Saturday, October 20, 2012

Well, i would rant, but...

...it wouldn't do any good at all.

Yesterday, thank heaven, the kids didn't have school because it was the second day of parent/teacher conferences for the first quarter.  My conference had been the first day; again, i am grateful.

The interstate got shut down for the third time in just a couple of months.  Two big rigs hit each other on the other side of the river late Thursday night.  One was carrying drilling mud, whatever that is, which caught fire (and no, i don't know how mud can burn).

They had to divert all traffic coming from that direction and the result, of course, is a gridlock nightmare all over the city.

Since, i hadn't heard about it, at one point i started to go get Little Girl's glasses, but we decided to turn back and wait.

That's when i turned on the radio that gives traffic updates and found out.

Side rant -- the glasses place didn't call me and tell me the glasses were in, i had to call them.  Bad Form.

It is expected to take them until tonight, or maybe early tomorrow morning, to clean up the whole thing and get the interstate fully open again.

This on a day when there was extra traffic heading that direction because many locals were using Friday to drive west to go see the local football team play out of state.

We can rant all day about "the need for a major route around the city so people heading west don't even have to drive through" until the cows come home, it's not gonna happen.

That means we can expect that every accident on the interstate that involves injuries or rigs is going to gridlock the whole city for hours if not days.

There has to be a better way, but danged if i can find it.

Meanwhile, all it does is make me want to become a hermit.


Today is:

Adai Caddo Indian Nation Pow Wow -- Robeline, LA, US

Autumn Historic Folklife Festival -- Hannibal, MO, US (Tom Sawyer's hometown celebrates the heritage and traditions of the 1800s; through tomorrow)

Birth of the Bab -- Baha'i

Bridge Day -- New River Gorge Bridge, Fayetteville, WV, US (world's biggest extreme sports event)

Deutsch Country Days -- Marthasville, MO, US (authentic recreation of early German life in Missouri; through tomorrow)

Egremont Crab-Apple Fair -- Egremont, Cumbria, England (dating back to the 13th century, the most fun part is the gurning [face making] contest)

Fall Astronomy Day -- International

Feast of Agios Gerasimos -- Kefalonia, Greece (celebration of the patron saint of this Ionian island, with religious services followed by dancing and feasting)

Feast of No Excuse For A Feast Day -- internet generated, if you have no other excuse to celebrate something today, use this one

Festival of Ebisu -- Japan (the laughing god, who is the only one available this month, as the 8 million other gods of the pantheon gather at the Grand Shrine of Izumo; traditionally on 20th day of 10th month of the lunisolar calendar)

Information Overload Awareness Day -- we all get bombarded, take stock of how it affects you


Installation of Scriptures as Guru Granth -- Sikh

International Juan Valdez Appreciation Day -- internet generated, yet as we sip our morning wake up brew, let's remember the hardy souls who pick the beans for us!

Mashujaa Day -- Kenya (National Day/Kenyatta Day)

Miss American Rose Day -- with online only pageants devoted to high achievement and community service for girls and women of all ages, Miss American Rose suggests treating all women in your life like beautiful roses and performing community service with them

Monster Mash Day -- Bogue Falaya Park, Covington, LA, US (annual fundraiser for the St. Tammany Parish Hospital Parenting Center, with a day of fun for everyone)

National Brandied Fruit Day

Old Farmers Day -- Loranger, LA, US (through tomorrow; learn how farmers used to live)

Quincy Preserves Fall Architectural Tour -- Quincy, IL, US

Rattlesnake Festival and Gopher Races -- San Antonio, TX, US (wild animal fun, Texas style; through tomorrow)

Revolution Day -- Guatemala

Saint Mary's County Oyster Festival -- Leonardtown, MD, US (oysters served every style; through tomorrow)

Seeking of King Look Under Your Mattress -- Fairy Calendar

St. Acca's Day (Patron of learning)

Sweetest Day -- begun by Herbert Birch Kingston, a candy company employee who decided it would be wonderful to distribute candy to the sick, shut-ins and orphans in Cleveland, OH; today is the day to do something for someone that makes him/her say, "Oh, that is so sweet!"

Woolly Worm Festival -- Banner Elk, NC, US (woolly bear caterpillars race up 3-ft pieces of string, winner gets to predict the severity of the upcoming winter; through tomorrow)

World Osteoporosis Day -- International Osteoporosis Foundation



Anniversaries Today:

Aristotle Onassis marries Jacqueline Kennedy, 1968


Birthdays Today:

Dann Gillen, 1967
Viggo Mortensen, 1958
Danny Boyle, 1956
Tom Petty, 1950
Jery Orback, 1935
Mickey Mantle, 1931
Joyce Brothers
Art Buchwald, 1925
Fayard Nicholas, 1914
Bela Lugosi, 1882
Charles Ives, 1874
Arthur Rimbaud, 1854
Christopher Wren, 1632


Today in History:

The first Crusaders arrive at Antioch, 1097
The city of Nuestra Senora de La Paz (Our Lady of Peace), Bolivia, is founded, 1548
Battle of Sekigahara sets Tokugawa clan as Japan's Shoguns, 1600
Maria Theresa of Habsburg becomes ruler of Austria, Hungary, and Bohemia, 1740
Patent of Toleration, providing limited freedom of worship, is approved in Habsburg Monarchy, 1781
US Senate ratifies the Louisiana Purchase, 1803
The U.S. and U.K. sign the Convention of 1818, which, among other things settles the U.S. - Canada border at the 49th parallel for most of its length, 1818
First Edition of London Sunday Times, 1822
Lincoln formally establishes Thanksgiving as a national holiday in the US, on the 4th Thursday of November each year, 1864
P.T. Barnum's Hippodrome featuring "The Greatest Show on Earth" opens in NYC, 1873
The hull of the RMS Olympic, sister-ship to the ill-fated RMS Titanic, is launched, 1910
The first Negro League World Series is held, the KC Monarchs shut out the Hilldales, 5-0, 1924
United States of America and Pakistan establish diplomatic relations for the first time, 1947
The Nepal Stock Exchange collapses, 1971
The Sydney Opera House opens, 1973
BM-PC DOS Version 2.1 released, 1983
US accuses Microsoft of violating law by forcing IE browser on computers, 1997
European astronomers announce the discovery of 32 extrasolar planets, 2009
Astronomers announce that galaxy UDFy-38135539 is the most distant object observed from Earth, around 30 billion light-years, 2010
Muammar Gaddafi, and his son Mutassim Gaddafi are killed shortly after the Battle of Sirte, 2011

4 comments:

  1. Some versions of drilling fluid (a.k.a. mud) are petroleum -based. You may not sleep easier knowing that. It's too bad there isn't a proper alternate route for you, but I suppose it costs too much.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Leah, cost is only a small part of it. The rest of it is that the people who need it most yell for it, but will not allow it if it runs through their area. Then, too, every time money is set aside to "study" the problem, it ends up in someone's pocket with no appreciable progress on the matter at hand.

    Thanks for the explanation!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Don't become a hermit, at least not with your blogger friends.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Stephen, i'd be a hermit with internet as my only connection to the outside world.;)

    ReplyDelete

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