Yes, friends, it’s Monday … again … already.  I don’t know why it seems to always come back so quickly, when it takes Saturday forever to come back ‘round.  Still, there is always one bright spot to Mondays and that is getting to see all of you!  Did you have a fun weekend?  Jolly has returned home after his three-day absence, and with a rather sheepish grin on his face … best not to ask him where he was or what he was doing, methinks.  Well, grab a snack and a cuppa and let’s find something to put a Monday morning smile on our face, okay? 

Shoe size WHAT???

A cobbler in Romania has crafted a unique sort of shoe … the social distancing shoe!  That’s right … he was concerned that people weren’t following social distancing rules, so he created a shoe to try to solve the problem …A pair takes around two days to make with 10 square feet of leather and will set you back around $115, or £101.

Now, he claims the shoes are each two-and-a-half feet long, but … looking at them, I don’t think so.  Either way, though, I would trip over them, fall and break my bloomin’ neck, thus catching the coronavirus would be the least of my worries!  I’m not, shall we say, the most graceful creature!  In fact, yesterday I had to wear socks just to wash pillows!

Opportunity of a lifetime …

A Virginia brewery, Devil’s Backbone Brewing Co., announced it is seeking a “Chief Hiking Officer” who would be paid $20,000 to spend five to seven months hiking the Appalachian Trail and drinking beer.  The Lexington, Virginia company is accepting applications from people who “love hiking and beer” to take on the unique job.

The winning applicant will be granted the “Chief Hiking Officer” title and be flown out to the trail head in 2021 for a 2,200-mile hike.  The hiker, who would tackle the trail between May and September 2021, would be outfitted with equipment by the brewery, as well as being treated to “some big ol’ beer parties along the way.”

The application on the company’s website consists of some personal information, proof of social media or blogging savvy, and a video explaining why the applicant should receive the position.

Now, my friend Herb, aka Beekeeper, is a hiking enthusiast and an Appalachian Trail section hiker, so I was sure this would really appeal to him … new hiking gear, a chance to thru-hike his favourite trail, beer, and $20,000!  But no, ‘twould seem he’s lost his sense of adventure, for he merely laughed and informed me that beer and hiking don’t mix!

Not the brightest moment …

The headline read …

Woman, dog rescued from Massachusetts sewer

Well, naturally I had to check it out to find out just why a woman was languishing in a sewer!

Roberta Ingham said she was outside her home in Nashua on Thursday when she heard someone screaming for assistance …

“I’m laying on my chaise lounge, and I hear what I think is someone yelling, ‘help’, but also wonder if it’s an animal. I look around and, I said, ‘Something’s wrong.’ So I got up to make sure I wasn’t crazy.”

Ingham and her next-door neighbor investigated the shouting and determined they were coming from underground.

“She was at the manhole, and the culvert is in the back of my house. So she must have been yelling down the pipe and we could hear her, but she couldn’t hear us. We called 911, and we’re trying to explain there’s a woman underground.”

Imagine the look on the dispatcher’s face, listening to this call!  Turns out that the unnamed woman was out walking with her dog, apparently not on a leash, when the dog got away from her and went down a culvert and into an underground pipe.  The woman followed the dog, and next thing she knew, they were both stranded about 150 feet into the pipe.

Both dog and woman were brought to safety by Nashua Fire Rescue firefighters and neither were injured, though I imagine both needed long, hot baths afterward.

I stumbled across something kind of cool the other day called an “Amazing fact generator”, and I thought I’d share just a few of the ‘amazing facts’ it generated with you:

• In the late 1800s, residents of Corinne, Utah could buy divorce papers from a vending machine for $2.50.  (They had vending machines back then???)
• Andrew Jackson’s parrot was kicked out of his funeral for swearing.
• In 1939, Hitler’s nephew wrote an article called “Why I Hate My Uncle.” He came to the U.S., served in the Navy, and settled on Long Island.
• Viking men wore makeup.
• Like casinos, shopping malls are intentionally designed to disorient visitors. The feeling of losing track of time and geography inside a mall is called the Gruen Transfer.  (The longer you stay inside, the more money you throw away!)
• People didn’t always say “hello” when they answered the phone. When the first regular phone service was established in 1878, Alexander Graham Bell suggested answering the phone with “ahoy.”  (I never say ‘hello’ … it’s either “Hey” or “Yo”)
• Honey hunters in Mozambique use special calls to recruit the services of birds known as honeyguides. The birds lead the humans to bees’ nests and in return, they get the leftover beeswax.

And now, what would Jolly Monday be without some cartoons!

And, as always, I must end with a cute animal video, yes?

If only my furry babes would act that way!  Well, Oliver does, but the rest are just strange!

Okay, friends, let’s get out there and make this week something special, shall we?  Remember, we’re not getting any younger and it’s time we took the reins and left our mark on the world!  Me?  Well, today I plan to change the sheets on my bed, clean off the kitchen table, clean the front of the refrigerator, and vacuum the downstairs.  And write a no-doubt scathing post for the afternoon.  Remember to share those smiles … I just love seeing them, and I know others will too!  Love ‘n hugs from Filosofa and Jolly!