#2 Son is excavating his man cave.
He is not, i should add, doing it voluntarily.
"Sohn, kommen zu hier, bitte!" Sweetie called across the house.
"Dad, you know I don't speak Portuguese!" he answered with a grin as he entered the kitchen. The truth is, Sweetie has taught the kids just enough very rough German to get their faces slapped or their mouths washed out with soap.
"Son, you know that vacation is coming up soon."
"Yes..."
"Unless you get that mess you call a room cleaned up, you are going to stay home with your brother."
Well, that was enough of a threat, although he does like his brother. He doesn't want to be stuck at home doing cat duty, so the excavation has begun.
Really, that is the only term for it.
He has started with the dishes. After promising me that there was no way there were any dishes in his room, he went in and began to dig. Brave kid, i won't even enter the room, i'm afraid it is growing alien life forms and i know something growled at me the last time i dared to peek under his bed.
So, after promising there wasn't another dish in there a couple of weeks ago, he came out with a plate, a cafeteria style divided tray, 7 cups, and half of our flatware. We now actually have 3 steak knives in the drawer. Also my big spatula that he has sworn for half a year he had no idea where it was and it most certainly wasn't in his room.
All of it went straight outside for a rinse and into the bleach bath, just like any dishes they "accidentally" leave outside on occasion. Outdoor rinse, into a bleach bath, another rinse, then into soapy water, rinse, soap again, rinse, and a final inspection to be declared worthy of future use. Labor intensive, so it's a good idea, on days when we do this sort of thing, to have dinner in the crock pot, which i did. Otherwise the dishes that eat the whole afternoon make for a dinner that is less than stellar.
It's going to take him a few days to get through all the layers. Once he does, i will no longer have to say that parts of my home are decorated in the unofficial teenage style called "Recently Ransacked."
Today is
Alma Highland Festival and Games -- Alma College, Alma, Michigan (through tomorrow; the 45th annual celebration of Scottish heritage)
Bob Day -- an internet holiday i couldn't confirm, but if your name is Bob, you deserve a special day just for having that name!
Crown Prince's Birthday -- Denmark
Goblin Races -- Fairy Calendar
Grubstakes Day -- Yuma Valley, CA, US (parade, carnival, rodeo, fun!)
Holiday of the Receiving of Ra -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)
Independence Day -- Georgia; Guyana
International Jazz Day
Isle of Man Tourist Trophy -- Isle of Man (through June 8; two weeks of the finest road racing on earth)
Julia Pierpont Day -- she came up with Decoration Day, the precursor to US Memorial Day; prepare veterans' graves for Memorial Day today
Mother's Day -- Poland
National Blueberry Cheesecake Day
National Cherry Dessert Day
National Day of Healing -- Australia (formerly called National Sorry Day; to express regret for the ill treatment of Aboriginal Peoples of Australia, especially the Stolen Generation)
National Paper Airplane Day -- not an official holiday, but go make one, and have a blast
Prince Jonah Kuhio Kalanianaole Day -- Hawai'i
Sally Ride Day
Shauvot -- Judaism (begins at sundown)
St. Augustine of Canterbury's Day (Patron of England)
St. Philip Neri's Day (Patron of Gravina, Manfredonia-Vieste-San Giovanni Rotondo, and Rome, Italy; the United States Army Special Forces)
Thargelia -- Ancient Greek Calendar (birthday festival of Apollo and Artemis; through tomorrow, date approximate)
Tohoku Rokkon Matsuri -- Morioka, Japan (a special matsuri, bringing together six major festivals from the district that was hard hit by last year's earthquake; through tomorrow)
Anniversaries Today:
Boston University is founded by the Massachusetts legislature, 1869
Birthdays Today:
Helena Bonham Carter, 1966
Lenny Kravitz, 1964
Sally Ride, 1951
Pam Grier, 1949
Philip Michael Thomas, 1949
Hank Williams, Jr., 1949
Stevie Nicks, 1948
Brent Musburger, 1939
Miles Davis, 1926
James Arness, 1923
Peggy Lee, 1920
Jay Silverheels, 1919
Frankie Manning, 1914
Peter Cushing, 1913
Robert Morley, 1908
John Wayne, 1907
Dorothea Lange, 1895
Al Jolson, 1886
Today in History:
Armenian rebels battle the Sassanid empire and win the right to openly practice Christianity, 451
An earthquake strikes Kamakura, Japan, killing about 30,000, 1293
Geneva expels John Calvin and his followers from the city, 1538
Alse Young becomes the first person executed as a witch in the American colonies, 1647
