Meeting in the Middle (Six Sentence Story), Good Fences, Sammy’s Poetry Day and Brian’s Thankful Thursday

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It was a combination of busy-ness (on my part), and forgetfulness (on her part, due to low blood sugar), and a misunderstanding (on the bridge ladies' parts), what Grandpa calls "a catastrophic state of disarray due to redundancy and semi-loquaciousness."

Ms. JAI had me skip her place twice in a row, once because she was meeting up with someone to help her choose and learn to use a new phone, and once because she'd been called to play bridge with some of her new friends (and let me tell you, if you are a bridge player and live in a retirement community, you will never lack for requests to join in).

This week, she was asked to play again and called back to leave a message stating she'd love to play, but her housekeeper was coming and her house hadn't been cleaned in a month and she couldn't put it off again, and apparently the lady listened only to the part of the message up to "I'd love to play" and skipped everything after the "but" part, with the result that as i was heading over there, her friends were calling her frantic to get her to come so they could start their game.

She called me, also frantic, and asked if it would be okay if she wasn't there, she'd leave the door open (it's a gated community, her place is at the back, and she'd be in the clubhouse on the property) and of course i told her that was fine, and it was, i got in and got everything done.

When i was finished, i went to see her at the clubhouse and she said she'd rushed out so fast she forgot to get my money and could i come back, and i told her we could meet up later in the week and we agreed Wednesday when i was done with work and she would be running errands and i'd meet her on her errands not far from my Wednesday work.

Wednesday i called to meet up with her at the hardware store, but she forgot i was coming and left, then couldn't find the other place she wanted to go because she was accidentally trying to go to her old house, and she hadn't eaten, and her blood sugar was low, and i caught up with her in the grocery parking lot and she paid me and i made her wait while i went in and bought her a cheese and crackers snack so she wouldn't be so confused and could drive home to the right house!

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

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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:    

I love my gentle, quiet house,

so dark and so serene.

I share it with my sweet pet mouse

and I am its only queen.

Some might think it's spooky and dark

and I admit I often shun bright light,

but here I'm happy as a lark

and don't mean to give affright.

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

Today i am thankful i finally managed to catch up with Ms. JAI.  It had been way too long, and when i did get with her yesterday i made her promise she wouldn't leave the house again without eating first.

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Today is:

Armilustrium -- Ancient Roman Calendar (festival of Mars)

Bettara-Ichi -- Ebisu Shrine, Tokyo, Japan (Pickle Market Fair, enjoy the pickled radishes, a specialty; through tomorrow)

Conflict Resolution Day -- Association for Conflict Resolution   

Constitution Day -- Niue

Dita e Lumturimit te Nene Terezes -- Albania (Mother Teresa Day)

Evaluate Your Life Day -- a day to make sure your life is heading where you want, and course correct if it isn't; sponsored by Wellcat Holidays

Get Smart About Credit Day -- sponsored by the American Bankers Association   

Get to Know Your Customers Day -- third Thursday of every quarter

Greasy Spoon Day -- internet generated, a day to go revel in the love of your favorite greasy spoon diner

International Credit Union Day -- World Council of Credit Unions   

National Seafood Bisque Day

Preaching of the Lion Sermon -- St. Katharine Cree Church, London, England (Sermon dating back to the 1640's in commemoration of a gift for the poor made by Sir John Gayer, who was delivered from a lion while in Turkey)

Samora Machel Day -- Mozambique

St. Frideswide's Day (Patron of Oxford and the University of Oxford)

St. Rene Goupil's Day (Patron of anesthetists, anesthesiologists)

Yabusame Festival -- Koyama, Japan (horseback archery, samurai costumes and dragons, oh, my!)

