5-16-14


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Flagstaff Almanac: Day: 136  / Week: 20 
May Averages: 68° \ 34°
Today: Average Sky Cover: 0%
    H 73° L 41° Ave. humidity: 22%
    Wind: ave:   9mph; Gusts:  19mph  
    Average High: 67° Record High:  80° (1970)
    Average Low: 34° Record Low:  16° (1955)
       
Quote of the Day
Today’s Historical Highlights

1532 - Sir Thomas More resigns as English Lord Chancellor
1568 - Mary Queen of Scotland flees to England
1792 - Denmark abolishes slave trade
1817 - Mississippi River steamboat service begins
1860 - Chicago: Republican convention selects Abraham Lincoln as candidate
1864 - Last battles at Drewry's Bluff, Virginia (6,666 casualties)
1866 - US Congress authorizes the nickel 5 cent piece (replaces silver half-dime)
1868 - By one vote, US Senate fails to impeach President Andrew Johnson
1879 - Antonin Dvorák's "Slavic Dancing" premieres
1891 - George A Hormel & Co introduce Spam
1903 - 1st transcontinental motorcycle trip begins at SF
1910 - US Bureau of Mines forms
1920 - Joan of Arc (Jeanne D'arc) canonized a saint
1939 - Food stamps are 1st issued
1965 - Spaghetti-O's 1st sold
1985 - Michael Jordan named NBA Rookie of Year
2005 - Kuwait permits women's suffrage in a 35-23 National Assembly vote.

  Today’s Birthdays:   

How many can you identify? Answers in Today’s Birthdays below
My Free Rambling Thoughts   

One of the best spring days all season. So nice to be able to go outside in short pants and sandals.

I had lunch with our retirement group. Cheryl is headed to CA for the HS graduation of her oldest grandson. Very nice. Mary is headed to Phx for a weekend with one of her college girlfriends. Mary is continuing her battle with various insurance companies regarding a medication she is taking. BD/BS had been paying for the meds but suddenly decided that it was not approved for her particular skin condition and would no longer pay for it. Lots of phone calls to lots of various people involved, and she is getting nowhere. At $5K per month she was getting the only relief she has had in several years. Medicare will pay if she pays about $10K/year for part D, the manufacture won’t pay because they say BC/BS said they would pay. It is turning into quite the bureaucratic battle.

On Tuesday I needed more Lipitor. So I left a message with my Dr. to renew the script. On Wed I called the pharmacy to see why it hadn’t been filled. They said the Dr. didn’t send the script. They faxed the Dr. for a script This morning I got a text message from the pharmacy saying that the Dr. still hadn’t sent the script. I called the Dr.  and got some story about 2 mailboxes on the phone and she had just heard the message a few minutes ago and was faxing the info to the pharmacy. She claimed she never got a fax from the pharmacy. Then about 15 minutes later I got a text that my script was ready. This renewal process is becoming a real pain in the rear. Thank goodness I’m living in Flag where it is no big deal, rather than the Rez where it would have been a 150mile roundtrip for a script.

Good news for all Natives last night…the Senate approved the first Federal Judge who is Native (Hopi). Diane Humetewa is the FIRST Federal Judge in our country’s history. So hard for me to wrap my mind around that…230+ years before a Native is given a judgeship…really? Charles Curtis (Kaw tribe) was Hoover’s VP in 1929.

Game  Center (answers at the end of post)

Brain Teasers
Below are four epitaphs (writing on gravestones). From the writings, can you tell the occupation of each person?

1. Here lies Mortimer Bibbs.
He took part of ours and gave it to big brother, but he always had good form.
2

. Here lies Dirk McDuff, who toppled giants with weapons of steel. If only he'd heard his partner's shout before the giants found their revenge.

