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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
Tour de France
14-20
15-21
Rabbit Week
(Re: Magician Rabbits The sponsor is Melvin Rabbit up in Canada. No website. )
(Re: Magician Rabbits The sponsor is Melvin Rabbit up in Canada. No website. )
17-20
18-21
Observances for Today
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.
