Co-op day this week was odd.
Because we are back to Sweetie having to get rides while #1 Son uses his car, it began with The Mouth coming in and insisting on breakfast. He got cereal, which didn't make him too happy, but it was all i could do at the time.
Then it was time to get Little Girl up, hand stuff on the line, and head out, stopping at the store for ingredients before getting there.
Each class was to cook something different today. The second class co-teacher had a recipe for that class to use, and was to bring the ingredients. The first class, i worked out the recipe and ingredients. Then, after learning the recipe from the other teacher, next week we will flip-flop the recipes.
So the first class got to make quesadillas. They sauted onions, grated the cheese, and got to choose to make bean and cheese or just bean, or, in the case of Bernie, just cheese. We had a couple of problems with flipping them, especially Bernie. Still, it all worked out and they had fun cooking and eating, so that was good.
The second class made a home baked mac and cheese, and that recipe will have to wait for next week, after my co-teacher emails me the measurements and i've cooked it myself with the class.
Today is:
Feast of Apollo -- Ancient Greek Calendar
Feast of La'Ala'A -- French Polynesia, Samoa (honors Upolu, god of wrestling)
Narvik Sun Pageant (Vinterfestuka) -- Norway (to honor the sun goddess)
National Bagels and Lox Day
National DAV (Develop Alternative Vices) Day - in hopes that bad habits will be altered to positive coping mechanisms
National Hooky Day
National Inventor's Day
Pizza Pie Day
Read in the Bathtub Day
St. Apollonia's Day (patron against toothaches)
Tales of Kelp-Koli begin -- Fairy Calendar
Toothache Day (And someone thought this needed a day because...? Okay, I guess because there is a patron saint for it. Or against it. However that works.)
Weather Day (US Weather Service Founding)
Birthdays Today:
David Gallagher, 1985
Ziyi Zhang, 1979
Travis Tritt, 1963
Charles Shaughnessy, 1955
Mia Farrow, 1945
Alice Walker, 1944
Joe Pesci, 1943
Carole King, 1942
Roger Mudd, 1928
Brendan Behan, 1923
Kathryn Grayson, 1922
Gypsy Rose Lee, 1914
Ernest Tubb, 1914
Carmen Miranda, 1909
Ronald Colman, 1891
Amy Lowell, 1874
William Henry Harrison, 1773
Today in History:
The Synod of Breslau orders Jews of Silesia to wear special caps, 1267
The first recorded race meet in England in Roodee Fields, Chester, 1540
The British ex-premier Walpole becomes the Earl of Oxford, 1742
After no presidential candidate receives a majority of electoral votes in the election of 1824, the United States House of Representatives elects John Quincy Adams President of the United States, 1825
– The U.S. Weather Bureau is established, 1870
The first Japanese immigrants arrive in Hawaii, 1885
The Davis Cup competition is established, 1900
The first forestry school is incorporated at Kent, Ohio, 1909
Snow falls on Mauna Loa, Hawaii, 1922
Brazil becomes a member of the Berne Convention copyright treaty, 1922
Year-round Daylight saving time is re-instated in the United States as a wartime measure to help conserve energy resources, 1942
Joanne Woodward receives the first star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, 1960
Jamaica becomes an independent nation within the Commonwealth of Nations, 1962
The Beatles make their first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, performing before a "record-busting" audience of 73 million viewers, 1964
First test flight of the Boeing 747, 1969
Satchel Paige becomes the first Negro League player to be voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, 1971
Space Shuttle astronauts Bernard A. Harris, Jr. and Michael Foale become the first African American and first Briton, respectively, to perform spacewalks, 1995
Well, the cavalry came in.
#1 Son told me, in passing, that his computer wasn't getting online, either. He offered to reset the router, and there it was! Light at the end of the tunnel that wasn't an oncoming train. So Bigger Girl has her computer back unencumbered.
Then, in speaking to my dad about the bar stools he is sending, i mentioned the car trouble. He hit the roof. The person we bought the car from is someone he knows, that's why we went there. This is the third car we have bought from there that has had a problem. The first was the now defunct Sonata, that needed all new hoses and belts and other stuff within a month of purchase, almost $1,000 worth. Then the van, which went back into theirown shop 3 days after purchase for over $400 worth of stuff that the very expensive warranty didn't cover because it was "maintenance."
