Oh, woe is us. We are in mourning. It is so sad.
It began as a simple statement from Bigger Girl. "Mom, there is water dripping over here, and I can't tell where it is coming from."
Those are words that send a chill to my heart in this money pit of a house. Often, it is coming from where it shouldn't and where it will cost the most. With the rain falling, I looked up, expecting the worst, but the ceiling was dry.
The water was dripping from a shelf mounted to a wall, and there was water all over the shelf. The bottoms of the toaster and toaster oven were sitting in a puddle, not a good thing.
#2 Son walked over and said, "Well, I tried to make coffee" -- the coffee maker is there, too -- "and even though I put in lots of water, I only got a little coffee. It was weird."
Weird? He calls this weird? I call it terrible. It means the coffee maker is dead.
Oh, gloom and despair! Oh horrors! I tossed it in the trash can, and we mourn the coffee maker, and wonder what we will do.
Rest in peace, Black & Decker. You will be missed until I can get to the store for a replacement, as the use of Mom's Go Juice cannot be interrupted.
Today is:
Dagur Islenskrar tungu -- Iceland (Icelandic Language Day)
Day of Declaration of Sovereignty -- Estonia
Day of Repentance and Prayer -- German speaking Lutheran, Reformed, and United Protestants
Have a Party with Your Bear Day
Hecate Night -- Wicca
International Day for Tolerance - UN
National Moms and Dads Day
National Button Day
National Fast Food Day
Resident Aliens' Day
St. Echerius' Day
St. Gertrude the Great's Day (patron of the West Indies)
St. Margaret of Scotland's Day (patron of Scotland)
St. Matthew's Day (Eastern)
Anniversaries Today:
Oklahoma becomes the 46th US State, 1907
Birthdays Today:
Oksana Baiul, 1977
Lisa Bonet, 1967
Dwight Gooden, 1964
Shigeru Miyamoto, 1952
Daws Butler, 1916
Burgess Meredith, 1908
W.C. Handy, 1873
Tiberius, Roman Emperor, BC42
Today in History:
The second and final revision of the Codex Justinianus is published, 534
Francisco Pizarro captures the Incan emperor Atahualpa after the victory at Cajamarca, 1532
The first colonial prison is organized, in Nantucket, Massachussetts, 1676
Kentucky becomes the first state to nullify an act of Congress, 1798
The New York Evening Post publishes its first edition, 1801
An earthquake in Missouri causes the Mississippi River to flow backwards, 1811
Missouri trader William Becknell arrives in Santa Fe, New Mexico over a route that became known as the Santa Fe Trail, 1821
Napoleon Guerin of NYC patents a cork life preserver, 1841
Fyodor Dostoevsky is sentenced to death for anti-government activities; sentence is commuted to hard labor, 1849
Amsterdam post office at Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal opens, 1856
William Bonwill patents dental mallet to impact gold into cavities, 1875
6,000 Armenians massacred by Turks in Kurdistan, 1894
Arturo Tuscanini begins conducting NY's Metropolitan Opera, 1908
US Federal Reserve System formally opens, 1914
LSD is first synthesized by Swiss chemist Dr. Albert Hofmann at the Sandoz Laboratories in Basel, Switzerland, 1938
UNESCO is founded, 1945
Touch-tone telephone introduced, 1963
Well, in spite of several snafus, including that # 1 Son didn't even get to come to the game, his workplace was so busy they couldn't let him off on time, we had a very good thing happen this weekend.
Meg took four kittens to adoption day, and two of them found homes!
One lady came in with her two daughters. They were looking for a kitten for the younger daughter, since the older daughter had one already. She picked up Crowfeather, and that little charmer just melted into her arms. She did not, indeed would not, put him down for the rest of the time they were there.
She took him along to go pick out toys for him, coming back with two package selections and asking if she should pick the blue ones because he was a boy, or the pink ones because it had a crinkly ball in it, and she really liked that. She was convinced by Meg that it wouldn't bother him a bit to have pink toys, and that is what she got.
