31 March 2010~~Week 14 of 2010: 90 days this year…275 remain
‡ Scottish Proverbs
Be happy while you're living, for you're a long time dead
Learn young, learn fair; learn old, learn more.
‡ Free Ramblings
Tax time is not my favorite time of year. It’s not even on my list of favorite things. I am not against paying my fair share. I, like many other Americans worked very hard for my money. When it comes to the tax code I am lost. My tax guy enjoys it. Good for him. He has done my taxes for years. I am still in negotiations with Colorado on why, as a non-resident, they want to collect tax on my total income. Yes, I do have an investment in CO and that investment pays tax to CO before I get any money and they file a tax report on the behalf of all the investors. Now the state of PA has sent me a tax bill. The bill is for 2006. I owned nothing in PA in 2006. I didn’t file a PA state tax form in 2006. They claim to have a tax form, but I know it isn’t mine. Today, as I started turned in my 2009 taxes, we spent an hour plus on the phone with these two bureaucratic offices. This is crazy. Every state in our great union is broke, or very close to it. I know that the leaders in each state have met with their bean counters and told them get as much money as they can. I also figure they send the bills, hoping that the receiver will just write a check and pay it. Three forms have been sent to CO since January to clear it up, and each bureaucrat has said that the form they request will fix the problem. It never does, so now we work on form number four. PA says I have to send them a letter requesting a copy of the form they say I sent to them. They don’t have a fax number, and only do business through the US Mail. Crazy. Really crazy.
Our promised high winds arrived today. The landscaping company came early this morning to do some spring clean-up. They did some work, but didn’t tackle my section, as we still have three foot high snow banks. Guess they will be back in July when the snow is all melted. We made it to 58° but the 35mph wind and the 45mph gusts made it a lot cooler. Now the weather guy says to expect another windy day tomorrow with snow starting in the evening. We are told to expect 2-4” in this storm. It will be gone by Easter.
‡ A Quick Smile
Just before the funeral services, the undertaker came up to the very elderly widow and asked, "How old was your husband?"
"98," she replied, "Two years older than me."
"So, you're 96," the undertaker commented.
She responded, "Hardly worth going home, is it?"
‡ Random Fact
Giant pandas have lived in the bamboo forests of China for millions years and have been honored by the Chinese for a very long time. Because the giant panda is considered a national treasure in China, it is protected by law so that it does not become extinct. The Chinese call giant pandas "large bear-cats." Giant pandas are also called panda bears and bamboo bears.
‡ Puzzle
In each of these puzzles, a proverb is written with exactly one letter of each word replaced with another. Can you figure out what the original proverb is?
1 It nor I peony, is far I wound.
2 Dyad hen dell to taxes.
3 To onto otters at yon could hale teem no undo yon.
‡ Side Show Stories
MALMO, Sweden - The warden of a Swedish jail said a prisoner received an official warning for using flatulence to express his discontent about his situation. Anders Eriksson, warden of the Kirseberg prison in Malmo, said guards filed numerous complaints against the 21-year-old prisoner, whose name was not reported, alleging "a series of concerted attacks" in the form of constant wind-breaking, Britain's The Daily Telegraph reported. "I have worked within the prisons and probation service since 1986 and I have never experienced a situation where behavior of this sort has led to punishment," Eriksson said in an interview with Sweden's Metro newspaper. Authorities said the prisoner offered an explanation for his behavior. "I had an upset stomach while I was playing cards but did not want to fart there. So I went over to the guards instead," he was quoted as saying. The prisoner was issued an official warning and could face punishment for any future attacks of intentional flatulence, Eriksson said.
‡ Calendar Information
• March’s Month Long Observances •
BIRTHSTONE: aquamarine and bloodstone (courage) FLOWER: Narcissus [daffodil, jonquil] (vanity)
National Cheerleading Safety Month • National Clean Up Your IRS Act Month • National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month • National Craft Month • National Ethics Awareness Month •National Eye Donor Month • National Frozen Food Month • National Multiple Sclerosis Education & Awareness Month •National Kidney Month• National Nutrition Month • National Social Work Month • National Umbrella Month • National Women's History Month • Optimism Month • Play The Recorder Month • Poison Prevention Awareness Month • Red Cross Month • Save Your Vision Month • Sing With Your Child Month • Small Press Month •Spiritual Wellness Month • Women's History Month • Workplace Eye Health and Safety Month • Youth Art Month
• Observance Weeks in March•
28-4/3
Root Canal Awareness Week
• 30 March Observances—US/UN/World •
Bunsen Burner Day
National Clams On The Half Shell Day
National "She's Funny That Way" Day
California, Texas, Arizona, Colorado, Michigan, New Mexico, Utah, and Wisconsin: César Chávez Day
•30 March Observances—by country •
Virgin Islands: Transfer Day (1917: Denmark signs over to US )
Malta : Republic Day/National Day (1974)
‡Number One Songs in…
1946 ►Personality - Johnny Mercer
1954 ►Answer Me, My Love - Nat ‘King’ Cole
1962 ►Johnny Angel - Shelley Fabares
1970 ►Bridge Over Troubled Water - Simon & Garfunkel
1978 ►Stayin’ Alive - Bee Gees
1986 ►R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A. - John Cougar Mellencamp
•What Happened on this Day •
In The Arts
1909 ►Gustav Mahler conducts New York Philharmonic for his 1st time
1943 ►Rodgers & Hammerstein musical "Oklahoma!" opens on Broadway: original title: “Away We Go”
1945 ►Tennessee Williams' "Glass Menagerie" premieres in New York NY
In Athletics
1906 ►The Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States (later National Collegiate Athletic Association) is established to set rules for amateur sports in the United States.
