Jul 18


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Jul. 18, 2019 Week: 29 \ Day: 199
86004:   H 85° \ L 55° \ Average Sky Cover: 10% 

Nearest wildfire:  9mi. Nearest lightning:  270mi
Wind:   6mph\Gusts:  7mph
Visibility: 10 mi

Record High: 93°[2005]   Record Low: 42°[1940]
Jul Averages: 82°\542° (8 day with rain)

Today’s Quote

Life consists not in holding good cards
but in playing those you hold well.
Josh Billings

Random Tidbits

Astronomers and scientists use the date of the June Solstice to mark the beginning of summer in the Northern Hemisphere and winter in the Southern Hemisphere. For meteorologists, on the other hand, summer began almost three weeks ago, on June 1.

The 'dog days of summer' refer to the weeks between July 3 and August 11 and are named after the Dog Star (Sirius) in the Canis Major constellation. The ancient Greeks blamed Sirius for the hot temperatures, drought, discomfort, and sickness that occurred during the summer.

Observances This Week
6-28
Tour de France


14-20
Everybody Deserves A Massage Week Link 

15-21
Rabbit Week
(Re: Magician Rabbits  The sponsor is Melvin Rabbit up in Canada. No website. )

17-20
National Baby Food Week Link
National Ventriloquism Week  
Link

18-21
Comic Con International
Hemingway Look-Alike Days   Link 
World Lumberjack Championships

Observances for Today

Get to Know Your Customers Day
Insurance Nerd Day
National Caviar Day Link
National Sour Candy Day
 Link 
Nelson Mandela International Day Link

My Rambling Thoughts

I really didn’t know what to expect in Mongolia. The science types discuss how the Navajo and others came from Mongolia, across the Bering Strait centuries ago. The yurt does resemble the Navajo Hogan. Around 10p the Russian Customs people were knocking on our door. Passports were taken, checked and returned some time later. Back to sleep. Entered Mongolia. Awakened again. Passports taken and checked. After the Mongolian agents took our passports, we left the light on, door open, and promptly fell back asleep. I woke up a couple of hours later, door closed, lights out, and passports sitting on our table. Thanks to whomever returned our passports, let us sleep, closed our door and turned off the lights. We were all grateful that we didn’t have to get dressed, go into the station, stand in line while our passports were checked in the middle of the night.

Mongolia has big cities, modern amenities, money that is highly inflated, beautiful people and a rich history. Genghis Khan once held a huge empire, larger than the Holy Roman Empire, and Mongolia is proud of its heritage. There is a stainless-steel statue of Chingas Khan that is larger than the Statue of Liberty, and many of us climbed up to his head for a spectacular view. Ed even showed off his planking prowess at this site. It took a few pictures to get Ed and Khan’s statue in the picture. I realized I had to get down on the ground to get the picture.

We spent time at a yurt camp, enjoying local food and drink, learning about the culture, and interacting with a horse herding family. Several interesting observations about the portable yurts: The main structure is a collapsible lattice work circle. It is covered with a very thick felt material, then with a canvas cover. The door opens to the south, something about wind. Each of the 106 top slats and the main stabilizer have painted designs, looking very Northern European in color and design. Their main religion is Buddhist.  Families move about 3 times a year for weather conditions, better grazing, and water. Families live in one area, with grandma taking care of the younger kids while the men are herding or working, and the younger women may work in nearby towns. It is a tough life, living off the land and sometimes, simply surviving. We moved on in the beautiful country to our own yurt village. Two people stayed in each yurt. Around 10p a young girl knocked on the door, saying ‘fire’. After realizing she was bringing wood for the stove, we let her in, she built a nice fire in the stove, and left. Late in the night, we both decided to open the door, as we are very hot. Besides, the toilet was about 20 yards from our yurt. We slept well, after so many days on the train. Then around 5a, the fire lady returned with more wood. We tried to convince her it was not needed, she loaded the stove again. We were able to communicate that we didn’t want any more heat, so she quietly left us. We had good meals at the camp.

We visited a great museum with thousands of artifacts of the Mongolian Empire. Then we had lunch at a Mongolian BBQ. It was set up just like the Mongolian Grill here in Flag. That was a big surprise. The good was awesome. And another big surprise was a dessert bar, which we don’t have in Flag. Before leaving Mongolia, we had another folklore show. Very interesting. Then we headed for the Chinese border.

Another dry, hot day here. Still awaiting the monsoon. All the green grasses have turned brown or yellow. We need moisture and we need it now.

