Dec 1

 

‘Tis the Season

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

Dec 1, 2020  Week: 49 Day: 336	Local:  H 51°\ L 18°\Average Sky Cover: 20%
Wind:   1mph\Gusts:  5mph	Nearest lightning: 1913mi.; Active fire:  59mi
High Risk of Fire	Visibility:  10mi
Record: 66°[2008]   Record: -7°[1905]	Nov Averages: 44°/\17° (5 days with moisture)

 

Today’s  Quote

It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool

than to open it and remove all doubt.

Mark Twain

 

Random Tidbits

Held every year on the island of Alcatraz, "Unthanksgiving Day" commemorates the survival of Native Americans following the arrival and settlement of Europeans in the Americas.

 

A little humor

I hate when a couple argues in public, and I missed the beginning and don't know whose side I'm on.

 

True Things

Engineers at Japan's Gifu University have developed a robotic device that re-creates the experience of holding another person's hand -- without the other person. "My Girlfriend in Walk" attaches to the user's forearm, and the metal hand is covered with a soft, gel material that simulates human skin, even allowing custom fragrances to be added to the artificial sweat. A heater provides warmth, and a pressure sensor duplicates the strength of the wearer's grip, according to Oddity Central. An accompanying smartphone app can emit sounds including footsteps, breathing and the sound of clothes rubbing against skin.

…

A couple sued AC/DC in 1981 for $250,000 because their telephone number is in the song “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap” resulting in hundreds of prank calls.

 

Observations This Month

Aids Awareness Month Link Bingo's Birthday Month Buckwheat Month Link Car Donation Month  Link Give The Gift of Sight Month Honor Your Pharmacist Month

 

Observations This Week

Cookie Cutter Week: 1-7 Link

 

Observations for Today

Antartica Day
Basketball Day
Bifocals at the Monitor Liberation Day
Civil Air Patrol Day
Clark Kent's Birthday (Superman)  Link 
Day With(out) Art Day
Eat a Red Apple Day

National Fried Pie Day

National Package Protection Day  Link  
Playboy Day
Rockefeller Christmas Tree Lighting 
Rosa Parks Day
Special Kids Day Link  
World Aids Awareness Day Link

 

My Rambling Thoughts

Starting off the month, hoping for a great month. In Navajo: Nilch’itsoh (December) translates to  Great Winds. Flagstaff had its 3^rd driest November with only 0.77” all month.

What a horrible football day yesterday. The cards blew it, several times, and the 2^nd half was a disaster. Broncos didn’t have a good game either. I guess the substitute QB was all they could do. It sure shows how important it is to have a QB that has been practicing with the team as a QB, not a wide receiver and had never practice with the team.

It was cold last night but has warmed up nicely, for the nearing of winter.

I’m considering following Trump’s legal challenges with my own lawsuit. About 3 years ago I bought a lottery ticket that had a huge payout. As I was standing at the counter, I just knew that my ticket would be the one big winner. Just in case, I bought a 2^nd ticket. When the numbers came out the next day, the first ticket had only one number, but the 2^nd ticket had 2 numbers. I know one of them was the big winner, so I’m challenging the lottery office claiming that the machine was programed to give me only 2 correct numbers. Now I just must find a lawyer who will take my lawsuit all the way to the Supreme Court as a pro-bono case. Wish me luck.

Christmas shopping this year? I dislike online shopping as it takes forever to get it (I live in a smaller town) and sometimes it is not what I wanted. I’ve always preferred shopping in person. This year makes that more challenging for sure. I guess I’ll figure it out. Shop local will save me.

 

Today’s Puzzle

Answer at the bottom of the page

I have keys, but no locks and space, and no rooms.

You can enter, but you can’t go outside. What am I?

 

Historical Events

800 – Charlemagne judged the accusations against Pope Leo III in the Vatican and decided in the Pope’s favor.

1783 – The first manned voyage of a lighter-than-air hydrogen balloon left Paris carrying Professor Jacques Alexander Cesar Charles and Marie-Noel Robert to almost 500 feet and landed 28 miles away after about 2 hours in the air.

