For centuries men have kept an appointment with Christmas. Christmas means fellowship, feasting, giving and receiving, a time of good cheer, home.
FREE RAMBLING THOUGHTS
Teachers around AZ are now on Winter Break. A well deserved break I know they will enjoy.
My ENT looked at the CD of my CT, just as he suspected, way too much loose soft tissue down there. I told him I had talked to several friends and everyone agreed my voice hasn’t changed in at least 20 years. He said that was probably true and that he had never seen anything like it. He showed me how, when I am holding my breath and laying on my back the soft tissue basically cuts off the windpipe from getting any air. Thus I don’t lay on my back very often…duh. He says he can’t wait to get in there and make my breathing better. So I’ll go in for the trimming in January by making the appointment tomorrow. Whoopeee!
Martha and I had lunch and exchanged gifts. I got a bunch of stuff, including choc chip cookies (my favorite), a Scottish can cooler, and a bottle of choco-red wine. It sounds awful, but is actually quite good. I had a glass after dinner. It was a good lunch and a good time.
While I was there, I got a voice mail—I never talk on the cell when I’m with others, unless it looks really really important. The HOA has decided that we will all get parking stickers for our vehicles. Their reasoning is that during the winter parking restrictions on the street too many non-residents are parking on our ‘street’ which is really a parking lot, even though it has a street name and has no parking restrictions during the winter. All it does is allow the tenants with stickers to park in front of the doors. All those without stickers will park a little farther away from the doors. About five residences near me already have to park far from their doors because the parking area doesn’t even come close to their unit. Power play for sure. I reminded her that none of us have gotten new numbers on our doors. She said she had talked to the head of the HOA. I reminded her that I didn’t want to hear excuses, I just wanted numbers back up. I told her that since our last talk one fire engine and two ambulances have entered our street and have had to stop to count doors to figure out which unit had called 911. I also told her that UPS, FEDEx, and the PO is using lots of substitute drivers and they too have to stop and count doors. I asked her to remind the head HOA person that I now consider this a safety issue and would sure hate to be sitting on the board if someone did not get the medical attention they needed because the first responders couldn’t find the right unit in a quick manner. She said she would call her right away, again.
I was going to run some errands after my ENT visit, but when I came out it was snowing—again. Traffic was moving very slowly for some reason and I don’t think it was the snow flurries. I swear I had to stop at every one of the ten stoplights between the doctor and my house. It was like some crazy traffic director was doing everything possible to slow the traffic. I will do those errands on Monday.
HOLY MACKEREL: 1936 Su-Lin, 1st giant panda to come to US from China, arrives in San Francisco
∞ JEOPARDY PUZZLE—(SuperJeopardy Answers) from 1990 DEMOCRATS
◄In May 1990 Daniel Akaka became this state's new junior senator, replacing Spark Matsunaga
◄Colorado congresswoman who was an almost-ran in the 1988 presidential race
◄William A. O'Neill has been governor of Connecticut since she resigned because of illness
◄He's been an Arizona congressman since 1961 when his brother vacated the seat to join JFK's cabinet—his service ended in 1991.
◄He lost the presidential nomination to Hubert Humphrey in 1968 & ran as an independent in 1976
SOMEWHAT USELESS INFORMATION—Snow
While snow appears to be white, it is actually clear and transparent. The crystals become prisms and break up the light into the entire spectrum of color. Since our eye cannot process that, we see it as white, or sometimes blue.
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Based on National Climatic Data Center records, New York state is home to the snowiest cities in the United States: Syracuse averages 115 inches of snow per year, and Rochester averages 93 inches per year.
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Buffalo, New York, is a close runner-up in terms of U.S. large cities with the most snow. A 39-inch snowfall in 24 hours in early December 1995 cost the city nearly $5 million for snow removal.
UNUSUAL NEWS ITEM JANESVILLE, MN
A 26-year-old man thought he was doing a good deed when he gave a 70-year-old woman a ride to a Minnesota bank.
But police say the woman robbed the bank, and the man was her unsuspecting getaway driver.
The man told The Free Press of Mankato that he thought the woman, who rents an apartment from his mother, was going to the bank to withdraw cash so she could pay back rent. His mother had recently begun eviction proceedings over unpaid rent, the Free Press reported.
Instead, employees of the Elysian State Bank reported Wednesday that an "elderly woman" told the teller she had a gun, demanded money and left with $3,700, according to The Star Tribune.
The bank's vice president followed the black Jaguar, calling in a description, location and license plate number as he went.
Police stopped the car and, with guns drawn, ordered both occupants to the ground.
The woman repeatedly told police, “Luke had nothing to with it,” The Star Tribune reported.
The woman had a hammer but no gun, according to The Star Tribune. She's in jail, pending charges.
Found in the car along with the cash and the hammer, The Star Tribune reported: a pair of white rubber gloves and a 2011 Elysian Bank calendar.
A LITTLE LAUGH
A Sunday School teacher of preschoolers told her students that she wanted each of them to have learned one fact about Jesus by the next Sunday.
The following week she asked each child in turn what they had learned.
Susie said, "He was born in a manger."
Bobby said, "He threw the money changers out of the temple."
Little Johnny said, "He has a red pickup truck but he doesn't know how to drive it."
Curious, the teacher asked, "And where did you learn that, Johnny?"
"From my Daddy," said Johnny. "Yesterday we were driving down the highway, and this red pickup truck pulled out in front of us and Daddy yelled at him, 'Jesus Christ! Why don't you learn how to drive?'"
