This day’s name is Saturday, August 12, 2023. Have you decided what you are going to think about today? Probably not. It’s a better question is “what have you decided not to think about today?” I plan to avoid thinking about politics and religion. Probably not going to be totally successful but I’m trying. August 12th is Baseball Fans Day, International Youth Day, Julienne Fries Day, Middle Child Day, National Bowling Day, National Garage Sale Day, Truck Driver Day, and World Elephant Day. It’s also Elvis Week (Aug. 10-16). On this day in 1099 the last battle of the 1st Crusade was fought when the crusaders numbering around 13,000 pulled a surprise attack at dawn on the Muslem army of around 20,000. The crusaders won and killed an estimated 12,700 of the Muslim soldiers after most of them had surrendered. The battle lasted 1 hour. On this day in 1480 at the Battle of Otranto, Ottoman troops beheaded 800 Christians for refusing to convert to Islam. Yet another example of “if you don’t believe in my God, I will kill you” philosophy. This is the day in 1851 that Isaac Singer patented the sewing machine. This is the day in 1908 that the first Model T car was built. On this day in 1955 President Eisenhower raised the minimum wage from 75 cents to $1 per hour. Today’s sage advice comes from the author Ian Fleming who said, “Worry is a dividend paid to disaster before it is due.” “Never say ‘no’ to adventure.” “Hope makes a good breakfast. Eat plenty of it.” “A women can put up with almost anything; anything but indifference.” I’ll end with “A medium Vodka dry Martini – with a slice of lemon peel. Shaken and not stirred.” Sounds good to me. Abide.
