Apr 10

 

 

 

Apr 10, 2021   Week: 15    Day: 100       

Visibility: 10 miles	Ave. Sky Cover: %
Local: H 66°\ L 22°	Nearest Lightning: 916mi.
Wind: 5 mph/ Gusts:  12mph	EXTREME Risk of Fire:  Active fire:  167mi
Record: 86°[1992]  Record: 1°[1974]	Apr. Averages: 60°/27° (3 days w/moisture)

 

Today’s Quote

Find something you're passionate about and keep tremendously interested in it.

Julia Child

Random Tidbits

The origin of the doughnut is unknown, though different nationalities have had their own version of the treat throughout history. A type of doughnut is even mentioned in the Bible. Specifically, Chapter 7 and verse 12 of Leviticus says that a thanksgiving to God should be made of "cakes mingled with oil, of fine flour, fried."

A Little Something to Think About

The Washington Post's Style Invitational also asked readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing one letter, and supply a new definition. Here are this year's winners:

3.  Cashtration  (N.): The act of buying a house, which renders the subject financially

impotent for an indefinite period.

4.  Giraffiti  (N): Vandalism spray-painted very, very high.

5.  Sarchasm  (N): The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn't get it.

Weekly Observations

National Cherry Blossom Festival Link	Thru 4/10
National Robotics Week Link	3-11
Bat Appreciation Week  National Dental Hygienest Week Link National Library Week Hate Week National Blue Ribbon Week Link  (Child Abuse) National Public Health Week National Window Safety Week	4-10
International Dark Sky Week   Link  Mule Days The Masters Tournament	5-11
Satchmo Days: Link  Moved to September 30 due to COVID	8-11
Just Pray No! Worldwide Weekend of Prayer & Fasting Link	10-11
Money Smart Week Link	10-17
Week of The Young Child Link	10-16

 

Today’s Observations

ASPCA (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) Day  Link
Baby Massage Day Link 
Encourage a Young Writer Day

Farm Animals Day

Golfer's Day 

National Catch and Release Day 
National Cinnamon Crescent Day

National Farm Animals Day

National Siblings Day Link
Salvation Army Founder's Day
Safety Pin Day

Slow Art Day Link  
World Circus Day 

 

My Sometimes-Long-Winded Thoughts

Another warm day with lots of sunshine. The weekend may get a little windy.

I gathered up my tax documents…from various places around my house. Then I dropped them off with the tax guy. Now just wait a few days for the results.

Prince Phillip led a long and fruitful life. RIP

The gun debate is back in full swing. Both sides, sadly, give bad information about guns. To find the facts about guns, gun manufacturers, current gun law, and the NRA would take lots of time. Since most people don’t want to take the time for that research, the media becomes our go to. Before making any decisions about guns, I must do a lot of research. In my opinion, The US has always been a ‘gun’ country. It’s even in the Constitution. In the time since the Constitution, guns have made a lot of changes. No person living at the time of the Constitution could have imagined most of the firearms available today. It is time to have laws that respect the Constitution and limit the kind of firearms a citizen can own.

 

Daily Puzzle

Answer: bottom of the page

55.  What is unusual about the following words:

revive, banana, grammar, voodoo, assess, potato, dresser, uneven?

 

Historical Events

1710 – The Statute of Anne, the first law regulating copyright, was enacted in Great Britain.

1790 – The US Patent office was approved by George Washington.

1815 (Volcano Eruption) Mount Tambora (Year Without A Summer). The eruption lasted 3 months, killing 10,000 people directly and 80,000 more via disease and famine.

1849 – The first US Patent (#6,281) for a safety pin was issued to Walter Hunt of New York City.

1906 – O. Henry’s The Gift of the Magi was published.

1916 – The Professional Golfers’ Association of America (PGA) was founded in New York City.

1925 – The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald was first published.

1970 – Paul McCartney announced the breakup of the Beatles

1971 – The People’s Republic of China hosted the US table tennis team for a week-long visit.