Well, 3rd time and dad is mad. He had me email him, in detail, what our day had involved. He forwarded that to his friend, who called and insisted he would send a tow truck to pick up the vehicle and get it fixed.
How much will this cost? That remains to be seen, but i would imagine not as much as getting it done myself at the other place.
As for the other place, i stopped in and told them why our car was in their lot, told them the whole story, which gave them a huge laugh for the day, and let them know the car would be going back to the dealer. They agreed that the dealership should take care of it, and didn't mind that it took up a space in their lot for a few hours. In a couple of weeks, i'll go back there for tires for Sweetie's car and i told them so. They do good work, and have seen me in there before.
Between running Sweetie to work, going to that tire shop, groceries, getting the kids to school and back -- a 20 mile round trip, twice a day -- and a long doctor's appointment to have stitches out and get test results, it was quite a day.
Doctor results are that one of the biopsy sites is now infected, so i am back on an antibiotic.
As for what is wrong, the general problem is not infectious, nothing grew from the biopsy. So i no longer have to worry that i am going to infect someone with something loathsome by cooking for or cleaning up after them. We figured i wasn't, since no one else has come down with anything, but it's nice to have it official. The future appointment with the infectious disease specialist has been canceled, as this is obviously not his territory.
Other than that, it's time for another doctor. A call is in for a referral to yet another specialist. It seems these hoof beats are a zebra after all.
Cavalry came in for the computer and the car. Anybody got any ideas on a medical intervention?
Today is:
Boy Scout Day -- celebrates the birthday of scouting in the US
Gynaikokratia -- Macendonia (women rule day, celebrating midwives and motherhood, and the goddess Baubo)
Hari Kuyo -- Japan (Festival of Broken Needles, in which all of the worn or broken sewing needles from the previous year are put in a sacred resting place.)
Hold Onto Your Head Day (because heaven knows i'm losing mine!)
Laugh and Get Rich Day
National Molasses Bar Day
Nirvana Day -- Mahayana Buddhism
Preseren Day -- Slovenia (Honors their national poet, France Preseren, a Culture Day.)
St. Jerome Emilani's Day (patron of orphans)
Vasant Panchami -- Hindu
Anniversaries Today:
Founding of Universiteit Leiden, with the motto Praesidium Libertatis, 1575
Birthdays Today:
Josh Keaton, 1979
David "Phoenix" Farrell, 1977
Seth Green, 1974
Gary Coleman, 1968
Claudette Pace, 1968
Vince Neil, 1961
Robert Klein, 1942
Nick Nolte, 1941
Ted Koppel, 1940
John Williams, 1932
James Dean, 1931
Jack Lemmon, 1925
Audrey Meadows, 1924
Freddie Blassie, 1921
Lana Turner, 1921
Lyle Talbot, 1902
Jules Verne, 1828
Samuel Butler, 1612
Today in History:
Mary, Queen of Scots, is executed on suspicion of having been involved in the Babington Plot to murder her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I, 1587
Isaac Newton reads his first optics paper before the Royal Society in London, 1672
French and Indian troops set Schenectady, NY, afire, 1690
A doctor in Salem Village, Massachusetts Bay Colony suggests that two girls in the family of the village minister may be suffering from bewitchment, leading to the Salem witch trials, 1692
The Supreme Privy Council is established in Russia, 1726
The first opera in the US, "Flora," opens in South Carolina, 1735
A minor earthquake shakes London, 1750
The strange phenomenon called the "Devil's Footprints" mysteriously appear in Devon, England, 1855
Martin Robinson Delany becomes the first black major in the US Army, 1865
The Boy Scouts of America is incorporated by William D. Boyce, 1910
D.W. Griffith's controversial film The Birth of a Nation premieres in Los Angeles, 1915
The Stars and Stripes newspaper is published for the first time, 1918
Swiss men vote against women's suffrage, 1920
Radio arrives at the White House, 1922
Allende meteorite falls near Pueblito de Allende, Chihuahua, Mexico, 1969
The NASDAQ stock market index opens for the first time, 1971
After 84 days in space, the crew of the first American space station Skylab returns to Earth, 1974
The Melbourne dust storm hits Australia's second largest city. The result of the worst drought on record and a day of severe weather conditions, a 320 metres (1,050 ft) deep dust cloud envelops the city, turning day to night, 1983
The massive Internet collaboration "24 Hours in Cyberspace" takes place, 1996