Then there was the very nice couple who came in with their Weimaraner, looking for a kitten of a color to match it, of all things! Stormfur, a "blue" tabby -- am I the only one who thinks it should be called gray? -- caught their eyes and their heart. Then he came up to scratch when the held him, and he looked over at the dog, and just looked. No hissing, no arching, no reaction. The other cats were still needing calming several minutes later, he just looked.
Then, the big test, they held Stormfur and the dog nose to nose. Stormfur sniffed, and looked for all the world like he was saying hello, lets be friends.
So two of our babies are out in the world in their forever homes, and Dan and Sasha will get their chance again next week.
Oh, there were also other adoptions, and apparently the pet store was very busy. Holiday crazy busy. I have seen it at several stores, and in the traffic pattern, over the last week. I think this area has decided that to heck with the doom and gloom news, we think the hard times are over and we are going to enjoy our holiday and start early. If I am right, and that is the trend here, maybe we will get all of our kittens and several adult cats adopted as Christmas cats. That would be a very good thing indeed.
Today is:
American Enterprise Day -- US
America Recycles Day -- US
Day of the German-speaking Community of Belgium -- German-speaking Community of Belgium
Dynasty Day a/k/a King's Day -- Belgium
George Spelvin Day
I Love to Write Day (perfect, in the middle of NaNoWriMo)
National Bundt Pan Day
National Clean Out Your Refrigerator Day
National Spicy Hermit Christmas Cookie Day
Nativity Fast begins a/k/a Winter Lent(through Dec 24) -- Orthodox Christian
Republic Day -- Brazil
Shichi-Go-San (Shrine Visiting Day) and the Seven-Five-Three Festival -- Japan
St. Albertus Magnus' Day (patron of science students, scientists, and technologists)
St. Gertrude's Day
St. Leopold's Day (patron of Austria)
Birthdays Today:
Kevin Eubanks, 1957
Sam Waterston, 1940
Petula Clark, 1932
Ed Asner, 1929
Bill "C.W. McCall" Fries, 1928
Joseph Wapner, 1919
Georgia O'Keeffe, 1887
F. William Herschel, 1738
William Pitt the Elder, 1708
Today in History:
Christopher Columbus notes the first recorded reference to tobacco, 1492
The NY General Assembly permits Jews to omit the phrase "Upon the faith of a Christian" from adjuration oaths, 1727
Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon begin surveying the Mason-Dixon Line between Pennsylvania and Maryland, 1763
The Articles of Confederation are adopted by the Continental Congress, 1777
Georgetown University, the first Catholic college in the US, opens, 1791
Zebulon Pike gets his first sight of Pike's Peak, Colorado, 1806
Isaac Pitman introduces his steno/shorthand system of writing, 1832
Union Major General Sherman burns Atlanta, Georgia, 1864
King C. Gillette patents the Gillette razor blade, 1904
The first telecast of an unscheduled event, a fire, takes place on W2XBT, in NY, 1938
It is homecoming weekend at the local university. For part of this family, it means a weekend on the campus, enjoying what should be a fun time with no responsibilities.
Think again, friend. Sweetie doesn't like to take his van to work on home game Saturdays, because he can't get back off the campus to get home, and then back for the game. Way too much traffic for that. He also won't stay on campus with us, as he sees enough of the place during the week for his liking. #1 Son is working, and has grown to big to enjoy the parade, the decorations at the Greek houses, the 4-H animals, watching the band, etc.
So in the midst of the festivities, I get elected to go home and feed cats, who are all weaned now, scoop boxes, bring Sweetie to work, and do a load of laundry at the hotel, because my kids are messy.
Still, a fun time is had by all, with someone else cooking the meals, the kids eating junk food and watching pay per view movies to their hearts content, lots of bead and candy catching at the parade, and, we hope, a win for the home team.
