Sip Bacardi like it's your birthday

It was a warm August dusk, the 24th of August, 1985 years after the birth of our Lord. Susan Fidler and Tom Fidler were busy moving into their new house. (In actuality my Dad was moving while my Mom was watching the Twins game). The 24th of August is a legendary day in the history of the world. In 79 A.D., Mt. Vesuvius erupted and buried the historical Italian city of Pompei; thousands died. The Iron Bird Cal Ripken Jr. was born in 1960. In 1992, the state of Florida was forever changed after Hurricane Andrew struck killing dozens of people. It was a victory day for feminists and women world wide as Amelia Earhardt became the first woman to fly solo coast to coast. And how could we forget exactly one year ago from today, Pluto lost its title as the ninth planet of our sun, and reclassified as a dwarf planet. Elyse and my parents were in cahoots to buy a new plasma TV for my living room. There was much rejoicing. May I leave you with a poem that a co-worker wrote for me:

There was a man named Fidler
A fiddle he had not
Bot on his 22nd birthday
A fiddle is what he got.

He learned to play the fiddle
He played all day & night
The fidlin' filled his home
Fiddlin' just felt so right.

Indeed. Thank you all for your very nice birthday wishes. I really am very touched.