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As always, i reach Thankful Day most thankful for what has happened, and because not everything is finished, thankful for what's still to come.
While i was checking Lawrence the Honda's oil last Friday evening, #2 Son and family arrived and he had more oil than i did, so he helped me finish topping it off. I'm thankful because Lawrence is a great car, but this model does burn oil between oil changes. I'm also thankful we got to talk about the A/C and make plans.
Saturday morning went well, the A/C kept the car comfortable, thankfully, and i was able to get a few things done before Grandpa and i left for the grocery shopping.
The day was long, Grandma needed a lot of attention, and unfortunately, she fell and Uncle J had to pick her up. We're thankful he was able to do it as his back is not so good, and once he got her back on the bed, i was able to get her into her chair and to where she needed to go.
Later, around 2pm, i was thankful the Chinese restaurant Grandma wanted to order from was close and always has everything ready fast, as i was having a hard time getting some things finished.
I was very thankful a tired Grandpa was napping when i left almost an hour late (he wants me to leave by 3pm). With all the drama, it took that long to get all the cleaning done.
The A/C on Lawrence did not work at all on the way home, i'm thankful the windows roll down and thankful for a cooling shower once i got home.
Sunday morning was overcast and the temps weren't too bad, so Becca and i were thankful to be able to take Mr. Cal on a very long walk. Mr. Cal was also thankful to see his best puppy pal, Ash.
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| Puppy pals, sniffing the dialy news together. |
That evening, Annie's and my usual Sunday visit with Ms. D got even better when the rest of the family showed up, we were thankful to visit and Ms. D was thankful #2 Son knew how to change the batteries in the A/C thermostat.
For the time being, i have no work on Monday mornings, i'm thankful to have time to run extra errands. One errand i'd been wanting to get to was to a specific store for a few things, but i don't get over there often so while there, i looked for some books. Last visit, i'd found two books of a set of four for Annie, and wouldn't you know, thankfully, this time they had the other two!
Ms. D and i got a good bit done Monday once i got over there, she was thankful i remember about the dehumidifier. It shuts off automatically before it can overflow, but she forgets it is stopped and wonders why the house gets a bit humid. I'm going to start emptying it every Sunday evening when i'm over there no matter what, just to make sure it stays on at least through the summer.
While i was running errands, #2 Son had gone and bought the components to fix the A/C in Lawrence, and once i parked it at home and walked to Ms. D's place, he started in.
I was thankful he took breaks because of the heat, and it was late in the evening when he called time and said it would need a different component as he couldn't get it off of the old compressor. Did i want to order it (two weeks) or just return the compressor we'd bought and buy a different and more expensive one which already has that component?
I'm thankful more expensive wasn't that much more expensive and on Tuesday, he and i were both thankful when he ran in the house and told me and Annie to "Get out here! Get out here! Yeah!"
Lawrence was blowing cold air, and you don't know how thankful you are until you've been two south Louisiana summers in a car with no A/C and a driver's side window which does not roll down.
I was thankful the time with Annie had been good Tuesday, and once #2 Son was done, he took her for her nap, they both needed it!
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| She's a busy little lady and needs her naps even if she fights them. |
Once done at the cat shelter Wednesday morning (we're thankful things are going well but we are full!), i got to Ms. G's and did the usual and i was very thankful she unexpectedly took us both out to lunch. It was to my favorite sushi place, too.
When i got home, #2 Son informed me he and friend West wanted to do my timing chain this weekend. I was thankful to hear it, agreed to their price, and #2 Son promised to go get the parts on Thursday.
That evening, Ms. Sue, who hosts our Wednesday evening Bible study, asked how things were going. I told her the A/C was fixed in Lawrence and we'd be getting to the timing chain soon and she asked me how much this was costing. When she heard, she said, "I want to pay for half of it!" and wrote me a check! I am so thankful for good friends who come alongside and help when they can.
Thursday morning, #2 Son found out two of the parts they needed for Lawrence would have to be ordered and not be in until next Monday, so the timing chain will wait although the parts are paid. I'm thankful this left him free to work with #1 Son to get the new window motor in GusGus die Fledermaus (the Ford Focus).
We've been having a time with our water bill for several months. In January, it went up some, but we expected that as we leave the faucets dripping when a freeze is expected.
Then in February, it almost tripled. We traced it to three things, #2 Son had left a water hose on by accident, a toilet was running on occasion, and my Sweetie wasn't just leaving faucets dripping during freezes, he was leaving at least one running much more than necessary.
March, with no freezes, it went down, but not by much, and the same in April. I finally shut off the water to that toilet in mid May, and sure enough, the water bill for June we just got this week was back down to normal.