Today’s Puzzle
Answer at the bottom of this page

The police found a murdered man in a car. The windows of the car were raised, the doors were locked, and the keys were inside, in the man’s hands. The man was shot several times with a gun, but there were no holes anywhere on the car. How is this possible?

Today’s Highlighted Historical Events
60’s
64 Great Fire of Rome begins under the Emperor Nero

1200’s
1290 King Edward I orders expulsion of Jews from England, this edict will remain in place for 350 years

1700’s
1743 1st half-page newspaper ad is published (NY Weekly Journal)

1800’s
1864 US President Abraham Lincoln asks for 500,000 volunteers for military service

1900’s
1914 Gandhi leaves South Africa after successfully leading campaigns of Passive Resistance

1925 Adolf Hitler publishes Mein Kampf (original title was the catchy "Four and a Half Years (of Struggle) Against Lies, Stupidity and Cowardice")

1938 Douglas "Wrong Way" Corrigan arrives in Ireland after a 28 hours flight, supposedly left NY flying for California

1966 Carl Sagan turns 1 billion seconds old

1968 The Intel Corporation is founded in Santa Clara, California

1980 Federal court voids Selective Service Act as it doesn't include women

1994 Crayola announces introduction of scented crayons

1995 "Dreams from My Father", a memoir by Barack Obama is published by Times Books

2000’s
2012 Kim Jong-un is officially appointed Supreme Leader of North Korea and given the rank of Marshal in the Korean People's Army

2015 PayPal is spun off from eBay as a separate publicly traded company on the NASDAQ

2018 Google fined record $5.1 billion by the EU for abusing its power in mobile phone market

2018 44 Forest fires in Sweden as far north as the Arctic Circle prompt Swedish government to request extra assistance, with drought and warm weather to blame

2018 New Earth geological age announced, the Meghalayan Age 4,200 years ago to the present, by the International Commission on Stratigraphy

2018 Lava from Kilauea volcano eruption has now destroyed 700 homes and added 700 acres to Big Island confirms Hawaii National Guard

Highlighted Birthdays Today

1635 Robert Hooke,
English scientist (Micrographia), born in Isle of Wight, England (d. 1703: @67)

1906 S. I. Hayakawa,
U.S. senator from California (1977–83) and educator (Language in Action), born in Vancouver, Canada (d. 1992: @85)

1909 Harriet Nelson
[Peggy Lou Snyder],
American singer and actress (The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, Follow the Fleet), born in Des Moines, Iowa (d. 1994: @85)

1911 Hume Cronyn,
Canadian actor (World According to Garp, Cocoon), born in London, Ontario (d. 2003: @91)

1913 Red Skelton
[Richard Bernard Eheart],
American comedian (Red Skelton Show), born in Vincennes, Indiana (d. 1997: @84)

1918 Nelson Mandela,
anti-apartheid activist, political prisoner (1962-90) and South African President (1994-99), born in Mvezo, Umtatu, South Africa (d. 2013: @95)

1921 John Glenn,
American astronaut (1st American to orbit the earth) and politician (Senator D-Ohio), born in Cambridge, Ohio (d. 2016: @95)

1922 Thomas Kuhn,
American philosopher of science (paradigm shift), born in Cincinnati, Ohio (d. 1996: @73)

1937 Hunter S. Thompson,
American journalist and author (Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas), born in Louisville, Kentucky (d. 2005: @67: suicide)

70’s
79- James Brolin,
American actor (Dr Kiley-Marcus Welby, Peter-Hotel), born in Los Angeles, California

60’s
69- Richard Branson,
British music entrepreneur (Virgin Group), born in London, England

50’s
52- Vin Diesel
[Mark Sinclair],
American actor (The Fast and the Furious), born in Alameda County, California

Highlighted Historical Obits Today
90’s
@91-2005 William Westmoreland,
US general during the Vietnam War

80’s
@83-1892 Thomas Cook,
British founder and CEO of Thomas Cook & Son travel agency (Cook Travel Bureau)

60’s
@69-1997 Eugene M. Shoemaker,
American planetary scientist and geologist (Shoemaker-Levy comet), dies in auto accident

@66-1872 Benito Juarez,
Cuban justice/general (battle of Acapulco), dies after heart attack

40’s
@45-1792 John Paul Jones,
U.S. first well-known naval hero ("I have not yet begun to fight"), dies of interstitial nephritis

@41-1817 Jane Austen,
English novelist (Pride and Prejudice), dies from rheumatism

20’s
@23-1966 Bobby Fuller,
American rock singer and guitarist (I Fought the Law), found dead

Puzzle answer:

The car was convertible, with the top retracted back. 


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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.