3. Here lies Suzy Smelt. She constructed many a bomb but mostly brought smiles to our faces.

4. Here lies Ethel Grant. She spent her whole life fighting with what she will now become.

Lifestyle  Substance:     

Found on You Tube with some relevance to today


Danny Trejo




OK Then…


Harper’s Index 

Portion of the 30 professions projected to grow faster over the next 10 years that require postsecondary education: 2/3

Unusual Fact of the Day

Chinese judges in the 15th century used darkened lenses (sunglasses) to hide their facial expressions in court.

Largest Animals in the world…

The Largest Bird in the World: The Ostrich
Arabia. A large male ostrich can reach a height of 2.8 m (9.2 ft), weighing over 156 kg (345 lb). Eggs laid by the Ostrich can weigh 1.4 kg (3 lb) and are the largest eggs in the world today. They can also run at maximum speeds of about 97.5 km/h (60.6 mph), making it both the fastest bird on land and the fastest two-legged animal in the world.

Oldest Trees in the World…

Patriarca da Floresta
This tree, an example of the species Cariniana legalis named Patriarca da Floresta in Brazil, is estimated to be about 3,000 years old, making it the oldest non-conifer in Brazil. The tree is believed to be sacred, but its species is widely threatened due to forest clearing in Brazil, Colombia and Venezuela.

Travel Destination Info…   

Countries that Take in the Most Money from Tourism
1) United States - $94.2 billion
International tourists spent the most money visiting the United States in 2009 with receipts totaling $94.2 billion dollars. Tourists come to the United States to see the great natural wonders like the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone and Yosemite National Parks as well as the great tourist cities like New York, Washington DC, Las Vegas, Chicago and San Francisco. The most visited tourist attraction in the United States is Times Square in New York which is visited by some 35 million tourists per year.

Joke-of-the-day

A kindergarten pupil told his teacher he’d found a cat, but it was dead. “How do you know that the cat was dead?” she asked her pupil.

“Because I pissed in its ear and it didn’t move,” answered the child innocently.

“You did WHAT?! ?” the teacher exclaimed in surprise.

“You know,” explained the boy, “I leaned over and went ‘Pssst!’ and it didn’t move.”

Rules of Thumb:   

USING PHOTOGRAPHIC FILM ON A SUNNY DAY
A good guide for exposing film on a clear day with the sun at your back is to set the aperture at f16 and the shutter speed to the ASA of the film.

Yeah, It Really Happened

ARLINGTON, Mass. (UPI) - A 60-year-old Massachusetts woman was arrested for operating under the influence for the seventh time after she allegedly handed the police chief a liquor receipt instead of her driver's license during a traffic stop. Arlington Police Chief Frederick Ryan reportedly saw Brenda Drinkwater driving the wrong way through town while "another man was driving behind Drinkwater repeatedly honking his horn and yelling at her to stop," according to the Arlington Patch. Ryan also observed Drinkwater forcing cars off the road, so he pulled her over. "Approaching the car, the Chief asked Drinkwater for her license and registration, and she reached into her purse and handed him a credit card and a receipt from a liquor store for a bottle of vodka," police said in a statement. "The Chief then saw an open bottle of vodka on her passenger seat and could clearly smell the odor of liquor on her breath." When Drinkwater got out of her car, she was "extremely unsteady" and failed "a number of sobriety tests." In addition to the DUI charge, Drinkwater was also charged with operating negligently as to endanger, drinking from an open container while driving and failure to keep to the right.

Somewhat Useless Information   

Since the 17th century Switzerland produces great amounts of chocolate every year, as it is considered to be a place with international reputation for high quality.
It was after the Second World War, when Switzerland started outsourcing production and today it has many famous international brands.
How about consumption within Swiss people? They eat the most chocolate equating to 10 kilos of chocolate per person per year!

