Going Home, a Ten Things of Thankful Post

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It is both Thankful Day and going home from vacation day.

We're thankful to have had a vacation, thankful my brother's children got to join us for a couple of days, and thankful to have a home to go home to.

The list could go on for a long time but on vacation i'm short on writing time and long on enjoying myself in other ways, so in addition to the above:

     morning beach walks to see the sunrise

     evening beach walks to see the sunset

     seeing flying fish and stingrays on those walks

     lying under the waterfall, relaxing

     visiting DiDreaming

     church at the Flora-Bama

     McGuire's Irish Pub  

     beautiful weather

     no schedule!

Please write up your own list and link up to Ten Things of Thankful, where Dyanne and her co-hosts always have a warm welcome waiting.   

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Today is:

Autistic Pride Day -- an Aspies for Freedom initiative; shifting the view from "disease" to "different"     

Constitution Day / National Day -- Seychelles

Dollars Against Diabetes Days -- always on Father's Day weekend, with information here   

Eid el-Galaa -- Egypt (Evacuation Day; final withdrawal of British this date in 1956)

Foundation Day -- Benguet, Philippines

Going Forth of Neith Along the River -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (goddess of war and hunting; date approximate)

Go Fishing Day -- anniversary of the first American fly-casting tournament this day in 1861 in Utica, NY

Husband Caregiver Day -- to honor husbands who give health care to family members (wives, children, or extended family)

International Picnic Day

International Sushi Day

Inti Raymi Festival -- Cusco, Peru (traditional Inca sun worship festival, through the 24th, which is the biggest and best day)

National Cherry Tart Day

National Splurge Day    

Queen Mother's Birthday -- Cambodia (Ex-Queen Norodom Monineath)

St. Gregory of Fragalata's Day (Patron of Fragalata, Sicily)

St. Osanna Andreasi's Day (Patron of schoolgirls)

Tiger-Get-By's Birthday -- Fairy Calendar

Veterinary Appreciation Day -- sometimes listed as Veterinarian Appreciation Day, and supposedly begun by Trupanion, celebrate your favorite vet and the whole team today    

Waterloo Day -- UK (no longer an official holiday, but still of historic importance)

World Juggling Day 

Birthdays Today:

Eddie Cibrian, 1973

Nathan Morris, 1971

Richard Powers, 1957

Carol Kane, 1952

Isabella Rossellini, 1952

Roger Ebert, 1942

Paul McCartney, 1942

Lou Brock, 1939

John D. Rockefeller IV, 1937

Tom Wicker, 1926

Donald Keene, 1922

Red Adair, 1915

Sammy Cahn, 1913

Sylvia Field Porter, 1913

E.G. Marshall, 1910

Bud Collyer, 1908

James Kern "Kay" Kyser, 1905

Jeanette MacDonald, 1903

Grand Duchess Anastasia Nicolaievna Romanova of Russia, 1901

George Herbert Leigh Mallory, 1886

Henry Clay Folger, Jr., 1857

E.W. Scripps, 1854

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Archipelago S"(Takemitsu orchestral work), 1993

"Der Freischütz/The Marksman"(Opera, Weber Op. 77, J. 277), 1821

Today in History:

Li Yuan becomes Emperor Gaozu of Tang, initiating three centuries of Tang Dynasty rule over China, 618

Five monks from Canterbury report seeing "two horns of light" on the shaded side of the moon, probably witnessing the meteor impact formation of the Giordano Bruno crater, 1178

The Parliament of Ireland meets at Castledermot in County Kildare, the first definitively known meeting of this Irish legislature, 1264

French forces under the leadership of Joan of Arc defeat the main English army under Sir John Fastolf at the Battle of Patay, 1429

Samuel Wallis, an English sea captain, sights Tahiti and is considered the first European to reach the island, 1767

The U.S. Congress  declares war on the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, 1812

The Battle of Waterloo leads to Napoleon Bonaparte abdicating the throne of France for the second and last time, 1815

Charles Darwin receives a paper from Alfred Russel Wallace that includes nearly identical conclusions about evolution as Darwin's own, prompting Darwin to publish his theory, 1858

Susan B. Anthony is fined $100 (US) for attempting to vote in the prior year's US presidential election, 1873

Empress Dowager Longyu of China orders all foreigners killed, including foreign diplomats and their families, 1900

Aviator  Amelia Earhart becomes the first woman to fly as a passenger in an aircraft across the Atlantic Ocean, 1928

The "Finest Hour" speech is delivered by Winston Churchill, 1940

The Republic of Egypt is declared and the monarchy is abolished, 1953

Governor of Louisiana Earl K. Long is committed to a state mental hospital; he responds by having the hospital's director fired and replaced with a crony who proceeds to proclaim him perfectly sane, 1959

The AIDS epidemic is formally recognized by medical professionals in San Francisco, California, 1981

Astronaut Sally Ride becomes the first American woman in space, 1983

Kazakhstan launches its first satellite, KazSat, 2006

Sequoia, IMB's Blue Gene/Q system installed at the Department of Energy becomes the world's fastest supercomputer, 2012