Somehow, some way, something will find a way.A way to go wrong, that is.Woke up to my computer refusing to get online. Nothing i can do about it, having to share Bigger Girl's laptop until we can afford another wireless adapter (if that is the problem!). Thought we could afford one, but didn't know, until i checked the bank account, just how much Sweetie had spent on that new window shade.Thinking this would be the biggest problem of the day, as well as having no way to import my notations on the holidays and such and having to retype each manually, #1 Son called. It seems that "new" used vehicle of his had okay tires, but a bent rim on one of them. As well as a flat spare.So we had to get AAA to tow it to a tire place, and will have to buy a new tire and rim, there goes any hope of an adapter at all this month, and maybe next.When i went to pick him up, he showed me something else the tow guy had pointed out, that the radiator was not hooked in correctly. A part was bent, and it was only a matter of time until the radiator fell out. Another part to repair.Then, as #1 Son tried to show me the bent rim in the trunk, the key broke. The only key the dealership gave us. Now we have no key to the vehicle.Thus the next little while is going to be great fun, having to redo all the work for the blog, come up with repair money, get a locksmith to get the piece of key out and make us new keys, rob Peter to pay Paul, which expression is appropriate, being as it is from the time when the newly formed Anglican Church robbed the money that the formerly Catholic country used to send to St. Peter's Basilica in Rome to pay for the building of St. Paul's Cathedral in London. We will rob the grocery money to pay for tires and the rest, and be grateful it is a short month because payday and insurance premium is due day will be the same, instead of payday falling 3 days after.Thank heaven for small blessings.
Today is:
Ballet Day
Charles Dickens Day
Daniel Boone Escape Day (He escaped from the Shawnee tribe which had captured him.)
Hurling the Silver Ball -- St. Ives, Cornwall, England
Independence Day -- Grenada
National Fettucini Alfredo Day
National Run-For-Your-Life Day
National Hangover Awareness Day
No Talk Day
Sapporo Snow Festival (Sapporo Yuki Matsuri) -- Japan, through the 13th
Send a Card to a Friend Day - obviously created by a card company
Wave All you Fingers at Your Neighbor Day (so they will know for certain you are crazy)
Birthdays Today:
Tina Majorino, 1985
Ashton Kutcher, 1978
Chris Rock, 1965
Garth Brooks, 1962
James Spader, 1960
Keefe Brasselle, 1923
Eddie Bracken, 1920
Larry "Buster" Crabbe, 1908
Sinclair Lewis, 1885
Alfred Adler, 1870
Laura Ingalls Wilder, 1867
Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev, 1834
Charles Dickens, 1812
John Deere, 1804
Sir Thomas More, 1478
Today in History:
The Mongols burn the Russian city of Vladimir, 1238
Edward of Carnarvon,later Edward II, becomes the first English prince to hold the title Prince of Wales, 1301
The bonfire of the vanities occurs in which supporters of Girolamo Savonarola burn thousands of objects like cosmetics, art, and books in Florence, Italy, 1497
King Philip II forms an inquisition in South America, 1569
Academie Francaise begins a Dictionary of the French Language, 1639
An 8.2 magnitude earthquake shakes New Madrid, Missouri, 1812
The colonial Tasmanian Parliament passes the Electoral Act of 1856, the first piece of legislation anywhere in the world providing for elections by way of a secret ballot, 1856
The Battle at Ingogo, Transvaal: the Boers defeat superior British forces, 1881
The Great Blizzard of 1891 begins, 1891
Émile Zola is brought to trial for libel for publishing J'Accuse, 1898
Baltimore catches fire; 1500 buildings are destroyed in 80 blocks, 1904
The Mud March, the first large procession organized by the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies (NUWSS), 1907
Charlie Chaplin debuts "The Tramp" in "Kid Auto Races at Venice," 1914
The first wireless message sent from a moving train to a station is received, 1915
Bert Hinkler begins the first solo flight from England to Australia, 1928
Pluto moves inside Neptune's orbit for the first time since either was discovered, 1979
Astronauts Bruce McCandless II and Robert L. Stewart make the first untethered space walk using the Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU), 1984
The Central Committee of the Soviet Communist Party agrees to give up its monopoly on power, 1990
Haiti's first democratically-elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, is sworn in, 1991
The Maastricht Treaty is signed, leading to the creation of the European Union, 1992
Crown Prince Abdullah becomes the King of Jordan on the death of his father, King Hussein, 1999
Uncle P's furniture has arrived. Wow.
