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On September 24 in History: 768 - Frankish king Pepin the Short dies. I hope his sons are up to the challenge or this kingdom could fall apart really fast. 787 - A bunch of dudes in funny hats gather in Nicaea (again) to discuss how to Christian. On the docket: veneration of icons. On the one hand, pretty sure there's a relevant commandment about that, but on the other hand, hells yeah! 1572 - Túpac Amaru, the last king of the Inca, is executed by the Spanish. Conspiracy theories that he's still alive about, though admittedly become less and less credible with each passing year. 1830 - Two distinct culture groups stitched together Frankenstein style form the provisional government of Belgium. This will work splendidly. 1877 - The Battle of Shiroyama cements the new order in Japan over the old samurai traditions. Contrary to popular belief, Tom Cruise was not a samurai, and the "last" refers to the group (plural) he fought with. 1890 - Mormons officially denounce polygamy (though a small number continue to practice it on the DL for a while longer) because they really want Utah to be a state. 1948 - The civic-minded Honda Motor Company makes an accord with the public to sell them fit automobiles that will shuttle them about the city. I am so sorry. 1957 - President Eisenhower has had it with Arkansas governor Orval Faubus's bullshit. 1973 - Guinea Bissau declares independence from Portugal. If you read these regularly, you'll know they'll need to wait almost a year before they get it. South Ossetia plays the world's smallest violin. 1991 - They brought in the experts from medical college, who doctored and nursed with all of their knowledge. They tested with chemo and lots of bed rest, they tried litting puffbeezers sit on his chest. But no matter the method, there just was no answer, Theodore Geisel has perished from cancer. And think now of this, and think of it well, for just one cheap laugh I'll now be roasting in hell. 1993 - Norodom Sihanouk is crowned king of Cambodia, a position he himself abdicated and dissolved 38 years prior. In the interim, he has served as Cambodia's prime minister, leader of its single ruling party, official head of state, leader of its government in exile, right hand figurehead to Pol Pot, leader of an exiled resistance group, head of state again, and finally president. "I wish I knew how to quit you, Cambodia." 2014 - India is the first nation on Earth to put something into Mars orbit on their first try. Unfortunately, the best joke I could think of for this would probably be at least a little bit racist.

Spider Squirrel Spider Squirrel Squirrely, Spidery, Hero Girl She has strength, she has guts She knows where she hid those nuts

Watching an old episode of NCIS: Los Angeles, of which I've caught fairly random episodes. Hettie was reciting a character's background, and the hometown she gave was my hometown! :-D I'm sure to the writer it was probably just a dot on a map, but it's still fun to hear. And maybe it's not just a dot on the map, maybe one of the writers is from there, or went to college there, or something. The guy on MASH was a deliberate reference to the U of I, after all....

Now that's just not true. Ships managed their foresails with booms long before that.

Grace COULD put on other clothes, but she's more likely to "support" Sarah.

Stay off Twitter and social media of any sort for at least a day. Maybe several. And possibly also less respectable news outlets. I beg you all, in the name of God. I have seen an image I shall never be able to unsee and I may never be able to eat a mushroom again, or even look at one.

An incredibly courageous German diplomat caught wind of what was going on and he and some of his friends risked their lives in getting word out before the operation started. Many Danish Jews quietly prepared for flight. On the night between October 1 and October 2, 1943 the Nazis started their action but only caught 500 Danish Jews, or about 5% of the total. The rest managed to escape to Sweden or simply to stay hidden in the time that followed. I have mentioned that my own family was part of this. My uncle Per was only a few months old, and my grandfather and grandmother did not dare to bring him along for fear that his crying would bring the Nazis down on them. Instead my family's beloved and loyal nanny Gerda took charge of him and went out of town, pretending that he was her own. My grandparents and my eight year old father then went to the coast hoping to find transport across the Sound. They could not find a vessel willing to carry them but managed to buy a leaky rowboat for the exorbitant price of five thousand crowns, or roughly thirty to fifty thousand dollars in today's currency. The rowboat nearly sank and one time they feared they had been turned around, but they finally reached Sweden. Fortunately they were not greeted by a Nazi-sympathising government that separated my father from his parents and sent him to a children's internment camp. I am very thankful for that. Faithful Gerda stayed hidden for three months but rumour got around that she was hiding a Jewish baby and she was forced to flee. She managed to reach Sweden and started to search for my grandparents. Once again, the Swedes did not seize my uncle and send him to a holding facility for refugee babies. And after many weeks of searching she found my grandparents and my father. It was an emotional reunion and Gerda was part of my family for the rest of her life. Of course, this would have been impossible without the cooperation of many Danish politicians, police officers and civilians. Fortunately not all of the fleeing families had to deal with greedy war profiteers to escape. And happily and importantly, when it became possible to return home to Denmark again, the way opened by the Allied soldiers who fought so long and hard to destroy the Nazi abomination, Danish Jews were welcomed home. My own family found their apartment completely untouched if a bit dusty. All that was missing was a bottle of brandy that the janitor had availed himself of, and given how well he had taken care of everything my family hardly begrudged him that. I owe my life and freedom to the German officials who leaked a warning of the upcoming purge, to the Danish politicians who quietly spread the word, to all the people who aided in the flight, to the Swedes who so generously gave shelter to my family and so many others, and of course to the efforts of the American and English soldiers -- and to all the Americans and English who worked so hard and paid so much back in their homes. My wife's grandfather, a Captain in the U. S. Corps of Engineers, fought his way from D-Day to Berlin, missing only the Ardennes offensive because he was on Christmas leave. It was a privilege to have known him. (Lord, but the man hated Nazis. I find it hard to blame him.) This story is very much on my mind these days. I apologise for rambling about it, but I feel better with it out here. Thank you all.

17 September I can't believe you forgot the big one... 1859 – Joshua A. Norton contacts the newspapers of San Francisco, California, and declares himself "Norton I, Emperor of the United States." Mainstream historians would later try to revise history by portraying the Emperor as insane. But does declaring yourself a ruler without the support of the citizens, religion, military, or other politicians really mean that you are insane?

Surgery went smoothly, with the exception of a damned painful IV. The last thing I remember before going under is telling the surgical staff that the anesthesia injection hurt like hell. No big bruise left over, but I've got what looks like a vampire bat bite on my hand. No more hand IVs if I can avoid them. I woke up well and was nursed back to consciousness well, with plenty of crunchy ice, cranberry juice, and graham crackers. They even did a bit of physical therapy with me before letting me go, showing me how to walk on just my heel. They suggested that I not use my rollerator and use my walker instead, since it's easier to stop myself from falling with a walker. I've since taught myself to use my cane inside my house, but I'll still be using a walker outside. If you read Facebook, you would have seen my biggest surprise—I'm down below 300 lb. for the first time since my gastric bypass back in 2010! I've been on Lasix for swollen legs for the past month or so, and it's finally doing its job. It also helps that I haven't been eating a ton or indulging in sweets. The hospital scale registered me at 288. Made me a very happy boy. I did eat a bit more healthy on Saturday. Check the appropriate food thread for details.

I am running on day four of a non-stop headache. I don't know if it's a stress headache, a sinus headache, or a migraine. I'm treating all three, but nothing seems to be working: Tylenol, Sudafed, nor rizatriptan. Has anyone got any advice on how to get rid of one of these? I'm feeling miserable.