Vacation time

Today is packing day for my adventure on the Trans-Siberian Railway with Focus Travel Club. 

It's been a little over a year since I did any International Travel, so packing has suddenly become a challenge. I do have a drawer with all my electronic needs. What to wear has become interesting, hot days and cold nights. I decided no short pants, polo shirts, and a couple of light jackets. I know it will all work out or I'll be buying more on the trip. 

I will start this blog up around July 10 or 11th. I need some time to deal with the long plane ride from Beijing to Denver, then on to Phoenix. 

Wifi is very limited on this trip, so I don't know how many Instragram or Facebook posts I'll be able to do on the trip, but I can always post when I get home.

Jun 19

FYI: Any blue text is a link. Click to check it out!

Jun. 19, 2019 Week: 25 \ Day: 170

86004:   H 77° \ L 42° \ Average Sky Cover: 25% 

Nearest wildfire:  11mi. Nearest lightning:  105mi

Wind:   2mph\Gusts:  4mph

Visibility: 10 mi

Record High: 92°[1936]   Record Low: 25°[1979]

Jun Averages: 78°\42° (1 day with rain)

Today’s Quote

We shall not cease from exploration,

and the end of all our exploring will be

to arrive where we started

and know the place for the first time.

T. S. Eliot

Random Tidbits

Typically, 12 people are appointed to sit on a jury for felony trials, twelve men have walked on the moon and Alcoholics Anonymous has 12 steps, 12 traditions, and 12 concepts for world service.

The number 12 is highly symbolic in the Bible. It is mentioned 189 times.

- The Tree of Life inside the City of Heaven yields 12 different kinds of fruit.

- The City of Heaven is described as having three gates in each corner, making 12 in all.

- The first recorded words of Jesus occurred when he was 12 years old.

- Jesus had 12 apostles, which represented the 12 tribes of Israel.

Observances This Week

National Nursing Assistants Week: 13-19  Link

National Hermit Week: 13-20

Animal Rights Awareness Week: 16-22 Link   Link
National Craft Spirits Week: 16-22 Link 
National Play Catch Week: 16-22 
Old Time Fiddlers Week: 16-22 
Universal Father's Week: 16-22

Bartender of The Year Week: 17-20  Link

National Week of Making: 17-23  Link
Meet A Mate Week: 17-23
National Pollinator Week: 17-23  Link

Observances for Today

Free BSD Day Link
Garfield the Cat Day
International Day For The Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict
Juneteenth
National Kissing Day

National Martini Day

National Watch Day Link
World Sickle Cell Day Link
World Sauntering Day

My Rambling Thoughts

Getting more excited about my Focus Travel Club trip on the Trans Siberian RR. Stopped at the bank to pick up some cash for the trip. Times are certainly changing. The only time I go inside the bank is when I am traveling. I asked for new bills. She smiled and said, ‘we only order new bills at holidays’. And forget about the cash drawer, now it is a machine that gives the teller the requested bills. Magically I got new hundreds and fairly new 20’s, 5’s, and ones. As I was checking the bills, she said that if I found a bill that wasn’t good enough, she would try again, but offered no promises. An interesting experience to start the day. Then I headed to Walmart to look for some new socks. I bought this great pair of shoes/sandals. Discovered I need very low dark socks as my baby toe finds it way out of the sandals. Found exactly what I needed. Amazed.

Sounds like 45 will be busy with his million-person deportation move. Maybe he will let others deal with the Middle East issues and hopefully they will prevent a war.

I am still shocked that Mitch decided to let the world know that he doesn’t appreciate Jon Stewart’s Congressional testimony. Really, this guy is so out of touch with America, he is a walking, babbling reason for term limits. Jon gave a great reply.

PUZZLE OF THE DAY

Answer at the bottom of this page

One person went to the store and bought groceries for $13.59 total. He paid with a $100 bill, took his change, and left the store. There was something special about this transaction. What is it?

Today’s Significant Historical Events

1200’s

1269 King Louis IX of France decrees all Jews must wear a yellow badge in public or be fined 10 livres of silver

1300’s

1306 The Earl of Pembroke's army defeats Robert Bruce's Scottish army at the Battle of Methven

1600’s

1610 Samuel de Champlain and his French army defeat the Mohawk people at the Battle of Sorel in New France, present-day Sorel-Tracy, Quebec

1800’s

1829 Sir Robert Peel introduces the Metropolitan Police Act 1829 into Parliament to establish a unified police force for London

1861 Anaheim Post Office established

1900’s

1910 Father's Day celebrated for 1st time (Spokane, Washington)

1912 Tennessee University opened as Tennessee A & L State College

1913 Natives Land Act, Act No 27, passed in South Africa: confines Africans to hopelessly overcrowded reserves and deprives them of rights to purchase land outside the native reserves

1917 The British Royal Family, which has had strong German ties since George I, renounces its German names and titles and adopts the name of Windsor

