TODAY’s HOLY MACKEREL: 1970 - Apollo 13, four-fifths of the way to the moon, was crippled when a tank containing liquid oxygen burst.
MY FREE RAMBLING THOUGHTS
Can’t figure out what happened yesterday with the post…the site was acting strange on three different browsers. So today will again have no graphics.
Yesterday’s Free Thoughts
A really nice day today—after a weekend of snow. Had to be outside for much of the day.
It sure looks like we will all be tightening our belts even more. Austerity is becoming the buzz word from DC. Not for the super rich, but for everyone else. The middle class that the previous generation worked so hard to be in is rapidly disappearing. Those of us who don’t go into debt, pay our credit cards in full every month, and work to keep our nest egg intact are attacked on every side: higher insurance costs, larger deductibles, basically no interest on money kept in banks and credit unions, higher gas prices, higher food costs, higher education costs, no COLA’s, and the list goes on and on. Of course in order to meet these rising costs, the rich get their bonuses, their huge retirement golden parachutes, their huge raises in salary, and the list goes on and on. This is a tough economic time.
Today’s Free Thoughts
I had a good visit with my ENT today. Everything is fine, just keep taking the meds and come back in 6 months. He keeps telling me I have a great attitude…it’s like his other patients must be real nasty. Anyway, today he was joking with me and said, “I’ll bet if I told you that I had to cut off your arm, you would say ‘Great, now I don’t have to carry it around all the time.’” I guess it was funnier if you were there.
I know a few ladies who are more than a little upset about some recent comments on Faux News. Faux News claimed that women can get all the services of Planned Parenthood, except abortion at the local Walgreens. The news team specifically mentioned PAP smears and breast exams. Obviously Walgreens doesn’t offer those two. The sad part is that there are so many people who believe the Faux News garbage. Just like they believe Jon Kyl and his 90% statement, and they never hear the ‘retraction’.
I ran some errands today. When I was in Tuba I had a ‘gazing ball’ and stand in my garden. The stand made the trip to Flag, but somehow the ball didn’t make it. I’ve kinda been keeping an eye out for one since I got here. I wasn’t going to pay a fortune since they are made of glass and sit outside. They don’t do well in the elements, so when it rains and during the winter it has to be brought inside. In Tuba I had to bring it in whenever I watered the garden. Anyway, Marshall’s had a nice one for $12. I got it, and it looks real nice on my patio. Spring is really gotta get here for more than just a few days at a time.
While I was on the Rez I picked up quite a few framed prints and a couple of originals. I have had them in my living room in Tuba and then here. I finally decided that they need to find a better place. So this week I moved them to the hallway on the first floor and the staircase. I am happy with their new location and now I’m looking for some photos or wall hangings for the living room. My days on the rez were very important to me but I can’t move past them when they are the main décor of my house. I can still enjoy them in their new locations.
DID YOU KNOW THAT…
* To slice meat into thin strips, as for Chinese dishes, partially freeze and it will slice easily.
* A roast with the bone in will cook faster than a boneless roast. The bone carries the heat to the inside of the roast more quickly.
* A fork should never be stuck in meat while frying or grilling as it punctures the meat and lets the juices out. Use tongs.
* Juicier burgers: add one stiffly beaten egg white to each pound of hamburger. You could also make patties with one tablespoon of cottage cheese in the center.
* Dip your fingers in water to prevent raw meatballs or hamburgers from sticking to your hands.
* To help stop meatloaf from sticking to the pan, put one or two strips of bacon in the pan before the meatloaf.
SOMEWHAT USELESS INFORMATION…
Ducks are precocial, which means that ducklings are covered with down and able to walk and leave the nest just a few hours after hatching.
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Male ducks have an eclipse plumage similar to females that they wear after the breeding season for about a month as their new feathers grow. During that month, they are completely flightless and more vulnerable to predators.
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A duck's bill is specialized to help it forage in mud and to strain food from the water. A hard nail at the tip of the bill helps with foraging, and a comb-like structure on the sides of the bill strains small insects and crustaceans from water.
PUZZLE: Trivia Quiz […answers at bottom…]
1. 'I Get Around' was a hit for which group?
2. John Richie became famous under what name?
3. In which city was the first public opera house opened?
4. In the song Waltzing Matilda - What is a Jumbuck?
5. What is the bass Xylophone called?
6. Vladamere Ashkenazy plays what musical instrument?
7. What is the name of the metal discs set in a tambourine's rim?
8. The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band was the first US group to do what in 1977?
9. Who wrote the music for 'Showboat'?
10. Who received the first ever Gold Disc?
UNUSUAL NEWS ITEM:
WEST MELBOURNE, Fla. — A Brevard County man blasted away with an assault rifle at a SWAT robot while wearing nothing but his birthday suit.
The suspect's dog was the only onlooker as the robot approached the door at the West Melbourne home on Del Mar Circle.
Authorities said a man with several guns was suicidal and threatening authorities.
"He said he'd shoot anyone he could," said Lt. Bruce Barnett with the Brevard County Sheriff's Office.
Instead of risking any lives, deputies sent the $65,000 robot into the home. The robot has cameras, which record all of its actions. The video shows the robot searching each room, its electronic eye roving from side to side while officers watch safely from a command post.
As the robot slowly pushes the man's bedroom door open, the man comes out, stark naked, with an AK-47 in hand. The man then starts shooting at the robot.
The camera goes out at first, and then comes back on. The robot came away with bullet holes, frayed wires and broken cables, but no one was hurt.
"It saved a life," said Barnett.
The man was charged with criminal mischief. The robot will be out of commission for a while. It's being sent back to its manufacturer for repairs.
