Details (Six Sentence Story), Good Fences, Sammy’s Poetry Day and Brian’s Thankful Thursday

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"Hey, John, what're you up to this evening?"

"Jim, I'm working on an aqua-thermal treatment of ceramics and stainless steel under a constrained environment."

"Wow, that sounds impressive!  Is this a special project for research or can you go into detail?"

"Um, well, what it really means is I'm washing dishes in hot water under my mom's supervision."

"Oh, I already did ours, I'll call you back when you're done."

Linking up with Denise at Girlie On The Edge Blog, where she hosts Six Sentence Stories, and the cue is Detail.      

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While Good Fences Around the World seems to have gone the way of the dodo bird, i still enjoy looking for and posting interesting fences, so i will!

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It's Angel Sammy's Poetry Day!  This week's image and my poem:    

The days are long when you're on your feet,

working retail will leave you quite beat,

dealing with shoppers is a stamina feat,

at close you just can't wait to retreat.

But it's my job and I'll do my best,

in helping some shoppers I'm put to the test,

try to keep a smile, not let them get distressed,

then go home, put my feet up and rest!

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Angel Brian's Family of Brian's Home hosts the Thankful Thursday Blog Hop.   It's time to share something for which i am thankful.  

Today i am thankful Ms. G and i have finished with another house so she can get it on the market.  She's a realtor, and friends ask her to head up refurbishing/repairing/cleaning the houses they want her to sell, so she does.  This means a final cleaning out of subcontractor grime and grot from all the stuff that had to be repaired or changed out, and i'm always glad to see the results and let her get on with the selling part.

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Today is:

Bonifacio Day -- Philippines

Cities for Life Day -- commemorates the abolition of the death penalty in many countries

Clear Up The Clutter Day -- internet generated, and what!?! in one day!

Computer Security Day -- International (sponsored by The Association for Computer Security Day; often held by some organizations/companies on another day of the week if it falls on a weekend)

Feast of Hecate, Goddess of the Crossroads -- Ancient Roman Calendar (also revered by the Greeks, Egyptians, and came from the Carians of the Bronze Age)

Ham and Roast Beef Night -- internet generated, but a good idea for a make your own sandwich dinner

Independence Day -- Barbados(1966); Yemen(1967)

National Day -- Benin

National Meth Awareness Day

National Mousse Day 

Perpetual Youth Day -- Dick Clark's birth anniversary

Regina Mundi Day -- South Africa

Saint Andrew the Apostle's Day (Patron of anglers/fishermen, fish dealers/fish mongers, maidens, old maids/spinsters, single lay women, singers, women who wish to become mothers; Spanish armed forces; Achaia; Greece; Russia; Scotland; Amalfi, Italy; Antey-Saint-Andre, Italy; Berchtesgaden, Germany; Burgundy, France; Cartosio, Italy; Confienti, Italy; Constantinople, Turkey; Encinasola, Huelva, Spain; Grand Rapids, Michigan; Grongnardo, Italy; Lampertheim, Germany; Luqa, Malta; Patras, Greece; Plymouth, England; Samolaco, Italy; San Andreas, California; Victoria, British Columbia; against gout, sore throats) related observances:

     Argyle Day

     National Day -- Scotland

     Sfantul Andrei -- Romania

Stay Home Because You're Well Day -- sponsored by the Wellness Permission League -- if you get in trouble with the boss, make sure they will take the fall!

