This is Week 43 of 2010►Day 302 with 63 days left.
FREE RAMBLING THOUGHTS
We had our weekly lunch today. Good food at Red Lobster, good conversation, good time. Cheryl starts her pre-op diet next week, so we are going out for one last lunch on Tuesday next week. This is really a big deal for Cheryl and all her friends. She won’t be eating a lunch for a long, very long time. So I guess we will come up with something else to do. She is doing gastric bypass which is expected to get her off insulin, something she has been on since her youth. Mary is headed to Phoenix for the Halloween weekend for time with two of her grandkids. It should be interesting since her son’s in-laws will be there too and they are Bush supporters even today. Mary’s 98 year old mom was moved to hospice about 2 months ago, since an x-ray showed a brain tumor. Well, they moved her out of hospice this week, saying that she is showing no physical signs of problems and has more energy than her care takers. The medical community does not have all the answers.
We had a great weather day today. As usual, Cheryl arrived for lunch before I did, Mary got there right on time. Cheryl and I were the first two diners at Red Lobster. They always have someone open the door to welcome diners, usually as soon as you step onto the sidewalk with the door about 30 feet away. It actually is nice. Today, we were the only two cars in the parking lot and we had not one, not two, but three servers open the door and welcome us. We told them we were waiting for one more and it was too nice a day not to stay outside. They all went back inside. When Mary got there about ten minutes later, she was still walking in the parking lot when the doors swung open again. They had a decent lunch crowd and we stayed about two hours. We were the last of the lunch crowd to leave. I’m sure these college students figured that these three old people had nothing else to do but sit around and talk and wondering what we could possibly talk about for that long. When they have worked as long as we did, they will understand.
Flag…H—61°; L—33°; RH—53%; and no breeze. We will continue to have partly cloudy days through Halloween and if things hold up, it won’t be too cold. That is good for the little kids who are out trick or treating and good for those of us who give out candy. I like to give out candy, I like to decorate, and I like to put on a costume. I have a lot more fun when it is dry and not too cold.
QUOTE FOR THE DAY—Rabrindranath Tagore
He who wants to do good knocks at the gate: he who loves finds the door open.
HOLY MACKEREL: 1945 1st ball point pen goes on sale, 57 years after it was patented The pens sold for $12.50 ($149 in 2010 dollars) and racked up a tidy profit of $500,000 ( $5.9 million in 2010 dollars) in the first month!
SOMEWHAT USELESS INFORMATION—taxi
→The right to be hired by the public to provide taxi service was first given to the watermen of London in the twelfth century. They would take people across the river Thames to all the royal palaces and large mansions that fronted it. Destinations included the Tower of London, Palace of Westminster, Lambeth Palace, Richmond Palace, Hampton Court and Windsor Castle.
→The name "taxi" is derived from the taximeter, the instrument invented to measure the distance traveled (or the time taken) to determine an accurate fare. So it wasn't called that in the twelfth century.
GREY MATTER PUZZLE 1—Jeopardy Answers (1984 games)-Food
$100-When you step on these, they let out a little "wine"
$200-Satanic term for food prepared with strong seasoning, as of eggs or ham
$300-French term for meat served in its own juice
$400-Found in rye bread, these seeds are also flavoring of kummel liqueur
$500-The thymus & pancreas of young calves are sources of this meat
UNUSUAL NEWS ITEM
CHENNAI, INDIA — A Sri Lankan man swallowed more than 2,000 diamonds packed in several condoms but was arrested while attempting to smuggle them through an Indian airport, according to local media reports. Mohammed Shakif, 43, of Galle, Sri Lanka, is accused of attempting to smuggle 2,060 diamonds worth up to about $670,000 through Chennai airport. He was intercepted by suburban police acting on a tip Tuesday, BNO News Service reported. Shakif was taken to the police station and later to a hospital where an X-ray of his stomach was taken. Shakif then confessed that he had been hired to smuggle the stones.
“Even during questioning, he could not sit comfortably and when questioned, he told the police that he was suffering from piles,” said Suburban Police commissioner SR Jangid, BNO reported.
Shakif was given bananas to eat. The diamonds were then collected.
A LITTLE LAUGH
Stationed in Okinawa, Japan, my son and his wife were expecting their first baby. I was elated when he called me at work all the way from Japan with the news of my grandchild's birth. I took down all the statistics and turned to relate it all to my co-workers.
"I'm a grandmother!" I declared. "It's a baby girl, and she weighs five pounds."
"When was she born?" someone asked.
Recalling the date my son told me, I stopped, looked at the calendar, and said in amazement, Tomorrow!"
FOUND ON ‘YOU TUBE’
Halloween Prank: Click Here to View!
Great South Africa Choir: Click Here to View! Be sure and check out other videos by this group…just amazing.
GREY MATTER PICTURE
This is a close up of what object?
SOME CALENDAR INFORMATION
¤ Weekly Observances ¤
24-31: Disarmament Week ^ Give Wildlife a Break Week ^ Pastoral Care Week ^ Peace, Friendship and Good Will Week ^ Prescription Errors Education & Awareness Week ^ International Magic Week ^ National Respiratory Care Week
27-11/3: World Hearing Aid Awareness Week
¤ Today’s Observances ¤
Hermit Day
Frankenstein Friday
World Psoriasis Day
Cambodia: Coronation Day
Cyprus: National Day
Turkey: Republic Day or Cumhuriyet Bayramı
¤ Hit Songs on this date ¤
1896...On the Benches in the Park / George J. Gaskin (Original not available)
1906...Love Me and the World Is Mine / Albert Campbell Click Here to View!