So, Go Team Go! Or, at the very least, don't humiliate us. ;)
Today is:
Children's Day -- India
Day of the Colombian Woman -- Colombia
Equorum Probatio -- Ancient Roman Empire (official cavalry parade of the equites)
Kalamazoo Russian Festival begins -- Kalamazoo, MI
Loosen up, Lighten Up Day
National Guacamole Day
Operating Room Nurse Day
St. Dubricus' Day (the saint who crowned King Arthur)
World Diabetes Day
Anniversaries Today:
Princess Anne of the UK marries Captain Mark Phillips, 1973
Birthdays Today:
Condoleezza Rice, 1954
Yanni, 1954
Prince Charles, 1948
King Hussein of Jordan, 1935
McLean Stevenson, 1929
Brian Keith, 1921
Veronica Lake, 1919
Barbara Hutton, 1912
Rosemary DeCamp, 1910
Joseph McCarthy, 1909
Dick Powell, 1904
Aaron Copland, 1900
Jawaharlal, Nehru, 1889
Claude Monet, 1840
Robert Fulton, 1765
Today in History:
Conquistadors from Spain under the leadership of Francisco Pizarro arrive in Cajamarca, Inca empire, 1533
Samuel Pepys reports on the first blood transfusion (between dogs), 1666
Loius Timothee is hired in Philadelphia to be the first professional librarian in the US, 1732
Captain George Vancouver is the first Englishman to enter San Francisco Bay, 1792
John Mason debuts the first horse-drawn streetcar in NYC, with a route between Prince and 14th on 4th Ave., 1832
Herman Melville publishes "Moby Dick", 1851
The St. Andrews Golf Club, in Yonkers, NY, opens with 6 holes, 1888
New York World reporter Nellie Bly (Elizabeth Cochrane) began her attempt to surpass fictitious journey of Jules Verne's Phileas Fogg by traveling around world in less than 80 days; She succeeded, finishing the trip in January in 72 days and 6 hours, 1889
Albert Einstein presents his quantum theory of light, 1908
The first airplane flight from the deck of a ship takes place in Norfolk, Virginia, 1910
The BBC begins radio service in the United Kingdom, 1922
The first regular UK singles chart published by the New Musical Express, 1952
NASA launches Apollo 12, the second manned mission to the surface of the Moon, 1969
After German reunification, the Federal Republic of Germany and the Republic of Poland sign a treaty confirming the Oder-Neisse line as the border between Germany and Poland, 1990
The last direct-current electrical distribution system in the United States is shut down in New York City by Con Edison, 2007
It is just taking longer and longer to get to it. For some reason, the insane holiday traffic has already started this year, and now it is way past dark by the time we get there because of the time change.
This week, we took the 4 kittens who are up for adoption with us, to give them to Meg. We won't be able to take them to adoption day because of the home football game -- it's homecoming week!
So, we finally got up there, and there was a meeting going on, which turned out to be good. Gidget is on meds for a urinary tract infection, and she is only supposed to get it once a day, in the evening. The morning person had done it, and it is one of those new meds that it is way easy to overdose on with cats. So I was able to get Lee to call the morning person and make sure she really did mistakenly give the med early, and get Miss W. to change the sheets to have her get the dose in the mornings now.
Gidget is also very vocal about not wanting to be in the cage. She will be moved to a room soon, I hope, but we will have to get her used to her new roomies slowly. She takes time to warm up to other cats. People, she loves, she would let you pet her fur off.
Nacho's neck is healing up! Being in the big room with Grady, Clint (who came out of hiding this time, hooray!), Ginny, Prissy, and Zoey has made all the difference. He is not rescratching it open every time it starts to get better. Zoey, by the way, has earned the nickname "Porcupine" from Little Girl, because she is huge and so fuzzy. Little Girl says she is a porcupine masquerading as a cat.
Mamie had her very last dose of medicine for the upper respiratory infection, and she is still breathing funny. I think it is a simple case of asthma. Maggie from that room has been adopted, so it is just the two M's now, and Maisie is doing well. If it were a URI, one of them should have caught it by now, even with Mamie on the meds.
Iggy's cage was empty, and I asked Miss W., and again it was good she was there. She had moved him to the room with Tiffany and Muffin, and hadn't moved his paperwork or his food and water bowls. We took care of that, and added an extra litter box, as he doesn't mind other cats but does mind sharing that.
Frieda is still friendly, so I think her only problem all that time was that she doesn't think she is a cat, she thinks she is a person. She will have to be an only cat. The same may be true of JuJu, but we don't have anywhere to put her so she can be alone, besides a cage. In a cage, though, she is just as grumpy. For now, her roomies Tiger and Buddy seem to ignore her.
