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MY FREE RAMBLING THOUGHTS
After watching another morning of the Egyptian crisis, I called my traveling buddy, Hamdy. He is a tour guide and is very good at ‘reading’ people. That usually means he is good at saying what you expect him to say. When I called his office I just left a voice mail about hoping that he and his family members and friends in Egypt were safe during this crisis. He called me back in about an hour, when he stopped into the office to do some Saturday work. He thanked me for my concerns and said “it’s about time this happened, it should have happened 20 years ago.” His family lives in the rural area and they are not yet having demonstrations, however, in a nearby village the locals did overtake the police chief’s office. Seems the police chief has been around a long time and is not seen as a nice man—harassing people constantly—especially the poor. (The police chief sounded a little like AZ’s own Joe.) He was beaten up and is in the hospital. Hamdy noted that while this was certainly started by the young it was expanding to everyone. He said that many young Egyptians go to school, get their diplomas and if they are not ‘related’ they can’t get a job or use their talent. (That too sounds a little like life on the Rez.) Hamdy said that he is keeping a close eye on the situation and his biggest concern is the young who are looting the National Treasures. He ran a department at the Cairo Museum before coming to the US and realizes the loss that could be taking place. His concern being that the youth have little knowledge of the importance of the pieces in the museum. I asked about our guide who lives in Cairo and he said that he would let me know, but didn’t think she was in any danger. His guide friends seem to be doing well also. As we both knew, the police are usually uneducated men who ‘are related’ and may not be there to serve and protect. The military police and the tourist police are much the same. They support their ‘boss’ as long as the money is there, and their lives are not in danger. Hamdy’s hope is that Mubarak leaves office and that a democratic government is set up to help the people. It was good to talk with him and get a better understanding of what is happening. The final part of our conversation was about our upcoming trip to Ethiopia. He said he wasn’t worried about me, but was concerned about some of the others who may not be ready for the poverty and the lack of top notch hotels on our trip. Turns out this will be his first tour to Ethiopia. He is going there next month to scope it out. I simply told him that all of the travelers are able to read and if they aren’t ready, it is not Hamdy’s problem. Of course he is a tour coordinator and wants everyone to have a great trip and will continue to worry about how travelers perceive his company while in a poor country. I know he will do a good tour.
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DID YOU KNOW THAT…
◘ Remove water marks from glasses by washing glasses with a damp cloth sprinkled with table salt. The salt acts as a safe abrasive on glass.
◘ Cooking oil that spilled on the floor can be a big pain in the butt to clean up. Best way: sprinkle the mess with flour, let sit for a minute so the flour can absorb the oil, then wipe with paper towel. Spray area with cleaner to remove last traces of oil.
SOMEWHAT USELESS INFORMATION…
◘ Congressman John Conyers, Democrat from Michigan, first introduced legislation for a commemorative holiday four days after King was assassinated in 1968. After the bill became stalled, petitions endorsing the holiday containing six million names were submitted to Congress.
◘ Congress passed the holiday legislation in 1983, which was then signed into law by President Ronald Reagan. A compromise moving the holiday from Jan. 15, King's birthday, which was considered too close to Christmas and New Year's, to the third Monday in January helped overcome opposition to the law.
◘ King led the black boycott (1955-56) of segregated city bus lines and in 1956 gained a major victory and prestige as a civil-rights leader when Montgomery buses began to operate on a desegregated basis.
