More Than a Simple Exchange (Six Sentence Story), Holiday Decor (Good Fences), At the Mall (Sammy’s Poetry Day) and Brian’s Thankful Thursday

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With it being the holidays and all, sometimes she received more from her clients than just the simple exchange of payment for her services, and there was a predictable pattern to these extras that followed an odd logic of their own, and it was simply this:  The wealthier the client, the less she got.

The ones to whom she gave a price break because she knew they were desperate for help and really could not afford it tried to give her bounteous remembrances of the season, if not in monetary cost, then in number of items, many taken from their own homes.

Those in the middle gave a sum of money, generally a generous percentage of the wage they paid, commensurate to their means, and sometimes just a bit above what she knew they should be spending.

The more affluent gave money that was not at all commensurate to their means nor anywhere near the “one full day’s wage” that the experts in the tipping community said was the normal amount (and she wondered who in the world made that up anyway, she didn’t expect that much), but which percentage wise in comparison to her day’s wage was less than what those in the middle gave.

Her wealthiest client always gave something small and often a bit tacky; one year it was a pad of paper and pen set with the logo of a local team, a coupon good for 20%  off your entire purchase at a thrift store, and sample size bottles of shampoo and conditioner.

Yes, this played out exactly the same way every year, and every year she simply laughed and accepted what came her way, grateful for any gift and the spirit behind it, as well as for the bit of insight into human nature that this yearly ritual afforded.

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

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Gosia at Looking for Identity has taken over Good Fences, and it's now Good Fences Around The World.  Post a picture of a fence or gate, link back to her blog, and go visit other blogs to see what interesting fences there are out in this big world.      

More Christmas fences:

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

I lost her about 3 stores back,

I’m pretty sure we are on track

To spend more than ever before

She loves to give gifts galore.

The parents, grandparents, siblings and aunts,

Uncles and cousins and children all dance

With anticipation, they know her delight

At giving each a gift that is just right.

Meanwhile, I stand here looking a bit goofy,

Holding all these bags, so girly and floofy,

Every man shakes his head as he passes by,

Probably thinking, “I’m glad I’m not that guy!”

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

The Big Boss, for whom Sweetie still does odd jobs, bought us a Christmas gift.  It was tickets to a very exclusive jazz band concert, which we attended last night.  Talk about a treat, and i am very thankful for his kindness, as well as for Ms. R, my client, who loaned me clothing so i would be dressed appropriately.

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Today is:

Build a Snowman Day -- occupy your mind, as Christmas seems too far away still; if you have no snow, make snowball cookies

Chocolate Pizza Day -- if you’ve never tried it, do so!

E-Mail Santa Claus Just in Case He Didn't Get Your Letter Day -- you can sent it over here    

Festival for Juventas -- Ancient Roman Calendar (goddess of youth, protector of young soldiers)

Icelandic Yuletide Lad of the Day, Skyrgamur -- Curd-glutton, who loves skyr (milk curd) so that he sneaks in the pantry to try to get it all

I've Got My Big Fat Guy Pants On Day -- someone tired of tight clothes started this, a day to wear whatever you like, so long as it is comfortable -- and roomy

Look for an Evergreen Day -- although if you haven't bought your tree by now, you may have waited too long

National Hard Candy Day -- this time of year, it probably means candy canes

National Heroes and Heroines Day -- Anguilla

National Oatmeal Muffin Day

Opalia -- Roman Empire (feast of Ops, goddess of abundance; 3rd day of the Saturnalia)

Riddle-Making Trials -- Fairy Calendar

Robinson Crusoe Rescue Day (1686)

St. Bernard Valeara's Day (Patron of Teramo, Italy)

St. Samthann (Samantha) of Meath's Day (Patron of the spiritual life)

Thorn Cutting Ceremony -- Glastonbury, Somerset, England (a sprig from the tree supposedly planted by Joseph of Arimathea is cut, with great ceremony by the eldest child of St John’s Infant School, and sent to the Queen, to decorate her table on Christmas Day)

United Nations Day for South-South Cooperation -- UN

Anniversary Today:

First radio broadcast from space, a Christmas greeting from President Eisenhower, 1958

Birthdays Today:

