Our daily column, 5 Things You Need to Know Today, will help you to get your day started and offer you some fodder for water cooler conversation.

1. Author Karen White will do a reading from her new book Sea Change and sign copies of the book at a 7 p.m. event at Barnes and Noble. In the new novel, main character Ava Whalen has struggled with a sense of not belonging her whole life. Then, she meets a new man and she thinks her days of loneliness are behind her, but his secrets upset her.

2. General Chemical Corp. started its clean up of its hazardous waste transfer facility, in anticipation of its closure, ysterday. The state is allowing General Chemical to conduct cleaning Monday through Saturday, between 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Residents in vicinity of Leeland Street are advised to close their windows and stay away from the playground at Wilson Elementary School. This clean up is expected to last through mid-August.

3. Having you been dreaming of fabulous abs like those on the Olympic swimmers and beach volleyball players? Well, consider a Abs Fab! abdominal intensives class at 7 tonight at Diosa Dance Yoga Health. $10 fee.

4. Both the Framingham School Committee and Framingham Selectmen are on a summer schedule and both are NOT meeting tonight.

5. In Day 3 at the 2012 London Olympic games, Missy Franklin, 17, 10 minutes after qualifying for the finals of the 200 freestyle jumped back in the pool to win the gold medal in 100M backstroke. Matt Grevers, her teammate took gold in the 100M backstroke. The USA team picked up four medals in the pool on Monday, but Ryan Lochte was not one of them finishing fourth in the 200 freestyle.

The men's gymnastics team, while qualifying with the highest score, failed to earn a medal in the team competition on Monday. Today, July 31, the USA women's team will go for the gold in the team competition.

Also today, Michael Phelps will swim in the 200 butterfly, and Franklin will try for her second gold in the 200 freestyle. Phelps and Lochte likely also will swim in the men's 4X200 relay. And American women's soccer takes on North Korea and men's basketball will take to the court against Tunisia.

To see when all of Massachusetts' Olympians are competing, click here.