1916...Ireland Must Be Heaven, for My Mother Came from There / Charles Harrison (Original not available)
1926...Baby Face / Jan Garber Click Here to View!
1936...The Way You Look To-night / Fred Astaire Click Here to View!
1946…Rumors Are Flying / Frankie Carle Click Here to View!
1956…Love Me Tender / Elvis Presley Click Here to View!
1966…96 Tears / ? & the Mysterians Click Here to View! *
1976…If You Leave Me Now / Chicago Click Here to View!
1986…True Colors / Cyndi Lauper Click Here to View!
* was originally titled "Too Many Tears" then changed to "69 Tears" and finally recorded as "96 Tears" when the label said "69 Tears" was too suggestive!
¤ Today’s Births ¤
╬ THE ARTS
Ralph Bakshi, 72, writer, director, animator: Hey Good Lookin’, Heavy Traffic, Fritz the Cat, Wizards, Streetfight; director, animator: The Lord of the Rings; writer, director: Fire and Ice; director: Cool World
James Boswell, Samuel Johnson's Scottish biographer, born in 1740
Fanny Brice, singing comedienne (Ziegeld Follies, Baby Snooks), born in 1891
Randy Jackson, 49, singer (Jackson 5), born Steven Randall Jackson
♦♦actors♦♦
Bela Lugosi, horror actor (Dracula, Body Snatcher), born in 1884
Richard Dreyfuss, 63, actor (Mr Holland’s Opus, Jaws; Oscar for The Goodbye Girl)
Kate Jackson, 62, actress (“Charlie’s Angels,” “Scarecrow and Mrs King”)
Melba Moore, 65, singer, actress
Winona Ryder, 39, actress (Girl, Interrupted; Little Women), born Winona Horowitz
╬ ATHLETICS
Pete (Peter Gerard) Richert, 71, baseball: pitcher: Dodgers, Senators [all-star: 1965, 1966], Orioles [World Series: 1969, 1970, 1971], Phillies, Cardinals
╬ BUSINESS & EDUCATION
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╬ POLITICS
Paul Joseph Goebbels, Nazi propagandist, born in 1897
╬ SCIENCE & RELIGION
Narcisa de Jesús Martillo, an Ecuadorian saint born in 1832
José Ulises Macías Salcedo, 70, Catholic bishop in Mexico
¤ Today’s Obituaries ¤
Duane Allman, of Allman Brothers Band, motorcycle accident @ 24 in 1971
Leon Czolcosz, assassin of President McKinley, executed @ 28 in 1901
Louis B Mayer, MGM producer, leukemia @ 71 in 1957
Joseph Pulitzer, American newspaperman, heart disease @ 64 in 1911
Sir Walter Raleigh, conqueror, explorer, and politician, beheaded @ 66 in 1618
¤ Today’s Events ¤
╬ THE ARTS
1787 The opera "Don Giovanni" is produced (Prague)
1958 Russian poet Boris Pasternak refused the Nobel Prize in Literature. He was forced to decline the honor because of protests in his home country. (for his notable achievement in both contemporary poetry and the field of the great Russian narrative tradition.)
╬ ATHLETICS
1960 Muhammad Ali's (Cassius Clay's) 1st professional fight, beats Tunney Hunsaker in 6
1987 Thomas Hearns wins unprecedented 4th different weight boxing title
╬ BUSINESS & EDUCATION
1682 William Penn lands in what will become Pennsylvania
1811 1st Ohio River steamboat leaves Pittsburgh for New Orleans
1942 Alaska highway completed
1956 Chet Huntley & David Brinkley, NBC News, team up
╬ INDIGENOUS PEOPLE
1712 Settlers in Portsmouth, New Hampshire hold a conference to advise belligerent Indians that "Queen Anne's War" is over, and the fighting should stop. It would take almost 9 months before a local treaty would be signed.
1832 The Piankashaw, and Wea Indians will conclude a treaty at Castor Hill, William Clark's home. They will receive land in Kansas, in exchange for their lands in Illinois, and Missouri.
╬ POLITICS (US)
1894 1st election of the Hawaiian Republic
1929 "Black Tuesday," Stock Market crashes triggers "Great Depression"
1966 National Organization of Women founded
╬ POLITICS (International)
1863 Intl Comm of the Red Cross founded (Nobel 1917, 1944, 1963)
1942 16,000 Jews killed in Pinsk Russia
╬ SCIENCE & RELIGION
1998 The space shuttle Discovery blasted off, returning 77-year-old U.S. Senator John Glenn to space some 36 years after he became the first American in orbit.
GREY MATTER ANSWERS
↔ 1 Jeopardy
$100-When you step on these, they let out a little "wine": What are grapes?
$200-Satanic term for food prepared with strong seasoning, as of eggs or ham: What is ‘deviled’?
$300-French term for meat served in its own juice: What is ‘au jus’?
$400-Found in rye bread, these seeds are also flavoring of kummel liqueur: What are caraway seeds?
$500-The thymus & pancreas of young calves are sources of this meat: What are sweetbreads?
↔ PICTURE
A cloth doll's face
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