Lewis and Clark first see the Rocky Mountains, 1805
The Indian Removal Act is passed by the U.S. Congress, 1830
Dred Scott is emancipated by the Blow family, his original owners, 1857
The impeachment trial of U.S. President Andrew Johnson ends with Johnson being found not guilty by one vote, 1868
Nicholas II becomes Tsar of Russia, 1894
Charles Dow publishes the first edition of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, 1896
The first major commercial oil strike in the Middle East is made, 1908
The world's longest-lasting tornado, lasting for over 7 hours and traveling 293 miles, strikes Mattoon, Illinois, 1917
British Guiana gains independence, becoming Guyana, 1966
Apollo 10 returns to Earth after a successful eight-day test of all the components needed for the forthcoming first manned moon landing, 1969
The Soviet Tupolev Tu-144 becomes the first commercial transport to exceed Mach 2, 1970
Willandra National Park is established in Australia, 1972
George Willig climbs the South Tower of New York City's World Trade Center, 1977
A 7.7 magnitude earthquake strikes Japan, triggering a tsunami that kills at least 104 people, injures thousands. Many people go missing and thousands of buildings are destroyed, 1983
The European Community adopts the European flag, 1986
Zviad Gamsakhurdia becomes the first democratically elected President of the Republic of Georgia in the post-Soviet era, 1991
The Supreme Court of the United States rules that Ellis Island, the historic gateway for millions of immigrants, is mainly in the state of New Jersey, not New York, 1998
Sherpa Lakpa Gelu climbs Mount Everest in 10 hours 56 minutes, 2003
The New York Times publishes an admission of journalistic failings, claiming that its flawed reporting and lack of skepticism towards sources during the build-up to the 2003 war in Iraq helped promote the belief that Iraq possessed large stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction, 2004
The May 2006 Java earthquake kills over 6,600 people, leaves 200,000 homeless, 2006*
*Occurred 22:54 GMT May 26, 05:54 Local Time May 27, so some sources date it today, some tomorrow
Aurora is Queen of the Hill.
Photo-Finish Friday is the brainchild of Leah at The Goat's Lunch Pail.
Today is
Africa Day / African Liberation Day -- African Union
Battle of Pichincha Day Holiday -- Ecuador
Celebrate Commemorate Memorial Day -- Waterloo, NY, US (the 146th observance at the National Birthplace of Memorial Day; through the 27th)
Coal Miner Days -- Novinger, Missouri, US (a turn of the century coal mining town celebrates its heritage; through the weekend)
Down East Spring Birding Festival -- Cobscook Bay, Maine (through the 28th)
First Patriotic Government / National Day -- Argentina
Flitting Day -- parts of England; Scotland (traditional day on which leases were up for the year and people moved)
Geek Pride Day -- celebrate the geek in you! Geek culture is the obvious choice to laud when it's Glorious 25 May, Star Wars Day, and Towel Day at the same time.
Glorious 25 May -- in Terry Pratchett's Discworld
Independence Day -- Jordan
Last Bell -- Russia (tradition of closing schools for the year by having a formal ceremony with the children, and a first grader rings the school bell for dismissal)
Liberation Day -- Lebanon
National Brown-Bag-It Day
National Death Busters Day -- because the upcoming Memorial Day weekend in the US is the most dangerous for driving; be careful out there!
National Missing Children's Day
National Tap Dance Day -- birth anniversary of Mr. Bojangles
National Wig Out Day -- invented by Kate and Alice Clark, who want a day for everyone to dye their hair or wear a crazy wig without fear
National Wine Day
Offering to Demeter -- Ancient Greek Calendar (date approximate)
Poetry Day -- Florida, US (since 1947, the state legislature declared this for all public schools in the state; if you don't live in Florida, enjoy a poem today, anyway)
Procession of the Statue of Artemis -- Ancient Greek and Roman Calendars, at Ephesus (date approximate, but always near the Thargelia)
Self-Reliance Day -- an internet originated holiday, based on the idea that we should all become more self reliant in this day when it is a dying art.
Spoleto Festival USA -- Charleston, SC, US (a premier performing arts festival; through June 10)
Star Wars Day -- Part IV, A New Hope was released this date in 1977
St. Bede the Venerable's Day (Patron of lectors)
St. Mary Magdalen of Pazzi's Day (Patron of the ill; against illness and sexual temptation)
Towel Day -- Douglas Adams fans, unite! Always know where your towel is.