1926 DeFord Bailey is 1st African American to perform on Nashville's "Grand Ole Opry"

1934 Federal Communications Commission (FCC) created

1961 Kuwait declares independence from UK

1961 US Supreme Court struck down a provision in Maryland's constitution requiring state office holders to believe in God

1963 Valentina Tereshkova 1st woman in space returns to Earth

1964 Civil Rights Act of 1964 passes 73-27

1978 Garfield, created by Jim Davis, 1st appears as a comic strip

1987 Supreme Court rules school teaching evolution need not teach creation

1991 Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar surrenders to police

1999 At about 4:30 pm, Stephen King is hit by a car on the shoulder of Route 5, in Lovell, Maine. He would suffer numerous injuries, including a collapsed right lung, multiple fractures of his right leg, scalp laceration and a broken hip

2000’s

2017 First full genetic study of cats published in "Nature Ecology and Evolution", reveals domesticated 9,000 years ago, descended from one species (African wildcat)

2018 Canada's Senate votes to legalize recreational marijuana use, first major economy to do so

Birthdays Today

0’s

1566 James Stuart,

(d. 1625: @58: gout/dysentery)

King James VI of Scotland (1567-1625) and James I of England and Ireland (1603-25),

born in Edinburgh, Scotland

1623 Blaise Pascal,

(d. 1662: @39: TB?/stomach cancer?)

French mathematician, physicist and Christian philosopher (Pascal's Law, Pascal's Wager),

born in Clermont-Ferrand, France

1896 Wallis Simpson

[Duchess of Windsor],

(d. 1986: @89)

American divorcee whom British King Edward VIII abdicated his throne to marry,

born in Blue Ridge Summit, Pennsylvania

1897 Moe Howard

[Moses Horowitz],

(d. 1975: @77: lung cancer)

American actor and comedian (The 3 Stooges),

born in Brooklyn, New York

1902 Guy Lombardo,

(d. 1977: @75: heart attack)

London Ontario Canada, orchestra leader (Auld Lang Syne)

1903 Lou Gehrig,

(d. 1941: @37: ALS)

baseball, 6 world series champion, 2 MVP

1914 Lester Raymond Flatt,

 (d. 1979: @64: heart failure)

American bluegrass guitarist

(Flatt & Scruggs - Ballad of Jed Clampett; Foggy Mountain Breakdown),

born in Duncan's Chapel, Tennessee

1916 Pat Buttram,

(d. 1994: @78: renal failure)

actor (Mr Haney-Green Acres)

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70’s

77- Elaine "Spanky" McFarlane,

rocker (Spanky & Our Gang-Lazy Day)

74- Aung San Suu Kyi,

Burmese politician, leader of the National League for Democracy and human rights activist (1991 Nobel Peace Prize),

born in Rangoon, British Burma

71- Phylicia Rashad,

American actress and singer (The Cosby Show, One Life to Live),

born in Houston, Texas

60’s

65- Kathleen Turner,

American actress (Accidental Tourist, Jewel of Nile),

born in Springfield, Missouri

50’s

57- Paula Abdul,

American singer-songwriter, choreographer (Straight Up) and

TV personality (American Idol),

born in San Fernando, California

55- Boris Johnson,

British Conservative politician,

(Foreign Secretary, 2016-present; Mayor of London 2008-2016),

born in NYC, New York

50- Lara Spencer,

American TV personality

40’s

48- Poppy Montgomery,

Australian actress (Without a Trace),

born in Sydney, New South Wales

Historical Obits Today

80’s

@81-1993 William Golding,

English author (Lord of the Flies, Nobel Prize for Literature 1983)

70’s

@79-1966 Ed Wynn

[Isaiah Edwin Leopold],

American comedian (Ed Wynn Show),

dies of throat cancer

@77-1937 J. M. [James Matthew] Barrie,

Scottish novelist and playwright (Peter Pan),

dies from pneumonia

60’s

@67-1975 Sam Giancana,

American gangster,

dies of multiple gunshot wounds

@64-1867 Maximilian I of the Mexican Empire

executed by firing squad in Querétaro, Querétaro

@63-1997 Bobby Helms

[Robert Lee Helms],

American country music singer (Jingle Bell Rock),

dies of emphysema

50’s

@51-2013 James Gandolfini,

American actor (The Sopranos),

dies from a heart attack

30’s

@37-1953 Ethel Rosenberg,

1st US civilian executed (in 5 tries) at Sing Sing, NY, for espionage

@35-1953 Julius Rosenberg,

1st US civilian executed at Sing Sing, NY for espionage

Puzzle answer:

The person paid with a $100 bill. The cashier returned him a $50 bill, a $20 bill, a $10 bill, a $5 bill, a $1 bill, a quarter, a dime, a nickel, and a cent. The transaction consisted of exactly one of each (frequently used) denominations.