Knowing, a Random and Happy Tuesday A to Z 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.  

Sometimes i just don't know.

In this case, i don't know if i should be upset that someone used a planter near someone's mail box as a trash can, or glad that at least the person didn't drop it in the street?  (And in defense of that person, perhaps he doesn't know a planter from an ashtray from a trash can, i know plenty of people who wouldn't be able to know the difference unless told.)

No matter how long i live, i don't think i will ever know why the peanut butter jar was in the underwear drawer.

Nor will i ever know why whatever i am looking for is always at the bottom of the bag, even when i just put it on top a few moments ago.

Does anyone know how the USPS can lose a guaranteed two-day delivery package and take over 8 days to find it and deliver it?

And a few things to know that Grandma forwarded to me:

Have a blessed and beautiful Tuesday, everyone!

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Today is:

Anniversary of the Election of Pope Francis -- Holy See (Vatican City)

Be Kind to Lawyers Day -- after all, you will need one someday, for something

Children's Day in Florida -- FL, US

Day to Give Thanks for Fish/Seafood -- anniversary of the US Fishery Conservation and Management Act 1976

Environmental Protection Day -- anniversary of the 1962 publication of Silent Spring

Feast of Rotten Endings -- because some stories just don't end well

Huguenot Day -- Huguenot Society of the US (anniversary of the 1598 Edict of Nantes, in which King Henry IV promoted peace between Catholics and Protestants)

Ides of April -- Ancient Roman Calendar; also

     Festival of Libertas -- personification of freedom and political liberty

     Festival of Jupiter Libertas

     Festival of Jupiter Victor

International Plant Appreciation Day -- unsponsored by any but those who love plants

Laotian New Year's Eve -- Laos (celebrations of Pi Mai, the new year, last through the 15th and sometimes beyond; at the start of the monsoon season)

National Peach Cobbler Day

Poshui Jie -- Jinghong, China (Water Splashing Festival; a 3 to four day festival around this time)

Ramadan -- Islam (began sunset yesterday, through May 13)

Scrabble Day -- anniversary of the 1899 birth of its inventor, Alfred Mosher Butts

Songkran Festival / Chiang Mai Songkran / Tamil New Year / Bangla New Year / Bisket Jatra -- Bangladesh; Cambodia; India; Laos; Myanmar; Nepal; Singapore; Sri Lanka; Thailand (New Year festivals, celebrated over the next few days, as the sun enters the zodiac sign of Aries)

Squashing of Moonhopper Day -- Fairy Calendar

St. Hermengild's Day (Patron of converts; against drought, flood, and thunderstorms)

Thingyan Eve -- Myanmar (Water Festival Eve; through the 17th)

Thomas Jefferson Day -- US

U.S. Elephant Day -- marking the arrival of the first elephant in the US in 1796

Yayoi Matsuri -- Nikko, Japan (five day spring festival)

Yom HaZiKaron -- Israel (Memorial Day; begins at sunset)

Birthdays Today:

Jonathan Brandis, 1976

Rick Schroder, 1970

Garry Kasparov, 1963

Saundra Santiago, 1957

Max Weinberg, 1951

Peabo Bryson, 1951

Ron Pearlman, 1950

Al Green, 1946

Tony Dow, 1945

Lowell George, 1945

Jack Casady, 1944

Bill Conti, 1942

Paul Sorvino, 1939

Lyle Waggoner, 1935

Don Adams, 1926

Howard Keel, 1919

Eudora Welty, 1909

Samuel Beckett, 1906

Butch Cassidy, 1866

F.W. Woolworth, 1852

Thomas Jefferson, 1743

Guy Fawkes, 1570

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Arcadia"(Play), 1993

Casino Royale(Film), 1967

Silent Spring(Publication date), 1962

"El Capitan"(Operetta), 1896

"Messiah"(Oratorio, HWV 56), 1742

Today in History:

The Seventh Crusade is defeated in Egypt with the capture of Louis IX of France, 1250

Henry IV of France signs the Edict of Nantes, granting freedom of religion and political rights to Huguenots (French Protestants), 1598

John Dryden, age 36, becomes the first English Poet Laureate, 1668

George Frideric Handel's oratorio Messiah makes its world-premiere in Dublin, Ireland, 1742