2014 – Kathleen Sebelius resigned as Secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, after the faulty rollout of HealthCare.gov.

2016 – The price of US postage decreased for the first time (from 49 to 47 cents) in almost 100 years.

2016 Hong Kong pro-democracy political party Demosistō established by Nathan Law, Joshua Wong and Agnes Chow

2017 Alabama Governor Robert Bentley resigns over relationship with an aide and possible misuse of state funds to cover it up

2018 Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg begins testifying before US Congress about data use and security

2019 First-ever photo of a black hole announced, taken by The Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration in 2017 in galaxy M87, 6.5 billion times the mass of earth, 55 million light-years away

2019 New species of human announced named Homo luzonensis, 3ft tall, remains dated 50-60,000 years old found in cave on island of Luzon, Philippines

2019 New York declares a public health emergency and compulsory vaccinations after a measles outbreak in Brooklyn with 285 cases

Birthdays Today

@96 – Harry Morgan [Harry Bratsberg], American actor (d. 2011)

85 – John Madden, American football player, coach, and sportscaster

@83 – Omar Sharif [Michel Dimitri Chalhoub], Egyptian actor (d. 2015)

@71 – Chuck Connors, American baseball player, actor (d. 1992; lung cancer)

69 – Steven Seagal, American actor and martial artist

@64 – Joseph Pulitzer, Hungarian-American journalist, publisher, (d.1911)

@63 – (Commodore) Matthew Perry, American naval officer (d. 1858; rheumatic fever)

41 – Charlie Hunnam, English actor

37 – Mandy Moore, American singer-songwriter and actress

33 – Haley Joel Osment, American actor

 

Puzzle Answer

Take the first letter of each word and place it at the end. It will spell the same word backwards.

 

Apr 9

 

 

 

Apr 9, 2021   Week: 15    Day: 99                            

Visibility: 10 miles	Ave. Sky Cover: 30%
Local: H 71°\ L 35°	Nearest Lightning: 981mi.
Wind:  8mph/ Gusts:  18mph	EXTREME Risk of Fire:  Active fire:  149mi
Record:77 °[1991]   Record: 16°[1977]	Apr. Averages: 60°/27° (3 days w/moisture)

 

Today’s Quote

We are going to have peace even if we have to fight for it.

~Dwight D. Eisenhower

Random Tidbits

Most historians believe that the Dutch were the first to introduce the modern doughnut to North America in the form of olykoeks, or "oil cakes" as early as the mid-19th century. These early doughnuts were balls of cake fried in pork fat.

Today over 10 billion doughnuts are made in the U.S. each year.

Common Words: New Meanings

The Washington Post's Style Invitational also asked readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing one letter, and supply a new definition. Here are this year's winners:

1.  Bozone  (N.): The substance surrounding stupid people that stops bright ideas from penetrating. The bozone layer, unfortunately, shows little sign of breaking down in the near future.

2.  Foreploy  (V): Any misrepresentation about yourself for the purpose of getting laid.

Weekly Observations

National Cherry Blossom Festival Link	Thru 4/10
National Robotics Week Link	3-11
Bat Appreciation Week  National Dental Hygienest Week Link National Library Week Hate Week National Blue Ribbon Week Link  (Child Abuse) National Public Health Week National Window Safety Week	4-10
American Indian Awareness Week  Link CANCELLED Explore Your Career Options	5-9
International Dark Sky Week   Link  Mule Days The Masters Tournament	5-11
Satchmo Days: Link  Moved to September 30 due to COVID	8-11

 

Today’s Observations

Appomattox Day Link
Jenkins Ear Day
Jumbo Day  (Elephant came to US and created the word for big in our language.)
Name Yourself Day

National Cherish An Antique Day
National Chinese Almond Cookie Day

National Dive Bar Day Link 
National Former Prisoner of War Recognition Day
National Unicorn Day Link (Note: This is in Scotland, but it's become popular worldwide.)
Siblings Day
Winston Churchill Day

 

My Sometimes-Long-Winded Thoughts

Nice day but clouds are coming in over the mountain. No precipitation expected.

