 1905

The first synagogue in 425 years opens in Madrid, Spain, 1917

Howard Carter unseals the burial chamber of Pharaoh Tutankhamun, 1923

The first patent is issued for a tree, to James Markham for a peach tree, 1932

Wallace H. Carothers receives a United States patent for nylon, 1937

Canadians are granted Canadian citizenship after 80 years of being British subjects. Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King becomes the first Canadian citizen, 1947

Britain abolishes the death penalty, 1956

Fidel Castro becomes Premier of Cuba after dictator Fulgencio Batista was overthrown on January 1, 1959

In Haleyville, Alabama, the first 9-1-1 emergency telephone system goes into service, 1968

The first computer bulletin board system is created (CBBS in Chicago, Illinois), 1978

The trial of John Demjanjuk, accused of being a Nazi guard dubbed "Ivan the Terrible" in Treblinka extermination camp, starts in Jerusalem, 1987

The Kyoto Protocol comes into force, following its ratification by Russia, 2005

The last Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (MASH) is decommissioned by the United States Army, 2006

China announces it will relocate 9,000 people in Guizhou province, before completion of world's largest telescope (FAST), designed to look for extraterrestrial life, 2016

Pope Francis defrocks ex-cardinal and archbishop of Washington Theodore McCarrick for sexually abusing minors and adults, making him the first Cardinal to be removed for sexual abuse, 2019

The United States removes 400 citizens quarantined for Covid19 on the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Yokohama, Japan, 2020

16 comments:

  1. Love the things that Grandma sends you - and would love to be able to tap for extra time to cross the road.
    glad that you got out of the storms reasonably well.
    Stay safe, stay well.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great photos. I liked the crossing for the disabled. Good idea.

    God bless.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Good photos, thanks to you and Grandma. I recognize and know how to use (in some case still use) those thingies, only not the big silver ball on a stove, and wonder if it's something purely American.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That is Jiffy Pop popcorn. It comes in a small aluminum pie plate, with a handle and accordion-folded aluminum foil on top. You take off the cardboard sticker from the top that tells what it is and the instructions, set it on the stove to heat up, and as the popcorn pops, the acordion-folded aluminum is pushed up like that. When the popping stops, your popcorn is ready.

      You can view a video of it over here.

      Delete
  4. Oh my goodness, we learned why Mom can always magically wake up when she wants to...stress I guess. She can't help it and wishes it didn't happen. Great funnies and she recognized all that funny old stuff too!

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  5. Wish I could send some of the heat over to you because it is very hot here. Interesting and funny facts from your Grandma. Have a great day.

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  6. Oh Mimi, I laughed so much about the memes especially the older lady about the email. I wished I could see a black rose. I'd put them with the red roses. Now that would look so cool.

    Cruisin Paul

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  7. Not only do I remember those items, I still own 2 of them...
    :-)

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  8. I remembered all those items. Wonder if they still make Jiffy Pop. I want some if they do. You and I hit double on one of our cartoons. Shows great minds! Ha, ha, ha, ha

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  9. Good story and those were all fun funnies!

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  10. Your clients are ever so entertaining. I find myself laughing with you and often. Thank you for sharing them with us.

    Love all the old stuff. I know what they all are and I know how to use them. I'll be 70 in September.

    Love all the funnies and thank your grandmother for keeping us entertained.

    Thank you for joining the Happy Tuesday Blog Hop.

    Have a fabulous Happy Tuesday. Big hug my friend. ♥♥♥

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  11. I know you're not used to the cold and no electricity can certainly make it much worse, but it was -22 here this morning, torturously cold.
    I do remember jiffy pop, it was so much fun watching that dome rise.

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  12. |Too bad you guys have been hit so hard by the polar vortex...I shall no longer complain. I loved your post today! I needed all the lightness and laughs! The secret behind a good life is a good day and secret behind a good day is a good attitude and laughing your ass off before having to do anything serious! Barb

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  13. You are clearly so important to your customers. Your attention to detail and feeling of responsibility are so important in this world. Hoping the weather begins its warming. We are getting a possible ice storm tonight.

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  14. A person's Natural Alarm Clock is caused by a stress hormone? Does this mean I've been stressed my whole life?
    I do remember those things and how to use them all except the last one, what on earth is that? Is it a method of popping corn on a very old fashioned toaster? We had one of those when I was very young, we used a fork to flip the slice of bread over to toast the other side.

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  15. Stay safe and warm. I Keep hearing Texas and Louisana are freezing with the rest of us. PLease take care. A gal I know in Texas, their power was out so they went to their storage to use their generator from their RV except the gate is electric so that plan was not working. Susan, a cancer survivo is grateful to have her mom's mink coat. She wore it in her home since there is no heat.I Keep praying. We are use to the cold but I know you are not. Take care. You always make me smile and I love visiting. Thanks

    ReplyDelete

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