It was my understanding that we were getting two bookcases, a small table, a couple of chairs, a little computer desk, one chest of drawers, and a couple of miscellaneous things.
The miscellaneous he sent was 3 floor lamps, 2 table lamps, a very snazzy and expensive exercise bike, a coffee table, an end table, a portable gazebo (!), a stereo system with speakers as tall as i am and it's own cabinet, a small vacuum cleaner, an indoor trashcan, and outdoor trashcan, a leather chair, a rolling computer desk chair, and enough cleaning supplies for a small army.
The desk and dresser are huge, much bigger than i expected, too.
The next several days will be spend incorporating these things into the house, and getting rid of a lot that we just don't need now.
#2 Son has claimed the stereo, and is miraculously cleaning his room to prepare for it. He is planning to use the stereo to "blast all of you out of the house!" as he put it. He will also get the dresser, as Little Girl has decided she doesn't want it.
The bookcases are already downstairs, and the "collection" books will go on them. That way, the whole collection will be in one place.
It's looking like we will be getting rid of a couple of the chairs we have, as we will have an overload, unless we can figure a way to gracefully incorporate them into that very oddly shaped room we have down there.
So, some progress on making this place more habitable, despite the leaks and foundation troubles. We have to make it last until the kids are grown and gone at least. It might as well be functional.
Today is:
Aldus Day (Aldus Manutius invented italics)
Aphrodisia -- Ancient Greek Calendar (festival of Aphrodite, goddess of love)
Bob Marley Day -- Jamaica
Dump Your Significant Jerk Day (Shame this doesn't work when it is your brother-in-law!)
Four Chaplains' Sunday
Homstrom, Switzerland (celebration of the end of winter in which straw men, symbolizing old man winter, are burned)
International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation -- United Nations
Iroquois Mid-Winter Ceremony -- Through the 14th
Lame Duck Day
MOBIUS Awards Day
National Frozen Yogurt Day
Orchid Festival/Tropical Extravaganza, Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew, London -- through March 6
Otomatsuri -- Shingu, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan (fire festival)
Pay-A-Compliment Day
Reggae Day
Rubik-Cube Muddling Championships -- Fairy Calendar
Sami National Day -- Finland and Scandinavia
St. Dorothy's Day (patron of brides, gardeners, florists, newlyweds; against lightning, fire, and thieves.)
Triodion begins -- Orthodox Christian
Waitangi Day -- Maori, New Zealand (treaty with Britain, 1840)
Anniversaries Today:
The College of William and Mary in Virginia is founded by royal charter, 1693
Massachusetts becomes the 6th US State, 1788
Birthdays Today:
Axl Rose, 1962
Natalie Cole, 1950
Bob Marley, 1945
Michael Tucker, 1944
Fabian, 1943
Tom Brokaw, 1940
Mike Farrell, 1939
Francois Truffant, 1932
Rip Torn, 1931
Mamie Van Doren, 1931
Zsa Zsa Gabor, 1919
Mary Leakey, 1913
Ronald Reagan, 1911
Babe Ruth, 1895
Aaron Burr, 1756
Nicolaus II Bernoulli, 1695
Chongzhen, Emperor of China, 1611
Christopher Marlowe, 1564
Today in History:
The United States signs its first treaty, in which France recognizes the US and promises aid, 1778
New Jersey issues the first US railroad charter to John Stevens, 1815
Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles founds Singapore, 1819
The first 86 African American immigrants sponsored by the American Colonization Society started a settlement in present-day Liberia, 1820
Signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, establishing New Zealand as a British colony, 1840
Harper's Weekly publishes the first picture of Uncle Sam with chin whiskers, 1869
The international arbitration court at The Hague is created when the Netherlands' Senate ratifies an 1899 peace conference decree, 1900
The Young Women's Hebrew Association organizes in NYC, 1902
The "Monopoly" board game goes on sale for the first time, 1935
Turkey holds its first election in which women can vote, 1935
K Elizabeth Ohi becomes the first Japanese-US female lawyer, 1937
Elizabeth II becomes the first Queen regnant of the United Kingdom and several other realms since Queen Victoria, upon the death of her father, George VI, 1952
Jack Kilby of Texas Instruments files the first patent for an integrated circuit, 1959
Justice Mary Gaudron is appointed to the High Court of Australia, the first woman to be appointed, 1987
The Round Table Talks start in Poland, thus marking the beginning of overthrow of communism in Eastern Europe, 1989
Dosing animals at the shelter is getting more complicated. This is because they set out to simplify it.
