Things great and small

mr_ed:  That Minky is a smart little doggie!
Tucker:  A puppy?
mr_ed:  No, no. She's older than you are. Check out her dogster page.
Tucker:  Huh. Minky had a new monia too.
mr_ed:  Yup. I'm sure glad you both recovered! Isn't she cute?
Tucker:  Huh. So why is she so smart?
mr_ed:  Because Mystique's human called, and Minky was right that he overslept. First time in the nine or ten months that I've known him.
Tucker:  So he was just tired or something.
mr_ed:  Maybe. He still didn't ask me to bring her over.
Tucker:  Kinda weird.
mr_ed:  And his boss took him off the schedule.
Tucker:  Huh?
mr_ed:  He wasn't fired, he just isn't scheduled to work.
Tucker:  Don't humans have to work to get money? For dog food and treats?
mr_ed:  Usually.
Tucker:  And puppy food?
mr_ed:  Yup.
Tucker:  No puppy food, no puppy?
mr_ed:  Maybe. He has another part-time job, but it won't be enough.
Tucker:  No Starbucks for him.
mr_ed:  No Starbucks for him. This article says that last year Starbucks' first-time customers averaged $80,000 a year in income. Five years ago it was $92,000 a year. Sounds like they're embiggening their customer base, but to people who are less likely to accept price hikes.
Tucker:  I don't like coffee anyway.
mr_ed:  ::slurping Diet Coke::  Me neither. Speaking of small creatures and sweet liquids, the bees are sure busy with the sunflowers that are taking over the back yard.
Tucker:  B?  ::thinking "Britneb, Britnec, Britned...."::
mr_ed:  Several of them.
Tucker:  What kind?
mr_ed:  Shoot, I don't know. This guy says there may be 1,000 species of bees in Colorado.
Tucker:  I don't notice them. Jaeger might.
mr_ed:  He tries to catch flies - I hope he doesn't try to catch a bee and get stung.
Tucker:  I hope he d....
mr_ed:  Nuh-uh. I'm sure he'd have to stay longer while he recovered from it.
Tucker:  ::scowls::
mr_ed:  Yes, I know you'll miss him when he's gone. Maybe we can foster a kitty for you next time.
Tucker:  Are we done here?
mr_ed:  Oh, let's shout out some Happy Birthdays to Conrad Aiken (1889), John Huston (1906), Neil Armstrong (1930), Loni Anderson (1946), and Patrick Ewing (1962).
Tucker:  Fine.
mr_ed:  On this date in 1583 some dude claimed part of Newfoundland to be an English colony, North America's first. Unfortunately, there was no actual settlement there, and the guy died on the way back to England. But for some reason it's still called the first.
Tucker:  He must have had a really good PR guy.
mr_ed:  In 1620 the Mayflower sailed from England.
Tucker:  Was that the Compact Mayflower?
mr_ed:  That was a little later, when they landed in Massachusets.
Tucker:  A downsized version for the American market.
mr_ed:  The U.S. Army stopped flogging soldiers in 1861, and the first American income tax became law.
Tucker:  Blood from you one way or another.
mr_ed:  On August 5, 1944, Polish resistance fighters captured a Nazi labor camp and set free 348 prisoners, while in Australia 359 Japanese POWs escaped from a prison camp, out of at least 545 who tried.
Tucker:  Who said, "Let my people go"?
mr_ed:  I didn't hear anything.
Tucker:  Not now. It's some famous saying.
mr_ed:  Oh! A trivia question! Let's see, that would be Aaron, speaking for Moses, quoting G*d. So take your pick.
Tucker:  I just wondered. Are we done?
mr_ed:  Two more. The American Bandstand television show started in 1957.
Tucker:  Did you have a TV then?
mr_ed:  I don't remember anything quite that early in my life, but I know we had one a few years later after we moved. Still have it, in fact.
Tucker:  We should watch it sometime.
mr_ed:  Ah, well, it doesn't work these days.
Tucker:  What's the last thing?
mr_ed:  In 2001, the Cleveland Indians turned a baseball game that they were losing to the Seattle Mariners, 2-14, into a 15-14 win.
Tucker:  Fascinating.
mr_ed:  "Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never - in nothing, great or small, large or petty - never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense."
Tucker:  Time for supper!
mr_ed:  Not quite yet.
Tucker:  Time for supper!
mr_ed:  Let me finish this.
Tucker:  Time for supper!
mr_ed:  Yeah, I get it, okay? You and Winnie, stalwart buddies. Just hang on.
Tucker:  Time for supper!
mr_ed:  "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat."
Tucker:  "The price of  ::cough::  greatness is responsibility."
mr_ed:  You win.
Tucker:  Woo woo woooo!