Jake Gyllenhall, 1980

Alyssa Milano, 1972

Tyson Beckford, 1971

Amy Locane, 1971

Kristy Swanson, 1969

Criss Angel, 1967

Jessica Steen, 1965

Jennifer Beals, 1963

Kevin Edward McHale, 1957

Janie Fricke, 1952

Robert Urich, 1946

Richard Leakey, 1944

Alvin Lee, 1944

Tim Reid, 1944

Cicely Tyson, 1939

Al Kaline, 1934

David Susskind, 1920

Leonid Brezhnev, 1906

Ralph Richardson, 1902

Carter Godwin Woodson, 1875

Minnie Maddern Fiske, 1865

Mary Ashton Livermore, 1821

William Edward Parry, 1790

Debuting/Premiering Today:

Titanic(Film), 1997

The Man with the Golden Gun(Film), 1974

"Homecoming A Christmas Story"(TV introduction of "The Waltons"), 1971

"The Music Man"(Musical), 1957

"A Christmas Carol"(publication date), 1843

"American Crisis"(publication date of the Thomas Paine essay in which he wrote, "These are the times that try men's souls."), 1776

"Poor Richard's Almanack" (publication of first issue by Benjamin Franklin), 1732

Today in History:

Licinius abdicates his position as Roman Emperor, 324

The Seldjuken under Toghril Beg occupy Baghdad, 1055

The Susan Constant, the Godspeed, and the Discovery depart England carrying settlers who found, at Jamestown, Virginia, the first of the thirteen colonies that became the United States, 1606

The Plymouth, Rhode Island, Massachusetts Bay, and Connecticut colonies combine forces and attach the Great Swamp Fort of the Narragansetts during King Philip's War, 1675

Benjamin Franklin, under the name Richard Saunders begins publication of "Poor Richard's Almanack", 1732

Thomas Paine publishes his first "American Crisis" essay, in which he wrote that "These are the times that try men's souls," 1776

Chinese troops occupy the capital Thang Long Vietnam, 1788

The US state of Kentucky becomes the first to appropriate money for road building, 1795

The US state of Georgia becomes the first to pass a birth registration law, 1823

Allen Wilson of Connecticut patents a sewing machine that can sew a curved seam, 1854

Albert L. Jones patents corrugated cardboard, 1871

The first black US Catholic priest, Charles Uncles, is ordained in Baltimore, 1891

The first city ordinance requiring separate neighborhoods for blacks and whites is passed, in Baltimore, 1910

Robert Ripley begins his "Believe It Or Not" column in the NY Globe, 1918

The British Broadcasting Corp begins transmitting overseas, 1932

The US Earth satellite Atlas transmitted the first radio voice broadcast from space, 1958

The last manned lunar flight, Apollo 17, returns to earth, 1972

The Sino-British Joint Declaration, stating that the People's Republic of China, in 1997, would resume the exercise of sovereignty over Hong Kong, is signed, 1984

Mikhail Gorbachev, leader of the Soviet Union, releases Andrei Sakharov and his wife from internal exile in Gorky, 1986

A record high barometric pressure of 1085.6 hPa (32.06 inHg) is recorded at Tosontsengel, Khövsgöl Province, Mongolia, 2001

Russian spacecraft, Soyuz TMA-07M, is launched in Kazakhstan, with cosmonauts Roman Romanenko, Chris Hadfield and Thomas Marshburn for the ISS Expedition 34 and 35 crews, 2012

On Human Nature and Finding What's Not There!

Today i am full of conflicting thoughts, so if you continue to read, you will be subject to my blank verse, which is very blank indeed.

Of course I'm sad!
They want to amputate another of my toes!
My diabetes is out of control,
And I'm depressed.
Pass me a donut.

That is what came to me the other day in response to a real life situation of someone at church.  She is depressed.  She is probably going to lose another toe.  She wants to be cured, she doesn't want to do what it takes to properly take care of herself.  As one doctor said (not her doctor but it seems to fit), "They come to me wanting a pill to cure them so they can go back out and do the same things that made them sick in the first place."

This is one of those situations where i am sympathetic and angry at the same time.

So, on to another thought.  Yesterday i cleaned for Ms. GA.  She and her husband were leaving town, so i had instructions to give one of the cats his medicine before i left.  That was an adventure, as i had to follow him into the attic closet, among other places, but he finally got his meds and i got my hissing at and we both left feeling glad it was over.

The cat sitter was going to take over where i left off.

After they left, though, i got a text from Ms. GA.  "We forgot to bring some plants in.   Could you bring in the ones on the patio table?  And the fern that doesn't much look like a fern that's by where we used to keep the water bucket.  Also the fern that's where the bird house used to be."

Yes, i had to laugh, and i figured out where the bird house and the water bucket used to be, and got the ferns.