Birthdays Today:

Jason Reitman, 1977

Ty Pennington, 1965

Evander Holyfield, 1962

Jeannie C. Riley, 1945

John Lithgow, 1945

Patricia Ireland, 1945

Simon Ward, 1941

Michael Gambon, 1940

Peter Max, 1937

Robert Reed, 1932

John Le Carre, 1931

Jack Anderson, 1922

Auguste Lumiere, 1862

Annie S. Peck, 1850

Martha Wayles Skelton Jefferson, 1748

Thomas Browne, 1605 (O.S. date)

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"The Rothschilds"(Musical), 1970

"The Miracle Worker"(Play), 1959

"I Remember Mama"(Play), 1944

"Pomp and Circumstance Marches"(Elgar Op. 39), 1901

"Tannhauser und der Sangerkrieg auf Wartburg/Tannhauser and the Singers' Contest at Wartburg"(Wagner opera), 1845

Today in History:

Battle of Zama, Scipio Africanus and his Roman legions defeat Hannibal Barca and the invading Carthaginian army, BC202

King Gauseric and his Vandals take the city of Carthage, 439

The Thirteen Years' War ends with the Treaty of Thorn, 1466

Martin Luther becomes a Doctor of theology, 1512

The first general court is held in Boston, 1630

Cornwallis surrenders at Yorktown at 2PM, end of the US Revolutionary War, 1781

Napoleon begins his retreat from Moscow, 1812

Elizabeth Blackwell becomes the first woman to receive a medical degree, 1849

The first 4 blacks are elected to the US House of Representatives, 1870

The USPS first used an automobile to collect and deliver mail, 1914

Streptomycin, the first antibiotic which could treat tuberculosis, is isolated at Rutgers University, 1943

Black Monday - the Dow Jones Industrial Average falls by 22%, 508 points, 1987

Mother Teresa is beatified by Pope John Paul II, 2003

Saddam Hussein goes on trial in Baghdad for crimes against humanity, 2005

Hurricane Wilma becomes the most intense Atlantic hurricane on record with a minimum pressure of 882 mb, 2005

Naheed Nenshi becomes the first Muslim in Canada to be elected mayor, in Calgary, 2010

Pope Francis beatifies Pope Paul VI, who was known for changes in the Catholic Church that came out of Vatican II, 2014 

The New Zealand Labour Party forms a coalition government led by Jacinda Adern (37), the youngest NZ leader in 161 years, 2017

Peru announces a newly rediscovered geoglyph outline in the Nazca Desert, a 37m outline of a cat, probably completed between 500BC-200AD, 2021

Too Tall Cups and Under the Tables, a Random and Happy Tuesday 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.  

First, there was laundry.

When i walked in to Carl's yesterday, it was everywhere.  He greeted me with the news that he wasn't going to work as he had an appointment, and he was trying to tidy up in his own fashion as he's supposed to do that before i arrive.  Better late than never and i give him an A for effort.

Three times i had started putting items where i needed them so i could get the laundry sorted and begin the process of digging out, and 3 times he grabbed those things and tried to put them somewhere else.  That's when i told him he'd done quite well, and he could go rest now.  He was at once relieved and took himself to the sleep chair in the other room.

It lasted five minutes.  "My teeth are furry," he mumbled, brushing past me to get to the sink.  Speaking of which, his mother wants his toothbrush and paste in the bathroom, but he uses them in the kitchen area of his apartment/room.  Guess where they end up most of the time?

He then started asking me about the difference between ants and termites.  Further investigation revealed he wanted to know because he has ant bait out, and he's seeing bugs anyway.  Even further investigation showed why.

on top of the fridge

not zipped

As i tried to explain to him, covering the dirty spoon on top of the fridge with a napkin doesn't prevent ants from finding it, nor does putting crackers in a zip bag in the cabinet and then not zipping it.

He headed back off to the sleep chair -- for a while.  He came back, "I need my Olive Garden card, I'm hungry."  We searched for the card, finally finding it loose in the bottom of the basket where all of his gift cards are sorted in zip bags.  As i told him the place wasn't open yet to take orders, he said, "Some places take orders ahead and deliver after they're open!"  He then went back to the chair and slept a while.

Something in his room always catches me and makes me smile and shake my head, and this time it was this.

A cap from a refillable bottle with tape all around it, stuck to the counter next to the kitchen sink.  When i opened the fridge i found this.

A refillable bottle with water in it and no cap.

The cap doesn't fit the water bottle, thus he went and dug out the tape, and then didn't use the cap because it made the bottle too tall to fit in the fridge.

When he next appeared, after i'd gotten the final load into the washer, he said, "Shower!"  His towels and washcloths being in the washer, i got spares from the hall closet and made the bed, planning to get the bathroom clean when he was done.  He showered, dressed, brushed his teeth again, went to the kitchen for toast while he placed his order at Olive Garden.  Then he decided he needed to nap more, so he changed back into his pajamas.