Angel's paws are healing up, thanks to no use of cleaning chemicals in that room, and a tea tree oil ointment rubbed on them daily. Her paws have always been a bit rough and scaly, but the bleeding was a recent thing, and she may have eczema on her paws. Other than that, she and Dustie are doing well.
Dora, Squirt, Peepers, and Heathcliff are calming down, and are eating. We give them half Purina and half Science Diet Lite, to try to wean them onto the Lite. It seems to be working, and they are getting friendlier.
Lulu is all healed up from her cleft palate surgery, and she, Daisy, and Sasha are happy together.
Cherry is a love, and wants lots of loving as usual. Katy is being shy in her cage, as she just got there and is getting used to things.
Roxanne, Sophie, Francie, and Rosie are happy and eating and just cruising along.
T-Boy is now permanently out, with a lower cage set aside for his food and litter box, as Baby doesn't share. She likes him, but not that much. She is actually allowing herself to be touched on occasion, but I'm still not trying. She scarfs all of her food as soon as it is down so she doesn't have to share.
There is still debate about what to do about her. Yes, sooner or later she will have to be caught and brought to a vet. The problem is, whatever is wrong with her is possibly very expensive wrong, with a big price tag just to do the tests to figure it out. How much do you spend on a not friendly cat to find out what is wrong with it, especially if it is something bad like a brain tumor that will require her being humanely euthanized, when there are so many other needs and so few adoptions lately? I'm glad I'm just the bottle feeder, and low on the totem pole. I'm not sure I could make those decisions.
Today is:
Actor's Day
Chuang Tzu's Day
Feronia -- Ancient Roman Calendar (Festival for Juno, Minerva & Jupiter)
Guinness World Record Day
Ides of November
Lamentation of Isis -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (mourning for Osiris)
National Indian Pudding Day
Runic Half Month Nyd begins
Sadie Hawkins Day
St. Abbo's Day
St. Frances Xavier Cabrini's Day (patron of hospital administrators, emigrants, immigrants)
St. Homobonus' Day (patron of garment workers, tailors)
St. Nicholas I's Day
St. Stanislaus Kostka's Day (patron of Poland, young people; against broken limbs, doubt, palpitations)
World Kindness Day
Birthdays Today:
Monique Coleman, 1980
Jimmy Kimmel, 1967
Whoopi Goldberg, 1955
Chris Noth, 1954
Jean Seberg, 1938
Oskar Werner, 1922
Nathaniel Benchley, 1915
Louis Brandeis, 1856
Robert Louis Stevenson, 1850
Today in History:
English king Æthelred II orders the killing of all Danes in England, known today as the St. Brice's Day massacre, 1002
Lady Jane Grey and Bishop Cranmer are accused of high treason, 1553
Patriot revolutionary forces under Col. Ethan Allen attack Montreal, Quebec, defended by British General Guy Carleton, 1775
Benjamin Franklin says, “Our new Constitution is now established, and has an appearance that promises permanency; but in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” 1789
The first US anti-slavery party, the Liberty Party, convenes in New York, 1839
James Braid first sees a demonstration of animal magnetism, which leads him to study the subject and come up with what he later calls hypnosis, 1841
The Denny Party arrives at Alki Point, becoming the first settlers of what would become Seattle, Washington, 1851
The first shipment of canned pineapple leaves Hawai'i, 1895
French cyclist Paul Corny flies the first helicopter, 1907
Russia completes development of the AK-47, one of the first proper assault rifles, 1947
A 150-mph tropical cyclone hits the densely populated Ganges Delta region of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), killing an estimated 500,000 people in one night. This is regarded as the 20th century's worst natural disaster, 1970
Xavier Suarez is sworn in as Miami, Florida's first Cuban-born mayor, 1985
The High Court of Australia rules in Dietrich v The Queen that although there is no absolute right to have publicly funded counsel, in most circumstances a judge should grant any request for an adjournment or stay when an accused is unrepresented, 1992
In a referendum voters in Sweden decide to join the European Union, 1994
Four of our precious babies are now ready for their forever homes.