I'm thankful we got to the bottom of that problem, and thankful #2 Son now knows when mama says a toilet is running too much and the whole guts needs to be replaced, he knows i know what i'm talking about.
Since #1 Son's wreck, he has driven GusGus to work and back and used our cars which do have A/C to go anyplace further than just to work, as the heat is really bad and it's just not tolerable. I'm thankful between the two of them they were able to get the new motor in and GusGus now has a window on the driver's side which will roll down and give more air when #1 Son is on the way to work.
Friday while i was thankful to be watching Annie, they attempted the compressor but they need a belt, which #2 Son did not know so #1 Son had not bought one. They have plans for this Tuesday.
Also on Friday, while #2 Son was busy, Daughter-in-Law got called into a sudden meeting and our little Ben landed in GG's lap.
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| He hunkers down and sleeps hard! |
It was the third time this week i'd had a chance to hold and snuggle him, and i'm very thankful.
Lots of help at the cat shelter Friday evening made everything go smoothly and we're very thankful.
Please write up your own list and link up to Ten Things of Thankful, where Clark and his co-hosts always have a warm welcome waiting.
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Today is:
Act Like A Caveman Day -- internet generated, just to be fun, especially if your neighbors think you are crazy anyway
Bayreuther Festspiele -- Bayreuth, Germany (Wagner festival, through Aug. 28)
Be Adamant About Something Day -- it's good practice
Commonwealth Constitution Day -- Puerto Rico
Culinarian's Day -- another one here because of the internet, but a good excuse to let your inner chef go wild, and enjoy the results
Ebernoe Horn Fair -- Sussex, England (ancient horn fairs were pagan fertility rites, now just a fun time for all)
Eve of the Hathor Festival -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)
Furrinalia -- Ancient Etruscan Calendar (Furrina, goddess of the sacred grove and spring on Janniculum hill)
also Ancient Roman Calendar (to honor those who searched for underground water sources)
Guanacaste Day -- Costa Rica
Guayaquil Day -- Guayaquil, Ecuador
Ilyap'a -- Ancient Inca Calendar (festival of the lightning god; date approximate)
National Dance Day -- US (begun by Nigel Lythgoe, now a congressionally recognized day to encourage dance education and physical fitness, so go out and bust a move on a Saturday night, but don't bust you, please)
National Day of the Cowboy -- US (celebrating the heritage, and those who still work as cowboys/cowgirls today)
National Hot Fudge Sundae Day
Republic Day -- Tunisia
Soma-Nomaoi -- Haramachi City, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan (wild horse chase which recreates a battle from over 1,000 years ago; through Monday)
St. Christopher's Day (Patron of archers, automobile drivers/motorists, bachelors, boatmen, bookbinders, busdrivers, cab drivers,epileptics, fruit dealers, fullers, gardeners, lorry drivers, mariners, market carriers, porters, sailors, taxi drivers, transportation/transporation workers, travellers, truck drivers/truckers, watermen; Baden, Germany; Barga, Italy; Brunswick, Germany; Fubine, Italy; Havana, Cuba; Mecklenburg, Germany; Rab, Croatia, St. Christopher's Island; Saint Kitts; Toses, Girona, Calalonia, Spain ;for a holy death; against bad dreams, epilepsy, floods, hailstorms, lightning, pestilence, storms, sudden death, toothache)
St. James' Day (The Apostle, brother of St. John and son of Zebedee, the first Apostle martyred; Patron of apothecaries/druggists/pharmacists, arthritis sufferers, blacksmiths, equestrians and horsemen, furriers, knights, laborers, pilgrims, soldiers, tanners, veterinarians; Altopascio, Lucca, Italy; Antigua, Guatemala; Bangued, Philippines; Brentino Belluno, Italy; Caltagirone, Italy; Cassine, Italy; Chile; Cicala, Catanzaro, Italy; Comitini, Italy; Compostela, Spain; Galicia, Spain; Gavi, Italy; Guatemala; Hettstedt, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany; Jemez Indian Pueblo; Loiza, Puerto Rico; Medjugorje, Bosnia-Herzegovina; Montreal, Canada; Nicaragua; Pistoia, Italy; Rivarolo Canavese, Italy; Sahuayo, Mexico; Seattle, Washington; Spain; Tesuque Indian Pueblo; against arthritis and rheumatism; sometimes called Jacob, the Latinized version of his name, also Iago and Jaques in Romance languages) related observances
Dia Nacional de Galicia -- Galicia, Spain (National Day of Galicia, a/k/a Apostole Santiago, St. James the Apostle's Day)
The Pilgrimage of Santiago de Compostela -- Galicia, Spain (one of the world's largest pilgrimages still, to the church that has the supposed relics of St. James, culminates on the Saint's feast day)