Today i'm heading back to Grandma and Grandpa's house in NOLA.  Grandma is talking about painting the living room.  We may only get to some prep work, like buying supplies, today, but it's going to be an adventure.


Today is:

Afrma Fancy Rat and Mouse Annual Show -- Riverside, CA (don't laugh, rats and mice make great pets!)

Amherst Railway Society Railroad Hobby Show -- West Springfield, MA, US (8 1/2 acres of hobby train fun; through tomorrow)

Army Day -- Armenia

Big Garden Birdwatch -- UK (sponsored by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds; through Monday) 

Brookfield Ice Harvest and Winter Carnival -- Brookfield, VT, US (demonstrating traditional ice harvesting using original equipment near the Brookfield Floating Bridge, one of only two such bridges still extant)

Data Privacy Day -- International

Festival of the Lenaia to Dionysus -- Ancient Greek Calendar, end January through early February

Gasparilla Pirate Fest -- Tampa, FL (reenactment of the invasion of Tampa by pirates, this is the adult version of last weekend's celebration for kids)

Greater Springfield Garage Sale -- Springfield, MO, US (if you want to find it used, you can probably find it here at the Ozark Empire Fairgrounds; through tomorrow)

Great Fruitcake Toss -- Manitou Springs, CO, US (what to do with leftover fruitcake?  toss, hurl, or launch it for fun and prizes)

Hoggetowne Medieval Faire -- Gainesville, FL, US (jousting, birds of prey, medieval arts, food, entertainment; through tomorrow, and again next weekend)

Jackhammer Day -- US (the pneumatic jackhammer was patented this day in 1894 by Charles Brady King of Detroit, MI)

Kumquat Festival -- Dade City, FL, US (because kumquats are not just funny, they are delicious!)

Lunar New Year/Chinese New Year/Lhosar/Seol-Nal/Tet -- celebrations throughout Asia are held both before and after this "official" Western date, some for up to a month; there are Confucian, Taoist and Buddhist celebrations
     Sonam Lhosar -- Nepal (Tamang New Year)

National Blueberry Pancake Day

National Kazoo Day -- because anyone can play one!

National Seed Swap Day -- find or set one up in your area, so you can expand your garden, and help others expand theirs

National Spieling Day -- internet generated, and whatever your area of expertise, spiel about it today

National Storytelling Week -- UK (the Society for Storytelling encourages you to celebrate one of the most ancient art forms)

Orange City Blue Spring Manatee Festival -- Orange City, FL, US (learn about the manatee and have fun doing it; through tomorrow)

Polar Bear Festival/Polar Bear Jump -- Seward, AK, US (lots of fun, if you want to freeze!)

Rinkydinks Annual Snowball Fight -- Fairy Calendar

Runic Half-month Elhaz (elk) commences

St. Charlemagne's Day (Patron of the University of Paris)

St. Thomas Aquinas's Day (Patron of academics, apologists, book sellers, chastity, colleges, learning, pencil makers, philosophers, publishers, scholars, schools, students, theologians, universities; Aquino, Italy; Belcastro, Italy; Falerna, Italy; University of Vigo; all Catholic academies, schools, and universities; against lightning, storms)

Swamp Buggy Races -- Naples, Florida (the world famous swamp buggy races; through tomorrow)

Telephone Exchange Day -- US (the first telephone exchange was set up in New Haven, CT with 22 subscribers on this day in 1878)

Traditional Day of Offering -- Bhutan (first day of 12th month of Tibetan calendar)

Wakakusa Yamayaki -- Nara, Japan (Grass Burning on Mt. Wakakusayama, and fireworks; an annual New Year tradition)


Anniversary Today:

Adoption of the Great Seal of the United States, 1782


Birthdays Today:

Elijah Wood, 1981
Nick Carter, 1980
Joey Fatone, Jr. 1977
Kathryn Morris, 1969
Sarah McLachlan, 1968
Harley Jane Kozak, 1957
Nicolas Sarkozy, 1955
Rick Warren, 1954
John Beck, 1943
Susan Howard, 1943
Alan Alda, 1936
Susan Sontag, 1933
Claes Oldenburg, 1929
Jackson Pollack, 1912
Robert Stroud, 1890 (The Birdman of Alcatraz)
Arthur Rubenstein, 1887
Auguste Piccard, 1884
Jean Felix Piccard, 1884
Colette, 1873
Jose' Marti, 1853
Henry Morton Stanley, 1841
Alexander Mackenzie, 1822
Peter the Great of Russia, 1775
St. Thomas Aquinas, 1225


