Men's Products Can Have Odd Names (Wordless Wednesday) and Words for Wednesday

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Linking up with Wordless Wednesday, Steve at BeThere2Day, Catsynth, 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 Elephant's Child is providing the prompts, and we thank her for continuing to herd the cats and facilitate our ability to enjoy Words for Wednesday.    

This week's prompts are:

•  Ripening 
• Turmoil
• Creation
• Vineyard
• One

 

And/or

 

• Striking
• Dream
• Passionate
• Required
• Debilitating 
  

 

  Charlotte (MotherOwl)  has selected New Start Yellow as the colour of the month.

As always, have fun.

For years my cataracts have been RIPENING faster than the grapes in a well kept VINEYARD.  

Their CREATION has caused TURMOIL in making it increasingly hard to see the dirt on some types of surfaces, i've REQUIRED the use of a good, strong flashlight to see said dirt.  It is not so easy or fast to clean with only ONE hand, the other balancing a flashlight or strong lamp.

It's also not easy to save up for the surgery, although my Sweetie was PASSIONATE about my having it, it took a lot longer than we both expected or wanted.

The procedure itself was painful, even though they continued to put more and more numbing drops in my eye and the doctor told me the next day it was one tough cataract to remove.

People who've had theirs removed waxed eloquent to me about how delighted i would be as soon as the bandage came off.  Mine came off and my eye was a bruised and bloodshot mess, with very little blurry vision, STRIKING down the DREAM of everything coming up roses and bright colors.

The continued itching and pain (a feeling like you have an eyelash in your eye, but very strong) as well as "been through three rounds in the boxing ring" appearance is not DEBILITATING by any means, but i will have to continue to patch or cover or protect the eye with shields or sunglasses in public or in strong light.

They said the worst should be over by next week and meanwhile, if i'm careful, i am starting to see a bit more color with my squinty, blurry eye, and the New Start Yellow looks different, a bit brighter.

It's a sign of hope, and in about five weeks, if this eye is fully recovered, i get to do it all again with the other eye.

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Today is Tuxedo Cat Appreciation Day!!  We do love our tuxedo kitties.

Today is also the Lunary New Year/Chinese New Year/Lhosar/Seol-Nal/Tamang New Year/Tet, which ever name you wish to give it.  There are celebrations throughout Asia of the year of the Snake, some before and some after this "official" Western date, some for up to a month, including Confucian, Daoist, and Buddhist celebrations.

Thanks to Barb Kowalik and The Cat Blogosphere for the event badge.         

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Today is:

Bubblegum Sculpture Day -- commonly listed on ecard sites, and not to be confused with National Bubble Gum Day, coming in February

Carnation Day -- in honor of William McKinley; also on the date of his assassination each year, Sept. 14

Curmudgeons' Day -- W.C. Field's birth anniversary

National Corn Chip Day

National Puzzle Day -- because they are just fun

Sahid Diwash -- Nepal (Martyrs' Day)

St. Constantius of Perugia (Patron of Perugia, Italy)

St. Gildas the Wise's Day (one of the earliest British historians)

Thomas Paine Day/Freethinkers' Day -- birth anniversary of Thomas Paine

Anniversaries Today:

Establishment of The Seeing Eye, 1929 (first US guide dog school)

Kansas becomes the 34th US state, 1861

Birthdays Today:

Adam Lambert, 1982

Jonny Lang, 1981

Andrew Keegan, 1979

Sara Gilbert, 1975

Heather Graham, 1970

Bobby Phillips, 1968

Nick Turturro, 1962

Greg Louganis, 1960

Oprah Winfrey, 1954

Teresa Teng, 1953

Ann Jillian, 1950

Tom Selleck, 1945

Katharine Ross, 1942

Germaine Greer, 1939

John Forsythe, 1918

Victor Mature, 1913

Huddie William "Leadbelly" Ledbetter, 1885

W.C. Fields, 1880

Anton Chekhov, 1860

William McKinley, 1843

Henry Morton Stanley, 1841

Thomas Paine, 1737

Emanuel Swedenborg, 1688

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Sweet Charity"(Musical), 1966