Dan, the orange tabby boy, answers to his name. He likes to be called Danny, and #2 Son has fed him noodles, so he really likes them.
Sasha, a brown tabby girl with a couple of calico like spots, is very fun. She plays with almost anything, and gently. When she plays with the tinier kittens, she is almost motherly with them.
Stormfur is a gray tabby boy with one habit that is either endearing or off putting, depending on whether you like this behavior in your cats. He likes to nurse, literally suckle, on earlobes. Also, don't go barefoot around him, if he can't get to your ear to suck on it, he will be glad to use a toe.
Crowfeather is from one of the younger litters, and is black with one white back toe. He is very fluffy and fuzzy, almost like a bunny fur cat (those are few and far between). A snuggler.
I have 8 more coming up for adoption, we have them scheduled for surgeries before Christmas. Anyone want a new member of the family for the holidays?
Today is:
Birth of Baha'u'llah -- Baha'i
Birth of Sun Yat-Sen, Doctors Day, and Cultural Renaissance Day -- Taiwan
Chicken Soup for the Soul Day
Constitution Day -- Azerbaijan
National Pizza with the Works Except Anchovies Day
Order of Fools
Republic Day -- Austria
St. Emillion's Day (patron of Spain, finding lost objects)
St. Frances Xavier Cabrini (patron of hospital administrators)
St. Josaphat's Day (patron of Ukraine)
Anniversaries Today:
The Arches National Park established, 1971
Birthdays Today:
Sammy Sosa, 1968
Michael Moorer, 1967
David Schwimmer, 1966
Nadia Comaneci, 1961
Neil Young, 1945
Al Michaels, 1944
Wallace Shawn, 1943
Grace Kelly, 1929
Jo Stafford, 1918
Sun Yat-sen, 1866
Auguste Rodin, 1840
Elizabeth Cady Stanton, 1815
Today in History:
Tibetan troops occupy Chang'an, the capital of the Chinese Tang Dynasty, for fifteen days starting today, 764
Plymouth, England, becomes the first town incorporated by the English Parliament, 1439
Sir James Young Simpson, a British physician, is the first to use chloroform as an anaesthetic, 1847
Jules Leotard performs 1st Flying Trapeze circus act (Paris); he also designed garment that bears his name, 1859
World's Fair in Paris opens, 1900
The first movie stunt: man jumps into Hudson river from a burning balloon, 1910
Norway holds a referendum in favor of monarchy over republic, 1905
Robert Scott's diary & body are found in Antarctica, 1912
Austria becomes a republic, 1918
The first underwater tunnel, the Holland Tunnel connecting NY to NJ opens, 1927
The first photo of whatever is in Loch Ness is taken, 1933
Morocco, Sudan and Tunisia join the United Nations, 1956
Equatorial Guinea joins the United Nations, 1968
The Comoros joins the United Nations, 1975
The NASA space probe Voyager I makes its closest approach to Saturn and takes the first images of its rings, 1980
The Space Shuttle Columbia becomes the first time a manned spacecraft launched into space twice, 1981
Crown Prince Akihito is formally installed as Emperor Akihito of Japan, becoming the 125th Japanese monarch, 1990
Tim Berners-Lee publishes a formal proposal for the World Wide Web, 1990
Shanghai Transrapid sets up a new world speed record (501 kilometres per hour (311 mph)) for commercial railway systems, 2003
What should I write about? I asked in chat last night, and got lots of interesting stuff.
Write about Martha Stewart, said one friend, and how her show has lost viewers since it moved to another channel. That brought up how perfect she is, how her idea of simple is so complicated, and how she was so gracious when she was in the slammer. Apparently she didn't act uppity and showed them how to make their lives better. She also showed grace under fire, taking the situation in hand and going early so she could be out for spring.
Write about duct tape, or vinegar, and their many uses was another suggestion. Well, I think the internet is rife with ideas about those, and if you need them, you can probably find them for yourself.