Many of the people who volunteer are professionals. Miss W, who is in charge of the cats when they are in the shelter, is an attorney. Yet somehow the medication seems to stymie them. We often have one med listed on the chart, and something else on the box of medicine, or can't find the medicine, or the instructions are unclear.
Plus the fact that nothing is locked up, so meds get moved, or taken for use on fosters, and sometimes we think something is there and it isn't.
Bob, our Executive Director, plans to take care of this, it is in line with all the other problems, though, and has to take a number.
Meanwhile, Angel and Rosie both needed Clavamox. Dustie doesn't need any right now, thank goodness. To keep them from spitting out half the liquid and not knowing how much of a dose they really got, it was changed to pills. Sounds easy, right?
Well, they were given 14 pills each. They are supposed to take two per day. That is supposed to add up to 7 days.
Miss W had them marked for 14 days on each med, and a check mark box for dosing. So at first i thought i was supposed to give them each a pill, but they were out of pills. The last one had been given that morning.
As i investigated, i realized what she had done, scratched out the 14 day notation and marked 7, and told Bob. He promised to tell Miss W, and talk to her about what the difference is.
Cats have been shifted in and out of the adoption center at the pet store, so Sofia, Candy, Ginny, Grady, Clint, Gidget, and Zoe are sharing the big room. Grady must be getting mellow, he didn't even try to escape.
The Grady Gloves came in handy anyway for Alex, one of the six from that one lady's house. He got upset with his eye drops again, and had to be wrestled into submission just to get them in. He tried to bite and everything. Once he was back in his cage he was fine, very gentle. The others from that house, Sadie, Bootsie, Jimmy, Jerry, and Johnny, are gentle, but don't like meds much either. None of them fought and bit, though.
Frieda was in a good mood until Alex's great escape -- of course he had to run into her room -- but order was restored pretty quickly. She allowed petting this time.
Lucky has staked out one particular spot, so i gave him his medicine there, and his canned food. He is getting spoiled and doesn't want to eat anything but the canned, which is not good. He just can't afford to lose weight, and two cans a day isn't going to keep weight on him.
Perry's eye is much better, and he was let out of his cage to roam while it was cleaned.
Rocky's diaphragm is healed, and he is in a room with Portia and Gulliver. All are about 8 months old, and playful and enjoying each other's company.
Baby is getting a bit more mellow, too. She's now in a room with Roxanne, and not growling as much.
Bowie has recovered his usual equanimity, and JuJu still doesn't want attention.
Iggy, Conan, Francie, Teddy, Mamie, Tyler, Bobby, and Tigerlily round out the names in the place right now, and all are doing well.
That's 34 cats, plus a feral female temporarily in a carrier in the bathroom. As with all ferals, she will be released back into the area from which she was taken now that she is no longer fertile. This will not be done, i insisted, until the temperatures come up around here, at least 3 days. Her carrier is big, so i put a small litter box and a food and water bowl in with her. My attempt to slip a towel in there for her to sleep on was of mixed result -- she growled when i got too close, and a later look at her showed her with only her head on it, the rest of her body still on the cold carrier floor. That's okay, it's still warmer than outdoors, and with better food than she would get, either.
Considering that we had cleaned the church earlier that day, and were somewhat tired, and had a lot of cats, we got it all done in just over an hours.
Because there are so many cats, Lee is thinking of assigning two people to each shift, with one responsible for the colony rooms only, and another person doing all the other cats. We've told her that's fine if she wants to for the other shifts, but not to bother for us, we split everything anyway and still have time to pet them all.
Today is:
Bon Soo Winter Festival -- Northern Ontario, through the 13th
Constitution Day -- Mexico
Cordova Ice Worm Festival -- Cordova, Alaska (through the 6th)
Igbi -- Shaitli and Kituri among the Avar ethnic group, Dagestan, Russia (midwinter celebration)
Kashmir Day -- Pakistan
Liberation from the Alberoni Occupation -- San Marino
Move Hollywood & Broadway to Lebanon, PA Day (Why would they want it?)