This vaccine hesitancy has me puzzled. I just read that 1/3 of active troops decline the vaccine, even though 260,000 active troops have been infected. Some are saying it is because the young all-volunteer force has access to internet misinformation. Maybe, but where are the parents encouraging their offspring to get the vaccine?

I have two medical stories: I’ve been using a CPAP machine for the past 5+ years…not enough Oxygen at 7000’ when I sleep, and my breathing slows. I have had to call them for new supplies every 3 months. Then I must wait a few days for the stuff to arrive. This morning I got a call from the supplier that my supplies were waiting to be picked up. What a happy shock as I was going to call them tomorrow. Then there is my dentist office. I had an exam and cleaning last month. The crazy lady said I owed $210. I asked about my insurance. She said they don’t pay very much. I said to send it in and then send me a bill. I got the bill; it was for $210.  I called to see why. She said the IT guy was on their server and she would call me back. When she called back, she said that the billing person messed up and didn’t send anything to the insurance. She will call me when it is straightened out.  I said not to bother, just send the bill. Thank goodness I didn’t pay when I was at the office, or I never would have known.

Tomorrow I’m pulling my tax info together and giving it to my tax guy. I hate this time of year.

 

Daily Puzzle

Answer: bottom of the page

54. A sundial has the fewest moving parts of any timepiece. Which has the most?

Historical Events

1585 – Sir Walter Raleigh departed England for Roanoke Island (now in North Carolina) to establish the Roanoke Colony.

1865 – At Appomattox, Virginia, Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered his 28,000 troops to Union General Ulysses S. Grant, ending the US Civil War.

1867 – The Alaska Purchase – the United States bought Alaska from the Russian Empire for $7.2 million, in a treaty ratified by the U.S. Senate.

1945 – The United States Atomic Energy Commission was formed.

1957 – The Suez Canal in Egypt was cleared and opened to shipping following the Suez Crisis.

1959 – NASA announced the selection of America’s first seven astronauts for Project Mercury. They were Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper, John Glenn, Gus Grissom, Wally Schirra, Alan Shepard, and Donald Slayton – the “Mercury Seven”

1965 – Astrodome opened with the first indoor baseball game is played. It was an exhibition game between the Houston Astros and the New York Yankees. The Astros won 2-1.

1967 – The first Boeing 737 made its maiden flight.

1974 – Phil Brooks was issued a US patent (#3,802,434) for a disposable syringe.

1981 – Nature published the longest scientific name in history. With 16,569 nucleotides, the systematic name for human mitochondrial DNA is 207,000 letters long. That would be over 1000 typical web pages.

1992 US Fed court finds Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega guilty of 8 out of 10 drug and racketeering charges

2002 Funeral of Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother at Westminster Abbey UK. More than a million people line the streets

2003 Baghdad falls to U.S. forces, ending the invasion of Iraq, but resulting in widespread looting

2018 US Senator Tammy Duckworth of Illinois becomes the first senator to give birth while in office

2019 Wolves have returned to the Netherlands after 140 years claim ecologists

2019 Nine prominent Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters found guilty on public nuisance charges for their part in 2014 "Umbrella Movement"

Birthdays Today

@91 – Hugh Hefner, American publisher, founded Playboy Enterprises (d. 2017)

82 – Michael Learned, American actress

@77 – Paul Robeson, American singer, actor, and activist (d. 1976; stroke)

67 – Dennis Quaid, American actor

@65 – Carl Perkins, singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1998; lung cancer)

58 – Joe Scarborough, American journalist

56 – Jeff Zucker, American businessman

55 – Cynthia Nixon, American actress

31 – Kristen Stewart, American actress

21 – Lil’ Nas X [Montero Lamar Hill], rapper

Puzzle Answer

An hourglass, with thousands of grains of sand

 

Apr 8

 

 

 

Apr 8, 2021   Week: 15    Day: 98                            

Visibility: 10 miles	Ave. Sky Cover: 5%
Local: H 67°\ L 41°	Nearest Lightning: 928mi.
Wind:  6mph/ Gusts: 10 mph	EXTREME Risk of Fire:  Active fire:  640mi
Apr. Averages: 60°/27° (3 days w/moisture)

 

Today’s Quote

Let us put our minds together and see what life we can make for our children.