Week of Solidarity with the People Of Non-Self-Governing Territories begins -- United Nations
Birthdays Today:
Lauryn Hill, 1975
Anne Heche, 1969
Stacy London, 1969
Mike Myers, 1963
Connie Sellecca, 1955
Frank Oz, 1944
Leslie Uggams, 1943
Ian McKellen, 1939
Tom T. Hall, 1936
Beverly Sills, 1929
Robert Ludlum, 1927
Jeanne Crain, 1925
Claude Akins, 1918
Igor Sikorsky, 1889
Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, 1878
Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1803
Today in History:
First recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet, BC240
Alfonso VI of Castile takes Toledo, Spain back from the Moors, 1085
Henry the Navigator is appointed governor of the Order of Christ, 1420
The Diet of Worms ends when Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, issues the Edict of Worms, declaring Martin Luther an outlaw, 1521
Richard Cromwell resigns as Lord Protector of England following the restoration of the Long Parliament, beginning a second brief period of the republican government called the Commonwealth of England, 1659
Jews are expelled from Warsaw by Marshall Mniszek, 1784
In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, delegates convene a Constitutional Convention to write a new Constitution for the United States, 1787
In the May Revolution, citizens of Buenos Aires expel the Viceroy Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros during the Semana de Mayo, 1810
The Patriots of Lower Canada (Quebec) rebel against the British for freedom, 1837
The first telegraphed news dispatch is published in Baltimore Patriot, 1844
Gilbert and Sullivan's H.M.S. Pinafore opens at the Opera Comique in London, 1878
The Republic of Formosa is formed, with Tang Ching-sung as the president, 1895
John T. Scopes is indicted for teaching Charles Darwin's theory of evolution in Tennessee, 1925
Henry Ford stops production of the Model T to begin the Model A, 1927
Jesse Owens of Ohio State University breaks five world records and ties a sixth at the Big Ten Conference Track and Field Championships in Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1935
The first ascent of Kangchenjunga (8,586 m.), the third highest mountain in the world, by a British expedition, 1955
In Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the Organisation of African Unity is established, 1963
Star Wars (retitled Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope in 1981) is released in theaters, inspiring the Jediism religion and Geek Pride Day holiday, 1977
Bangladesh is hit by a tropical cyclone and storm surge, which kills approximately 10,000 people, 1985
Israel withdraws its army from most of the Lebanese territory after 22 years of its first invasion, 2000
32-year-old Erik Weihenmayer, of Boulder, Colorado, becomes the first blind person to reach the summit of Mount Everest, 2001
Oprah Winfrey airs her last show, 2011
Bigger Girl, after school yesterday: "I'm finished with high school! I'm in a daze. I'm going to go garden, because I don't have to study!"
Five minutes later: "Darn, the boys are out in the yard. That means I can't garden naked, can I? And I've always wanted to plant Brussels' sprouts naked!"
New chapter in her life, same Bigger Girl.
Graduation is next week.
Speaking of graduations, there have been some good graduation stories in the last few years. People in their 70's, 80's, or 90's graduating from college. People who were just a class or two shy of graduating college back when "The War" started being found and honored with long overdue diplomas. An immigrant who had degrees in his country working as a janitor in a college here, then after learning enough English, using that job to get a degree here.
Today i saw one that i will probably never see again. A man who had worked in the family business his whole life, decided that to improve the business he would go back to college for an MBA -- and take all three of his sons with him. They graduated together last Saturday.
That's got to be one for the record books.
Today is
Aldersgate Day -- Methodism
All Ascension of Jesus -- Orthodox Christian
Battle of Pichincha Day -- Ecuador
Bermuda Day -- Bermuda
Brother's Day -- celebrate all forms of brotherhood, biological, adopted, fraternity brothers, or members of your labor union
Day for the Naming of Rocks and Planets -- Fairy Calendar
European Day of Parks
Feast of Hermes Trismegistus -- Hellenistic Egyptian Calendar (thrice-blessed Hermes, patron of alchemy, date approximate)
Grand Prix de Monaco -- Monaco (premier Formula 1 race through the streets of Monte Carlo, run since 1929; through the 27th)
Hug Your Cat Day -- created by Apricat, star of books written by Marisa D'Vari, who says no matter how aloof, your cat really does want a hug
Independence Day -- Eritrea
International Tiara Day -- ladies, celebrate your powers of leadership in your life; tiara wearing is optional, it's the fact that you rule that matters
Kodiak Crab Festival -- Kodiak, AK, US (through the 28th; there's more than bears up here, you know!)