National Chocolate Fondue Day
National Weatherperson's Day
Nones of February -- Ancient Roman Calendar
Runeberg's Birthday -- Finland
Sapporo Snow Festival (Sapporo Yuki Matsuri), Japan, through the 11th
St. Agatha's Day (patron of Malta, nurses, jewelers, bell makers, bell ringers, wet nurses; against fire, breast cancer)
Unity Day -- Burundi
Winterlude -- Ottawa (winter festival, weekends through the 21st)
World Nutella Day
Yuki no Carnival -- Unazaki Onsen, Toyama Prefecture, Japan (snow and ice sculpture winter festival)
Birthdays Today:
Jeremy Sumpter, 1989
Michael Sheen, 1969
Jennifer Jason Leigh, 1962
Christopher Guest, 1948
Barbara Hershey, 1948
Roger Stauback, 1942
H.R. Giger, 1940
Alex Harvey, 1935
Henry "Hank" Aaron, 1934
Andrew Greeley, 1928
Red Buttons, 1919
William Burroughs, 1914
Adlai E. Stevenson, Jr., 1900
Andre' Citroen, 1878
Belle Starr, 1848
Dwight Lyman Moody, 1837
Ole Bull, 1810
Sanjo, Emperor of Japan, 976
Today in History:
Earthquake in Pompeii, Italy, 62
King Alfonso V orders Sicily's Jews to attend conversion sermons, 1428
A group of early Japanese Christians are killed by the new government of Japan for being seen as a threat to Japanese society, 1597
The first US livestock branding law is passed, in Connecticut, 1644
Georgia becomes the first state to abolish both entail and primogeniture, 1777
Sweden recognizes US independence, 1783
Hannah Lord Montague of New York creates the first detachable shirt collar, 1825
The "Oregon Spectator" is the first newspaper published on the American West Coast, 1846
An adding machine employing depressible keys is patented in New Paltz, NY, 1850
Two innovations which helped pave the way for motion pictures are pateneted, a hand turned stereoscope by Samuel Goodale of Cincinnati, and the Kinematoscope by Coleman Sellers of Philadelphia, 1861
Four inches of snow falls in San Francisco, 1887
The loop-the-loop centrifugal railroad (a/k/a the roller coaster) is patented by Ed Prescot, 1901
Greek military aviators, Michael Moutoussis and Aristeidis Moraitinis performed the first naval air mission in history, with a Farman MF.7 hydroplane, 1913
Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, and D.W. Griffith launch United Artists, 1919
Reader's Digest magazine is first published, 1922
The Royal Greenwich Observatory begins broadcasting the hourly time signals known as the Greenwich Time Signal, 1924
A hydrogen bomb known as the Tybee Bomb is lost by the US Air Force off the coast of Savannah, Georgia, never to be recovered, 1958
The so-called Big Three banks in Switzerland announce the creation of a $71 million fund to aid Holocaust survivors and their families, 1997
Schools are closed. Government offices are closed. Freezing rain is falling. My toes are froze, and my nose is froze, and we won't see the sun until the weekend.
Got two more kittens their rabies shots, so they can go to adoption day this weekend. The weather being so cold may put a damper on adoptions, but since it is supposed to be sunny by then, maybe some people will come out and adopt a nice, warm, fuzzy friend.
Because we expected the kids' school to be closed on Friday, we went ahead and cleaned the church Thursday. Talk about dust! Refinishing the wooden floors and the dust was thick, especially right there in the kitchen entry. We used almost every one of our washable cleaning cloths, i grabbed a fresh one every other minute it seemed.
This was a good thing, in that we don't have to go get out on the roads today. Sweetie, though, may not be so lucky. His boss has put them on standby. He will call if they have to come in. Why they would need to be there, when the university is closed, i don't get, but somehow the man seems to feel guilty about not having people on the work site when scheduled.
This weather gives me a new appreciation (as if i needed one!) for those who live where the two seasons are winter and road repair. Do your feet ever get warm? Are you ever able to kiss your SO without him/her yelping that your nose is cold? Really, if i were a dog, i'd be so healthy it would be ludicrous.
It is impossible to go outside without preparing for what feels to us like Arctic cold. Yes, it is above zero, but for us it is more than enough cold to present a challenge. There aren't enough clothes to keep you from feeling frozen through and through by the time you get to the car. You have to be prepared to scrape ice from the car windows, and you know wherever you are going, it may be closed when you get there because they couldn't come in because of the weather, either.
