4/12/13


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Flagstaff Almanac:  Week: 15/ Day: 102   Today: H 58°L 27°
Wind: ave:   12mph; Gusts:  34mph  Ave. humidity:  47%
*Averages: H  57° L 27° Records: H 75°(1907)L 10°(1945)

Quote of the Day


Today’s Historical Highlights
1st US colonists on Pacific coast arrive at Cape Disappointment, WA …1811
4th Crusade occupies & plunders Constantinople…1204
Bill Haley & Comets records "Rock Around Clock"…1954
Catcher's mask 1st used in a baseball game…1877
Ceasefire in the 2011-2012 Syrian uprising comes into effect…2012
England adopts Union Jack as its flag…1606
Highest velocity wind ever recorded on Mt Washington, NH, 231 mph…1934
Japan kills about 400 Filipino officers in Bataan…1942
Simon & Garfunkel releases "Boxer"…1969
US began requiring medical tests for marriage licenses…1938

     Happy Birthday To: ♪. ♪   
How many can you identify?…answers in Today’s Birthdays


Free Rambling Thoughts   
The grounds people worked another day on our new rocks. I feel like a little kid, enjoy watching the machines move the tons of rocks around. I can already see some problems ahead. First is a safety concern…the small pebbles were no safety issue, but these rocks can be easily thrown through a window in one of the units or through any vehicle window. And there are now thousands of them. A second problem will be getting rid of the millions of pine needles that fall around our property…we live in a forested area of pines…which is very nice…but the trees drop their needles year round. In the past they have used strong leaf blowers, but somehow I don’t think this is going to work anymore. Only time will tell and the change in look is nice right now.
 
Interesting to watch C-Span this morning as the vote came in on the decision to move the new gun law forward for debate. Thankfully both AZ senators voted to move the bill forward. I’m sure the debate will be as interesting as so much in Congress. A FB posted an interesting comment today regarding congress. Basically she was asking why there is always an outcry about teacher pay that always contains the number of days off they get every year and there is no outcry about Congressional pay and their time off. A good question. Today they voted from their offices and then took a three hour lunch break.
 
Still laughing about the latest from Dubai. The police department now has a $500,000 Lamborghini in their fleet. On my latest visit there I learned that it is illegal to drive or park a dirty car and you can be ticketed. It doesn’t rain very much there but it does have a lot of wind and sand and all of us from the Rez know that that also makes a car dirty. So now, if in Dubai, in a dirty car, you can see the Lamborghini doing its duty…stopping you and giving you a ticket.
 
We had a good lunch today with lots of good conversation. Cheryl had a great time with her two older grandkids last week. It was the boy’s first ‘road trip’ together. She said both have girlfriends and spent a lot of time texting. When she asked why they hadn’t used her computer, as usual, they said their phones do everything they need. Mary is busy with CASA and the courts. She makes a very good child advocate. She is headed back to Phoenix to check on her pool after this week’s many dust storms in the valley. We have to rearrange Cheryl’s birthday celebration as I will be on my cruise. I feel bad as I am the kind of person who likes to celebrate close to my birthday. She said it doesn’t matter to her.
Game  Center (answers at the end of post)
Brain Teasers
Read the sentence below and determine what the four uppercase words have in common.

As you put down your bowl of STEW and take your SEAT, you let out a SHOUT and leap back up; you sat on a THORN!

*****
Hint: Read the directions again.

Lifestyle  Substance:     
Found on You Tube with some relevance to today

Origins of Phrases
A leopard cannot change its spots
Meaning
The notion that things cannot change their innate nature.
Origin
From the Bible, Jeremiah 13:23 (King James Version):"Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil."
Ok, then?



Harper’s Index    
  • Projected worldwide surplus of low-skill workers in 2020: 93,000,000
  • Projected worldwide deficit of high- and medium-skilled workers in 2020: 85,000,000