La Fete des Saintes Maries -- Les-Sainte-Maries-de-la-Mer, France (Roma [gypsy] festival, to honor St. Sara, St. Marie Jacobe, and St. Marie Salome, their patrons; through the 25th)
Lubiri Memorial Day -- Buganda Region, Uganda
Morse Code Day
Mudbug Madness -- Shreveport, LA (festival of crawfish and Cajun heritage; through the 27th)
National Escargot Day
Sts. Cyril and Methodius's Day (Patrons of Macedonia) related observances
Bulgarian Education and Culture and Slavonic Literature Day -- Bulgaria
Slavonic Enlighteners' Day -- Republic of Macedonia
St. Susanna's Day (Patron of martyrs)
Birthdays Today:
Billy Gilman, 1988
Joe Dumars, 1963
Rosanne Cash, 1955
Priscilla Presley, 1945
Patti LaBelle, 1944
Gary Burghoff, 1943
Bob Dylan, 1941
Tommy Chong, 1938
"Engineer Bill" Stulla, 1911
Lillian Moller Gilbreth, 1878
Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, 1819
Abraham Geiger, 1810
Gabriel Fahrenheit, 1686
Today in History:
The Fifth Crusade leaves Acre for Egypt, 1218
Peter Minuit buys Manhattan, 1626
The English Parliament passes the Act of Toleration protecting Protestants; Roman Catholics are intentionally excluded, 1689
John Wesley is converted, essentially launching the Methodist movement; the day is celebrated annually by Methodists as Aldersgate Day, 1738
Antonio José de Sucre secures the independence of the Presidency of Quito, 1822
"Mary Had a Little Lamb" by Sarah Josepha Hale is published, 1830
The first passenger rail service in US, from Baltimore to Elliots Mill, Maryland, begins, 1830
Samuel FB Morse taps out the first telegraph message, "What hath God wrought", 1844
The Brooklyn Bridge in New York City is opened to traffic after 14 years of construction, 1883
The United Kingdom annexes the Orange Free State, 1900
Amy Johnson lands in Darwin, Northern Territory, becoming the first woman to fly from England to Australia (she left on May 5 for the 11,000 mile flight), 1930
Igor Sikorsky performs the first successful single-rotor helicopter flight, 1940
Conclusion of the Sixth Buddhist Council on Vesak Day, marking the 2,500 year anniversary after the Lord Buddha's Parinibbana, 1956
Cyprus enters the Council of Europe, 1961
FLQ separatists bomb the U.S. consulate in Quebec City, 1968
The drilling of the Kola Superdeep Borehole begins in the Soviet Union, 1970
The International Court of Justice calls for the release of United States embassy hostages in Tehran, Iran, 1980
Eritrea gains its independence from Ethiopia, 1991
Israel conducts Operation Solomon, evacuating Ethiopian Jews to Israel, 1991
15-year-old Sherpa Temba Tsheri becomes the youngest person to climb to the top of Mount Everest, 2001
North Korea bans mobile phones, 2004
That's what some people have told Bigger Girl, because she looks like she is slouching.
She also has had back pain, and is doing physical therapy.
The verdict is in. She does have some kyphosis, and some scoliosis, but neither are so far off the range of normal as to need surgery.
She will always look like she is slouching a bit forward, even when she is standing as straight as she can.
Meanwhile, the physical therapy will help her learn to compensate for the slight curves when she walks, stands, and mostly, when she sits. That way she can do them without pain.
Since today is the last day of school, it's good to know she won't be facing anything medical this summer.
On a totally different type of straightening up, how do boy teens manage to get spaghetti sauce stuck to the bottom of the plate, making it harder to clean the dishes? It's also hard to straighten or tidy up anything once they have come through. They leave the place looking like the decor is "recently ransacked."
Today is
Bluebell Day -- Fairy Calendar
Declaration of the Bab -- Baha'i
Elf Fest -- Lothlorien (near Needmore, Indiana; through the 28th)
Emergency Medical Services for Children Day -- because children need different care, they aren't just tiny adults
Festival for Vulcan -- Ancient Roman Calendar
Go For A Walk in Your Swim Fins Day -- no, i don't know who comes up with this stuff, and i don't want to
Julia Pierpont Day -- she came up with Decoration Day, the precursor to US Memorial Day; prepare veterans' graves for Memorial Day today
Labour Day -- Jamaica
Linnaeus Day -- Sweden
Lucky Penny Day -- just a fun one, see if you find a penny today
National Taffy Day
Romeria del Rocia -- Huelva, Spain (pilgrims transport an image of the Virgen del Rocio [Our Lady of the Dew] through Andalucia, with no motorized transport allowed, accompanied by Gypsy Caravans; when the image gets to the shrine, there is mass and a few days of fireworks and celebrating)
Rosalia -- Ancient Roman Calendar (rose festival)
Sacrifices to Leto, Pythian Apollon, Zeus, Hermes and the Dioscuri in the deme of Erchia -- Ancient Greek Calendar
St. Euphrosyne of Polotsk's Day (Patron of Belarus)
Students' Day -- Mexico
St. William of Rochester's Day (Patron of adopted children)
Tubilustrium -- Ancient Roman Calendar (ceremony to purify the trumpet used in sacred rituals)
World Crohn's and Colitis Day
World Turtle Day -- sponsored by American Tortoise Rescue
Anniversaries Today:
South Carolina becomes the 8th US state, 1788
Birthdays Today:
Kelly Monaco, 1976
Ken Jennings, 1974
Jewel, 1974