If evolution really works, how come mothers only have two hands? ~Milton Berle

I am sure that if the mothers of various nations could meet, there would be no more wars. ~E. M. Forster

All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does. That’s his. ~Oscar Wilde

How simple a thing it seems to me that to know ourselves as we are, we must know our mothers names. ~Alice Walker

Only mothers can think of the future – because they give birth to it in their children. ~Maxim Gorky

Our mothers give us so many gifts. They give us the precious gift of life, of course, but they also leave treasured lessons that can guide us along our journeys even when they are no longer with us. ~Maria Shriver

What good mothers and fathers instinctively feel like doing for their babies is usually best after all. ~Benjamin Spock

Girls are the future mothers of our society, and it is important that we focus on their well-being. ~Miriam Makeba

I grew up in a makeup chair. And to see the women around me getting ready was so aspirational. It’s about mothers and daughters, a girl watching her mom at a vanity table. ~Drew Barrymore

Babies don’t need fathers, but mothers do. Someone who is taking care of a baby needs to be taken care of. ~Amy Heckerling

Calendar Information        

This Week’s Observances:

11-17
Universal Family Week
Food Allergy Awareness Week 
National Hospital Week 
National Nursing Home Week
National Police Week 
National Return To Work Week 
National Transportation Week 
National Women's Health Week 

Reading is Fun Week
Salute to Moms 35+ Week


12-18
American Craft Beer Week 
Children's Book Week
National Bike to Work Week

National Dog Bite Prevention Week  

National Etiquette Week

*Work At Home Moms Week

13-17
Neuropathy Awareness Week

13-19
Salvation Army Week  
Neuropathy Awareness Week

National Stuttering Awareness Week


Today Is  
Bats Day 
Biographer's Day
Endangered Species Day
International Virtual Assistants Day
O. Henry Pun-off Day
NASCAR Day
National Bike to Work Day
National Defense Transportation Day

National Endangered Species Day 
National Piercing Day
National Pizza Party Day

National Sea Monkey Day

Wear Purple For Peace Day
                                                     
Today’s Events through History  

1875 - Quake in Venezuela & Colombia kills 16,000
1914 - American Horseshoe Pitchers Association organizes in Kansas City
1948 - Israel issues its 1st postage stamps
1986 - "Top Gun" premieres

Today’s Birthdays                                                           

Danny Trejo, actor is 70
Barbara Lee, US singer (Chiffons, He's So Fine) is 68
Pierce Brosnan, actor (Remington Steele, 007) is 61
Debra Winger, actress (Officer & Gentleman) is 59
Olga Korbut, gymnast (Olympic-2 golds-1972) is 59
John Salley, NBA star is 50
Janet Jackson, singer, Michael's sister (Control) is 48
Tracey Gold, actress (Carol-Growing Pains) is 45
Tori Spelling, actress, author is 41
Megan Fox, actress (Transformers) \ model is 28

Remembered for being born today

1801-1872 - William H. Seward, Secretary of State, bought Alaska at 2 ¢/acre  
1804-1894 - Elizabeth Palmer Peabody, educator/founder (US kindergarten)
1832-1901 - Philip Danforth Armour, founder (Armour Foods)
1905-1982 - Henry Fonda, actor (Mr Roberts, On Golden Pond)
1907-2004 - Robert Tisdall, Ireland, 400m hurdler (Olympic-gold-1932)
1913-1987 - Woody Herman, jazz clarinetist/bandleader/composer  
1919-1987 - [Wladziu Valentino] Liberace, pianist (Liberace Show)

Today’s Historical Obits                                                           

Levi P. Morton, US -VP under Benjamin Harrision, 1920, @94
Sammy Davis Jr, singer/actor (Golden Boy), cancer, 1990, @64
Eliot Ness, American federal agent, heart attack, 1957, @54
Jim Henson, puppeteer (Sesame Street), organ failure, 1990, @53
James Agee, US critic/writer (Death in Family), heart attack, 1955, @45
Andy Kaufman, comedian (Latka-Taxi), cancer, 1984, @35

Brain Teasers                                         

1. Mortimer was a tax man.

2. Dirk was a lumberjack (and died because he didn't hear his partner yell "Timber!").

3. Suzy was a comedienne.

4. Ethel was a maid, always fighting dust (referring to "ashes to ashes and dust to dust").

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.