"Dr. Strangelove"(Film), 1964

"Sleeping Beauty"(Cartoon movie), 1959

"The Potting Shed"(Play), 1957

"All My Sons"(Play), 1947

"The Raven"(publication date), 1845

"Idomeneo"(Mozart Opera), 1781

"The Beggar's Opera"(Gay Ballad Opera), 1728

Today in History:

The first performance of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, 1595

John Beckley of Virginia is appointed the first Librarian of Congress, 1802

Edgar Allen Poe's "The Raven" is first published, 1845

The Victoria Cross is established to acknowledge bravery, 1856

Karl Benz patents the first successful gasoline-driven automobile, 1886

Liliuokalani is proclaimed Queen of Hawaii, its last monarch, 1891

Walt Disney starts his first job as an artist, earning $40/week with the KC Slide Co, 1920

North America's first guide dog school, The Seeing Eye, is incorporated in Nashville, Tennessee, 1929

The first inductees into the Baseball Hall of Fame are announced, 1936

The first inductees into the Pro Football Hall of Fame are announced, 1963

Hungary establishes diplomatic relations with South Korea, making it the first Eastern Bloc nation to do so, 1989

President Jacques Chirac announces a "definitive end" to French nuclear weapons testing, 1996

La Fenice, Venice's opera house, is destroyed by fire, 1996

The first direct commercial flights from mainland China (from Guangzhou) to Taiwan since 1949 arrived in Taipei. Shortly afterwards, a China Airlines flight lands in Beijing, 2005

Ken Dryden's #29 jersey is retired by the Montreal Canadiens, 2010

American snowboarder Shaun White achieves the first ever SuperPipe perfect score (100) in Winter X Games history, 2012

Archaeologists discover the oldest Roman Temple (6th C BC) at Sant’Omobono, 2014

Scientists announce they have discovered how to convert normal cells into stem cells in mice, 2014

Malaysia officially declares the disappearance of missing flight MH370 an accident, 2015

The Norwegian government proposes building a floating road tunnel as part of a new roadway between Kristians and Trondheim, 2019

Nigerian farmers win a landmark case against Shell Oil at the Court of Appeal of the Hague with the company required to clean up oil spill residues in the Delta region, 2021

Wrong Day, Same Carl, a Random and Happy Tuesday 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.  

Yesterday, i had my first cataract surgery.  I am pre-writing this, so by now i hope i'm recovering and having bandages removed.

Because no one wants me to skip Carl's place if it can be helped, least of all me, i went on Sunday after church.

I'd taken care of my other Monday client, Ms. S, on Saturday when i got back from NOLA and doing Grandma and Grandpa's house.  While there, Mr. D told me, "Do you know what Carl posted on Facebook the other day?  He said, 'Mom won't let me go to work because of the cold.  Anybody want to go dancing?'"

That's our Carl, he loves to bust a move.

Thus i was at his house on the wrong day, but it was just as much fun as always.

One good thing is the light was finally working in the laundry room.  If Carl is the last one out of the laundry room at night, and he usually is, he leaves it on and the ballast overheats and it won't work for hours.

If i go later in the day after his mother has turned it off and it's had a chance to cool, it actually works.  Yippee!

I could see the mess quite clearly.  He had a basket on top of the dryer which i thought might be clean, but even he's never washed a belt before and one pair of pants had a belt on it.  Also, a couple of items didn't pass the sniff test.

Time to call it, everything in the laundry room, even the slightly wet stuff in the washer, got washed.

Neither Carl nor Ms. V had gotten back from church yet when i got there and dug in.  I found where Carl hadn't cleaned out his lunch box, and it still had the chips in it i'd packed the Monday prior.  Everything got thrown away so he could start fresh this week.

