My knee, 5 days later. At least it’s got a bunch of pretty colors.
1500 - Vicente Yáñez Pinzón discovered Brazil.
1736 - Stanislaus I formally abdicated as King of Poland.
1784 - In a letter to his daughter, Benjamin Franklin expressed unhappiness over the eagle as the symbol of America. He wanted the symbol to be the turkey.
1788 - The first European settlers in Australia, led by Captain Arthur Phillip, landed in what became known as Sydney. The group had first settled at Botany Bay eight days before. This day is celebrated as Australia Day.
1802 - The U.S. Congress passed an act calling for a library to be established within the U.S. Capitol.
1827 - Peru seceded from Colombia in protest against Simón Bolívar’s alleged tyranny.
1837 - Michigan became the 26th state to join the United States.
1841 - Britain formally occupied Hong Kong, which the Chinese had ceded to the British.
1861 - In the U.S., Louisiana seceded from the Union.
1870 - The state of Virgina rejoined the Union.
1875 - George F. Green patented the electric dental drill for sawing, filing, dressing and polishing teeth.
1905 - The Cullinan diamond, at 3,106.75 carats, was found by Captain Wells at the Premier Mine, near Pretoria, South Africa.
1911 - Inventor Glenn H. Curtiss flew the first successful seaplane.
1934 - The Apollo Theatre opened in New York City.
1939 - In the Spanish Civil War, Franco’s forces, with Italian aid, took Barcelona.
1942 - The first American expeditionary force to go to Europe during World War II went ashore in Northern Ireland.
1947 - “The Greatest Story Ever Told” was first heard on ABC radio.
1950 - India officially proclaimed itself a republic as Rajendra Prasad took the oath of office as president.
1950 - The American Associated Insurance Companies, of St. Louis, MO, issued the first baby sitter’s insurance policy.
1959 - “Alcoa Presents” debuted on ABC-TV. The show would later be renamed “One Step Beyond”.
1961 - U.S. President John F. Kennedy appointed Dr. Janet G. Travell as the first woman to be the “personal physician to the President”.
1962 - The U.S. launched Ranger 3 to land scientific instruments on the moon. The probe missed its target by about 22,000 miles.
1965 - Hindi was made the official language of India.
1969 - California was declared a disaster area two days of flooding and mudslides.
1972 - In Hermsdorf, Czechoslovakia, a JAT Yugoslav Airlines flight crashed after the detonation of a bomb in the forward cargo hold killing 27 people. The bomb was believed to have been placed on the plane by a Croatian extremist group. Vesna Vulovic, a stewardess, survived after falling 33,000 feet in the tail section. She broke both legs and became paralyzed from the waist down.
1979 - The ‘Gizmo’ guitar synthesizer was first demonstrated.
1984 - CBS television debuted Mickey Spillane’s “Mike Hammer.”
1992 - Russian president Boris Yeltsin announced that his country would stop targeting U.S. cities with nuclear weapons.
1993 - Former Czechoslovak President Vaclav Havel was elected president of the new Czech Republic.
1994 - In Sydney, Australia, a young man lunged at and fired two blank shots at Britain’s Prince Charles.
1996 - U.S. First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton testified before a grand jury concerning the Whitewater probe.
1998 - U.S. President Clinton denied having an affair with a former White House intern, saying “I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky.”
1999 - Saddam Hussein vowed revenge against the U.S. in response to air-strikes that reportedly killed civilians. The strikes were U.S. planes defending themselves against anti-aircraft fire.
1999 - Gary Busey was released from jail after being arrested the night before for investigation of misdemeanor spousal abuse. Tiana Busey had no visible injuries.
2001 - Near Ciudad Boliva, Venezuela, twenty four people were killed when a 50-year-old DC-3 crashed.
2009 - The first trial at the International Criminal Court was held. Former Union of Congolese Patriots leader Thomas Lubanga was accused of training child soldiers to kill, pillage, and rape.
2009 - The Icelandic government and banking system collapsed. Prime Minister Geir Haarde resigned.
2010 - It was announced that James Cameron’s movie “Avatar” had become the highest-grossing film worldwide. At the time it was the second highest-grossing film in the United States.
Good lord! You really did do a number on yourself didn’t you? I don’t think I’d be able to walk without crutches if I had one that. I’ve never been able to get the hang of a cane. After I had my back surgery it helped to keep me from falling over when my 5 minute walks tuckered me out to the point of exhaustion but it never did a bit of good helping me walk.
Welp, I’m taking a mental health day today. I’ve been feeling mildly irked at school ever since the first day last week and I haven’t been able to figure out why. I mean, sure, all my classmates are young and thin and seem to know each other and I’m 32 and fat and lonely but that was just mildly off-putting. All the girls wearing leggings and boots is kind of Twilight Zoneish though.
Anyway, last night I had a series of dreams that made me realize WHY I’m irked at school and when I woke up I was seriously pissed and couldn’t bring myself to go in. I don’t have to be back until Tuesday so I have many days to figure out how to deal with my irritation.