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Fantasy Island"(TV), 1978
"Barnaby Jones"(TV), 1973
"Symphony No. 1/Jeremiah"(Bernstein), 1944


Today in History:

The Walk to Canossa: The excommunication of Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor is lifted by Pope Gregory VIII, 1077
The first Crusaders begins siege of Hosn-el-Akrad Syria, 1099
Pope Alexander VI gives his son Cesare Borgia as hostage to Charles VIII of France, 1495
Edward VI, age nine, succeeds his father Henry VIII as king of England, 1547
By the Edict of Orleans, the persecution of French Huguenots is suspended, 1561
Articles of the Warsaw Confederation are signed, sanctioning freedom of religion in Poland, 1573
Sir Thomas Warner found the first British colony in the Caribbean, on St. Kitts, 1624
The Russian Academy of Sciences was founded in St. Petersburg by Peter the Great, and implemented in the Senate decree (it was called St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences until 1917), 1724
Horace Walpole, in a letter to Horace Mann, coins the word serendipity, 1754
London's Pall Mall is the first street lit by gaslight, 1807
Pride and Prejudice is first published in the United Kingdom, 1813
The first locomotive runs from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean on the Panama Railway, 1855
In a snowstorm at Fort Keogh, Montana, the world's largest snowflakes are reported, being 15 inches (38 cm) wide and 8 inches (20 cm) thick, 1887
Walter Arnold of East Peckham, Kent became the first person to be convicted of speeding in an automobile. He is fined 1 shilling, plus costs, for speeding at 8 mph (13 km/h), thus exceeding the contemporary speed limit of 2 mph (3.2 km/h), 1896
The Carnegie Institution is founded in Washington, D.C. with a $10 million gift from Andrew Carnegie, 1902
An act of the U.S. Congress creates the United States Coast Guard, 1915
The first Jewish  US Supreme Court justice, Louis Brandeis, appointed by Wilson, 1916
A symbolic Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is installed beneath the Arc de Triomphe in Paris to honor the unknown dead of World War I, 1921
The name Pakistan is coined by Choudhary Rehmat Ali Khan and is accepted by the Indian Muslims who then thereby adopted it further for the Pakistan Movement seeking independence, 1933
The Lego company patents the design of its Lego bricks, still compatible with bricks produced today, 1958
The current design of the Flag of Canada is chosen by an act of Parliament, 1965
Tropical Storm Domoina makes landfall in southern Mozambique, eventually causing 214 deaths and some of the most severe flooding so far recorded in the region, 1984
Supergroup USA for Africa (United Support of Artists for Africa) records the hit single We Are the World, to help raise funds for Ethiopian famine relief, 1985
Space Shuttle Challenger breaks apart after liftoff killing all seven astronauts on board, 1986
Hundreds of thousands of protesters filled up the Egyptian's streets in demonstrations referred to as "Friday of Anger" against the Mubarak regime, 2011

Mind Games

What is it about human nature that makes us think we will have more, later?

More time, more money, more anything?

When we put off reading that email until later when there will be "more time to deal with it," when will that be?

Same with saving money for something, or buying something. Will there really be more money in the next paycheck, or will it just magically stretch further?

There will always be more to buy, more to do, more to read, more to see, than any human can get to in one lifetime.

I don't like that fact, so I just don't face it. I put off until "later," and that magical later will not come.


Today is:

Arbor Day, Australia

Gustavus Adolphus Day, Sweden

Independence Day, Chad, Dominican Republic

International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict

Marooned Without A Compass Day

National Nachos Day

National Notary Public Day

Potting Shed Investitures (garden fairies) -- Fairy Calendar

Return Day

Saxophone Day

St. Illtyd's Day

St. Leonard's Day (patron of prisoners, blacksmiths, porters, horses, locksmiths, coal miners, greengrocers; against robbery)

St. Paul of Constantinople's Day (Eastern)

United Americas Day


Birthdays Today:

Pat Tillman, 1976
Rebecca Romijn, 1972
Ethan Hawke, 1970
Maria Shriver, 1955
Glenn Frey, 1948
Sally Field, 1946
Mike Nichols, 1931
Walter Perry Johnson, 1887
James Naismith, 1861
John Philip Sousa, 1854
Adolphe Sax, 1814 (yes, the musician who invented the Saxophone)


Today in History:

Shipwrecked Spanish conquistador Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca becomes the first known European to set foot in Texas, 1528
Spain grants independence to the Dominican Republic, 1844
Canada celebrates its first official, national Thanksgiving Day, 1879
Colonel Jacob Schick patents the first electric razor, 1928