Write about the cat that thinks its kittens need to be shelved, said one friend. A cat she adopted ran off before she could get fixed, and now this 6 pound cat has 7 kittens. She is a mixed bag of a mother, only caring for them when the people she loves dote on them. She also thinks she now needs to put them on the bookshelf. They keep falling off, so that idea will have to be shelved.
Write about #2 Son. Well, he is trying to save up now for a fire ring and snake proof boots, but that is just in addition to all the other stuff he wants.
Write about your own kittens. Four of them, Dan, Sasha, Stormfur, and Crowfeather, are set for being fixed tomorrow, and will be up for adoption this weekend. The rest are scheduled for later this month or next month.
All of those are interesting, but one item in today's history stuff reminded me of yet another thing I could discuss.
The QE 2 is no longer plying the waves, but Sweetie and I crossed the Atlantic on it on our honeymoon. It was the first time they had used the northern crossing since the Titanic went down on that route. It was also the roughest summer crossing anyone could remember on the ship, and some of them had served for over 20 years. We went over where the Titanic hit the iceberg, at about the same it hit, in the worst storm at sea anyone had seen in years. Talk about a story. We were the only ones eating, and had a blast.
So. I guess I found stuff to write about.
Today is:
Armistice Day -- Belgium; France; New Zealand
Beggar's Day -- Netherlands
Bonza Bottler Day
Einherjar -- Norse "Feast of the Fallen"
Fasching/Karneval -- Germany; Netherlands (begins 11/11 at 11:11)
Independence Day -- Poland (independence of 1918)
Lacplesis -- Latvia (Remembrance Day)
Lunantishees Day -- Ireland (Fairies who guard the blackthorn trees, cutting a branch today means bad luck.)
National Day, Monaco
National Sundae Day
Old November Eve -- In the old calendar, this was actually All Hallow's Eve
Original Poppy Day
Pepero Day -- South Korea
Pirate's Week Festival -- Cayman Islands (through the 12th)
Pocky and Pretz Day -- Japan
Remembrance Day -- UK and the Commonwealth of Nations
Republic Day -- Maldives
Singles Day -- China
St. Martin's Day a/k/a St. Martin of Tours's Day (Western), Martinmas (Old England), Martinigian - in Switzerland- patron of beggars, drunkards, equestrians, harvests, horses, innkeepers, new wine, tailors; highly celebrated through Sweden, Switzerland, and the island of St. Martin/St. Maarten
St. Menas of Egypt's Day
Variante Festival, Angola (music festival)
Veterans' Day a/k/a Armistice Day -- US
Vox Populi (People’s Voice) Day
Wish-Spoiling Sports Day (Imps, Gremlins, and grumpy Goblins) -- Fairy Calendar
Anniversaries Today:
Washington becomes the 42nd US State, 1889
Birthdays Today:
Leonardo DiCaprio, 1974
Peta Wilson, 1970
Calista Flockhart, 1964
Demi Moore, 1962
Marc Summers, 1951
Bibi Andersson, 1935
Jonathan Winters, 1925
Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., 1922
Alger Hiss, 1904
Pat O'Brien, 1899
George Patton, 1885
Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky, 1821
Abigail Smith Adams,1744
Today in History:
The Congress of Carnuntum: Attempting to keep peace within the Roman Empire, the leaders of the Tetrarchy declare Maxentius and Licinius to be Augusti, while rival contender Constantine I is declared Caesar of Britain and Gaul, 308
41 pilgrims land in Massachusetts, sign Mayflower Compact, 1620
Massachusetts passes 1st US compulsory school attendance law, 1647
Gottfried Leibniz demonstrates integral calculus for the first time to find the area under the graph of y = ƒ(x), 1675
The F.H.C. Society, also known as the Flat Hat Club, is formed at Raleigh Tavern, Williamsburg, Virginia, as the first college society in the US, 1750
Chrysanthemums are introduced into England from China, 1790
British and Canadian forces defeat a larger American force, causing the Americans to abandon their Saint Lawrence campaign, 1813
Mary Edward Walker, the 1st Army female surgeon, is awarded the Medal of Honor, 1865
The Victorian Aboriginal Protection Act is enacted in Australia, giving the government control of indigenous people's wages, their terms of employment, where they could live, and of their children, effectively leading to the Stolen Generations, 1869