Picture of the Day: Rainforest Medicines



Unusual Fact of the Day
Adolf Hitler was Time Magazine's Man of the Year for 1938
Joke-of-the-day
A man and his wife were sitting in the living room discussing a “Living Will”
"Just so you know, I never want to live in a vegetative state, dependent on some machine and fluids from a bottle. If that ever happens, just pull the plug."
His wife got up, unplugged the TV and threw out all the beer.
Rules of Thumb:   
Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess
FINDING A GOOD RESTAURANT
 Steak restaurants serve good seafood, but seafood restaurants serve terrible steak.    
Yeah, It Really Happened
HOLLEY, N.Y. - A western New York nun admitted she stole $128,000 to feed her gambling habit, prosecutors said. Sister Mary Anne Rapp of the Order of St. Francis pleaded guilty in Orleans County Court to one count of fourth-degree grand larceny, District Attorney Joe Cardone said. WIVB-TV, Buffalo, said Rapp stole the money from St. Mark's Church in Holley, N.Y., about 60 miles northeast of Buffalo. The thefts occurred from 2006 to 2011 when Rapp was placed on administrative leave because of discrepancies in church financial statements. She faces a maximum sentence of six months in jail and five years probation, Cardone said.
Somewhat Useless Information   
  • Since wine tasting is essentially wine smelling, women tend to be better wine testers because women, particularly of reproductive ages, have a better sense of smell than men.
  • Red wines are red because fermentation extracts color from the grape skins. White wines are not fermented with the skins present.
  • A wine that tastes watery is said to taste "dilute." It may have been made from grapes picked during a rainstorm.
  • Wine testers swirl their glass to encourage the wine to release all of its powerful aromas. Most don't fill the glass more than a third full in order to allow aromas to collect and to not spill it during a swirl.
  • The vintage year isn't necessarily the year wine is bottled, because some wines may not be bottled the same year the grapes are picked. Typically, a vintage wine is a product of a single year's harvest. A non-vintage wine is a blend of wines from two or more years.
  • Traditionally, wine was never stored standing up. Keeping the wine on its side kept the wine in contact with the cork, thereby preventing the cork from drying, shrinking, and letting in air. However, wine can be stored vertically if the bottle has an artificial cork.

Calendar Information        
Happening This Week:
7-13
National Animal Control Appreciation Week
National Blue Ribbon Week
National Public Health Week
National Week of the Ocean
National Window Safety Week: 7

American Indian Awareness Week
11-14
The Masters Tournament
YoYo & Skill Toy Weekend
International Whistlers Week

Today Is                                                                      
D.E.A.R. Day (aka Drop Everything And Read)
International Day of Human Space Flight
Licorice Day
Look Up At The Sky Day
National Be Kind to Lawyers Day
National Licorice Day
Tax Freedom Day
Walk On Your Wild Side Day
~US: Florida: Children's Day

Today’s Events through History  
1st edition of Tattler magazine in England…1709
Army transfers Yerba Buena Island in SF Bay to Navy…1898
Fort Sumter, SC is shelled by Confederacy, starting Civil War…1861
Harold Washington elected Chicago's 1st black mayor…1983
Sergeant Alchesay, Corporal Elsatsoosu, Kelsay, Kosoha, Machol, Nannasaddie 
     and Nantaje in the Indian Scouts, will be awarded the Congressional Medal 
     of Honor today for their service to the U.S. Army as a scout during "campaigns 
     and engagements with APACHEs" during the winter of 1872 and 1873…1875
Sonny Bono elected mayor of Palm Springs CA…1988

Today’s Birthdays                                                           
In their 90’s
Beverly Cleary, American writer is 96

In their 70’s
Dennis Banks, Native American activist is 76

In their 60’s
David Cassidy, singer/actor (Keith-Partridge Family) is 63
David Letterman, TV late night host is 66
Ed O'Neill, actor (Al Bundy-Married with Children) is 67

In their 50’s
Andy Garcia, Cuba, actor (Stand & Deliver, 8 Million Ways to Die) is 57

In their 40’s
Shannen Doherty, Memphis Tn, actress (Little House, Bev Hills 90210) is 42

In their 30’s
Claire Danes, actress (Angela-My So Called Life, Romeo & Juliet) is 34

Remembered for being born today
Henry Clay, [the Great Compromiser], US politician [1777-1852]
Imogen Cunningham, photographer (1965 ASMP award) [1883-1976]
Tiny Tim [ Herbert Khaury], New York, musician, [1932-1996]
Billy Vaughn, American musician and bandleader [1919-1991]

Today’s Historical Obits                                                           
Clara Barton, organizer (American Red Cross)…1912…at 90
Paddy Hillery, 6th President of Ireland, EEC Commissioner and Irish Minister…2008…at 84
Abbie Hoffman, yippie peace activist of the 60's…suicide…1989…at 52
William Kent, English sculptor/architect (Kensington Palace)…1748…at 62
Joe Louis, [Brown bomber], heavyweight boxing champion…cardiac arrest…1981…at 66
Boxcar Willie [Lecil Travis Martin], American singer…leukemia…1999…at 67  
Sugar Ray Robinson, heavyweight boxing champ… Alzheimers…1989…at 67
Franklin Roosevelt, 32nd US President (D) (1933-1945)…stroke…1945…at 63
William M "Boss" Tweed, NY politician… pneumonia…1878…at 55

Answer: Brain Teasers
They are anagrams of the four directions: WEST, EAST, SOUTH, and NORTH.
Disclaimer: All opinions are mine…feel free to agree or disagree.
All ‘data’ info is from the internet sites and is usually checked with at least one other source, but I have learned that every site has mistakes and sadly once out the information is out there, many sites simply copy it and is therefore difficult to verify. Also for events occurring before the Gregorian calendar was adopted [1582] the dates may not be totally accurate.
§    And That Is All for Now  §

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Flagstaff, Arizona, United States
I retired in '06--at the ripe old age of 57. I enjoy blogging, photography, traveling, and living life to it's fullest.