A LITTLE LAUGH:
To help a friend lose weight, I told her that she should switch to lower-fat foods, including skim milk. When she said her family would drink only whole milk, I suggested that she keep their regular container and refill it with skim milk. This worked for quite a while, until her daughter asked one morning whether the milk was okay.
"Sure, it's fine," my friend answered, fearing she had been found out. "Why do you ask?"
The daughter explained, "Well, according to the expiration date, this milk expired six months ago!"
FOUND ON ‘YOU TUBE’: Yuri Gagarin Video
♫ Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ♫
2006 Inductee: Sex Pistols: Rock and roll was never the same after the Sex Pistols. They ignited the punk-rock revolution in Britain, and the reverberations carried to all corners of the rock and roll world. Expressing the cynical, restive mood of youthful Britons, the Sex Pistols restored a sense of danger to rock music. This wasn’t the theatrical danger of Alice Cooper’s onstage guillotine but the very real possibility of injury to the body and a jolt to the senses. MORE INFO
Click on Song Title to see and hear it.
DAYBOOK INFORMATION
«THIS WEEK
10-16
Consider Christianity Week
Health Information Privacy and Security Week
National Animal Control Appreciation Week
National Environmental Week
National Inspirational News Week
National Library Week
National Volunteer Week
Pan American Week
Passion Week
Week of The Young Child
11-17
National Personal Training Week
«TODAY IS
Blame Somebody Else Day
… ARTISTS: AUTHORS: COMPOSERS BIRTHDAYS…
Samuel Beckett 4/13/1906 - 12/22/1989 Irish-born author, critic, and playwright; won the 1969 Nobel Prize for Literature
Seamus Heaney, Nobel Prize-winning poet, turns 72
1931 Jon Stone, co-creator of Sesame Street
1909 Eudora Welty, Jackson Ms, novelist (Optimist's Daughter-Pulitzer 1973)
Lanford Wilson, Playwright, turns 74
…ATHLETES
1963 Gary Kasparov, Chess champion, turns 48
…BUSINESS & EDUCATION
Eli Terry 4/13/1772 - 2/26/1852 American clockmaker and an innovator in mass production
…ENTERTAINERS (ACTORS/SINGERS…)
1923 Don Adams, American actor and comedian
Peabo Bryson, R&B singer, turns 60
Jack Casady, Rock musician (Jefferson Airplane, Hot Tuna), turns 67
Ron Perlman, Actor, turns 61
Caroline Rhea, Actress, comedian, turns 47
Ricky Schroder, Actor, turns 41
Paul Sorvino, Actor, turns 72
Lyle Waggoner, Actor, turns 76
Max Weinberg, Rock musician (E Street Band), turns 60
…POLITICIANS
Ben Nighthorse Campbell, Former U.S. senator, R-Colo., Northern Cheyenne Tribe, 3rd Native American to serve in Senate, turns 78
1570 Guy Fawkes, English Catholic conspirator
Thomas Jefferson 4/13/1743 - 7/4/1826 President of the United States (1801-1809) and author of the Declaration of Independence
…SCIENCE & RELIGION
Peter Faber 4/13/1506 - 8/1/1546 French Jesuit theologian and co-founder of the Society of Jesus
Today’s Obits:
1994 - Donald Benjamin Harden, archaeologist, dies at 92
1973 - Alexandre A M Stols, publisher/typographer (Schoone Book), dies at 73
1997 - George Wald, scientist (Nobel Prize, vitamin A in retina), dies at 80
Today’s Events:
… ARTS
1742 - George Frederic Handel's "Messiah" performed for 1st time (Dublin)
1958 - Van Cliburn is the first American to win the Chaikovsky Competition in Moscow.
… ATHLETICS
1954 - Baseball Hall of Famer Hank Aaron made his major league debut with the Milwaukee Braves.
1997 - Tiger Woods, 21, became the youngest person to win the Masters Tournament and the first person of African heritage to claim a major golf title.
… BUSINESS & EDUCATION
1796 - 1st elephant arrives in US from India
1860 - 1st Pony Express reaches Sacramento
1902 - J C Penney opens his 1st store in Kemmerer, WY
… INDIGENOUS PEOPLE
1846 - The 2 Cherokee factions (old settlers and new emigrants) continue to feud over who has legal control of the Cherokee Nation. Based on appeals from the old settlers and the agreement of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, President James Polk asks Congress to approve the creation of separate reservations for the two sides. The new emigrants will oppose the proposal. An agreement will be reached by both sides on August 6, 1846.
1946 - Congress will create the Indian Claims Commission today. The commission is established to hear and decide claims made by Indians based on land losses from treaties.
… International POLITICS
1926 - Bicyclists without bicycle-tax-stamp rounded up in Amsterdam
1961 - UN General Assembly condemns South-Africa's apartheid
1992 - Nelson Mandela announces he will seek divorce from Winnie
… SCIENCE & RELIGION
--
… US POLITICS
1943 - FDR dedicates Jefferson Memorial
ANSWERS:
Quiz
1. 'I Get Around' was a hit for which group?
Beach Boys
2. John Richie became famous under what name?
Sid Vicious
3. In which city was the first public opera house opened?
Venice
4. In the song Waltzing Matilda - What is a Jumbuck?
Sheep
5. What is the bass Xylophone called?
Marimba
6. Vladamere Ashkenazy plays what musical instrument?
Piano
7. What is the name of the metal discs set in a tambourine's rim?
Jingles
8. The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band was the first US group to do what in 1977?
Tour USSR
9. Who wrote the music for 'Showboat'?
Jerome Kern
10. Who received the first ever Gold Disc?
Glen Miller for the song the 'Chattanooga Cho Cho'
…AND THAT’S ALL FOR NOW