¤… PUZZLE: Who Wants To Be a Millionaire
…answers at bottom…
1. What is the first letter of the English alphabet?
A B C D
2. What planet is closest to the sun?
Mercury Mars Venus Earth
3. How many days are in a leap year?
365 366 212 819
4. The names of most continents on Earth begin with which letter of the English alphabet?
A L E Z
5. What year did Christopher Columbus discover America?
1776 1450 1492 1400
6. What is 100 percent of 50 percent of 50 percent of 500?
125 175 250 100
7. What is the last letter of the Greek alphabet?
Alpha Omega Macca Sigma
8. Which of these numbers printed on the back of sandpaper would make the roughest metal or wood if you were to sand it?
120 400 220 50
9. What is another term for a 'midge'?
Guano Bedstraw gnat Short man
10. How many essential vitamins and minerals are in Kellogg's Corn Flakes cereal?
10 12 8 6
11. Which of these people did not provide a character's voice in the 1995 Disney film 'Toy Story'?
John Morris Erik Von Detton Randy Newman Tim Allen
12. What animal's scientific name is Bradypus Tridactylus?
Octopus Sloth Dwarf Goby Pterydactl
13. Approximately how many parts make up an average suit of armor?
438 300 200 338
14. What is the nationality of the poet Firdausi?
Syrian Persian Finnish German
15. What is the IQ of broccoli?
2 0 1 3
UNUSUAL NEWS ITEM… TAMPA, Fla.
--The self-proclaimed unluckiest man in the world said he was again hospitalized after lightning struck his Florida home while he was on the phone. John Wade Agan, 47, whose previous hospitalizations were for conditions including a butcher knife to his chest, injuries from being robbed at gunpoint in his taxi cab and shoved in the vehicle's trunk, and being bitten by two snakes at the same time -- a claim that has drawn some doubt from experts -- said lightning struck his home Tuesday while he was using a corded phone, leading him to black out, the St. Petersburg Times reported Thursday. Agan, who was taken to Tampa General Hospital, said he woke up surrounded by paramedics with a hole burned in his sock. Agan said he knows his injuries have drawn skepticism before, and lightning-strike injuries are difficult to prove, but he stands by his claims. Lightning experts said injuries from talking on a corded phone during a storm are not unusual.
"It's certainly possible," said Dr. Mary Ann Cooper, a researcher in the field of lightning injuries.
A LITTLE LAUGH…
A lawyer phoned the governor's mansion shortly after midnight. "I need to talk to the governor, it's an emergency!" exclaimed the lawyer.
After some cajoling, the governor's assistant agreed to wake him up. "So, what is it that's so important that it can't wait until morning?" grumbled the governor.
"Judge Pierson just died, and I want to take his place," begged the attorney.
"Well, it's OK with me if it's OK with the funeral home," replied the governor.
¤…CLOSEUP PICTURE
Can you identify this close up picture
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DAYBOOK INFORMATION
¤…THIS WEEK…¤
20-30 Sundance Film Festival
24-Feb 4 Clean Out Your Inbox Week
Escape Day: escape to a Spa
Inane Answering Message Day
England: Women Peerage Day (1958) for Royalty only
India: Martyrs' Day
Spain: School Day of Non-violence and Peace
US: Kentucky, Virgin Islands: Franklin D Roosevelt Day
Today’s Births
○ AUTHORS
1866 Gelett Burgess author (Purple Cow)
○ ATHLETES
1923 Walt (Walter) ‘Moose’ Dropo baseball: first baseman: Red Sox, Tigers, White Sox, Redlegs, Orioles, Reds
Boris Spassky, 74, former chess player, journalist
○ BUSINESS & EDUCATION
1814 Jean-Baptist Capronnier French/Belgian glass painter
○ ENTERTAINERS (ACTORS/SINGERS/…)
Christian Bale, 37, actor (3:10 to Yuma, The Prestige, Rescue Dawn, Batman Begins), born in Pembrokeshire, West Wales
Brett Butler, 53, comedienne, actress (“Grace Under Fire”)