Basically what this boils down to is that with the exception of Spanish, Biology, and Speech classes, I earned my Associates degree by sitting at home, reading my books (in other words - teaching myself) and taking tests and doing discussions online. I am not used to sitting in a classroom, being taught by a professor. I am used to teaching myself and I’m having a damn hard time figuring how to gain anything useful from going to classes. If I don’t read the books first, I have no clue what the professor is talking about and nothing makes sense. So, I read the books first and then spend the entire lecture wondering if the professor is going to say something I didn’t just read!!
Obviously this is a stupid problem in the grand scheme of things but it’s driving me crazy and it’s pissing me off. There MUST be some benefit to sitting in lectures.
On the flip side, I love my chem lab and my astronomy lab. The chem discussion is ok. I enjoy the stuff I’m learning and the books are all actually interesting (even the unimportant astronomy book). Hell, even the Illiad started picking up a tad. I’m still happy to be in school.
UGH!!! LECTURES!!!
So, I’m spending the day at home with my adorable snugglie puppies (who will always be puppies even though they’re 2, 2, and 1). I’m not gonna do any school work today. I’m gonna relax, watch a couple movies, play castleville on facebook, chat with my sister on IM, and go to the gym with Sweetie when he gets out of work (not OUR gym - it doesn’t open 'til the 6th - the one in Auburn though will let us in. ) OUR gym has been posting pictures on facebook though and I’m getting even more excited! It looks awesome in there! They’re making such great use of the space that even with the equipment in it, it still looks 2x bigger than it did when it was a card shop. The machines are all state of the art and brand new. 11.5 more days 'til it opens.
On this day in history, in 1986, Mr. Taters and I were married. It also happened to be the same day the Superbowl was on.
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TATERSES!!!
On this day in 1986 I was 6 years old had chicken pox after just recovering from a fractured skull. January 1986 was not a good month for me.
Happy Tater-versary!
You want to know what I did during lectures? Either surfed the web or wrote. And no, the writing was not anything related to the lecture. (They were strange stories that one day I should give an actual plot to.)
I can’t pay attention to lectures. After about ten minutes it’s just noise. It’s one of the reasons I was an art major (the other being no textbooks!)
I can’t do crutches very well, if I could, they’d probably be better. In reality, all the cane really does for me is to support me when my knee starts to give out.
I am so not looking forward to walking today, especially slowly and in the the rain. I wish I could take a mental health day, too.
Really? I consider myself lucky that I haven’t had to take any art classes. Sweetie did though and he said that they had the most expensive textbooks of any of his classes.
Well it depends on the class. Art History? Oh yes, very expensive. Any sort of class where you’re making things? You probably won’t need it (they may have one anyway and then you never use it). The usual cost is materials - I got around that by doing graphic design. Once you buy a thumb drive you’re good.
Happy Anniversary, Mr. and Mrs. Taters!
Happy Taterversary!
In other news, I do have the irkplace plague. My hyperactive immune system has been placed on notice.
Happy Tater-versery!
And, Scones!, geeze, I think you stole my award for purplest appendage ever. Good grief, lady, if you haven’t got any arnica gel, go get some. It makes the bruises heal faster. Or, at least the color fade more quickly, so you stop freaking us out.
Things I’ve learned:
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the puppy is finally leaving puppyhood and becoming an adult dog. How do I know this? Because as it’s warmed up, her fetch period (the amount of time spent monomaniacally chasing the ball until she tires out) has dropped from an average of 45 minutes to 20. She was so pooped when we stopped today, I had to carry her to the car. It’s a good thing Lil Miss Rowdy is only nine pounds.
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Dad’s apparently in a lot of pain and is only now telling Mom about it. (He won’t tell me, because I’m The Daughter and have no magical powers to make things better.) Aside from an infected toe (because he wouldn’t go back to the podiatrist and have his toenails trimmed, so one grew all the way around and cut into his toe), he now also has some very bad back pain. Actually, it’s more sacrum/hip pain. Mom and I exchanged A Look on learning this. Back pain for him has always been muscular, but it doesn’t respond to muscle relaxants, heat, or anti-inflammatories. This is different. It could be osteoarthritis. It could be osteopoenia-related pathological vertebral fractures. It could be . . . something worse. (Also, it could be the perfect excuse to get him to “temporarily” give up driving. What is it about an ill wind?) He’s got a doctor’s appointment on Monday. Mom will demand tests, possibly an x-ray, and if Dad’s really, really unlucky, a prostate exam.
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home contractors with fancy advertising suck. They cold call. They do hard sells. They don’t listen to what we want. They try to panic us into signing up for stuff that isn’t even on our list of “Get Done”. The last one, today, tried to tell us that the lichen on the side of the house where the sun don’t shine was actually black mold and a health hazard to everyone inside the house. Dude, it’s green. It’s lichen. It’s on the outside of the stucco, it can be cleaned off with diluted bleach, and you’ve been harping on how your company does great coatings and sealings to prevent this sort of thing when we’re asking about getting the disintegrating porch roof removed and replacing it with an arbor. FOCUS.