The first elephant seen in the Western Hemisphere arrives from India, 1796

The British Parliament grants religious freedom to Roman Catholics, 1829

Hungary becomes a republic, 1849

The first US Pony Express run is completed, 1860

George Westinghouse patents a steam powered brake, 1869

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is founded, 1870

J.C. (James Cash) Penney opens his first store, 1902

British troops fire on unarmed demonstrators in Amritsar, India, killing at least 379 and wounding over 1,200 more, 1919

Helen Hamilton becomes the first woman US Civil Service Commissioner, 1920

Lord Clydesdale makes the first flight over Mt. Everest, 1933

The Jefferson Memorial is dedicated on the 200th anniversary of his birth, in Washington, D.C., 1943

Van Cliburn becomes the first American to win the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, 1958 

Sidney Poitier becomes the first African-American male to win the Best Actor Oscar for Lilies of the Field, 1963

An oxygen tank aboard Apollo 13 explodes, putting the crew in great danger and causing major damage to the spacecraft while en route to the Moon, 1970

The Universal Postal Union decides to recognize the People's Republic of China as the only legitimate Chinese representative, effectively expelling the Republic of China administering Taiwan, 1972

Western Union (in cooperation with NASA and Hughes Aircraft) launches the United States' first commercial geosynchronous communications satellite, Westar 1, 1974

Portugal and the People's Republic of China sign an agreement in which Macau would be returned to China in 1999, 1987

Tiger Woods becomes the youngest golfer to win the Masters Tournament, 1997

Former President of Egypt Hosni Mubarak and sons, Alaa and Gamal, are detained for 15 days of questioning regarding charges of corruption and abuse of power, 2011

The People's Republic of China and the U.S. agree to work towards eliminating nuclear weapons in the Korean Peninsula, 2013

The world’s largest plane by wingspan (117m/385ft), built as a flying launch pad for satellites and called the Stratolaunch, takes its first flight from Mojave, California, 2019

Australian super-horse Winx ends her extraordinary career with a 3rd Queen Elizabeth Stakes win in Sydney giving her 33 consecutive race wins, a world record 25 Group One victories and $26.4 million Australian dollars prize money, 2019

Random Tuesday, With Pictures

And now, a bit of randomness from around here, linking up with Stacy's Random Thoughts at Stacy Uncorked.  

File this under it never rains but it pours.  Mr. BA, husband of Ms. GA and one of my clients, as well as a prayer partner at church and Friday morning Bible study group member, had a very mild heart attack a couple of weeks ago.  He has finally had his bypass surgery and should be going home today for a month of rest and recuperation before he can go back to work.

His poor wife, while dealing with him being in the hospital, also had to deal with the dryer quitting and her car refusing to start, as well as keeping up at work.  We are offering to let Sweetie go stay at the house with him during the day for the next few days so she will feel comfortable enough to leave him, as her boss needs for her to catch up (it's a financial services company with strict deadlines, the boss is not an ogre, he's just under the gun since another of his employees is in the hospital now, too).

Another member of our church had a minor heart attack the day after Mr. BA and her bypass surgery was on the same day as his.  She's a member of the choir and only her son still lives at home.  Some of us are juggling to get people to stay with her, too.  It will work out, though.

File this under people are odd (and sometimes very lazy):

Am i seeing what i think i'm seeing, on the church grounds?

Is that a dental floss holder/toothpick in the pine mulch?

Yes, right there behind a bush in the garden.

Behind a bush, on the other side of which is a perfectly handy trash can!

Of course i picked it up and threw it away, the janitor in me couldn't leave it.

Little Girl has introduced me to a new term:  Voluntold.  It is apparently a military word for "we are not asking you to volunteer, we are telling you that you already have volunteered, even if you didn't know it."  She got voluntold all of last week.  This week, she is back and decorating for Halloween has been kicked into high gear.

Our first two pumpkins.

Finally, an observation from Bigger Girl.  Sushi, she claims, is the perfect food for aficionados as it is complicated, foreign, and expensive.

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" 

Paint a Mural on a Sidewalk Day -- let your inner child go a bit wild (but if it's not your sidewalk, use temporary paint, please)

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