FOUND ON ‘YOU TUBE’
While working I always enjoyed listening to the children sing Carols in their native language. Here are a few carols in various Indigenous languages:
DAYBOOK INFORMATION
♦ THIS WEEK ♦
14-28: Halcyon Days: The seven days where there are no winter storms
16-24: Posadas:
17-23: Saturnalia
♦ TODAY IS… ♦
International Migrants Day
Niger: Republic Day
Mexico: Feast of Our Lady of Solitude
Qatar: National Day (1958)
US: New Jersey: Ratification Day (1787—3rd state to ratify constitution)
♫ Academy Awards Best Original Song ♫
Click on Song Title to see and hear
♦Today’s Births♦
ARTS
Christina Aguilera, 30, singer
1779 Joseph Grimaldi English pantomimist ("greatest clown in history")
Leonard Maltin, 60, movie critic, author (Maltin’s Guide)
Keith Richards, 67, musician, singer (Rolling Stones)
1870 Saki (Hector Hugo Munro) Burma, author (Reginald, When William Came)
Steven Spielberg, 63, producer, director (E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, Indiana Jones movies, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Jurassic Park, The Color Purple; Oscars for Schindler’s List, Saving Private Ryan)
► ◄ Actors
1916 Betty Grable great legs/actress (Gay Divorcee)
1917 Ossie Davis actor/playwright (Hot Stuff, Man Called Adam)
Katie Holmes, 32, actress (Batman Begins, Pieces of April, “Dawson’s Creek”)
Ray Liotta, 55, actor (Unforgettable, Goodfellas, Field of Dreams, Something Wild)
Brad Pitt, 46, actor (The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, Babel, Ocean’s Eleven)
Roger Smith, 78, actor (77 Sunset Strip)
1906 Kam Tong actor (Across the Pacific, Flower Drum Song)
Casper Van Dien, 42, actor (Starship Troopers)
ATHLETICS
1886 Ty Cobb , batted .367, stole 892 bases (Tigers)
Greg Landry, 64, football: Univ. of Massachusetts; Detroits Lions QB/QB coach
Charles Oakley, 47, basketball (Bulls, Knicks, Raptors, Wizards, Rockets)
BUSINESS & EDUCATION
1888 Robert Moses power broker (built Long Island & NYC parks & roads)
POLITICS
1913 Willy Brandt [Herbert Frahm] German chancellor (1969-74, Nobel 1971)
Ramsey Clark, 83, US Attorney General (1967-69)
SCIENCE & RELIGION
1856 Joseph John Thomson English physicist discovered electron (Nobel 1906)
♦Today’s Obituaries♦
John T "Legs" Diamond US gangster, murdered @ 35 in 1931
Chris Farley comedian (Saturday Night Live, Tommy Boy), OD @ 33 in 1997
Mother Clare Hale cared for NYC AIDS babies (Hale House), @ 87 in 1992
Mark Goodson TV game show producer (Goodson-Toddman), cancer @ 77 in 1992
Antonio Stradivari renowned violin-maker, @ 93 in 1737
♦Today’s Events♦
ARTS
1892 Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky's ballet "Nutcracker Suite" premieres
1920 Conductor Arturo Toscanini made his first recording for Victor Records
1956 "To Tell the Truth" debuts on CBS-TV
1966 Dr Seuss' "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" airs for 1st time on CBS
1976 "Wonder Woman" debuts on ABC
ATHLETICS
1961 For 2nd consecutive year, AP names Wilma Rudolph female athlete of year
1994 Darryl Strawberry pleads not guilty on tax evasion charges
BUSINESS & EDUCATION
1719 Thomas Fleet publishes "Mother Goose's Melodies For Children"
1796 1st US newspaper to appear on Sunday (Baltimore Monitor)
1865 1st US cattle importation law passed
1991 General Motors announces the closing of 21 plants
1996 TV industry executives agree to adopt a ratings system
INDIGENOUS PEOPLE
1835 A military baggage caravan near Micanopy, FL, separated from its main force while marching from Jacksonville to Wetumpka. A group of Seminoles, led by Osceola, will attack the soldiers, killing most of them. This battle will be called the "Battle of Black Point"; and, according to some historians, will be the first battle of the Second Seminole War.
POLITICS (US)
1777 1st national Thanksgiving Day, commemorating Burgoyne's surrender
1935 A $1 silver certificate was issued. It was the first currency to depict the front and back sides of the Great Seal of the United States.
POLITICS (International)
1944 Nazi occupiers of Amsterdam destroy electricity plants
1956 Israeli flag hoisted on Mount Sinai
1980 Vietnam adopts constitution
SCIENCE & RELIGION
1839 1st celestial photograph (the moon) made in US, John Draper
1849 William Bond obtains 1st photograph of Moon through a telescope
1898 Automobile speed record set-63 kph (39 mph)
ANSWERS
∞ JEOPARDY
In May 1990 Daniel Akaka became this state's new junior senator, replacing Spark Matsunaga
What is Hawaii?
Colorado congresswoman who was an almost-ran in the 1988 presidential race
Who was Pat Schroeder?
William A. O'Neill has been governor of Connecticut since she resigned because of illness
Who was Ella Grasso?
He's been an Arizona congressman since 1961 when his brother vacated the seat to join JFK's cabinet
Who was Morris Udall?
He lost the presidential nomination to Hubert Humphrey in 1968 & ran as an independent in 1976
Who was Eugene McCarthy?