Mitch Albom, 1958
Drew Carey, 1958
Marvin Hagler, 1952
Robert Moog, 1934
Joan Collins, 1933
Rosemary Clooney, 1928
Helen O'Connell, 1920
Scatman Crothers, 1910
Artie Shaw, 1910
Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., 1883
Franz Mesmer, 1734
Carolus Linnaeus, 1707
Emperor Qinzong of China, 1100
Today in History:
Joan of Arc is captured by the Burgundians while leading an army to relieve Compiègne, 1430
The marriage of King Henry VIII to Catherine of Aragon is declared null and void, 1533
The Netherlands declare their independence from Spain, 1568
The Second Defenestration of Prague precipitates the Thirty Years' War, 1618
After being convicted of piracy and of murdering William Moore, Captain William Kidd is hanged in London, 1701
Benjamin Franklin announces his invention of bifocals, 1785
Napoleon Bonaparte is crowned King of Italy, 1805
South American independence leader Simón Bolívar enters Mérida, leading the invasion of Venezuela, 1813
The Báb announces his revelation, founding Bábism (the Baha'i Faith), 1844
Organization of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Battle Creek, Michigan, 1863
The Canadian Parliament establishes the North West Mounted Police, the forerunner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, 1873
The fist transcontinental train arrives in Vancouver, BC, 1887
The first talking cartoon of Mickey Mouse, "The Karnival Kid", is released, 1929
American bank robbers Bonnie and Clyde are ambushed by police and killed in Black Lake, Louisiana, 1934
Tibetans sign the Seventeen Point Agreement for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet with the People's Republic of China, 1951
Prime Minister of Israel David Ben-Gurion announces that Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann had been captured, 1960
The first version of the Java programming language is released, 1995
The Good Friday Agreement is accepted in a referendum in Northern Ireland with 75% voting yes, 1998
The fastest roller coaster in the world, Kingda Ka, opens at Six Flags Great Adventure, 2005
Alaskan stratovolcano Mount Cleveland erupts, 2006
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) awards Middle Rocks to Malaysia and Pedra Branca (Pulau Batu Puteh) to Singapore, ending a 29-year territorial dispute, 2008
A working brake, please.
On the family van, for heaven's sake. The one i've got the kids in most of the time. The work horse, that takes the brunt of the punishment.
Last Friday, the thumping said "Brakes" and i took it in. Almost $800 later, i brought it home and heard the thumps again. After a weekend of using it very little Monday morning saw it go back to the shop with the ABS light on.
When i walked in and told them, "The brakes are out," Mr. L was in shock. A few minutes with the computer, both the car computer and their own records, we had it.
"Front left ABS sensor is out. It's the one we replaced last August, so it's still under warranty. We will change it out, no charge. Oh, and by the way, occasionally on a GM car -- but never before on a Saturn, but that's not to say it can't happen -- some GM cars have trouble with the wires going to these sensors. If it goes out again, or the other one does, we will see if it's that wire, that's not a big expense."
Gotta love the honest mechanics who stand by their work and their word, and will tell you straight.
All these holidays i find on the internet, well, i want to invent one myself. Hug an honest mechanic day. Or, if you are a guy and don't want to hug him, buy him and the shop a dozen doughnuts. They are worth it.
Today is
Abolition Day -- Martinique
Bear Waking Day -- Norway (traditionally said to be the day the bears awaken from their hibernation, at least according to many sites)
Buy a Musical Instrument Day -- even just a kazoo, and have some fun making music
Independence Day -- Montenegro
International Day for Biological Diversity
National Geographic Geography Bee -- National Geographic Society Headquarters, Washington, D.C., US (through Thursday, with the finals aired then)
National Maritime Day -- US (commemorating the first transoceanic voyage under steam power)
National Sovereignty Day -- Haiti
National Vanilla Pudding Day
Republic Day -- Sri Lanka
RHS Chelsea Flower Show -- Chelsea, London, England (through the 26th)
St. Julia's Day (Patron of Corsica, Portugal)
St. Rita of Cascia's Day/La Abodada de Impossibles (Patron of desperate cases; against bleeding, infertility, loneliness, tumors, unhappy marriages)
Toad-Pinching Day -- Fairy Calendar (Pixies)
Unity Day -- Republic of Yemen
Birthdays Today:
Apollo Anton Ohno, 1982
Ginnifer Goodwin, 1978
Morrissey, 1959
Paul Winfield, 1941
Richard Benjamin, 1938
Susan Strasberg, 1938
Peter Nero, 1934
Sir Laurence Olivier, 1907
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1859
Mary Cassatt, 1844
Richard Wagner, 1813
Today in History:
The Macedonian army of Alexander the Great defeats Darius III of Persia in the Battle of the Granicus, BC334
The Hashshashin (Assassins) attempt to murder Saladin near Aleppo, 1176
Pope Gregory XI issues five papal bulls to denounce the doctrines of English theologian John Wycliffe, 1377
Richard, Duke of York, defeats and captures King Henry VI of England, 1455