Of course, we are never really ready for this sort of thing. Brother-in-Law, The Mouth, had his heater go out. He took our space heater that Sweetie uses for his music room. There isn't one to be bought in stores for love or money.
This is one year where i hope that Punxsutawney Phil is right. We could all use an early spring.
Today is:
Biezputras Diena (Porrige Day) -- Ancient Latvian Calendar
Create-A-Vacuum Day
Give Kids A Smile Day -- for Dental health!
General Thaddeus Kosciuszko Day -- Poland
Halfway Point of Winter
Homemade Soup Day
Independence Day -- Sri Lanka
King Frost Day -- London (Celebrated yearly until WWI, in remembrance of the frozen River Thames in 1814.)
Liberace Day
National Stuffed Mushroom Day
Quacker Day
St. Andrew Corsini's Day (patron against quarrels, sudden death)
St. John de Brito's Day (patron of Portugal)
Tapati Festival -- Rapa Nui (Easter Island) through the 12th
Thank A Mailman Day
USO Day -- US
World Cancer Day -- International
Anniversaries Today:
The University of Wisconsin is established, with one classroom and 20 students, 1849
Birthdays Today:
Natalie Imbruglia, 1975
Oscar De La Hoya, 1973
Lawrence Taylor, 1959
Alice Cooper, 1948
Dan Quayle, 1947
George A. Romero, 1940
David Brenner, 1936
Betty Friedan, 1921
Ida Lupino, 1918
Rosa Parks, 1913
Clyde W. Tombaugh, 1906
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, 1906
Charles Lindbergh, 1902
Today in History:
The Roman Emperor Septimius Severus dies, leaving the Roman Empire in the hands of his two quarrelsome sons, Caracalla and Geta, 211
The coronation of Zhao Kuangyin as Emperor Taizu of Song, initiating the Song Dynasty period of China that would last more than three centuries, 960
Maximilian I assumes the title Holy Roman Emperor without being crowned, 1508
Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler meet for the first time near Prague 1600
In Edo (now Tokyo), The 47 Ronin commit seppuku (ritual suicide) after avenging the death of their master, 1703
The worst earthquake in 8 years in Calabria, Italy, leaves 50,000 dead, 1783
The first Anglican bishops of New York and Pennsylvania are consecrated in London, 1787
George Washington is unanimously elected as the first President of the United States by the U.S. Electoral College, 1789
The French National Convention proclaims the abolishment of slavery, 1794
An earthquake in Quito, Ecuador, kills 41,000, 1797
J.W. Goodrich introduces his rubber galoshes to the public, 1824
The Mormons of Nauvoo, Missouri, leave to go west, eventually settling in Utah, 1846
The Codex Sinaiticus is found at the Greek Monastery of Mount Sinai, 1859
The first rolling lift bridge opens, in Chicago, 1895
The first Winter Olympics games close at Chamonix, France, 1924
The first tieless, soundless, shockless streetcar tracks open, in New Orleans, 1930
Radium E is the first radioactive substance to be produced synthetically, 1936
The United Service Organization (USO) is created to entertain American troops, 1941
Lunar Orbiter 3 lifts off from Cape Canaveral's Launch Complex 13 on its mission to identify possible landing sites for the Surveyor and Apollo spacecraft, 1967
After at first contesting the results, Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic recognizes opposition victories in the November 1996 elections, 1997
Facebook, a mainstream online social network, is founded by Mark Zuckerberg, 2004
Yes, it is a dumb old joke. The Twelve Apostles drove a Honda, of course -- the Book of Acts says they "came together in one accord."
Go ahead and groan. Anyway, the Accord is a nice vehicle, especially when your brother moves away and gives it to you, and you desperately needed another car.
Of course, it needs new tires, but every used vehicle i've ever gotten did, except once. After all, who's going to put on new tires if it's time to replace the vehicle or trade it in?
So we went to my parent's house, where my brother had left it, and went to the notary. It was all very quick and smooth, as my brother left my dad with power of attorney to do this and to sell his house.
After we went back to my parents, my dad, of course, loaded us down for the trip home with more stuff. A stepladder, a padlock with 2 keys, an electrical power strip, and the leftover food out of my brother's fridge, mostly condiments.