1841 – The first steamboat engine built in America for a screw-propelled vessel, designed by John Ericsson and built by Captain Sylvester Doolittle, installed on the ship Vandalia, was launched. 

1885 – Invented by Charles Alderton, Dr. Pepper was first served at the W.B. Morrison & Co. Old Corner Drug Store in Waco, Texas.

 

1913 – The Ford Motor Company introduced the continuously moving assembly line, producing a complete automobile every two-and-a-half minutes. It was the first true “mass production” system.

1913 – The first U.S. drive-in automobile service ‘filling station’ opened at the traffic intersection of Baum Boulevard and St. Clair Street in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

 

1952 – The New York Daily News reported that Christine Jorgensen was the first case of sexual reassignment surgery.

1953 – The first issue of Playboy was published.

1955 – Rosa Parks refused to move to the back of a public bus in Montgomery, Alabama. 

1958 – #1 Hit December 1, 1958 – December 21, 1958: The Teddy Bears – To Know Him Is to Love Him 

1958 – A fire at Our Lady of Angels School elementary school in Chicago killed 90 children.

1990 – The Chunnel between England and France was connected and celebrated when an Englishman and Frenchmen broke their respective sides. It was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II and the French president, François Mitterrand, in a ceremony held in Calais on May 6, 1994.

1997 – 8 planets in our Solar System lined up from West to East beginning with Pluto, followed by Mercury, Mars, Venus, Neptune, Uranus, Jupiter, and Saturn, along with a crescent moon, in a rare alignment visible from Earth that lasted until December 8.

 

Birthdays Today

@88 – Marie Tussaud, French-English sculptor, founder of Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum (d. 1850)

85 – Woody Allen, American actor, director, and screenwriter

81 – Lee Trevino, American golfer

@76 – Mary Martin, American actress, and singer (d. 1990; cancer)

@76 – John Densmore, American drummer, The Doors

75 – Bette Midler, American singer, and actress

@72 – Lou Rawls, American singer-songwriter (d. 2006; lung cancer)

69 – Treat Williams, American actor

@65 – Richard Pryor, American comedian (d. 2005; heart attack)

@44 – Pablo Escobar, Colombian drug lord (d. 1993; shootout)

 

Puzzle Answer

A keyboard

Enjoy the Holiday

Nov 30

 

‘Tis the Season

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

Nov 30, 2020  Week: 49 Day: 336	Local:  H 50°\ L 18°\Average Sky Cover: 5%
Wind:   12mph\Gusts:  18mph	Nearest lightning:  1275mi.; active fire:  59mi
Moderate Risk of Fire	Visibility:  10mi
Record: 66°[1975]   Record: -4°[2010]	Nov Averages: 53°\23° (3 days with moisture)

 

Today’s  Quote

I know that when I pray, something wonderful happens. Not just to the person or persons for whom I'm praying, but also something wonderful happens to me. I'm grateful that I'm heard.

Maya Angelou

 

Random Tidbits

Not everyone sees Thanksgiving Day as a cause for celebration. Each year since 1970, a group of Native Americans and their supporters have staged a protest for a National Day of Mourning at Plymouth Rock in Plymouth, Massachusetts on Thanksgiving Day.  

 

A little humor

I finally got eight hours of sleep. It took me three days, but whatever.

 

Observations This Week

Nat’l Seat Belt Reinforcement Week: 9-29 Link	Church/State Separation Week: 22-28   GERD Awareness Week: 22-28  Link
Nat’l Bible Week: 22-29  Nat’l Family Week: 22-28	Nat’l Game & Puzzle Week: 22-28
American Sand Sculpting Competition: 19-28/Link  Cancelled in 2020.	Better Conversation Week: 23-28

 

Observations for Today

Blue Beanie Day

Cider Monday

Cities for Life Day

Computer Security Day

Cyber Monday

Day of Remembrance of All Victims of Chemical Warfare

National Mason Jar Day

National Meth Awareness Day

National Mousse Day

National Personal Space Day

Stay At Home Because You Are Well Day

 

My Rambling Thoughts

Chilly night but warming up nicely. I made a stop at Andy & Faith’s place to feed the outside birds.