He'd gotten the shirt he'd only worn for those few minutes dirty, and generated even more laundry with the items he'd been sleeping in before as well as the pillowcases.  Fourth load, here we go, but i left it for him to put in the dryer, and warned Ms. V to check that he did it.

But wait, there's more!

Next, it was off to Ms. JAI.  Usually her place is pretty routine, but not yesterday.

"I fell trying to get down on my prayer kneeler, and while I was down there, I tried to get under that table in the corner and see if my lamp is still plugged in, it stopped working, but I couldn't get to it.  Could you get under there and see if it's unplugged?"

Of course i can climb under furniture, so i did, and found dust and a spider web and crumbs and a plugged in lamp.

"Oh, shoot!" she said.  "That means the bulb is burned out.  Wait, don't climb back out, I'm going to get the hand vacuum so you can clean while you're under there."

Cleaning done, i wiggled my way back out and we had a confabulation about how we were going to get to the very tall floor lamp in the corner behind the table and change its bulb.  In a bid to solve the problem most easily, i simply grabbed the table and gently pulled, and she grabbed a corner and pulled, and we got it far enough out that i was able to squeeze partway behind the table, reach back, tilt the lamp forward and get the bulb out.

"Hold it there while I go get another bulb!"

Crammed in the tiny space, i held the lamp at an angle until she could get a bulb, which i installed but it still didn't work.

"What could be wrong with it?" she asked.  Then, "Oh, no!  I'm using the wrong remote control for that lamp!  Let me go see if I can find the right one."

She returned with the other, and it turned the lamp on, and she said, "I guess it didn't need a bulb after all," as we slid the table back into place.

Off to my usual work i went, only to be interrupted a couple of times for small things she needed done that take little time but she simply can't do herself any longer --  and i think at age 86 she shouldn't have to anyway.

When i was almost done, at the finish line so to speak, she said, "Can you take the hand vacuum out, and the filter from the regular vacuum, and go find the shop vacuum and give them both a good cleaning?"

Naturally i can do that, so she followed me out to the shop and turned on the shop vac.  The dust from the exhaust area of the vac was almost overwhelming.  When i asked what was wrong, she said, "I don't know, I used it the other day and I didn't notice all this, but of course I was outside with it."

Opening the shop vac, i found that the filter bag was so old it no longer stayed attached around the motor as the elastic that holds it was dry rotted.  She still wanted the hand vac and the filter cleaned, so i took everything outdoors to prevent myself from choking on all the dust i knew it would create, cleaned it all as quickly as i could, emptied the shop vac into the garbage bag, and told her to go get a new filter bag for it before it got ruined.

"I'm sorry I kept you so much longer today," she said as i was leaving.  "It's just things build up so between your visits and I really wanted some of this done."

Then i reminded her that i used to come every two weeks instead of only once a month and told her i could do that again if she needed me.

"No," she responded, "when you come it cramps my style because I have to tidy up before you get here!"

Yes, i still hugged her good-bye, she's a hoot even if i do "cramp her style."

 How about some funnies.

Have a blessed and beautiful day, everyone!

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Today is:

Aldersgate Day -- Methodism

Battle of Pichincha Day -- Ecuador

Bermuda Day -- Bermuda

Brooklyn Bridge Day -- the most often sold bridge in the US (or so i've been told) opened on this day in 1883

Brother's Day -- celebrate all forms of brotherhood, biological, adopted, fraternity brothers, or members of your labor union

Day for the Naming of Rocks and Planets -- Fairy Calendar

European Day of Parks -- Europe

Feast of Hermes Trismegistus -- Hellenistic Egyptian Calendar (thrice-blessed Hermes, patron of alchemy, date approximate)

Independence Day -- Eritrea(1993)

International Tiara Day -- ladies, celebrate your powers of leadership in your life; tiara wearing is optional, it's the fact that you rule that matters 

La Fete des Saintes Maries -- Les-Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, France (Roma [gypsy] festival, to honor St. Sara, St. Marie Jacobe, and St. Marie Salome, their patrons; through the 25th)

Little Lamb Day -- publication anniversary, in 1830, of the original poem "Mary Had a Little Lamb"

