Sep 19

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

Sept  19, 2018 Week: 38 \ Day: 262

86004 Today: H 82° \ L 51° \ Average Sky Cover: 5% 

Wind:   10mph\Gusts:  22mph Visibility: 10 mi

Record High: 84°[1956]   Record Low: 25°[1971]

Sep Averages: 74°\42°

Today’s Quote

   If moderation is a fault,

   then indifference is a crime.

      Jack Kerouac

Harper’s Index

            $10,000,000

            Estimated kilowatt-hours of energy consumed

            In June by Bitcoin-mining operations

            $28,000,000

By Latvia

Observances This Week

15-22  Farm Animal Awareness Week

Balance Awareness Week Link   

Build A Better Image Week

International Clean Hands Week

National Farm & Ranch Safety and Health Week

National Historically Black Colleges & Universities Week

National Indoor Plant Week

National Rehabilitation Awareness Week

National Security Officer Appreciation Week

National Love Your Files Week Link  

National Singles Week

Tolkien Week

17-23  Constitution Week

National Postdoc Appreciation Week Link

Pollution Prevention Week Link

Prostate Cancer Awareness Week  

Observances for Today

International Talk Like A Pirate Day

National Butterscotch Pudding Day

National Gymnastics Day

National Rehabilitation Day
Talk Like A Pirate Day Link  Link 
Yom Kippur

Today’s Significant US Historical Events

Today’s Significant International Historical Events 

1600’s                                         

1676 Rebels under Nathaniel Bacon set Jamestown, Virginia on fire

1800’s                                         

1849 1st commercial laundry established, in Oakland, California

1865 Atlanta University founded

1876 1st carpet sweeper patented (Melville Bissell of Grand Rapids, Mich)

1900’s                                         

1940 Witold Pilecki is voluntarily captured and sent to Auschwitz in order to smuggle out information and start a resistance

1956 1st international conference of black writers & artists meets (Sorbonne)

1974 The KGB begin a large-scale operation to discredit Russian novelist Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and cut his communications with Soviet dissidents

1979 No Nukes Concert at Madison Square Garden includes Springsteen & Crosby, Stills & Nash

1981 Simon & Garfunkel reunite for a NYC Central Park concert

1984 Britain & China complete a proposed agreement to transfer Hong Kong to China by 1997

1985 8.1 earthquake in Mexico City kills an estimated 10,000 and leaves 250,000 homeless

1995 The Washington Post and The New York Times publish the Unabomber's manifesto

2000’s                                         

2017 US President Donald Trump addresses the United Nations vowing to “totally destroy North Korea” if threatens the US

2017 President Hassan Rouhani of Iran in his UN speech criticizes US President Donald Trump for his comments about Iran in his own UN speech

My Rambling Thoughts

I should get a call from the hospital today, regarding my upcoming removal of one plate in my wrist. For some reason, they are more important than the patient when it comes to phone calls. All the letter says is they will call Sept. 18, no time frame.  They are using my cell number, but I don’t want to be standing in a store when they call. And there is a good chance they will call my landline since I just recently changed my primary contact with the surgeon to my cell phone.

Spent a little time this morning updating the Focus website. Still have a little work left to do on the Previous Trips part. I’m trying to list all the trips over the past 4 decades with it still making sense.

As a border state, the political groups are making ‘immigration’, ‘the wall’, and ‘safety’ as primary issues in our senator and governor races. Lots of groups are putting ads all over my TV screen. Sadly, these groups have directly attacked candidates with less than truthful statements about candidates from both parties. It’s still a long time to the election and I am already fed up with the negative ads. Thank goodness for the TV remote.