He's been fussing about gloves and i'd been telling him he had none and needed to buy them.

He obviously listened.

I also found this.

At first i thought it was a raincoat as it was draped over a chair and it looked like a shapeless mass of yellow.  It was square, though, and it got folded and set aside for the moment.

Ms. V finally came in from church and asked Mr. L where Carl was.  "I sent him to go get me one of those grabber things, since I really can't bend over any more," he told her.

Then Ms. V noted, "The pastor's wife told me Carl went to Sunday school and he was on time.  I don't see how he was on time when I know he left the house after me."

I gave her a bit of the side eye and said, "You do know he's a boy and he likes to go fast right?"

She looked a bit surprised and said, "He's in his 40's, you'd think he'd outgrow it."

I laughed and told her Grandpa, who is 88, still has a lead foot, even just going to the grocery store!

At this point, she asked me if Carl had picked up all his dirty clothes off the floor like she'd told him. 

To quote a friend of mine, cue hysterical laughter.  When she heard me laugh, she said, "There's my answer."

Not long after, Carl walked in with two boxes from a pizza place in his hand.  He noticed me in his room and said, "Gotta nap sometime..."

I told him he'd be napping in the chair as i needed to clean the place a day early due to my surgery.

He went to eat first, eating is always first.

His shirt was only partly tucked in.  As i watched him come in and out of his room for various things, the part of the shirt which was tucked in kept changing, first one front quarter, then the whole back half, then a different area.  I'm not sure how he does it.

Also, i have no clue if he got his dad's grabber gadget.  He'd gotten food and once he has that, there's no telling.

One of the times he came in to brush his teeth (he always walks in saying, "Fuzzy!" brushes for about 15 seconds, then leaves), he mentioned the sermon had been on missions.

At L Baptist? i asked, which is where Ms. V goes because it's close and has a very good adult special needs Sunday school, which she wants Carl to attend.

"No, at Fellowship."

I thought you went o L Baptist today?

"Only for Sunday school," he answered.  That's it, he goes to one then the other.  He's a busy man.

I don't know if he ever got his father's grabber gadget, but somehow i think it's going to be up to someone else.

Showing him the yellow tarp, i asked him what it was and why it was there.

"Paint tarp," he answered.

Yes, i noted, it has paint on it so it must be, but where does it go, in your car?

"Maybe," he answered with is questioning tone which means he isn't sure.

Ms. V had me put it in the tool closet.

He napped in his sleep chair off and on while i got his place clean and his clothes ready for Monday.  Eventually he got up and packed himself a sandwich.

Heaven only knows if he wore what i'd set out, but it'll probably all need washing next week, worn or not.

How about some surgery funnies.

Have a blessed and beautiful Tuesday, everyone!

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Today is:

Army Day -- Armenia

Data Privacy Day -- International

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

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

Lunar New Year's Eve (year of the Dragon)

     Seol-nal -- South Korea (Lunar New Year Holiday begins)

     Spring Festival -- China; Taiwan (Chinese New Year's Eve, start of the festival)

     Tet Eve -- Vietnam

National Blueberry Pancake Day

National Kazoo Day -- because anyone can play one!

National Speak Up and Succeed Day -- become one of those people who aren't afraid of public speaking, practice! originally sponsored by Polished Presentations International, but they no longer have a website, but i'm sure Toastmasters International can help 

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

Runic Half-month Elhaz (elk) commences

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

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

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

Anniversary Today:

Adoption of the Great Seal of the United States, 1782

Birthdays Today:

Elijah Wood, 1981

Nick Carter, 1980

Joey Fatone, Jr. 1977

Kathryn Morris, 1969

Sarah McLachlan, 1968

Harley Jane Kozak, 1957

Nicolas Sarkozy, 1955

Rick Warren, 1954

John Beck, 1943

Susan Howard, 1943

Alan Alda, 1936

Susan Sontag, 1933

Claes Oldenburg, 1929

Jackson Pollack, 1912

Robert Stroud, 1890 (The Birdman of Alcatraz)