A grand jury indicts former Vice President of the United States Aaron Burr on a charge of treason, 1807
On the second and last day of the Battle of Aspern-Essling (near Vienna), Napoleon is repelled by an enemy army for the first time, 1809
The SS Savannah leaves port at Savannah, Georgia, United States, on a voyage to become the first steamship to cross the Atlantic Ocean; the ship arrived at Liverpool, England on June 20, 1819
HMS Beagle departs on its first voyage, 1826
The transporting of British convicts to the New South Wales colony is abolished, 1840
Farmers Lester Howe and Henry Wetsel discover Howe Caverns, 1842
The Blackwall Tunnel under the River Thames is officially opened, 1897
The Wright brothers are granted U.S. patent number 821,393 for their "Flying-Machine", 1906
Lassen Peak erupts with a powerful force, and is the only mountain other than Mount St. Helens to erupt in the continental US during the 20th century, 1915
The most powerful earthquake ever documented, the Great Chilean Quake, measures 9.5 and strikes southern Chile, 1960
The nuclear-powered submarine the USS Scorpion sinks with 99 men aboard 400 miles southwest of the Azores, 1968
Ceylon adopts a new constitution, thus becoming a Republic, changes its name to Sri Lanka, and joins the Commonwealth of Nations, 1972
Namco releases the highly influential arcade game Pac-Man, 1980
Microsoft releases the Windows 3.0 operating system, 1990
Johnny Carson retires from The Tonight Show after 30 years, 1992
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Slovenia join the United Nations, 1992
A jury in Birmingham, Alabama, convicts former Ku Klux Klan member Bobby Frank Cherry of the 1963 murders of four girls in the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church, 2002
Big headline: restaurant meals don't meet federal guidelines for being healthy!
Well, i'm so glad they told me, i would never have known. Really, it would never have occurred to me that the huge plates, platters, and bowls, often with fried foods or things that drip oil and fat, or lots of sauce, could possibly be unhealthy.
For real, people. Don't most of us know, when we are going out for a meal, that we aren't always doing the best and most healthy thing we can do?
Yes, i'm weird. My diet, except for my daily cup of coffee, is almost entirely raw and vegan. Lots of fruits, vegetables, sprouted grains, nuts, berries, seeds. What my dad calls rabbit food. So when i go to a restaurant, i know i'm not going to be getting my usual stuff. Oh, i'll get the salad with oil and vinegar on the side, with steamed or sauteed vegetables. Sometimes the veggies come with butter. Guess what, i shut up and eat it, even though i try to stay vegan. There is no way, unless i am in a vegetarian restaurant or health food store with a small deli and dinner selection that i am going to get what i usually eat, and i deal with it.
The problem isn't that restaurant foods don't tend to be the healthiest. After all, i don't know why you go to restaurants, but for me it's so i don't have to cook, and because the rest of the family wants something that i don't usually fix, or can't fix, or won't. Getting the chef's specialty that you don't get anyplace else is a treat.
No, the problem is that it's often no longer a treat. When going to a restaurant for a special meal isn't so special any more, that's when the unhealthy effects take a toll.
There are so many demands on our time, that the ease of eating out lures too many of our dollars out of our pockets, i believe. (Well, not so much here, we only eat out when my dad treats us, once every 2 months, seldom enough to still be special.)
The ads are relentless, temping us to ease and convenience, and often very unhealthy choices. It's up to us to be responsible and resist most of the time.
While it's nice the government wants us to know just how unhealthy it is, does it really make a difference if it's a treat? Probably not.
The difficulty is it's not a treat any more for so many people.
Instead of being horrified to find out what we already knew, that a lot of restaurant meals aren't the best for us, how about being horrified if we find ourselves making excuses to go eat those meals more often than is healthy for the waist or the pocketbook.
Today is
Agonalia -- Ancient Roman Calendar (a sacrifice to the highest gods, one of the Roman's most ancient festivals)
American Red Cross Founder's Day
Anastenarides Feast -- Greece (feast to St. Constantine and St. Helen)
Battle of Las Piedras Day -- Uruguay
Circassian Day of Mourning -- Circassians
Day of Patriots and Military -- Hungary
Día de la Afrocolombianidad -- Columbia (Afro-Colombian Day; commemorates Columbia's abolition of slavery on this date in 1851)
Dia De Las Glorias Navales -- Chile (Navy Day)
Discovery Day -- Cayman Islands
Festival for Vevodus -- Ancient Roman Calendar (god of the dead, swamps, and volcanic movements, and sometimes regarded as the king of the Di Manes)
Independence Day -- Montenegro
"I Need A Patch For That" Day -- sponsored by Wellcat Holidays
Lilies and Roses Day -- London, England (memorial of the death of Henry VI on this day in 1471; held at the Tower of London with representatives of Eton College and King's College, which he founded.)