Birthdays Today

@-  indicates age at death

80’s

@88Ferry Porsche, Austrian automobile pioneer (Porsche AG), born in Wiener Neustadt, Austria-Hungary (d. 1998)

@88Adam West [William West Anderson], American actor (Batman, Last Precinct), born in Walla Walla, Washington (d. 2017)

85David McCallum, actor (Ilyla Kuryakin-Man From UNCLE), born in Glasgow, Scotland

@82Christopher Stone, first disc jockey in the United Kingdom (d. 1965)

@81William Golding, English novelist (Lord of the Flies, Nobel Prize for Literature 1983), born in Newquay, Cornwall (d. 1993)

0’s

78►Bill Medley, American singer-songwriter (The Righteous Brothers), born in Santa Ana, California

78►Paul Williams, American singer, actor and composer (Rainy Days and Mondays, Evergreen), born in Omaha, Nebraska

@76►Ricardo Cortez [Jacob Krantz], American actor and director (The Maltese Falcon), born in NYC, New York (d. 1977)

73►Randolph Mantooth, actor (Emergency, Loving), born in Sacramento, California

70►Jeremy Irons, actor (Reversal of Fortune, The Lion King), born in Isle of Wight, England

60’s

69►Twiggy Lawson, [Leslie Hornby], England, model/actress (Boyfriend, W)

50’s

@57►Tin-Tan [Germán Valdés], Mexican actor, singer and comedian (Spanish dubbing of The Jungle Book, The Aristocats), born in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico (d. 1973), cancer

54►Trisha Yearwood, Monticello GA, country singer (Sweetest Gift)

52►Soledad O'Brien, American journalist

40’s

45►Jimmy Fallon, American actor and comedian, born in NYC, New York

30’s

32►"Mama" Cass Elliot, rock vocalist (Mamas & The Papas), born in Baltimore Maryland, (d. 1974) heart failure

Historical Obits Today

90’s

@95►2017 Jake LaMotta, American middleweight boxing champion (1949-51) (immortalized in Raging Bull)

80’s

@88►1995 Orville Redenbacher, American popcorn magnate (Orville Redenbacher's Gourmet Popcorn)

70’s

@77►2015 Jackie Collins, British-American author (The Stud, Lucky), cancer

@72►2004 Skeeter Davis, American singer, breast cancer

40’s

@49►1881 James A. Garfield, 20th US President (Republican: 1881), gunshot wound

Sep 18

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

Sept  18, 2018 Week: 38 \ Day: 261

86004 Today: H 82° \ L 49° \ Average Sky Cover: 25% 

Wind:   9mph\Gusts:  0mph Visibility: 10 mi

Record High: 86°[1956]   Record Low: 27°[2006]

Sep Averages: 74°\42°

Today’s Quote

     Rather fail with honor than succeed by fraud.

     Sophocles

Harper’s Index

1:33

Estimated ration of us money spent on LEGAL sports gambling to that spent on ILLEGAL sports betting

Observances This Week

15-22  Farm Animal Awareness Week

Balance Awareness Week Link   

Build A Better Image Week

International Clean Hands Week

National Farm & Ranch Safety and Health Week

National Historically Black Colleges & Universities Week

National Indoor Plant Week

National Rehabilitation Awareness Week

National Security Officer Appreciation Week

National Love Your Files Week Link  

http://www.p2.org/p2-week/National Singles Week

Tolkien Week

17-23  Constitution Week

National Postdoc Appreciation Week Link

Pollution Prevention Week Link

Prostate Cancer Awareness Week  

Observances for Today

Air Force Birthday
Chiropractic Founders Day Link
Get Ready Day Link 
Hug A Greeting Card Writer Day
International Day Against DRM  Link
National Ceiling Fan Day Link
National Cheeseburger Day Link  Link
National HIV/AIDS and Aging Awareness Day Link
National IT Professionals Day 
National Respect Day Link
Rice Krispie Treat Day

World Goat Day  Link

World Water Monitoring Day Link Link

Yom Kippur - begins at sundown

Today’s Significant US Historical Events

Today’s Significant International Historical Events 

1700’s                                         

1755 Fort Ticonderoga in New York opens

1800’s                                         

1812 Great Fire of Moscow burns out after 5 days, 75% of the city destroyed and 12,000 killed

1846 Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning exchange last letters before eloping

1851 New York Times starts publishing (2 cents a copy)

1891 Harriet Maxwell Converse is 1st white woman to become an Indigenous chief (Senaca)

1895 Daniel David Palmer of Davenport, Iowa gives the first chiropractic adjustment

1900’s                                         

1919 Hurricane tides 16 feet above normal drown 280 along Gulf Coast

1944 British submarine Tradewind torpedoes Junyo Maru: 5,600 killed, including 1,377 allied POWs and 4,200 Javanese slave labourers.