Anniversaries Today:

Lucille Ball marries Desi Arnaz, 1940

Birthdays Today:

Elisha Cuthbert, 1982

Clay Aiken, 1978

Jessalyn Gilsig, 1971

Sandra Oh, 1970

Amy Ryan, 1969

Ben Stiller, 1965

Bo Jackson, 1962

Colin Mochrie, 1957

Billy Idol, 1955

Shuggie Otis, 1953

Mandy Patinkin, 1952

David Mamet, 1947

Noel Paul Stookey, 1937

Ridley Scott, 1937

Abbie Hoffman, 1936

G. Gordon Liddy, 1930

Dick Clark, 1929

Joan Ganz Cooney, 1929

Robert Guillaume, 1927

Richard Crenna, 1926

Shirley Chisholm, 1924

Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., 1923

Gordon Parks, 1912

Winston Churchill, 1874

L(ucy) M(aude) Montgomery, 1874 (Anne of Green Gables)

Mark Twain, 1835

Oliver Winchester, 1810

Jonathan Swift, 1667

Philip Sydney, 1554

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Thriller"(Michael Jackson Album), 1982

"The Wall"(Pink Floyd album), 1979

Brian's Song(TV movie), 1971

"Bwana Devil"(Film, first 3-D movie), 1952

The Joy of Cooking(Publication date), 1931

"Le Cid"(Opera), 1885

Today in History:

Amsterdam bans assembly of heretics, 1523

Death count by plague in Venice is officially set at 16,000, 1630

Beijing earthquake causes 100,000+ deaths, 1731

Britain signs agreement recognizing US independence, 1782

Peter Leopold Joseph of Habsburg-Lorraine, Grand Duke of Tuscany, promulgates a penal reform making his country the first state to abolish the death penalty. November 30 is therefore commemorated by 300 cities around the world as Cities for Life Day, 1786

Spain cedes her claims to Louisiana Territory to France, 1803

First ground is broken at Allenburg for the building of the original Welland Canal, 1824

First Welland Canal opens for a trial run, 5 years to the day from the ground breaking, 1829

Work begins on the first US underwater highway tunnel, in Chicago, 1866

The first international soccer football game is held, in Glasgow; Scotland-England 0-0, 1872

The first commercially successful AC electric power plant opens, Buffalo, NY, 1886

A German engineer patents front-wheel drive for automobiles, 1900

American Old West: Second-in-command of Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch gang, Kid Curry Logan, is sentenced to 20 years imprisonment with hard labor, 1902

Pike Place Market is dedicated in Seattle, Washington, 1907

The Crystal Palace in Hyde Park London destroyed by fire, 1936

Baseball's Negro National League disbands, two years after major league baseball integrated, 1948

In Sylacauga, Alabama, United States, the Hodges Meteorite crashes through a roof and hits a woman taking an afternoon nap in the only documented case of a human being hit by a rock from space, 1954

Exxon and Mobil sign a $73.7 billion USD agreement to merge, thus creating Exxon-Mobil, the world's largest company, 1998

Longtime Jeopardy! champion Ken Jennings of Salt Lake City, Utah finally loses, leaving him with US$2,520,700, television's biggest game show winnings, 2004

John Sentamu becomes the first black archbishop in the Church of England with his enthronement as the 97th Archbishop of York, 2005

The first human face transplant takes place in France, 2005

Enzo di Fabrizio, physics professor at Magna Graecia University in Catanzaro, Italy, successfully takes the first photograph of DNA, 2012

UNESCO adds Belgian beer to its Cultural Heritage List, 2016

Two Chinese scientists make it to the Guinness Book of World Records by recording the world's longest lasting rainbow - 8 hours 58 minutes in Taipei's Yangmingshan Mountain range, 2017

Archaeologists announce newly discovered rock art in Serranía La Lindosa, Colombia, dating between 12,600 and 11,800 years ago, depicting many extinct species of animals, 2020

Alphafold's DeepMind AI program announces it has achieved scientific breakthrough by being able to predict how proteins fold into 3D shapes, 2020

Josephine Baker becomes the first black woman to be honored at Paris’ Panthéon, France's highest honor, 2021

UNESCO announces new additions to its Intangible Cultural Heritage list, including the French Baguette, the oral traditions of calling camels in the Middle East, and tea practices in China, 2022

A Bathroom is an Odd Place for the Sign (Wordless Wednesday) and Words for Wednesday

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Linking up with Wordless Wednesday, BeThere2Day, and Sandee at Comedy Plus.     