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I apparently am constitutionally incapable of putting clean clothes away. My dirty clothes are neatly contained in their hamper. My bed is made. My clean clothes are piled on the floor, awaiting disposition, and I get irate every time I look at them. Do I do something about this? No. sigh
And, I just got to play SITH PHOUKA!
I overheard my mom telling the contractor three times that she was not signing anything today, that she needed to consult two more contractors at least, she needed to do more research, and the contractor started pushing financing options blah blah blah.
I stood behind her, listened to the next exchange and said in my best Angry Teacher Voice: “The answer is: SHE IS NOT SIGNING ANYTHING TODAY.” I wish I could have timed it. I’m pretty sure he was packed up and out the door in less than 60 seconds.
That was so much fun. Hee hee hee.
Hee Roo! Ain’t it fun usin’ your mean voice!
StickyBuns yikes! Then again it is all kinds of purty colors. Maybe some glitter? 
HAPPY TATERVERSARY!!!
I got sorta kinda headhunted today. I think. Nah. I’m pretty sure. I got a call from the honcho down to the local Jawja Department of Labor (DOL) today. Seems sometime back I put in an app to head up the Experience Works program. I had forgotten all about that bein’ as that sometime back was around three years ago. Anywho, she wanted to talk so I went down there after irk and talked. Intrigued I am. Pay’s not awful (better than present irk) but I would have to travel around the area a bunch which I don’t really mind as I kinda like that. Also, I could irk from home a lot of days bein’ as I’d have an irk laptop, phone and stuff. This intrigues me a lot. So, Ima pursue stuff. I need to get a MVR from the Jawja Department of Driver Services (why, no, callin’ it the DMV like most states do just would not do in Jawja :D). Also a background check needs to happen. Ain’t worried about either of those. OYKW says go for it cause it sounds like my kinda job dropped in my lap. True that. I guess.
Weird huh? She wants to move fast. Like a couple of weeks fast. Wow!
Also, poke chops for dindin were good.
Thank you all for the anniversary wishes.
That sounds like a pretty awesome opportunity, Swampy. I hope it all works out.
I came home to a bouquet of roses from the hubby. I now need to prepare dinner. We’re not celebrating tonight really since we’re heading off to a wedding this weekend. The castle we will be staying in is the second most haunted place in Washington state. Sounds intriguing…
Owwwww! It hurts to look at your knee. Hope it heals soon.
Hee. Sounds like fun, roo. Hope the Dad situation isn’t anything major.
Happy Anniversary, Mr. and Mrs Taters!
Sounds like a neat opportunity, swampy!
Yeah, lectures aren’t the most effective learning tool ever, are they? There are a few professors who are really effective lecturers, but for the most part, everyone would do better to read a bunch of stuff or watch videos and then just have the opportunity to ask questions. If the prof is sticking really close to the textbook, you can probably get away with what ShinyCat said, but sometimes they’re actually adding detail to what’s in the book or emphasizing specific parts of the book. I’d just relax and take time to get used to the lectures. Is there an adviser or TA or more experienced student you could talk to to get some coping strategies? (Surely you’re not the only older student on campus.) Good luck in any case!
Tired after a long, stressful day at work today. Just lots going on and lots of juggling to do.
Off to knit for a while and watch some TV online.
Hugs all.
GT
Dayum, that’s as bad as anything VWife has done in the past 6 years.
I’m definitely not the only old student on campus but I’m having trouble finding the others. Both my lab TA’s seem really nice so I’m thinking they will be good to talk to. I also want to schedule an appointment with my adviser. I met him at an open house in the fall and he totally understood me and my goals. Now, in addition to my irritation with lectures I’m experiencing a mid-education-crisis. I’m not sure that I want to put the money, time, and horrible commute into the graduate program I had planned on and I have no idea what other options there are for me.
I think I’m gonna be ok. I’m just glad that my college melt down happened so soon in the semester because now it’s out of the way and I can move on to greener pastures.
We went to the Auburn gym today and I am in love with the equipment! I can watch tv or plug my iPod into the machine. If I put a video on the iPod, I can even watch that on the machine while exercising. Of course I forgot my iPod today. I used the elliptical until I felt like dying 5 minutes into the fitness test. Then I did 15 minutes on a recumbent bike and 15 minutes on a regular bike (which had video that looked like I was biking a real course and handlebars so I could maneuver myself along the course). Then I finished up with 15 minutes on the treadmill. Then we found out from Sweetie’s friend (who is a degreed personal trainer) that finishing on the treadmill is a bad idea because it can cause blood clots in the legs. Since he has clotting issues already, this is A BAD THING. So, she told him to start on the treadmill and finish on the bike and he’ll be ok.
On the way home from the gym, I applied for a job! I’ve been thinking about doing it for a while but I have specific needs: pays enough to give me gas money to get to and from school, doesn’t interfere with school, pays little enough to not hurt my financial aid. Well, a local 24 hour gas station is hiring for Friday and Saturday third shift. I love third shift. I hope I get it.
I could try to go back to sleep - or I could give in and just make a pot of coffee. What say you all?