1947 US Department of Defense 1st day of operation

1947 US Air Force created as a separate military service by passing of the National Security Act

1948 Ralph Bunche confirmed as acting UN mediator in Palestine

1957 "Wagon Train" premieres

1958 The Fresno Drop: Bank of America mails out 60,000 BankAmericards in Fresco, California, the first credit card (later renamed VISA)

1982 Sabra and Shatila massacres - Christian militia massacre at least 700 Palestinians in retaliation for assassination of Bachir Gemayel

1997 Ted Turner gives $1 billion to the United Nations, creating the public charity, the United Nations Foundation

1997 Voters in Wales vote yes (50.3%) in a referendum on Welsh autonomy.

2000’s

2012 The Chicago Teachers Union and Chicago Public Schools reach a deal that ends an 8-day strike.

2014 Scotland votes to stay a member of the United Kingdom in an independence referendum

2016 Earliest known fishhooks at 23,000 years old discovered on Okinawa Island, Japan, findings published in PNAS journal

2017 Hurricane Maria passes over the Caribbean island of Dominica as a category 5 hurricane, destroying 90% of structures and killing 27

My Rambling Thoughts

The smoke is still ruining our beautiful city. It seems to just come in and sit. Seems with all the technology, there should be a way, short of a very big fan, to get rid of the smoke. This is the second full day of our town looking like we are in the middle of a partial eclipse.

Last night I did a load of towels in my 20+ year old washer. Suddenly it stopped agitating and spinning. After taking the towels out of the washer and hand wringing them I called Sears Repair. They said they could have someone to my house between 8a and noon on Monday. I was shocked. First because our local Sears is closing. Second, how fast they would show up. About 7:45 I was sitting in my office and the truck pulled up. The guy waited until 8a exactly to come to my door. Turns out he was a former student. He checked and said he could fix it. In less than 45 minutes the washer was up and running. Turns out the repair service is not connected to the retail side of Sears, so they will be around for quite some time. The part was $30, the labor cost brought it up to $200. I ain’t complaining. It is a great washer and he said it is a common break down for an ‘older’ washer. He also said that it is better than the newer ones. Sears also will fix all appliances, even it not bought at Sears. Cool and good to know. Need any appliance repair…check with Sears!!

I have never been a coffee drinker. Partly because I’m not a ‘hot’ drinker, and I prefer my liquid intake to be cold. I discovered Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte is sold in 40oz containers for around $4 at local grocery stores. I’m on my second bottle since Saturday. Loving it. And a whole lot cheaper than buying it at a Starbucks.

What a mess in DC. Too bad these allegations didn’t come up sooner. If true, a drunken party at a private high school with underage drinkers is no surprise. An assault or rape at such a party, while horrific, is also no surprise. This will be an interesting week in DC.

Birthdays Today

@-  indicates age at death

80’s

85►Robert Blake, Nutley NJ, (Baretta, Little Rascals, Coast to Coast)

70’s

@75►Samuel Johnson, English scholar and lexicographer (A Dictionary of the English Language), born in Lichfield Staffordshire (d. 1784)

60’s

67►Ben Carson, American neurosurgeon, Republican politician and US Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, born in Detroit, Michigan

40’s

48►Alisa Tyler, TV actress, game show host

47►Lance Armstrong, disgraced Cyclist

45►James Marsden, movie actor (X-Men)

42►Ronaldo Lopes Da Cruz, Brazilian soccer player

30’s

@39►J. D. Tippit, American police officer murdered by Lee Harvey Oswald shortly after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, born in Texas (d. 1963)

Historical Obits Today

70’s

@76►1783 Leonhard Euler, Swiss mathematician (Euler's Constant), brain hemorrhage

@70►2013 Ken Norton, American heavyweight boxer, strokes

50’s

@56►1961 Dag Hammarskjöld, Swedish public servant, 2nd Secretary-General of the United Nations (1953-61) and posthumous Nobel Peace Prize winner (1961), air crash over Congo

20’s

@27►1970 Jimi Hendrix, American rock guitarist (Purple Haze), asphyxiation