1995 ►1st game at Coors Stadium Colorado (replacement Rockies beat Yankees 4-1)
In Business or Education
1880 ►The first electric street lights ever installed by a municipality were turned on in beautiful Wabash, IN
1889 ►300 meter Eiffel Tower officially opens (commemorates French Revolution)
1963 ►Los Angeles ends streetcar service after 90 years
In Politics
1831 ►Québec & Montréal incorporated
1870 ►Thomas P Mundy became 1st black to vote in US (Perth Amboy NJ)
1877 ►In Arizona, parts of the White Mountain - San Carlos Reservation will be restored to public domain.
1918 ►1st daylight savings time in US goes into effect
1944 ►Hungary orders all Jews to wear yellow stars
1948 ►Congress passes Marshall Aid Act to rehabilitate war-torn Europe
1949 ►Newfoundland and Labrador entered the Canadian confederation as the 10th province
1953 ►Department of Health, Education & Welfare established
1953 ►Department of Health, Education & Welfare established
1954 ►US Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs CO, established
1968 ►LBJ announces he will not seek re-election
1971 ►William L Calley Jr sentenced to life for My Lai Massacre
1980 ►President Jimmy Carter deregulates banking industry
In Science/Religion
1146 ►Bernard of Clairvaux preaches his famous sermon in a field at Vézelay, urging the necessity of a Second Crusade. Louis VII is present, and joins the Crusade.
• Holy Mackerel: On this day in 1959 ►Dalai Lama fled China & was granted political asylum in India
• Born on this day •
Artists and Composers
Liz Claiborne, 1929, Brussels Belgium, fashion designer
René Descartes, 1596, French philosopher
Franz Joseph Haydn, 1732, Austrian composer
John Jakes, 78, author (North and South, the Kent Family Chronicles)
Andrew Lang, 1844, Scottish author (The Blue Fairy Book)
Entertainers in Cinema, Music, Theater, and TV
Herb Alpert, 75, musician (Tijuana Brass)
Richard Chamberlain, 75, actor (“Dr. Kildare,” Shogun)
Lefty (William Orville) Frizzell, 1928, Country Music Hall of Famer
Shirley Jones, 76, actress (Oscar for Elmer Gantry; The Music Man, Oklahoma!, “The Partridge Family”)
Gabe Kaplan, 64, actor (“Welcome Back, Kotter”)
Edward Francis (Ed) Marinaro, 60, actor (“Hill Street Blues,” “Sisters”), former football player
Ewan McGregor, Crieff, Scotland, 39, actor (Miss Potter, The Island, Moulin Rouge, Trainspotting, Star Wars films)
Henry Morgan (Henry Lerner Von Ost), 1915, comedian/TV panelist (I've Got a Secret)
Rhea Perlman, 62, actress (“Cheers,” Carpool)
Christopher Ronald Walken, 67, actor (Hairspray, Catch Me If You Can, The Deer Hunter)
Angus Young, 54, Glasgow Scotland, rock guitarist (AC/DC-Highway to Hell)
Athletes
Gordon (Gordie) Howe, 82, Hall of Fame hockey player
Jack Johnson, 1878, 1st black heavyweight boxing champion
James Earl (Jimmy) Johnson, 72, Hall of Fame football player
Business, Education Leaders
Cesar Estrada Chavez, 1927, Yuma AZ, farm labor leader (United Farm Workers)
Political Leaders
Barney Frank, 70, (Representative-MA)
(Albert Arnold) Al Gore, 62, 45th vice president of the US
Arthur Griffith, 1872, Irish journalist, founder of Sinn Féin
Scientists /Religious Leaders
Sir Dugald Clerk, 1854, Scottish inventor (2-stroke motorcycle engine)
Robert Wilhelm Eberhard von Bunsen, 1811, German chemist (Bunsen Burner)
•Today’s Obits •
Edwin Alberian, 1997, TV celebrity (Clarabell), @ 76
Charlotte Brontë, 1855, English author (Jane Eyre), TB @ 38
John C. Calhoun, 1850, 7th VP, TB @ 68
John Donne, 1631, Metaphysical poet, cancer(?) @ 59
O'Kelly Isley, 1986, singer (Isley Brothers), heart attack @ 48
Brandon Lee, 1993, actor (Crow)/son of Bruce Lee, accidentally shot @ 28
Lillian "Miss" Miller, 1990, audience member (Merv Griffin, Tonight Show), @ 93
Knute Rockne, 1931, football player/coach, plane crash @ 43
Selena [Quintanilla Perez], 1995, Mexican Grammy winning singer, killed by a fan @ 24
‡ ANSWERS to puzzle
1 It nor I peony, is far I wound : In for a penny, in for a pound.
2 Dyad hen dell to taxes: Dead men tell no tales.
3 To onto otters at yon could hale teem no undo yon: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
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