May Day, Mayday!

First, let me assure you I am not in distress, though there was some distress on this May Day. Merriam Webster Dictionary attributes the radio distress signal’s origins to the French “m’aider,” which means “help me.” I’ll trust that to be accurate; I didn’t do well in French class in college.

Pointless pic of the sign at King School. Leisurely student
sprawled at the corner struck me, given my exertion.

Wikipedia, source of all knowledge today, supports the venerable lexicon with this history:

The Mayday procedure word originated in 1923 by Frederick Stanley Mockford (1897–1962).^[4] A senior radio officer at Croydon Airport in London, Mockford was asked to think of a word that would indicate distress and would easily be understood by all pilots and ground staff in an emergency. Since much of the traffic at the time was between Croydon and Le Bourget Airport in Paris, he proposed the word "Mayday" from the French m’aider, "venez m'aider" meaning "come help me."^[5]

Before the voice call "MAYDAY", SOS, which is also known as the abbreviation for "save our ship" or "save our souls", was the Morse Code equivalent of the MAYDAY call. In 1927, the voice call MAYDAY was adopted in place of the SOS Morse Code call.^[6]

May Day, however, is completely different. I hope you all grasp the difference. It’s kind of like “everyday” vs. “every day.” One word, two words, they’re different. So, May Day, according to holidayinsights.com, bears a couple of meanings around the world. To some it is the welcoming of spring. In communist and socialist countries (like the United States, tee hee), it is a celebration of and for the workers. It is NOT, however, a national holiday in the U.S. – let’s get on that, President Obama – but it is a holiday in Hawaii – Lei Day.
Wait a second… President Obama was supposedly born in Hawaii…

So, did you receive a May basket today? It used to be a tradition for some of the grade schools here in Galesburg for students to make May baskets and then walk the neighborhood and hang them on doors. Can anyone confirm if this tradition still exists or if it, too, has been expunged?

My third-grade teacher friend says her students did not do May baskets. Maybe they’re too old? Not that it’s a big deal, but there are aspects of the American education system that went beyond academics and served a social purpose that may be forsaken today in the name of intellectualism. We strive to compete with Asian nations and others, but at what cost? Do we want the suicide rates? Or is that just a stereotype?

By way of brief explanation, the Mayday event on this May Day was the failure of my wireless router. Four hours of tech support and $240 later I have a computer free of Trojans and viruses (140 apparently) and a new and better router. Holy crap.

Today's Stats

Temp: 77 degrees F

Distance: 4.5 miles

Weekly Total: 7.9 miles

Treasure: 1 dime

iPod Playlist (Shuffle):

Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad – Def Leppard

Out Here In theMiddle – James McMurtry

Stranger Here – Than Over There – Robert Plant

Say Goodbye toHollywood – Billy Joel

A Murder of One – Counting Crows

(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life – Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes

Steppin’ Out – Joe Jackson

Hasten Down the Wind – Warren Zevon

Alive and Kicking – Simple Minds

Black & Blue – Counting Crows

English Town – Matchbox Twenty

Rocket – Def Leppard