National Anxiety Disorders Screening Day
National Memo Day -- an internet holiday with no known origin, just take a memo
National Strawberries and Cream Day
National Waitstaff Day
Passion Play Day -- the first Oberammergau, Germany, Passion Play was staged this date in 1634
Saint Helena Day -- St. Helena
Sovereign's Day Holiday -- Belize
St. Constantine's Day (Patron of Greece)
St. Eugene de Mazenod's Day (Patron of disfunctional families)
St. Helen's Day (Patron of Greece)
Victoria Day -- Canada
World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development -- UN
Birthdays Today:
Sarah Ramos, 1991
Ashlie Brillault, 1987
Lisa Edelstein, 1966
Mr. T, 1952
Peggy Cass, 1924
Raymond Burr, 1917
Dennis Day, 1917
Harold Robbins, 1916
Sister Maria Innocentia Hummel, 1909
Fats Waller, 1904
Armand Hammer, 1898
Alexander Pope, 1688
Today in History:
Syracuse, Italy is captured by the Muslim sultan of Sicily, 878
The island of Saint Helena is discovered by the Portuguese navigator João da Nova, 1502
The nobility elect John Sobieski King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, 1674
The Order of St. Alexander Nevsky is instituted in Russia by the empress Catherine I; it would later be discontinued and then reinstated by the Soviet government in 1942 as the Order of Alexander Nevsky, 1725
Mary Campbell is abducted from her home in Pennsylvania by Lenape during the French and Indian War, 1758
Slavery is abolished in Colombia, South America, 1851
Russia declares an end to the Russian-Circassian War and many Circassians are forced into exile, 1864
French troops invade the Paris Commune and engage its residents in street fighting, 1871
The American Red Cross is established by Clara Barton, 1881
The Manchester Ship Canal in England is officially opened by Queen Victoria, 1894
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) is founded in Paris, 1904
Charles Lindbergh touches down at Le Bourget Field in Paris, completing the world's first solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean, 1927
Bad weather forces Amelia Earhart to land in a pasture in Derry, Northern Ireland, and she thereby becomes the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean, 1932
Oskaloosa, Iowa, becomes the first municipality in the United States to fingerprint all of its citizens, 1934
A Soviet station becomes the first scientific research settlement to operate on the drift ice of the Arctic Ocean, 1937
The National War Memorial in Canada is unveiled by King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in Ottawa, 1939
Physicist Louis Slotin is fatally irradiated in a criticality incident during an experiment with the Demon core at Los Alamos National Laboratory, 1946
The opening of the Ninth Street Show, otherwise known as the 9th Street Art Exhibition – a gathering of a number of notable artists, and the stepping-out of the post war New York avant-garde, collectively know as the New York School, 1951
Michelangelo's Pietà in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome is damaged by a vandal, 1972
Democratic Republic of Yemen and North Yemen agree to a unity, merging into Republic of Yemen, 1990
The Ethiopian Civil War ends, 1991
Suharto, Indonesian president of 32 years, resigns, 1998
The clipper Cutty Sark is badly damaged by fire in London, England, 2007
JAXA, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, launches the solar-sail spacecraft IKAROS aboard an H-IIA rocket, 2010
Well, Saturday had plans.
Plans got hijacked again.
Yes, the van is still making noise, but since the brakes (that i had been on notice would be needed around now anyway) are fixed, it has to be transmission. That's a worry for when we get rich.
Meanwhile, it ended up with lots of boiling water. No, no babies being born, and there was never a real need to boil that much water anyway for a baby being born. Really i have no clue where that idea originated, but someday i'll have to look it up.
No, since the toilet troubles a little while back, all of the kids were using our slightly larger loo for what we will term "heavy duty" use.
Let me digress for a moment with an explanation of something. Sweetie is 6'2" and weighs over 200lbs. He has stopped up our toilet exactly once in the 18 years we have lived here. #2 Son, whose baby diapers rivaled those of adults in both content and stench (so says my mother, who claims they were worse than the ones she had to change in the geriatric ward during nursing school), has done it twice in the 13 years he has been potty trained.
Miss Lizzie has now managed it twice in the few months she has lived here. Don't ask me how, and there is no way to put it delicately or politely. She has been asked by others in the past to not use their plumbing because of this, and now i understand why. Yes, i am accusing the lady of being less than a delicate flower in her internal workings.
Saturday got spent with Dawn and boiling water, over and over. By the time i was done, it was time to bring the kittens back from adoption day, then cook dinner. No, no adoptions this weekend, but that's okay.
In better news, the kittens are all getting over their own internal difficulties. Ponazeril doesn't do a thing, Albon has proven to be the key. Ugly, stinky, yellow, around since the dawn of time, messy as all get out, takes forever, and takes a ton of it, but it actually works, and that's what counts.
You know your name is mommy when your whole life is about plumbing, house and personal. After all, when mommy is tired, everyone gets a nap. When mommy is cold, everyone needs a sweater. When mommy is irregular...never mind.