Phil Collins, 60, musician, singer, songwriter
Gene Hackman, 81, actor (Oscars for The French Connection and Unforgiven; The Royal Tenenbaums)
1914 John Ireland actor (Rawhide, Gunfight at OK Corral)
Dorothy Malone, 86, actress (“Peyton Place”; Oscar for Written on the Wind)
1922 Dick Martin actor/comedian (Laugh-In, Carbon Copy)
Vanessa Redgrave, 74, actress (Tony for Long Day’s Journey into Night, Oscar for Julia, Emmys for Playing for Time, If These Walls Could Talk 2)
1914 David Wayne actor (Andromeda Strain, Adams Rib)
○ POLITICIANS
Richard (Dick) Cheney, 70, 46th vice president of the US
1915 John D Profumo English politician (C)
1882 Franklin Delano Roosevelt 32nd U.S. President [1933-1945], only President elected 4 times [died 83 days after 4th inauguration]
○ SCIENCE & RELIGION
1899 Max Theiler English/US microbiologist (Nobel 1951)
¤…Today’s Obituaries…¤
1948 Mahatma Gandhi India spiritual and political leader, assassinated @ 78
1888 Asa Gray US botanist (Flora of North America), @ 77
1991 John McIntire actor (Virginian, Psycho), emphysema @ 83
1838 Osceola chief of Seminole Indians, in jail of malaria or broken heart @ 33
1951 Ferdinand Porsche German car inventor (Porsche), @ 75
¤…Today’s Events…¤
○ ARTS
1933 "The Lone Ranger" premieres on ABC radio
1956 KRMA TV channel 6 in Denver CO (PBS) begins broadcasting
1961 KAET TV channel 8 in Phoenix AZ (PBS) begins broadcasting
○ ATHLETICS
1994 Dan Jansen skates world record 500m (35.76)
○ BUSINESS & EDUCATION
1815 Burned Library of Congress reestablished with Jefferson's 6500 volumes
○ INDIGENOUS PEOPLE
1712 Near New Bern, North Carolina, Tuscarora and Coree Indians have built a fort they call Narhantes. Today, as a part of the Tuscarora War, several hundred Indians and a few dozen South Carolina settlers, led by Colonel John Barnwell, will attack the fort.
○ POLITICS (US)
1781 Articles of Confederation ratified by 13th state, Maryland
1798 The first brawl in the U.S. House of Representatives was witnessed by legislators. Congressmen Matthew Lyon and Roger Griswold duked it out right there on the House floor. The spat occurred when Lyon spit in Griswold’s face.
1847 Yerba Buena renamed San Francisco
1946 1st issue of Franklin Roosevelt dime
○ POLITICS (International)
1647 Scots agree to sell King Charles I to English Parliament for £400,
1922 World Law Day, 1st celebrated
○ SCIENCE & RELIGION
1487 Bell chimes invented
1790 Lifeboat 1st tested at sea, by Mr Greathead, the inventor
1894 Pneumatic hammer patented by Charles King of Detroit
1911 1st rescue of an air passenger by a ship, near Havana, Cuba
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ANSWERS
¤…Millionaire ANSWERS…¤
1. What is the first letter of the English alphabet? A
2. What planet is closest to the sun? Mercury
3. How many days are in a leap year? 366
4. The names of most continents on Earth begin with which letter of the English alphabet? A
5. What year did Christopher Columbus discover America? 1492
6. What is 100 percent of 50 percent of 50 percent of 500? 125
7. What is the last letter of the Greek alphabet? Sigma
8. Which of these numbers printed on the back of sandpaper would make the roughest metal or wood if you were to sand it? 50
9. What is another term for a 'midge'? gnat
10. How many essential vitamins and minerals are in Kellogg's Corn Flakes cereal? 10
11. Which of these people did not provide a character's voice in the 1995 Disney film 'Toy Story'? Randy Newman
12. What animal's scientific name is Bradypus Txridactylus? Sloth
13. Approximately how many parts make up an average suit of armor? 200
14. What is the nationality of the poet Firdausi? Persian
15. What is the IQ of broccoli? 2 I know it's strange, but broccoli has an IQ, determined by the reaction to electrical stimuli.
¤…Close up Picture…¤
Mixer
« AND THAT’S ALL FOR NOW »