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Words for Wednesday was begun by Delores and has become a moveable feast of word or picture or music prompts to encourage us to write stories, poems, or whatever strikes our fancy.    

This month, Alex J. Cavanaugh is providing the prompts which will be posted by Elephant's Child.     

• Cobwebs
• Tiger
• Japan
• Black
• Cobblestones
• Hurt

 

AND/OR 

• Atlantis
• Pyromania
• Guacamole
• Energetic
• Slither
• Slice

Charlotte (MotherOwl) has given us Mint Green as the colour of the month.  If you can also incorporate it into your stories she (and I) will be grateful.

She sat up and tried to shake the COBWEBS out of her brain.  Which day was this, and what country?  She'd already decided these "tour five countries and ten cities in 30 days with a group of crazy strangers" trips were for the birds and made a mental note to stick to one city or country at a time in the future, and bring a friend.

Preferably a friend who didn't have a thing for PYROMANIA, like the weird guy the tour guides kept trying to pair her with because they were both single.  Even he was better than the guy whose long-suffering wife had to put up with his everlasting talk about finding the lost continent of ATLANTIS.  He's apparently made it his life work, as a sideline to his job as a college history professor, to do enough research to prove it really existed.

Meanwhile, though, she would try to act ENERGETIC and up to continuing and SLITHER out of bed early this morning.  She almost changed her mind and was about to flop back down to sleep more when she remembered she'd bought some avocados for GUACAMOLE this morning, to give herself and the nice couple from JAPAN with whom she'd made friends something different besides the usual tour "continental breakfast" of glorified bread and coffee included in each day's menu.

Not that she was going to turn down the coffee part, of course, and the lunches and dinners at nicer places mostly made up for the simple start of the day.   Except today, of course, she just wanted a change.

She decided on her Mint Green sweater today over the slacks and blouse, then washed up a bowl she'd bought as a souvenir and got the ingredients she'd bought the day before when she'd wandered a bit on her free time and found a nice farmer's market.  How they'd had avocados, well, she figured the world was shrinking and they'd certainly been priced as if they were exotic.  It was worth it, in her mind.

The slightly cheesy picture of a TIGER over the dresser in the second-rate hotel room they'd been booked in gave her the creeps, but the dresser top was the only place where she could SLICE the avocados and tomatoes and onion, with a knife she'd borrowed from the hotel restaurant kitchen.  She'd just finished and set out the tortilla chips she'd also found at a specialty shop with the fresh guac when there was a tap on the door.

The couple came in with coffee they'd grabbed from the breakfast service downstairs, he carrying two cups, one for her.  She thanked him and they sat, she on the bed and they in the two chairs in the room, with the tiny bedside table between them for the food, and ate and talked.

The wife had come in limping a little and noted, "Those BLACK COBBLESTONES HURT to walk on with heels!  We found a shoe store yesterday and found good walking shoes, and that's all I'm wearing no matter how bad they look with my outfits."

"These tours are most assuredly better for the physically fit," she noted, and they discussed some of the places they'd been, and talked a little of life back home.

Eventually, though, it was time to clear things up and return the borrowed knife to the kitchen, then board the tour bus for, oh, yes, it was Wednesday, they were in Florence.

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Today is:

Ashi Vanguhi -- Ancient Persian Calendar/Zoroastrian (celebration of Ashi Vanguhi, or Holy Blessing; date approximate, always two days after a full moon around this time of year)

Dita e Clirimit -- Albania (Liberation Day)

Electronic Greetings Day -- sponsored by Wellcat Holidays

Festival of Saturnia -- Ancient Roman Calendar (for the Sons of Saturn; Jupiter, Neptune, and Pluto)

International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People -- UN

National Chocolates Day -- yes, another one

National Lemon Creme Pie Day

National Unity Day -- Vanuatu

Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lighting -- NY, NY, US

St. Andrew's Eve -- in many traditions, a night to fortell the future, especially whom you will marry

