Thursday

For the past few days I have been really enjoying August in Flagstaff. This morning started out as usual. I went to lunch with some friends about 11:00. I got back from lunch about 1:30. Our entire complex was quiet. Quiet like no one lived here. I got out of my ride and was stunned. Peaceful and Quiet. Then I remembered, today was the first day of school for Flagstaff. I like kids. I like their playful noises. But I have to say, the quiet was great. As the start of the new school year drew near, the kids around here, like kids everywhere, became much more animated, much louder, much more distracted. I guess they knew they had a lot of energy left over and realized that they wouldn’t be able to use it in their new classrooms. They did everything they could to get rid of all that energy in the last few days before school started.

When the buses started bringing all these kids home, they walked to their front doors slowly and quietly. The huge back packs certainly weighed them down. I guess they had a lot to think about---a new teacher, new kids in class, new assignments, a new bus driver, maybe a new school, and everything else that goes with the first day of school. They have now been home a couple of hours. A few came out, ran around with their pre-school siblings, and then, after about 10 minutes, they were back in their houses. I guess they are exhausted from all the mental and physical activity they had today. The peace and quiet was very nice.

I have had several tasks around the house, inside and out, that I have been avoiding. I kept telling myself, tomorrow. With all this peace and quiet, I tackled several of them. I have more to do tomorrow. Change can be good. The lack of skateboards, wagons, and bikes on the sidewalks probably got me energized.

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Random Facts…

Some ribbon worms will eat themselves if they can't find any food.

Ostriches can run about 40 mph--which is lucky for them, because unlike most other birds, they can't fly. MSN Encarta.

Crazy Stuff In The News…

As part of a charity event, 500 cats were spayed and neutered in the cafeteria of an elementary school. School was cancelled for days and $10,000 was spent on cleaning and sterilizing the room.

Houston police say a man weighing nearly 600 pounds concealed a 9mm handgun in his layers of fat for more than a day while in custody.
George Vera, 25, was arrested and held in the city jail for a day before being taken to the Harris County Jail. There, he revealed to police he was hiding the handgun and two clips.
The report did not say why Vera was arrested.
Police representative Gary Blankinship said Vera's weight made it easier for him to hide the gun from officers. "We teach officers to lift up and look under," Blankinship said, eliciting several gags and retches. "The officer may not have arrested anyone this big before."
"Basically short of strip-searching or searching cavities, they could miss something like this." or a remote control, a cell phone, a stash of candy bars, a hub cap...
The Houston Police Department and Harris County Sheriff's Office said they have begun internal investigations into the incident.

Month long events in August

Edinburgh Festival is an internationally famous arts festival that takes place during August National Immunization Awareness Month… National Psoriasis Awareness Month… Women's Small Business Month... National Back to School month…American Adventures Month…Golf Month…National Inventor’s Month…National Win with Civility Month…What will be your legacy Month

Week of Aug 14…

Mae West Week

14 Aug…

226 days so far this year…139 days remain in 2009
National Navajo Code Talker’s Day
VJ Day—Victory in Japan Day—since 1945
*Pakistan: Independence Day—from UK—1947—Previously part of India
*Bahrain: Independence Day—from UK--1971
*Liechtenstein : Prince Franz-Joseph Day
*Massachusett : Liberty Tree Day (1765)
*Portugal : Independence Day (1385)


BIRTHS ON THIS DAY…

1774….. Meriwether Lewis Charlottsville VA, capt of Lewis & Clark Expedition

1863….. Ernest Thayer writer: Casey at the Bat

1901….. Sir James Pitman England, educator/publisher/phonetic speller
1903….. John Ringling North circus director
1926….. Alice Ghostly Montana, actress (Bewitched)
1940….. Dash Crofts Cisco Tx, singer (Seals & Crofts-Summer Breeze)
1941….. David Crosby rocker (Crosby, Stills & Nash-Southern Cross)
1945….. Steve Martin Waco Tx, comedian
1946….. Susan St James LA Cal, (MacMillan & Wife
1947….. Danielle Steel (Schuelein-Steel) author
1950….. Gary Larson cartoonist: The Far Side
1952….. Debbie Meyer International Women’s Sports and Olympic Hall of Famer
1957….. Jackee (Harry) Winston-Salem NC, actress
1958….. Earvin (Magic) Johnson NBA star
1966….. Halle Berry Academy Award-winning actress
1968….. Catherine Bell actress: JAG

Events on this day…

1248….. Construction of Cologne Cathedral begun 1880….. Construction of Cologne Cathedral completed

1457….. Oldest known exactly dated printed book (c 3 years after Gutenberg)

1842….. Seminole War ends; Indians removed from Florida to Oklahoma
1846….. Henry David Thoreau jailed for tax resistance
1873….. The first issue of Field and Stream magazine was published.
1893….. France issues 1st driving licenses, included required test

1900….. Intl forces including US Marines enter Beijing to put down Boxer Rebellion, which was aimed at ridding China of foreigners
1917….. China declares war on Germany & Austria at start of WW I
1935….. Social Security Act became law
1967….. Pirate radio stations Radio 270, Radio London, Radio Ireland, Radio Scotland & Radio Swinging Holland go off the air
1971….. Bahrain proclaims independence after 110 years of British rule
…..…….British begin internment without trial in Northern Ireland
1998….. After more than 6 years a brand new "New Oxford Dictionary" is Completed Oxford University Press . This is the first publication of the dictionary written from scratch ( normally each new edition makes amendments or additions ) . The New Oxford Dictionary contains 350,000 words with contemporary meanings including the usage of words, political correctness.

2003….. A major power outage never seen before across the Eastern United States and parts of Canada and including New York with over 15 million people affected


Word Ends Puzzle:

In each of these puzzles, a word starts and ends with the same letter. Can you figure out what the word is?

Example: _fric_ Solution: Africa

1. _ urre_
2. _riti_
3. _idter_
4. _rui_
5. _enti_
6. _ren_
7. _aoba_
8. _wix_
9. _luf_
10. _wili_
*Bonus:_athtu_
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Answers:
1. turret
2. critic
3. midterm
4. Druid
5. lentil
6. arena
7. baobab
8. twixt
9. fluff
10. twilit
• Bonus: bathtub