Arthur Rubenstein, 1887

Auguste Piccard, 1884

Jean Felix Piccard, 1884

Colette, 1873

Jose' Marti, 1853

Henry Morton Stanley, 1841

Alexander Mackenzie, 1822

Peter the Great of Russia, 1775

St. Thomas Aquinas, 1225

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Fantasy Island"(TV), 1978

"Barnaby Jones"(TV), 1973

"Symphony No. 1/Jeremiah"(Bernstein), 1944

Today in History:

The Walk to Canossa: The excommunication of Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor is lifted by Pope Gregory VIII, 1077

The first Crusaders begins siege of Hosn-el-Akrad Syria, 1099

Pope Alexander VI gives his son Cesare Borgia as hostage to Charles VIII of France, 1495

Edward VI, age nine, succeeds his father Henry VIII as king of England, 1547

By the Edict of Orleans, the persecution of French Huguenots is suspended, 1561

Articles of the Warsaw Confederation are signed, sanctioning freedom of religion in Poland, 1573

Sir Thomas Warner found the first British colony in the Caribbean, on St. Kitts, 1624

The Russian Academy of Sciences was founded in St. Petersburg by Peter the Great, and implemented in the Senate decree (it was called St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences until 1917), 1724

Horace Walpole, in a letter to Horace Mann, coins the word serendipity, 1754

London's Pall Mall is the first street lit by gaslight, 1807

Pride and Prejudice is first published in the United Kingdom, 1813

The first locomotive runs from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean on the Panama Railway, 1855

In a snowstorm at Fort Keogh, Montana, the world's largest snowflakes are reported, being 15 inches (38 cm) wide and 8 inches (20 cm) thick, 1887

Walter Arnold of East Peckham, Kent became the first person to be convicted of speeding in an automobile. He is fined 1 shilling, plus costs, for speeding at 8 mph (13 km/h), thus exceeding the contemporary speed limit of 2 mph (3.2 km/h), 1896

The Carnegie Institution is founded in Washington, D.C. with a $10 million gift from Andrew Carnegie, 1902

An act of the U.S. Congress creates the United States Coast Guard, 1915

The first Jewish  US Supreme Court justice, Louis Brandeis, appointed by Wilson, 1916

A symbolic Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is installed beneath the Arc de Triomphe in Paris to honor the unknown dead of World War I, 1921

The name Pakistan is coined by Choudhary Rehmat Ali Khan and is accepted by the Indian Muslims who then thereby adopted it further for the Pakistan Movement seeking independence, 1933

The Lego company patents the design of its Lego bricks, still compatible with bricks produced today, 1958

The current design of the Flag of Canada is chosen by an act of Parliament, 1965

Tropical Storm Domoina makes landfall in southern Mozambique, eventually causing 214 deaths and some of the most severe flooding so far recorded in the region, 1984

Supergroup USA for Africa (United Support of Artists for Africa) records the hit single We Are the World, to help raise funds for Ethiopian famine relief, 1985

Space Shuttle Challenger breaks apart after liftoff killing all seven astronauts on board, 1986

Hundreds of thousands of protesters filled up the Egyptian's streets in demonstrations referred to as "Friday of Anger" against the Mubarak regime, 2011

DNA analysis confirms that the 6th C Plague of Justinian was caused by a variant of Yersinia pestis, which is the same bacteria for the Black Death, 2014

Seven survivors from the missing Kiribati ferry carrying 100 people are rescued after week at sea, 2018

A draft framework for a peace agreement to end the 17-year conflict in Afghanistan is agreed upon by US and Afghan negotiators, 2019

Bernie Sanders mittens, worn to the inauguration, raise $1.8 million for Vermont charities after images go viral, 2021