Sunday, July 31, 2011

Couple of Things

One more reason to rethink an eReader -- dropping a regular book in the tub during a long soak is a bit of a bother, but unless you are reading a rare first edition, it's not extremely serious financially. Anything with a battery is not quite so forgiving.

It's not even like your cell phone, which, if you hurriedly take out the battery, dry the contacts, and leave it, open, in a hot car for 24 hours, will be just fine (ask how i know this).

Also, it's very difficult, at least this one is, to just flip through pages quickly and find what you are looking for. The Bible i downloaded, my beloved King James translation, with the Apocrypha, is divided into 43 chapters, and you have to figure out what chapter the book you want to read is in. It won't replace my battered old study Bible.

On another totally different note, Grandma and Grandpa came into town. Grandma wanted to go to Hobby Lobby, as the nearest one to her area is an hour drive away, and that's if the traffic is good. So she and i headed there, while Grandpa, Sweetie, Bigger Girl, #2 Son, and Little Girl went to the sports museum for a couple of hours.

We all met back up and had lunch. #1 Son was supposed to join us, but got called in to open the store instead of close that day. The joys of a real job, but at least they pay him well.


Today is

Always Live Better Than Yesterday Day

Cotton Candy Day

Esala Perahera -- Kandy, Sri Lanka (through Aug.14, festival of Buddha's Tooth, one of Sri Lanka's most elaborate festivals)

Feast of St. Ignatius Loyola -- Spain, Roman Catholic

Hachinohe Sansha Taisai -- Hachinohe City, Japan (one of the most elaborate neputa festivals, through Aug. 4)

Heksenstoet -- Beselare, Belgium (Procession of the Witches)

Heroes' Day -- Malaysia

International Bog Day

Jump for Jellybeans Day

Ka Hae Hawai'i Day -- Hawai'i (State Flag Day)

Lammas Eve / Lughnassad Eve

Lithasblot -- Norse harvest festival with a "blot", or offering, to the gods, celebrated through tomorrow

Loki and Sigyn's Day - Ancient Norse Calendar (aka Devoted Couples Day)

Moby Dick Marathon -- aboard the last US wooden whaler, the Charles W. Morgan, Mystic Seaport, Mystic, CT, US (through tomorrow, from noon to noon, a marathon reading of Moby Dick in honor of Melville's birthday)

Mutt's Day -- because mutt's deserve a day as much as purebreeds do!

National Tree Day -- Australia

Procession of the Penitents -- Veurne, Belgium (passion play dating back to the 15th century)

St. Ignatius of Loyola's Day

St. Germanus' Day

St. Giovanni Colombini's Day

St. Joseph of Arimathea's Day -- Eastern Orthodox Church


Birthdays Today

Eric Lively, 1981
Dean Cain, 1966
J.K. Rowling, 1965
Jim Corr, 1964
Wesley Snipes, 1962
Bill Berry, 1958
Michael Biehn, 1956
Evonne Goolagong, 1951
Barry Van Dyke, 1951
Geraldine Chaplin, 1944
Ted Cassidy, 1932
Curt Gowdy, 1919
Milton Friedman, 1912


Today in History

Mark Antony achieves a minor victory over Octavian's forces, but most of his army subsequently deserts, leading to his suicide, BC30
The oldest recorded eruption of Mt. Fuji, 781
Thessalonica falls to the Arabs, who destroy the city, 904
The Jews are expelled from Spain when the Alhambra Decree takes effect, 1492
On his third voyage to the Western Hemisphere, Christopher Columbus
becomes the first European to discover the island of Trinidad, 1498
Aurangzeb is proclaimed Moghul emperor of India, 1658
The Treaty of Breda ends the Second Anglo-Dutch War, 1667
Daniel Defoe is placed in a pillory for the crime of seditious libel after publishing a politically satirical pamphlet, but is pelted with flowers, 1703
The U.S. Second Continental Congress passes a resolution that the services of Marquis de Lafayette "be accepted, and that, in consideration of his zeal, illustrious family and connexions, he have the rank and commission of major-general of the United States," 1777
First U.S. patent is issued to inventor Samuel Hopkins for a potash process, 1790
Christchurch, New Zealand is chartered as a city, 1856
The first narrow gauge mainline railway in the world opens at Grandchester, Australia, 1865
The radio mystery program The Shadow is aired for the first time, 1930
Archaeologists discover engraved gold and silver plates from King Darius in Persepolis, 1938
First ascent of K2, by an Italian expedition led by Ardito Desio, 1954
At Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts, the first All-Star Game tie in major league baseball history occurs when the game is stopped in the 9th inning because of rain, 1961
The last day of the officially sanctioned rum ration in the Royal Navy, 1970
Apollo 15 astronauts become the first to ride in a lunar rover, 1971
NASA releases the famous Face on Mars photo, 1976
A rare, class F4 tornado rips through Edmonton, Alberta, killing 27 people and causing $330 million in damage, 1987
Georgia joins the United Nations, 1992
Fidel Castro hands over power temporarily to brother Raúl Castro, 2006
Operation Banner, the presence of the British Army in Northern Ireland, and the longest-running British Army operation ever, comes to an end, 2007

2 comments:

  1. Once, on a listserv, I mentioned that drawback about not being able to read it in the bath. It seemed a harmless comment, but it drew forth a storm of questions. Apparently, a sizable portion of the population has never heard of the concept of reading in the bath.
    My sister drove a car over her cell phone. (Without meaning to.) It still worked, though the LCD part was toast.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Merry, i'm always amazed by people who don't read in the tub, but they are myriad.

    Some phones are toast at the first drop, others seem to survive just about everything. Give me one of the latter, i'm going to drop it while juggling groceries and keys and trying to answer it at the same time.

    ReplyDelete

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