Of Tonka Trucks and Cough Drops, a Random and Happy Word Counter’s 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.  

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 50. 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: 45

It was submitted by:  Diane

 

Links to the other Word Counters posts:

Baking In A Tornado                    

On the Border                                  

I could hear the dryer from outdoors as i entered the house so i knew Carl was up and it was just a matter of what was he doing and were those clothes in the dryer really clean or not, because you really never know.

The shower was running so i turned to the laundry room.  Stopping the dryer, i picked out an item and sniffed.  It smelled clean.  Then i turned on the washer to see which cycle had been last used, and it was a wash cycle.  Score!

Of course, the washer also still had some wet clothes in it, so he hadn't dried everything he'd washed, and there was ample evidence he'd gotten to the cleaning cloths last Thursday before Ms. V could, but you take what few victories you can get.

By now, Carl was standing in the open doorway of his bathroom with a towel wrapped around him.  I started asking if he needed underwear, then just handed him a pair telling him to shut the door and not come out until they were on.

Once he was out (and mostly dressed), i tied an apron around him and went back to the laundry room where i found he'd managed to actually wash and dry a completely folded pair of socks.  It turned out to be his only clean pair.

A few minutes later, he was asking about socks and i realized he was wearing his shoes without any.  I handed him the pair i'd found and told him where i'd found them, so he grabbed foot powder because the socks were a bit damp.

While he ate, i searched the car for his lunch ice chest and found it, full of stuff.  Once emptied, it was time to try putting a lunch together for him, so i hied me off to the refrigerator to find what i could find.

There's the "lunch box."

None of this should be in here.

I found a slightly dry sandwich, because the zip bag no longer zipped, having been torn.  There was also stuff on top of the fridge, probably from a previous lunch, and in the bag with the sandwich was another bag, with a crisp rice treat.

While getting his lunch together, he told me about watching a show about "Toys that Built America," and waxed eloquent (for him) about Tonka trucks and Mattel toys.  Then he discussed weekend plans at the library, including board games.  I know he can hardly wait.

As i shooed him out the door, he asked, "Cough drops?" and i managed to scare up a bag to send with him. Of course, it will never make it back into the house, but that's all right he has more.  Two more, in fact.

The usual random "clean or dirty?" piles.

Once he was gone, i had time to deal with the dirty clothes he'd hung up and the clean ones he'd stuffed in various places, the trash can with no bag in it, and the usual laundry, cleaning and tidying.  Just the usual Carl stuff.

Another bit of Carl news:  at age 42, he finally started dating!  The young lady is special needs like him and they've been friends for years, but he cleans out his car and takes her out to dinner a couple of times a month.  Sweet.

Let's just round out with some random funnies.

Have a blessed and beautiful Tuesday, everyone!

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Today is:

Black Poetry Day -- birth anniversary of the USA's first published black poet, Jupiter Hammon (some sites say this is on the 3rd Friday each year)

Dessalines Day -- Haiti

Doburoku Matsuri -- Oita Prefecture, Japan (one of the few sake festivals at a shrine; through tomorrow)

Festival of Hengest -- Asatru (approximate date of the Norse celebration of Hengest and Horsa, who fought to establish Norse settlements in Eastern Britain)

Four Prunes Day (only if you dare!)

Gaudy Day a/k/a Wear Something Gaudy Day

Information Overload Awareness Day -- we all get bombarded, take stock of how it affects you; sponsored by the Information Overload Research Group       

International Day for the Eradication of Poverty -- UN

Large Fairies Come First Day -- Fairy Calendar (because the rest of the year they let the little ones go first)

Loyalty Day -- Argentina

Mulligan Day -- C. Daniel Rhodes wants you to give yourself or someone else a free do-over today

National Pasta Day

National Pharmacy Technician Day -- because pharmacy technicians "Help America Feel Better" 

National Police Day -- Thailand (Wan Tamruat)

Paint a Mural on a Sidewalk Day -- let your inner child go a bit wild, but please use paint that will wash away so you don't get in trouble!

Pro-Life Day of Silent Solidarity   

St. Ignatius of Antioch's Day (Patron of the Church in the Eastern Mediterranean and North Africa; against throat diseases)

St. Richard Gwin's Day (Patron of large families, parents of large families, torture victims)

Work on Your Charisma Day -- because what else are you going to do on a lazy October afternoon?

Anniversaries Today:

Radio Corporation of America (RCA) is founded, 1919

Composer Johann S. Bach marries his niece Maria Bach, 1707

Crown Prince Fernando of Aragon marries Princess Isabella of Castile, 1469

Birthdays Today:

Eminem, 1972

Ermie Els, 1969

Norm MacDonald, 1963

Richard Roeper, 1959

Alan Jackson, 1958

Mae Jemison, 1956

Howard Rollins, 1950

Margot Kidder, 1948

George Wendt, 1948

Michael McKean, 1947

Ronn Owens, 1945

Evel Knievel, 1938

Beverly Garland, 1926

Jimmy Breslin, 1930

Tom Poston, 1921

Montgomery Clift, 1920

Rita Hayworth, 1918

Arthur Miller, 1915

Albino Luciani, Pope John Paul I, 1912

Jean Arthur, 1905

Spring Byington, 1893

Buck Ewing, 1859

Jupiter Hammon, 1711

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical"(Musical), 1967

"The Hollywood Squares"(TV), 1966

"On a Clear Day You Can See Forever"(Musical), 1965

Jailhouse Rock(Film), 1957

"Chayka/The Seagull"(Chekhov play), 1896

"Don Sanche"(Liszt opera), 1825

Today in History:

King Cyrus the Great of Persia marches into the city of Babylon and releases the Jews from their 70 years of exile and making the first Human Rights Declaration, BC539

Battle of Neville's Cross, the defeat of King David II of Scotland by Edward III of England, 1346

German astronomer Johannes Kepler observes a supernova in the constellation Ophiuchus, 1604

Boston blacks petition the legislature for equal school facilities, 1787

The political rights of Jews are suspended in the Duchy of Warsaw, 1808

Thomas Edison files a patent for the Optical Phonograph (the first movie), 1888

Guglielmo Marconi's company begins the first commercial transatlantic wireless service between Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, Canada, and Clifden, Ireland, 1907

Albert Einstein arrives in the US as a refugee from Nazi Germany, 1933

The first commercial nuclear power station is officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II in Sellafield, in Cumbria, England, 1956

Prime Minister of Australia Robert Menzies opens the artificial Lake Burley Griffin in the middle of the capital Canberra, 1964

Botswana and Lesotho join the United Nations, 1966

Quebec Vice-Premier and Minister of Labour Pierre Laporte murdered by members of the FLQ terrorist group, 1970

OPEC starts an oil embargo against a number of western countries, considered to have helped Israel in its war against Syria, 1973

Mother Teresa is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, 1979

The pinnacle is fitted on the roof of Taipei 101, making it the World's tallest highrise, 2003

Australia's first Saint, Mary MacKillop, is canonized by Pope Benedict XVI, 2010

Astronomers confirm the identification of the nearest planet outside of our solar system, orbiting Alpha Centauri B, 2012

Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch muppeteer Caroll Spinney leaves "Sesame Street" after 50 years, 2018

Canada legalizes the sale of recreational cannabis, the second country after Uruguay, 2018

Shehan Karunatilka becomes the second Sri Lankan author to win the Booker Prize with his novel The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida, 2022