It was so cold out, that when we got home, we had forgotten the groceries for a while, and they were colder than when we had gotten them. Ouch.
Driving down to my parents, i was witness again to my theory that crazy people travel in pairs, or at least find each other. As soon as one crazy person, weaving in and out between people and almost causing an accident passes on the interstate, another follows in less than 30 seconds. Not sure why that happens, but it really does around here.
Next on the list is to find a way to deal with the old fan van. It is 23 years old, still runs but needs work, and we have 30 days to sell it or get it hauled away.
We came home to find the neighborhood nuts doing donuts in the field, one in a car, 3 in a truck. They had gotten stuck, and they pushed the car out, covering themselves with mud slung up by the spinning wheels. They weren't so lucky with the truck. They finally had to abandon it, almost axle deep in mud. The neighborhood security guy for the civic association called the sheriff's office about it, and maybe that will put a stop to some of this foolishness. Always before, we weren't able to catch them long enough to get tag numbers. Also, we would have had no proof. This time the proof is stuck there.
Today is:
Artist Day
Chinese New Year -- Buddhist; Confucian; Daoist
Day of Remembrance for Oleg the Prophet -- Ancient Norse Calendar
Day the Music Died
Four Chaplains Memorial Day
Heroes' Day -- Mozambique
Magnolia and Fish Jubilee -- Fairy Calendar
Martyr's Day -- Sao Tome and Principe
National Carrot Cake Day
Setsubun-sai (Bean-Throwing Festival) -- Japan/Shinto the last day of winter according to the lunar calendar
St. Anskar's Day (patron of Denmark, Iceland, Norway)
St. Blaise's Day/Blessing of Throats Day (patron of throat health)
Takisanji Oni Festival -- Takisan-ji Temple, Okazaki, Aichi Prefecture, Japan
Veterans' Day -- Thailand
Wedding Ring Day
Anniversaries Today:
Wake Forest University is established, 1834
Birthdays Today:
Maura Tierney, 1965
Morgan Fairchild, 1950
Dave Davies, 1947
Fran Tarkenton, 1940
Shelley Berman, 19226
Joey Bishop, 1918
James Michener, 1907
Norman Rockwell, 1894
Gertrude Stein, 1874
Today in History
Bartolomeu Dias of Portugal lands in Mossel Bay after rounding the Cape of Good Hope, becoming the first known European to travel so far south, 1488
The first paper money in America is issued by the colony of Massachusetts, 1690
Philadelphia establishes a "pesthouse" to quarantine immigrants, 1743
The Dutch States-General forbid the export of windmills, 1752
Spain recognizes US independence, 1783
The world's first commercial cheese factory is established in Switzerland, 1815
The sovereignty of Greece is confirmed in a London Protocol, 1830
The Wisconsin Supreme Court declares the US Fugitive Slave Law unconstitutional,1855
Emperor Meiji becomes the 122nd emperor of Japan, 1867
The 15th Amendment to the US Constitution, guaranteeing Black suffrage, is passed, 1870
Albert Spalding, with only $800, starts a sporting goods company, which eventually manufactured the first official baseball, tennis ball, basketball, golf ball, and football (American style football), 1876
Circus owner P.T. Barnum buys Jumbo the elephant, 1882
The 16th Amendment to the US Constitution, the income tax, is ratified, 1913
Canada's original Parliament building, in Ottowa, burns down, 1916
Percival Prattis becomes the first African-American news correspondent allowed in the United States House of Representatives and Senate press galleries, 1947
A plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa kills Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, The Big Bopper, and pilot Roger Peterson and the incident becomes known as The Day the Music Died, 1959
British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan speaks of the "a wind of change" of increasing national consciousness blowing through colonial Africa, signaling that his Government was likely to support decolonization, 1960
The unmanned Soviet Luna 9 spacecraft makes the first controlled rocket-assisted landing on the Moon, 1966
In Cairo, Yasser Arafat is appointed Palestine Liberation Organization leader at the Palestinian National Congress, 1969
New York Police Officer Frank Serpico is shot during a drug bust in Brooklyn and survives to later testify against police corruption, 1971
John Buster and the research team at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center announce history's first embryo transfer, from one woman to another resulting in a live birth, 1984
Astronaut Eileen Collins becomes the first woman to pilot the Space Shuttle as mission STS-63 gets underway from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, 1995
