Happy Mardi Gras on Random and Happy 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.  

Happy Mardi Gras!  In last Thursday's Six Sentence Story, i wrote about riding in a parade instead of being in the crowd.  That was many years ago.  When i was young, i marched in parades with a baton twirling corps and a couple of times our family was on a float instead of just in the crowd.  Those were fun times.

As for the pink flamingos in my Sunday Selections, in recent years the pink flamingo has become the symbol of Mardi Gras in some parts of south Louisiana.  Kitsch at its best, it's fun to see what people do with the flamingos.  In fact, if you aren't careful, you can get flocked --  a local charity accepts donations to put a flock of pink flamingos in someone's front yard in the middle of the night.  When you awaken, you see that you've been flocked and you pay a donation to get them removed.  You pick the next "winner" of a flock.

Taking a day off from Carl's place is not without risk.  Because i attended Ms. S's funeral last Monday and missed cleaning his room, i paid for it yesterday.

He had trouble with laundry.  This i realized early on when i both found dirty clothes on hangers and stuffed into drawers (hangers and all!) and i took the dry and still dirty clothes out of the washer and found this.

A clean pair of socks had made its way in among the dirty stuff and got thrown into the washer along with everything else.

The reason i emptied the washer was so i could sort everything at once.  Instead of 3 loads of laundry, i did four.

Don't ask about the state of the floors or the bathroom sink, you don't want to know.

We're still having "the coin discussion."  If he leaves coins outside of his coin sorter and doesn't pick them up before he leaves for work, i get to keep them as a tip.  That's his mother's incentive for him to keep up with them.  So what do i do with this?

He got to keep those, i figured he won on a technicality.

Speaking of jobs, the following is probably not at all true, but it is certainly amusing and a good reminder to be thankful.

When you have an 'I Hate My Job Day' 

[Even if you're retired, you sometimes have those days] 

Try this out: 

Stop at your pharmacy, go to the thermometer section and purchase a rectal thermometer made by Johnson & Johnson...

Be very sure you get this brand.

When you get home, lock your doors, draw the curtains and disconnect the phone so you will not be disturbed.

Change into very comfortable clothing and sit in your favorite chair. Open the package and remove the thermometer.

Carefully place it on a table or a surface so that it will not become chipped or broken.  

Now the fun part begins.

Take out the literature from the box and read it carefully.

You will notice that in small print there is a statement: 

"Every Rectal Thermometer made by Johnson & Johnson is personally tested and then sanitized."

Now, close your eyes and repeat out loud five times,' I am so glad I do not work in the thermometer quality control department at Johnson & Johnson.'

HAVE A NICE DAY; AND REMEMBER, THERE IS ALWAYS SOMEONE ELSE WITH A JOB THAT IS MORE OF A PAIN IN THE ASS THAN YOURS!

...Remember, if you haven't got a smile on your face and laughter in your heart...

Then you are just an old sour fart;

Maybe you should go work for Johnson and Johnson!

How about a few cute pictures to wrap things up.

Have a blessed and beautiful Mardi Gras, everyone!

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Today is:

Baba Marta Day -- Bulgaria (Grandmother Spring Day, martenitsa are worn until you see a stork or a tree blooming.)

Beer Day -- Iceland (marks the end of the prohibition of beer in 1989)

Be Positive, Do Something Positive Day -- the way to start Optimism Month

Bravo Day/Nuclear Victims Remembrance Day -- Marshall Islands

Chalandra Marz -- Engandine, Switzerland (various cities of this province have the traditional spring event where costumed young people, ringing bells and cracking whips, drive out the demons of winter)

Day to Mourn Victims of Land Mines -- anniversary of the day they were outlawed worldwide in 1999

Dia de las Islas Baleares -- Iberia, Spain

Elves, Woodworkers, and Mechanics' Day -- Fairy Calendar

First Day of Autumn -- Australia (they go by months, not equinoxes, like the rest of the world used to)

Humorists Are Artists Month begins -- any coincidence this spells HAAM?