New data reveals that over 280 previously unknown craters exist on the Moon, 2013

King Juan Carlos I of Spain abdicates to make way for his son, Felipe VI, 2014

Pope Francis blames human selfishness for global warming in his encyclical, named "Laudato Si (Be Praised), On the Care of Our Common Home", 2015

A rare magnitude-four earthquake causes a tsunami to hit Nuugaatsiaq in northwestern Greenland, 2017

A world record is set for the greatest duration of a single lightning flash, 17.1 seconds during a thunderstorm over Uruguay and Argentina, according to the World Meteorological Organization, 2020

Don't Want To Know Why The Bar Needs This Restroom Sign (Wordless Wednesday) and Words for Wednesday

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Linking up with Wordless Wednesday 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, the prompts are being provided by Charlotte/Mother Owl.     

Guidance

Tea

Argument

Role

Thanks

Warning

and/or 

Leadership

Song

Nation

Highway

Piano

Owner

THANKS to the GUIDANCE of the talking roadmaps to which we all now have access, i learned many years ago of ways to get to where we stay in Florida to bypass a lot of the most heavily traveled roads right near the coast, after you get off the interstate HIGHWAY.

This doesn't mean shorter, it just means back country roads, miles of farms interspersed with small towns, the kind that at one time had a ROLE as the backbone of the NATION.

Listening to SONG after song on the radio, the miles pass pretty quickly.  This time, we were within less than a mile of the grocery store where we stop for TEA and coffee and breakfast foods and other necessities before we ran into any significant traffic besides the tunnel at Mobile Bay.  No one gets past that tunnel bottleneck without stopping at least once, at least during daylight hours.

As an aside, so i can actually use one of the words, the LEADERSHIP which decided a tunnel was needed in Mobile which cannot be expanded to accommodate future traffic needs was probably cut from the same cloth as those who designed traffic flow in our area with no way to expand.  The word i could not figure any other way to use now having been worked in, we now return to our regularly scheduled WfW story.

We did stop for our necessities, and arrived at the complex where we stay to find the center of the road blocked by a Lowe's delivery truck.  Some clever working around it got us past the entrance and right smack behind several people who were blocking the entire entryway trying to unload there.  They were also blocking the Lowe's people from being able to easily get their load into the building.

After a few moments, one vehicle moved and managed to unblock the area and i parked the truck in the open air lot to go check in.  As i was waiting for my turn, i heard Ms. L, the lady who runs the desk most days, telling the Lowe's people, "It's okay, you can go install it, they haven't checked in yet!"

Ms. L then finished with the people ahead of me, and came out from behind her desk to give me a hug.  After this good greeting, she grabbed our check-in packet and said, "But you can't go in yet, they're installing a new washing machine in your unit and they were running late so they're here now!"

Aha.  The Lowe's people were delivering to our unit.  Are you sure we can't run in there and put our cold groceries in the fridge? i asked.  "Not now," she said.

Drat.  Back to the truck, where Sweetie said, "What do you mean, we can't go in yet?  I need to use the restroom and my ice cream will melt!"  He went in while i got the truck through the gate into the regular lot and parked it.

Once parked, i headed back to the front desk to try to find out how long it might take before we could start unloading and Sweetie was there.  "Here's the packet with the wristband keys.  We're in West on the first floor."

Looking at Ms. L, i said, you mean it's okay for us to go on and put the cold stuff in there?

"Sure," she said, then by way of WARNING, "as long as you don't mind the delivery people being in your way while they install the washer.  They're running very late, it was supposed to be done by now."

Of course we don't mind, especially since we're on the floor under the PIANO room, so only one flight of stairs from the garden level.  How Sweetie talked her into it, well, i didn't know and i didn't care, it was simply great that he did.

We grabbed our groceries and headed in, finding two very nice men installing a washing machine in the laundry closet of the unit.  They greeted us by asking, "Do you know if these rubber mats under here are needed?  These things don't let the washer slide in so we're having a tough time getting it to go all the way back."

That would be a question for the OWNER of the unit, i said, we're just renting for the week.

"Okay," he said.  They worked it out somehow, getting the unit installed and then handed Sweetie a device and said, "Sign here."

Don't the people at the front desk need to do that? i asked.

Sweetie and the delivery guy both said, "Nah!" at the same time, the delivery guy adding, "It's just to say we actually did put it in."

Being to tired to start an ARGUMENT, i kept my trap shut and let them get on with it.  The washer was doing a test run and not leaking or otherwise showing signs that anything was wrong, and after a day of driving i was ready to get the rest of our things unloaded and start enjoying myself.

Later, Ms. L agreed with me that these delivery/installation people are supposed to come back to the front desk for a signature, but they try to get someone else to sign so they can leave more quickly and get on to the next delivery.  If this ever happens again, at least we know.

All is well, they say, that ends well, and this beginning ended well enough, with a new washer in the unit and there was still plenty of daylight for us to enjoy.