Loiza Aldea Fiesta -- Puerto Rico
Video Games Day -- yet another one, this on the founding of the "U.S. National Video Game Team"
Birthdays Today
James Lafferty, 1985
Brad Renfro, 1982
Louise Brown, 1978
Matt LeBlanc, 1967
Illeana Douglas, 1965
Iman, 1965
Walter Payton, 1954
Nathaniel "Nate" Thurmond, 1941
Barbara Harris, 1935
Midge Decter, 1927
Estelle Getty, 1923
Jack Gilford, 1907
Walter Brennan, 1894
Maxfield Parrish, 1870
Debuting/Premiering Today:
"A Chorus Line"(Musical), 1975
"You Can't Hurry Love"(Single release), 1966
Today in History
Diocletian appoints Maximian as Caesar, co-ruler, 285
Constantine I is proclaimed Roman emperor by his troops, 306
The Edict of Pistres of Charles the Bald orders defensive measures against the Vikings, 864
Sebastián de Belalcázar, on his search for El Dorado, founds the city of Santiago de Cali, Colombia, 1536
Don Diego de Losada founds the city of Santiago de Leon de Caracas, modern-day Caracas, the capital city of Venezuela, 1567
Henry IV of France publicly converts from Protestantism to Roman Catholicism, 1593
James VI of Scotland is crowned James I of England, bringing the Kingdoms of England and Scotland into personal union; political union would occur later, 1603
Ignacio de Maya founds the Real Santiago de las Sabinas, now known as Sabinas Hidalgo, Nuevo León, México, 1693
British governor Charles Lawrence and the Nova Scotia Council order the deportation of the Acadians; thousands of Acadians are sent to the British Colonies in America, France and England, and some later move to Louisiana, while others resettle in New Brunswick, 1755
Horatio Nelson loses more than 300 men and his right arm during the failed conquest attempt of Tenerife (Spain), 1797
Costa Rica annexes Guanacaste from Nicaragua, 1824
The first commercial use of an electric telegraph is successfully demonstrated by William Cooke and Charles Wheatstone between Euston and Camden Town in London, 1837
The Japanese daimyo begin returning their land holdings to the emperor as part of the Meiji Restoration reforms, 1869
Kikunae Ikeda of the Tokyo Imperial University discovers that a key ingredient in Konbu soup stock is monosodium glutamate (MSG), and patents a process for manufacturing it, 1908
Sir Thomas Whyte introduces the first income tax in Canada as a "temporary" measure, 1917
The first transatlantic two-way radio broadcast takes place, 1920
Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union (TASS) is established, 1925
At Club 500 in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis stage their first show as a comedy team, 1946
Italian ocean liner SS Andrea Doria collides with the MS Stockholm in heavy fog and sinks the next day, killing 51, 1956
The Republic of Tunisia is proclaimed, 1957
Louise Brown, the world's first "test tube baby" is born, 1978
Israel and Jordan sign the Washington Declaration, which formally ends the state of war that had existed between the nations since 1948, 1994
K.R. Narayanan is sworn-in as India's 10th president and the first Dalit— formerly called "untouchable"— to hold this office, 1997
Air France Flight 4590, a Concorde supersonic passenger jet, F-BTSC, crashes just after takeoff from Paris killing all 109 aboard and 4 on the ground, 2000
Pratibha Patil is sworn in as India's first woman president, 2007
Wikileaks publishes classified documents about the War in Afghanistan, one of the largest leaks in U.S. military history, 2010
Scientists in Britain identify the mechanism causing human allergy to cats; they believe a general cure for the condition could be available in the next five years, 2013
News of a liquid lake found on Mars under its South Pole by the European Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter is reported in the journal "Science", 2018
Asteroid 2019OK, which is large enough to be dubbed a “city killer,” passes about 45,000 miles from Earth, which is closer than the Moon, 2019
Japanese judokas Uta Abe (women's 52kg) and brother Hifumi (men's 66kg) make history as first siblings to win Olympic gold medals in different events on same day at the Tokyo Games, 2021
Scientists say the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation current could reach its tipping point middle of this century and collapse, 2023
Mexican Sinaloa cartel head Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada is tricked into being captured in the US in a sting masterminded by the son of El Chapo, his former partner, 2024
Oakland Athletics infielder Nick Kurtz becomes first rookie in MLB history to hit four home runs in a game, 2025
Kudos to Uncle Jay. Picking up someone off the floor without hurting them is tricky business.
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