Independence Day -- Bosnia and Herzegovina(1992)

International Association for Women of Color Day -- on the first day of Women's History Month  

International Pancake Day

International Wheelchair Day -- a day when wheelchair users celebrate the positive impact a wheelchair has had in their lives 

Maha Shivaratri -- Hindu (festival in honor of Lord Shiva and his marriage to Goddess Parvati; local observances and government official days off will vary)

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

Martisor -- Romanians and Aromanians, especially in Romania and Moldova (similar tradition to Baba Marta; first days of March are Zilele Babei, Days of the Old Woman, when Old Woman Winter, Baba Dokia, who lives in the mountains, might come back with ferocity.)

National Fruit Compote Day

National Heroes' Day -- Paraguay

National Horse Protection Day -- US; sponsored by the Animal Miracle Foundation   

National Pig Day -- sponsored by Ellen Stanley and Mary Lynne Rave, who want you to know that pigs are amazing animals that place fourth on the animal intelligence list!

National Peanut Butter Lovers' Day -- different from National Peanut Butter Day, which is January 24

Navii's Day / Vjunitci -- Asatru/Slavic Pagan Calendar (a Day of the Dead, bringing sacrifices and inviting the ancestors to attend the feast)

New Year's Day -- Ancient Roman Pre-Julian Calendar; related observances

     Birthday of Mars Pater (Feriae Marti)

     Chalanda Marz -- Kalends of March (now a festival in Egandine, Grisons Canton, Switzerland, in which the children ring bells to ring out the winter)

     Matronalia -- Ancient Roman Calendar (Women's Festival to Juno)

     Renewal of the Vestal Fire

Nineteen Day Fast -- Baha'i (begins at sundown)

Nuclear Free and Independent Pacific Day -- in remembrance of the destruction of Bikini Atoll

Omizutori Matsuri -- Todai-ji Temple, Nara, Japan (Water-Drawing Festival of 1,200-year-old Buddhist ceremonies, through the 14th)

Peace Corps Birthday / National Day of Action -- US

Peanut Butter Lovers' Day -- according to some foodie sites

Plan a Solo Vacation Day -- Solo Travel Portal wants you to dream big and plan what you would do if you could get away, solo.

ReFIRED, Not Retired Day -- the day to get Fired Up about Life, Part II; you aren't retired, you are reFIRED!

Republic Day -- NE, Switzerland

Samiljeol (March 1st Movement Remembrance Day) -- South Korea

Self-Injury Awareness Day -- International (for information about self-injury, or to get started getting help, go here)

Shrove Tuesday -- Christian

St. David of Wales' Day (Patron of doves; Patron of Wales, where it is called Dydd Gwyl Dewi Sant)

Time for a Cuppa -- UK (raising awareness of dementia and raising funds for research; through Mar. 8) 

Town Meeting Day -- Vermont, US (giving all citizens the right to speak out about local government, an official state holiday the first Tuesday of March allows towns to have a daylong public meeting of voters to elect town officers, approve budgets, and deal with town business)

Whuppity Scoorie Day -- Lanark, Scotland (Spring festival, children run around the church and pick up coins thrown for them.)

World Civil Defense Day -- International Civil Defense Organisation    

Yap Day -- Micronesia (festival celebrating the heritage of the Yap peoples)

Anniversaries Today:

Johnny Cash marries June Carter, 1968

Yellowstone National Park established, 1872

Nebraska becomes the 37th US State, 1867

Howard University in Washington, D.C., is chartered, 1867

Ohio becomes the 17th US State, 1803

Birthdays Today:

Justin Bieber, 1994

Mark-Paul Gosselaar, 1974

Javier Bardem, 1969

George Eads, 1967

Russell Wong, 1963

Nik Kershaw, 1958

Timothy Daly, 1956

Ron Howard, 1954

Catherine Bach, 1954

Alan Thicke, 1947

Dirk Benedict, 1945

Roger Daltry, 1944

Robert Conrad, 1935

Harry Belafonte, 1927

Pete Rozelle, 1926

Donald "Deke" K. Slayton, 1924

William M. Gaines, 1922

Richard (Purdy) Wilbur, 1921

Ralph Ellison, 1914

Harry Caray, 1914

David Niven, 1910

Glenn Miller, 1904

Watsuji Tetsuro, 1889

Oskar Kokoschka, 1886

Augustus Saint-Gaudens, 1848

Frederic Chopin, 1810

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Sophisticated Ladies"(Musical), 1981

"Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street"(Musical), 1979

"Believe It or Not"(TV), 1949

"Captain America Comics #1"(Comic book), 1941

"Native Son"(Publication date), 1940

Today in History:

Romulus, first king of Rome, celebrates the first Roman triumph after his victory over the Caeninenses, following the Rape of the Sabine Women, BC752

Lucius Cornelius Sulla, at the head of a Roman Republic army, enters Athens, BC86

Hulagu Khan, grandson of Genghis, conquerors Damascus, 1260

The Unitas Fratrum is established in the village of Kunvald, on the Bohemian-Moravian borderland. It is to date the second oldest Protestant denomination, 1457

23 Huguenots are massacred by Catholics in Wassy, France, marking the start of the French Wars of Religion, 1562

The Uppsala Synod is summoned to confirm the exact forms of the Lutheran Church of Sweden, 1593

Samuel de Champlain reclaims his role as commander of New France on behalf of Cardinal Richelieu, 1633

Sarah Goode, Sarah Osborne, and Tituba are arrested for witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts, 1692

"The Spectator" begins publishing, in London, 1711

The first US census is authorized, 1790

Napoleon returns to France from his banishment on Elba, 1815

Rebecca Lee Crumpler becomes the first African-American female to earn a medical degree, 1864

Yellowstone becomes the world's first national park, 1872

E. Remington and Sons in Ilion, New York begins production of the first practical typewriter, 1873

Nikola Tesla gives the first public demonstration of radio in St. Louis, Missouri, 1893

Henri Becquerel discovers radioactivity, 1896

Battle of Adwa, Abyssinia (Ethiopia) defeats invading Italians, the first defeat of a colonizing European nation by an African colony, 1896

Albert Berry makes the first parachute jump from an airplane, 1912

The Republic of China joins the Universal Postal Union, 1914

The March 1st Movement, demonstrations for independence from Japan, begins in Korea, 1919

Charles Lindbergh, Jr., is kidnapped, 1932

The Hoover Dam is completed, 1936

US Steel raises workers wages to US$5/day, 1937

Trans-Canada Air Lines (forerunner of Air Canada) begins transcontinental operations (between Vancouver and Montreal), 1939

The International Monetary Fund begins financial operations, 1947

Chiang Kai-shek resumed the presidency of National China on Formosa, 1950

The Castle Bravo, a 15-megaton hydrogen bomb, is detonated on Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean, resulting in the worst radioactive contamination ever caused by the United States, 1954

The Peace Corps is established, 1961

Villarrica Volcano begins a strombolian eruption causing lahars that destroy half of the town of Coñaripe, Chile, 1964

Venera 3 Soviet space probe crashes on Venus becoming the first spacecraft to land on another planet's surface, 1966

Bosnia and Herzegovina declares its independence from Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, 1992

Yahoo! was incorporated, 1995

The Envisat environmental satellite successfully reaches an orbit 800 kilometers (500 miles) above the Earth on its 11th launch, carrying the heaviest payload to date at 8500 kilograms (9.5 tons), 2002

The International Criminal Court holds its inaugural session in The Hague, 2003

English-language Wikipedia reaches its one millionth article, Jordanhill railway station, 2006

The tomb of a 700 year old female mummy, discovered by road workers, opened in Taizhou, Jiangsu, China, 2011

Two Guatemalan military officers are convicted of sexual slavery during country's civil war, the first ever prosecution of sexual slavery during an armed conflict, 2016

The discovery of the gene for grey hair (IRF4) is announced by Scientists from University College London in "Nature Communications", 2016

The earliest evidence for figural tattoos (bull and sheep) on two naturally mummified bodies from Egypt’s predynastic period (3351-3017BC) is published in "Journal of Archaeological Science", 2018