Apr 28

 

 

 

Apr 28, 2021   Week: 18    Day: 118       

Visibility: 10 miles

Ave. Sky Cover: 25%

Local: H 54°\ L 30°

Nearest Lightning: 21mi.             

Wind:  6mph/ Gusts:  13mph

Low Risk of Fire:  Active fire:  346mi

Record: 92°[1990]  Record: 25°[1947] 

Apr. Averages: 60°/27° (3 days w/moisture)

 

Today’s Quote

 

Ten people who speak make more noise than ten thousand who are silent.

~Napoleon Bonaparte

 

Random Tidbits

 

Up until 2006, the tallest known tree in the world was a 369-foot California redwood nicknamed 'Stratosphere Giant', located in the Humboldt Redwoods State Park in California. To give you some idea about its massive size, that's twice the height of the Statue of Liberty, minus the foundation.

 

Humor

 

What I remember most about my dad’s jokes is my mother’s reaction. While everyone else was howling at one of his punch lines, my mom would always respond, “Bernard, no one thinks you’re funny.”

 

Real Cities

 

Volcano, Hawaii: a census-designated place (CDP) in Hawaii County, Hawaii, United States located in the District of Puna with a small portion of the CDP in the District of Kaʻū. The population was 2,575 at the 2010 census

 

True Things

 

Job of a Researcher

Scientists studying ticks at A.T. Still University in Kirksville, Missouri, have enlisted the help of the Missouri Department of Conservation in asking the public to refrain from killing any ticks they pick off themselves and mail them to the university instead. Conservation department spokesman Francis Skalicky told KY3-TV that, while 14 species of ticks live in Missouri, "we're trying to find out ... the prevalence of species and more information on the diseases they are carrying." He asks people to put ticks in a zip-close bag with a damp paper towel before sending them in for study. [KY3-TV, 4/2/2021]

 

Weekly Observations

 

Ramadan

Thru 5/11

International Wildlife Film Week Link

17- 5/15  

Festival of Ridvan

20-5/1

National Scoop The Poop Week
World Immunization Week

24-30

Fibroid Awareness Week

Preservation Week  Link (re: Libraries)

25-5/1  

National Infant Immunization Week (NIIW) Link

Stewardship Week

25-5/2 

National Playground Safety Week Link
National Work Zone Safety Awareness Week 
Link

26-30  

 

Today’s Observations

 

Biological Clock Day
Blueberry Pie Day

Denim Day  Link
Great Poetry Reading Day

International Astronomy Day

International Guide Dogs Day Link 
International Noise Awareness Day  
Link 
Kiss Your Mate Day 

National Blueberry Pie Day

National Brave Hearts Day  Link
National Superhero Day  
Link
Occupational Safety & Health Day 
Link
Superhero Day

Workers Memorial Day
World Day for Safety and Health at Work
 Link

My Sometimes-Long-Winded Thoughts

 

Gotta love life at 7000’. I woke up this morning…at the end of April…to light snowfall. It didn’t stick but gave a nice watering for the forest. By 9am it had stopped, and the sun had broken through the clouds.

Since it was snowing, I decided to update my iPhone, knowing it was a big update. I started the upgrade at 8am and it didn’t completely finish until 10:15am. I’m not sure if it was the snow or what it was that made the download so darn slow.

I have learned over the past few years that politicians feel an unrelenting desire to babble verbally about their party ideas. It has always, in my memory, the desire to bolster, but this has reached unbearable heights. Yesterday a CNN contributor, Rick Santorum, made a speech to young Republicans. In that speech he declared that before the Europeans arrived, this land we call the Untied States was a ‘blank slate’. Besides being untrue, insulting, and perpetrating an Anglo-centric discussion that has been proven to be false for a long time, he showed his ignorance of US history.

I fully understand that the job a CEO is difficult, and a good CEO deserves to be paid more than the average workers under his authority. Since my youth, much of the middle class has disappeared. Back during the Reagan years, it was common for CEO’s to make quadruple what the average worker in their company made. The gap has increased exponentially since those days.  In 2020, during the worst pandemic in over a century, the average worker made $50K/year while the average CEO made $23million. That is 238:1 in America’s largest companies. In order for those companies to make money for their stockholders, 20+% of their workers were laid off by the CEO. While some of those CEO’s took a pay-cut during the pandemic, they were given stock options to make up the loss of salary. As we know, much of the stock market made huge gains during the pandemic. If the companies won’t regulate these ridiculous compensations, something has to change very soon.

One of our Focus Family has been moved to hospice. Marty was diagnosed a few months ago with cancer. I did several trips with her and her husband Duane. She took so many notes on each trip. She took so many pictures on each trip. When the adventure had ended, Marty took all her notes and pictures and turned them into amazing hard bound books. She made an extra effort to make the books affordable for anyone on the trip. I hope Duane and Marty and their family find some peace in this very difficult time.

 

Daily Puzzle

Answer: bottom of the page

 

78. What do an island and the letter “t” have in common?

 

Historical Events

 

1789 – The HMS Bounty was taken over in a mutiny led by Fletcher Christian, the first mate. Captain William Bligh and 18 of his loyal supporters were set adrift in a small boat.

1919 – The first jump with the Army manually operated (jump first, then pull the chute) army parachute was made by Leslie LeRoy Irvin in Dayton, Ohio.

1923 – Wembley Stadium opened, named initially as the Empire Stadium.

1953 – The US Patent (#2,636,176) was issued for an ‘overcoat for two people’ to Howard C. Rossin.

1965 – My Name Is Barbra, Barbra Streisand’s first TV special, aired on CBS.

1967 – World boxing champion Muhammad Ali (Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr.) refused to be inducted into the US Army and was immediately stripped of his heavyweight title.

1973 – The Dark Side of the Moon, by Pink Floyd, recorded in Abbey Road Studios reached number one on the US Billboard chart

1988 – Over Maui, Hawaii, flight attendant Clarabelle “C.B.” Lansing was blown out of Aloha Airlines Flight 243, a Boeing 737, and fell to her death when part of the plane’s fuselage ripped open in mid-flight.

2001 – Millionaire Dennis Tito became the world’s first space tourist.

2004 Shrek the sheep from Tarras, Central Otago, New Zealand, is finally shorn live on TV after 6 years avoidance; the fleece weighed 27 kg (60 lb)

2005 The Patent Law Treaty goes into effect.

2018 World's largest child sacrifice, 140 remains uncovered by archaeologists near Trujillo, Peru, dating back 550 years to Chimú civilisation

2019 Largest demonstrations since 2014 in Hong Kong over plans to change law to send suspects to mainland China for trial

2020 US confirmed cases of COVID-19 pass 1 million, while death toll of 58,365 surpasses that of US soldiers killed in Vietnam War (Johns Hopkins)

2020 Argentina bans all commercial domestic and international flights until September 1 because of COVID-19

 

Birthdays Today

 

@89 – Harper Lee, American novelist (d. 2016)

81 – Ann-Margret, Swedish-American actress, singer, and dancer

@76 – Lionel Barrymore, American actor (d. 1954; heart attack)

@73 – James Monroe, American soldier, lawyer, 5th President (d.1831; TB)

71 – Jay Leno, American comedian and talk show host

@69 – Saddam Hussein [Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti], Iraqi general, 5th President of Iraq (d. 2006; hanged)

@66 – Oskar Schindler, German industrialist, humanitarian (d. 1974)

47 – Penélope Cruz, Spanish actress

40 – Jessica Alba, American actress

Puzzle Answer

 

They are both in the middle of water

 

 

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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.