The 11/11/11 cold wave: Many cities in the U.S. Midwest broke their record highs and lows on the same day as a strong cold front rolled through, 1911
The Tomb of the Unknowns is dedicated by US President Warren G. Harding at Arlington National Cemetery, 1921
Prime Minister Alexandros Papanastasiou proclaims the first recognized Greek Republic, 1924
U.S. Route 66 is established, 1926
Patent number US1781541 is awarded to Albert Einstein and Leó Szilárd for their invention, the Einstein refrigerator, 1930
The Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia is opened, 1934
Kuwait's National Assembly ratifies the Constitution of Kuwait, 1962
NASA launches Gemini 12, 1966
Antigua and Barbuda joins the United Nations, 1981
The General Synod of the Church of England votes to allow women to become priests, 1992
New Zealand Tomb of the Unknown Warrior is dedicated at the National War Memorial, Wellington, 2004
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II unveils the New Zealand War Memorial in London, United Kingdom, commemorating the loss of soldiers from the New Zealand Army and the British Army, 2006
The RMS Queen Elizabeth 2 (QE2) sets sail on her final voyage to Dubai, 2008
In view of the fact that God limited the intelligence of man, it seems unfair that he did not also limit his stupidity. ~ Konrad Adenauer
An example:
In New Jersey last week, the state government offered people who were wanted for non violent offenses 4 days to turn themselves in for very light sentences. That way, the state saved money on tracking them down, and the offenders now wouldn't have to worry about waiting for the knock at the door.
It worked, maybe too well. Over 500 people who didn't even have outstanding warrants turned themselves in and confessed what they had done.
Around here, there has been a similar program, where people can turn in guns, no questions asked, no need to show ID, and in return you get a gas card. A good way to get a gun you own illegally off your hands and conscience.
I wonder how many who aren't even wanted would turn themselves in around here?
What about where you live?
Today is:
Area Code Day
Cry of Independence Day -- Panama
Day of Remembrance of Ataturk -- Turkey
Day of Russian Militsiya -- Russia
Dia de la Tradicion -- Argentina (birth of Jose Hernandez)
Forget-Me-Not Day
Goddess of Reason's Day (Revolutionary France)
Hari Pahlawan -- Indonesia (Heroe's Day)
Martini -- Ancient Latvian Calendar (beginning of winter festival)
Nicnevin -- Scots Gaelic (festival honoring Diana)
National Vanilla Cupcake Day
National Young Reader's Day
St. Andrew Avellino's Day
St. Martin's Eve -- Germany; Portugal (Martimas Eve)
USMC Day -- US
Wish-Granting Championship (Sprite) -- Fairy Calendar
Birthdays Today:
Ellen Pompeo, 1969
MacKenzie Phillips, 1959
Donna Fargo, 1949
Tim Rice, 1944
Russel Means, 1939
Roy Scheider, 1932
Richard Burton, 1925
Jane Froman, 1907
Claude Rains, 1889
Martin Luther, 1483
Today in History:
Rene Descartes has the dreams that inspire his Meditations on First Philosophy, 1619
The Dutch formally cede New Netherlands to the English; it is renamed New York, 1674
France ends forced worship of God, substitute the Goddess of Reason, 1793
The US state of Kentucky outlaws dueling, 1801
Stanley presumes that he has met Livingston in Ujiji, Central Africa, 1871
The first Woman's Christian Temperance Union meeting is held in Boston, 1891
The first Gideon Bible is put in a hotel room, 1908
Hirohito ascends the throne as Emperor of Japan, 1928
The Hope Diamond is donated to the Smithsonian Institution by New York diamond merchant Harry Winston, 1958
The 729-foot-long freighter SS Edmund Fitzgerald sinks during a storm on Lake Superior, killing all 29 crew on board, 1975
A 106-car Canadian Pacific freight train carrying explosive and poisonous chemicals from Windsor, Ontario, Canada derails in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada just west of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, causing a massive explosion and the largest peacetime evacuation in Canadian history and one of the largest in North American history, 1979