St. Saturnius of Toulouse's Day (Patron of Toulouse, France)

Square Dance Day -- internet generated, and fun to do, but here's some information about square dancing

Thanksgiving Day -- Norfolk Island

William Tubman's Birthday -- Liberia (it's longest serving President)

Anniversaries Today:

Erwin Rommel marries Lucie "Lu" Mollin, 1916

Birthdays Today:

Jon Knight, 1968

Don Cheadle, 1964

Andrew McCarthy, 1962

Kim Delaney, 1961

Cathy Moriarty, 1960

Jeff Fahey, 1956

Howie Mandel, 1955

Joel Coen, 1954

Garry Shandling, 1949

Petra Kelly, 1947

Chuck Mangione, 1940

Peter Bergman, 1939

John Mayall, 1933

Jacques Rene Chirac, 1932

Diane Ladd, 1932

Vin Scully, 1927

Madeline L'Engle, 1918

Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., 1908

C.S. Lewis, 1898

Busby Berkeley, 1895

Nellie Tayloe Ross, 1876

Louisa May Alcott, 1832

Wendell Phillips, 1811

Christian Doppler, 1803

Charles Thomson, 1729

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Tatort"(TV), 1970

"I Want to Hold Your Hand"(Beatles single release), 1963

"Bells Are Ringing"(Musical), 1956

"Kukla, Fran, and Ollie"(TV), 1948

"Gay Divorce"(Musical), 1932

Today in History:

Jews of Augsburg, Germany, are massacred, 1349 (Sometimes, it seems, the more things change...)

King Philip II devalues Spanish currency, 1596 (See above...)

Sir James Jay invents invisible ink, 1775

San Jose, California, is founded as el Pueblo de San José de Guadalupe, 1777

Dessalines & Christophe declare St Domingue (Haiti) independent, 1803

First Italian opera in US, "Barber of Seville" premieres (NYC), 1825

Thomas Edison demonstrates hand-cranked phonograph, 1877

The first motorcycle race ever is held in Surrey, England; the distance was one mile and the winner was Charles Jarrot in a time of 2 minutes, 8 seconds, 1897

The first US patent for inventing the traffic lights system is issued to Ernest Sirrine. 1910

Fire destroys most of the buildings on Santa Catalina Island, California, 1915

Howard Carter opens the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun to the public, 1922

Richard Byrd becomes the first person to fly over the South Pole, 1929

The first surgery (on a human) to correct blue baby syndrome is performed by Alfred Blalock and Vivien Thomas, 1944

The United Nations General Assembly votes to partition Palestine, 1947

Mercury-Atlas 5 Mission – Enos, a chimpanzee, is launched into space, orbits earth twice, and is successfully recovered after splashdown, 1961

Canadian Space Agency launches the satellite Alouette 2, 1965

Nolan Bushnell (co-founder of Atari) releases Pong (the first commercially successful video game) in Andy Capp’s Tavern in Sunnyvale, California, 1972

The United Nations General Assembly passes a resolution stating that Soviet Union forces should withdraw from Afghanistan, 1983

The Czechoslovakian Parliament votes to end Communist rule, 1989

The United Nations Security Council passes two resolutions to restore international peace and security if Iraq did not withdraw its forces from Kuwait and free all foreign hostages by the following January 15, 1990

A 7.4 magnitude earthquake occurs off the northern coast of Martinique, 2007

Pablo Picasso's electrician reveals 271 previously unknown works he claims were gifts from the artist, 2010

NASA announces its space probe MESSENGER has almost certainly found water ice buried beneath the surface of the north pole of Mercury, 2012

Tens of thousands Indian farmers protest the agrarian crisis at parliament in Delhi, 2018

Singapore's parliament repeals the British-era law in Section 377A, decriminalizing gay sex, while introducing amendments to protect the current definition of marriage, 2022