Enjoy your Sunday, may it be restful
Today is
Annular Solar Eclipse -- visible in parts of Asia, the Pacific, and North America; do not look at it without special lenses!
Be a Millionaire Day - now we all can go for that
Dainty-Four Remembrance Day -- Fairy Calendar
Day of Remembrance -- Cambodia
Eliza Doolittle Day* -- in honor of Shaw, to encourage proper use of language
Emancipation Day -- Florida, US
European Maritime Day -- European Council
Festival of Mjollnir -- Ancient Norse Calendar (feast of Thor's Hammer, date approximate)
Grudie Rosnoe -- Slavic Pagan Calendar (ten days of sacrifices to Rod for rain and good harvests)
Independence Day -- East Timor
Indonesian National Awakening Day -- Indonesia
Mifune Matsuri -- Kurumazaki Shrine, Kyoto, Japan (Boat Festival, with over 20 different kinds of traditional Japanese performing arts and costumes of the Heian Period)
National Day -- Cameroon
National Quiche Lorraine Day
Pick Strawberries Day
Shakyamuni Buddha Day -- Tibetan Buddhists (day to meditate on Buddha's teaching and strive to fulfill the Precepts)
St Bernadine of Siena's Day (Patron of publicity agents, advertising, communications, he city of Carpi (Italy), and the diocese of San Bernardino, California; against compulsive gambling, respiratory problems and hoarseness of the throat)
Stepmother's Day -- the too often overlooked and unsung heroines of families; if you have one, and she has been there for you, thank her today
Upper Canada Village -- Morrisburg, ON, Canada (through early October, various programs that let visitors and students enter the world of the 1860s)
World Metrology Day / Weights and Measures Day
Yom Yerushalayim -- Israel (Jerusalem Day)
*"One evening the King will say, "Oh, Liza, old thing,
I want all of England your praises to sing,
Next week on the twentieth of May,
I proclaim Liza Doolittle Day."
Birthdays Today:
Tony Stewart, 1971
Bronson Pinchot, 1959
David Paterson, 1954
Cher, 1946
Joe Cocker, 1944
Stan Mikita, 1940
Anthony Zerbe, 1936
George Gobel, 1919
Jimmy Stewart, 1908
William Fargo, 1818
John Stuart Mill, 1806
Honore de Balzac, 1799
Dolly Madison, 1768
Today in History:
The first Ecumenical Council in the Christian Church, the Council of Nicea, opens, 325
An earthquake kills about 300,000 people in Syria and Antiochia, 526
John Cabot sets sail from Bristol, England, on his ship Matthew looking for a route to the west, 1497
Cartographer Abraham Ortelius issues the first modern atlas, 1570
Shakespeare's Sonnets are first published in London, 1609
Napoleon Bonaparte reinstates slavery in the French colonies, revoking its abolition in the French Revolution, 1802
Otto is named the first modern king of Greece, 1835
HMS Erebus and HMS Terror with 134 men under John Franklin sail from the River Thames in England, beginning a disastrous expedition to find the Northwest Passage in which all hands are lost, 1845
U.S. President Abraham Lincoln signs the Homestead Act into law, 1862
Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis receive a U.S. patent for blue jeans with copper rivets, 1873
The Triple Alliance between Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy is formed, 1882
Krakatoa begins to erupt (the volcano's final and most notable explosion will occur on August 26), 1883
The first public display of Thomas Edison's prototype kinetoscope, 1891
Cuba gains independence from the United States, 1902
The Saturday Evening Post publishes its first cover with a Norman Rockwell painting ("Boy with Baby Carriage"), 1916
Montreal, Quebec radio station XWA broadcasts the first regularly scheduled radio programming in North America, 1920
By the Treaty of Jedda, the United Kingdom recognizes the sovereignty of King Ibn Saud in the Kingdoms of Hejaz and Nejd, which later merge to become the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 1927
At 07:52 Charles Lindbergh takes off from Roosevelt Field in Long Island, New York, on the world's first solo non-stop flight across the Atlantic Ocean, 1927
Amelia Earhart takes off from Newfoundland to begin the world's first solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean by a female pilot, 1932
In a referendum in Quebec, the population rejects by a 60% vote the proposal from its government to move towards independence from Canada, 1980
First publications of the discovery of the HIV virus that causes AIDS in the journal Science by Luc Montagnier and Robert Gallo individually, 1983
The Chinese authorities declare martial law in the face of pro-democracy demonstrations, setting the scene for the Tiananmen Square massacre, 1989
In a second referendum in Quebec, the population rejects by a slight majority the proposal from its government to move towards independence from Canada, 1995
The independence of East Timor is recognized by Portugal, formally ending 23 years of Indonesian rule and 3 years of provisional UN administration (Portugal itself is the former colonizer of East Timor until 1976), 2002