Nice to see that the Biden team has named Dr. Jill Jim to the Covid advisory board. She is Navajo, speaks fluent Navajo, and has 18 years’ experience in public health issues and has been the leader of the Navajo Nation Public Health dealing with the Covid mess.

Back in the day I followed boxing. Last night was the Tyson-Jones fight. Two old-er boxers in a fund-raising bout. They only boxed for 8 2-minute rounds. Rounds are usually 3 minutes and fights are normally more rounds. The match ended in a tie, but they raised a ton of money for charity. The undercard had some good fights, but I only read about them and watched some highlights on the internet machine.

Cards are playing the Pats today. Cards are leading at halftime. I hope they pull off a win. As usual the Broncos game won’t be on TV but will follow that game on the internet.  

 

Today’s Puzzle

Answer at the bottom of the page

A girl has as many brothers as sisters, but each brother has only half as many brothers as sisters. How many brothers and sisters are there in the family? 

 

Historical Events

3340 BC – Earliest believed record of an eclipse, in Ireland.

1609 – Galileo Galilei realized that the moon was a landscape, not a flat surface on a circle in the sky.

1858 – The Mason Jar was invented and patented (#22,186) by Philadelphia tinsmith John Landis Mason.

1872 – First international soccer game was played. Final score: Scotland-England 0-0 (in Glasgow)

1875 – A patent (#170,460) was issued for a “Biscuit Cutter” to Alexander P. Ashbourne.

1886 – The first commercially successful U.S. alternating current power plant was opened at Buffalo, NY by George Westinghouse.

1931 – The Joy of Cooking by Irma Rombauer was published.

1940 – Lucille Ball married Desi Arnaz in Greenwich, Connecticut.

1954 – First proven meteorite known to strike a woman/person (Liz Hodges, in Sylacauga, Alabama). It took a year of pleading with the air force, but she was allowed to keep the 9-pound meteorite.

1956 – CBS became the first network to broadcast from videotape. It was a rebroadcast to the West Coast of the 15-minute Douglas Edwards and the News program. It was recorded on 2-inch tape with an Ampex Mark IV machine.

1979 – Pink Floyd released The Wall double album. “If you don’t eat your meat, you can’t have any pudding, how can you have any pudding if you don’t eat your meat!”

1982 – Michael Jackson’s second solo album, Thriller, possibly the biggest selling album in history, was released worldwide.

1993 – The Brady Bill, requiring a five-day waiting period for handgun purchases and background checks of prospective buyers, was signed into law.

2004 – Longtime Jeopardy! champion Ken Jennings of Salt Lake City, finally lost, leaving him with $2,520,700 – television’s biggest game show winnings.

2009 – CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research) started. “CERN’s Large Hadron Collider has today become the world’s highest-energy particle accelerator, having accelerated its twin beams of protons to an energy of 1.18 TeV in the early hours of the morning.” CERN is experimenting with things like “The Big Bang” but hopefully on a smaller scale.

2015 Pope Francis urges peace while visiting controversial mosque in Bangui's PK5 district in Central African Republic

2017 World's longest recorded rainbow - 8 hrs 58 min in Taipei's Yangmingshan mountain range

2018 Marriot Hotels reveal massive data breach - 500 million guests affected in one of largest-ever company hacks

 

Birthdays Today

@95 – Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., American actor (d. 2014)

90 – G. Gordon Liddy, American lawyer, radio host

@90 – Winston Churchill, English colonel, journalist, and politician, UK Prime Minister Nobel Prize laureate, (d. 1965)

@89 – Robert Guillaume, American actor and singer (died in 2017)

@82 – Dick Clark, American TV host, and producer (d. 2012)

83 – Ridley Scott, English director, and producer (Alien, Blade Runner)

@77 – Jonathan Swift, Irish satirist, and essayist (d. 1745)

@74 – Mark Twain, American novelist, humorist, and critic (d. 1910)

68 – Mandy Patinkin, American actor, and singer

65 – Billy Idol, English Singer/Songwriter (White Wedding, Mony Mony)

@52 – Abbie Hoffman, American activist and author, (d. 1989; OD)

42 – Clay Aiken, American singer (American Idol)

35 – Chrissy Teigen, American model

 

Puzzle Answer

Four sisters and three brothers.

Enjoy the Holiday