Lubiri Memorial Day -- Buganda Region, Uganda

Morse Code Day -- anniversary of Morse's first message in 1844 (Morse Code Day is also celebrated on his birth anniversary, April 27)

National Escargot Day

Sara-la-Kali -- St. Sara, or St. Sara the Black's Day -- patron of the Roma (Gypsy) Peoples (pilgrimage)

Sts. Cyril and Methodius's Day (Orthodox Church celebration; Patrons of Macedonia) related observances

     Bulgarian Education and Culture and Slavonic Literature Day -- Bulgaria

     Slavonic Enlighteners' Day -- Republic of Macedonia

St. Susanna's Day (Patron of martyrs)

Birthdays Today:

Billy Gilman, 1988

Alyson Hannigan, 1974

Joe Dumars, 1963

Kristin Scott Thomas, 1960

Rosanne Cash, 1955

Alfred Molina, 1953

Jim Broadbent, 1949

Priscilla Beaulieu  Presley, 1945

Patti LaBelle, 1944

Gary Burghoff, 1943

Bob Dylan, 1941

Tommy Chong, 1938

Lilli Palmer, 1914

"Engineer Bill" Stulla, 1911

Samuel I. Newhouse, 1895

Lillian Moller Gilbreth, 1878

Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, 1819

Emanuel Leutze, 1816

Abraham Geiger, 1810

Gabriel Fahrenheit, 1686

Debuting/Premiering Today:

Spy Hard(Film), 1996

Indiana Jones and Last Crusade(Film), 1989

View to a Kill(film), 1985

"Jumpin' Jack Flash"(Single release), 1968

"Mame"(Musical), 1966

"Le roi l'a Dit / The King Has Spoken"(Opera), 1873

Today in History:

The Fifth Crusade leaves Acre for Egypt, 1218

Peter Minuit buys Manhattan, 1626

The English  Parliament  passes the Act of Toleration protecting Protestants; Roman Catholics are intentionally excluded, 1689

John Wesley is converted, essentially launching the Methodist movement; the day is celebrated annually by Methodists as Aldersgate Day, 1738

Antonio José de Sucre secures the independence of the Presidency of Quito, 1822

"Mary Had a Little Lamb" by Sarah Josepha Hale is published, 1830

The first passenger rail service in US, from Baltimore to Elliots Mill, Maryland, begins, 1830

Samuel FB Morse taps out the first telegraph message, "What hath God wrought", 1844

The Brooklyn Bridge in New York City is opened to traffic after 14 years of construction, 1883 

The United Kingdom annexes the Orange Free State, 1900

Amy Johnson lands in Darwin, Northern Territory, becoming the first woman to fly from England to Australia (she left on May 5 for the 11,000 mile flight), 1930

Igor Sikorsky performs the first successful single-rotor helicopter flight, 1940

Conclusion of the Sixth Buddhist Council on Vesak Day, marking the 2,500 year anniversary after the Lord Buddha's Parinibbana, 1956

Cyprus enters the Council of Europe, 1961

FLQ separatists bomb the U.S. consulate in Quebec City, 1968

The drilling of the Kola Superdeep Borehole begins in the Soviet Union, 1970

The International Court of Justice calls for the release of United States embassy hostages in Tehran, Iran, 1980

Eritrea  gains its independence from Ethiopia, 1991

Israel conducts Operation Solomon, evacuating Ethiopian Jews to Israel, 1991

15-year-old Sherpa  Temba Tsheri becomes the youngest person to climb to the top of Mount Everest, 2001

North Korea bans mobile phones, 2004

London's Metropolitan police remove belongings and sleeping bags of homeless people as part of 'a policy of reducing the impact of rough sleepers on the community', 2013

Kaduna state in Nigeria declares a state of emergency as a moth has destroyed 80% of the tomato crops and factories are shutting down, 2016

The world's largest cat-proof fence (44km) completed at Newhaven Wildlife Sanctuary, central Australia to protect endangered species, 2018 

Millions of 17-year cicadas emerge in the US South, posing crop danger and noise issues, 2020

A constitutional crisis deepens in Samoa after the Speaker of the House shuts out Fiame Naomi Mata’afa from being sworn in as the country's first female leader in 56 years, 2021