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Today is:

A Friend in Need is a Friend Indeed Day -- simply a good day to remember this, and thank a friend

Dia del Arbol -- Costa Rica (Tree Day/Arbor Day)

Fly A Kite Day (on the anniversary of Ben Franklin's kite experiment)

Global Wind Day -- to celebrate wind energy    

Magna Carta Day -- UK (King John set his seal on the document this day in 1215)

Mangaia Gospel Day -- Mangaia, Cook Islands

Native American Citizenship Day -- US (passage, in 1924, of the legislation recognizing citizenship of Native Americans in the US)

National Lobster Day

Nature Photography Day -- sponsored by the North American Nature Photography Association 

Recess at Work Day -- engage in productive play!   

Salvation Day/National Day of Salvation -- Azerbaijan

Separation Day -- Delaware, US (date of declaration of separation from England and Pennsylvania)

Smile Power Day -- test out smile power today, it's free!

Sneak a Kiss Day -- usual litany of cautions with this internet generated holiday

St. Vitus' Day (Patron of actors, comedians, dancers, dogs, epilepsy sufferers; against animal attacks, dog bites, epilepsy, lightning, oversleeping, rheumatic chorea, Saint Vitus' Dance, snake bites, storms, wild beasts; Badia Calavena, Italy; Czech Republic; Forio, Italy; Prague, Czech Republic; Recanati, Italy; Vacha, Germany; Wetsens, Netherlands; Zeven, Germany)

Valdemar's Day and Reunion Day -- Denmark (an official Flag Day)

Vestalia -- Ancient Roman Calendar (main and final celebration, in which the Temple of Vesta was swept clean)

World Elder Abuse Awareness Day -- because our elders deserve to be protected and cared for properly

Worldwide Day of Giving  

Anniversaries Today:

King Hussein of Jordan marries Lisa Halaby (Queen Noor), 1978

Gustaf, Crown Prince of Sweden marries Princess Margaret of Connaught, 1905

Arkansas becomes the 25th US State, 1836

Birthdays Today:

William Dean Martin, 1981

Neil Patrick Harris, 1973

Leah Remini, 1970

Ice Cube, 1969

Lisa McCall, 1969

Dina Meyer, 1969

Courtneney Cox Arquette, 1964

Helen Hunt, 1963

Julie Hagerty, 1955

Jim Belushi, 1954

Simon Callow, 1949

Nicola Pagett, 1945

Waylon Jennings, 1937

Mario Cuomo, 1932

Erroll Garner, 1921

Muzaffer Tema, 1919

Bob Wian, 1914

Edvard Grieg, 1843

Rachel Donelson Robards Jackson, 1767

Henry FitzRoy, illegitimate son of Henry VIII, 1519

Edward the Black Prince, 1330

Debuting/Premiering Today:

The Lion King(Animated film), 1994

Dick Tracy(Film), 1990

"Hee Haw"(TV), 1969

"My Little Margie"(TV), 1952

Today in History:

The Assyrians record a solar eclipse that is later used to fix the chronology of Mesopotamian history, BC763

King John of England puts his seal to the Magna Carta, 1215

The first human blood transfusion is administered by Dr. Jean-Baptiste Denys, 1667

Benjamin Franklin proves that lightning is electricity, 1752

Delaware votes to suspend government under the British Crown and separate officially from Pennsylvania, 1776

Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier, co-pilot of the first-ever manned flight (1783), and his companion, Pierre Romain, become the first-ever casualties of an air crash when their hot air balloon explodes during their attempt to cross the English Channel, 1785

Charles Goodyear receives a patent for vulcanization, a process to strengthen rubber, 1844

The Oregon Treaty establishes the 49th parallel as the border between the United States and Canada, from the Rocky Mountains to the Strait of Juan de Fuca, 1846

Crown Prince Wilhelm becomes Kaiser Wilhelm II and is the last emperor of the German Empire, 1888

The most destructive tsunami in Japan's history kills more than 22,000 people, 1896

A fire aboard the steamboat SS General Slocum in New York City's East River kills 1000, 1904

Tabulating Computing Recording Corporation (IBM) is incorporated, 1911

U.S. President Woodrow Wilson signs a bill incorporating the Boy Scouts of America, making them the only American youth organization with a federal charter, 1916

A German expedition led by Karl Wien lost sixteen members in an avalanche on Nanga Parbat (9th highest mountain), the largest single day loss of life on an 8,000m peak, 1937

In the Saskatchewan general election, the CCF, led by Tommy Douglas, is elected and forms the first socialist government of North America, 1944

Israel and Vatican City establish full diplomatic relations, 1994

Near earth asteroid 2002 MN misses the Earth by 75,000 miles (121,000 km), about one-third of the distance between the Earth and the Moon, 2002

In Bulgaria, remains that some believe to be the bones of John the Baptist, are scientifically proven to be from a Middle Eastern man and dated to be from the first century AD, 2012

Scotland Yard launches criminal inquiry and British Prime Minister Theresa May announces a public inquiry a day after the Grenfell Tower fire, 2017

A baseball jersey belonging to Babe Ruth becomes the most expensive item of sports memorabilia ever when it sells for $5.64 million at auction, 2019

In a landmark decision, the US Supreme Court rules 6-3 that gay and transgender workers cannot be discriminated against in the workplace, 2020