~Sitting Bull

Random Tidbits

The Sun counts for 99.86% of the mass in our Solar System.

We are taught ‘the pen is stronger than the sword’ but also that ‘sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.’ Which one is it?

Walking a mile in another person’s shoes only takes like 20, 30 minutes, tops. Is that really enough time to get to understand someone?

Common Words: New Meanings

14.  Oyster  (N.), a person who sprinkles his conversation with Yiddishisms.

15.  Frisbeetarianism  (N.), (back by popular demand): The belief that, when you die, your Soul flies up onto the roof and gets stuck there.

16.  Circumvent  (N.), an opening in the front of boxer shorts worn by Jewish men.

Monthly Observations

 

Pharmacists War on Diabetes Month Pet First Aid Awareness Month Physical Wellness Month Prevent Lyme in Dogs Month Link Prevention of Animal Cruelty Month  Link  Link Rosacea Awareness Month School Library Media Month Soy Foods Month Straw Hat Month Stress Awareness Month  Link Testicular Cancer Awareness Month Tulip Month Women's Empowering Month Link Women's Eye Health & Safety Month Women Helping Women Heal Month Link Workplace Conflict Awareness Month World Habitat Awareness Month World Landscape Architecture Month Worldwide Bereaved Spouses Awareness Month

 

Weekly Observations

 

National Cherry Blossom Festival Link	Thru 4/10
National Robotics Week Link	3-11
Bat Appreciation Week  National Dental Hygienest Week Link National Library Week Hate Week National Blue Ribbon Week Link  (Child Abuse) National Public Health Week National Window Safety Week	4-10
American Indian Awareness Week  Link CANCELLED Explore Your Career Options	5-9
International Dark Sky Week   Link  Mule Days The Masters Tournament	5-11
National Catholic Educational Association Week	6-8
Satchmo Days: Link  Moved to September 30 due to COVID	8-11

 

Today’s Observations

 

All is Ours Day Buddha Day (Historical Birth Date)  Link Draw a Picture of a Bird Day International Roma Day Milk in glass bottles Day National Alcohol Screening Day

National Dog Fighting Awareness Day National Empanada Day Trading Cards for Grownups Day Link Virtual Advocacy Day Link Zoo Lover's Day

 

My Sometimes-Long-Winded Thoughts

Mid-week and another great day here at 7000 feet. I’m enjoying this great spring weather.  There was a tiny earthquake about 4 miles from my place…3.3 for those who know what that means and about 5 miles down. It happened at 2am and I didn’t know about it until I read it when I got up.

I read a couple of articles about Jack Hanna today. He is the zoologist who has several TV shows on the weekend. He has been diagnosed with dementia and is no longer making public appearances. Very sad.

The Jul 13 MLB All Star Game have moved from Atlanta to Denver Coors Field. Coors is a great field with very few, if any, bad seats. Too bad Covid will limit crowds and vendors.

The US is ‘talking to Allies’ about a possible boycott of the 2022 Beijing Olympics. I am a fan of the Olympics and we have lived through several boycotted Olympics. I am disappointed that the Olympic Committee chose Beijing due to their human rights issues. The Olympic Athletes will not change any policies. These young athletes have worked for years to make the various teams. Most have a very small window to participate. Boycotts only hurt the athletes, vendors, and the citizens of the country. I hope the ‘talks’ don’t turn into action.

 

Daily Puzzle

Answer: bottom of the page

53. I have no eyes, no legs, or ears, and I help move the earth. What am I?

Historical Events

1730 – Shearith Israel, the first synagogue in New York City, was dedicated.

1820 – The Venus de Milo statue was discovered on the Aegean island of Melos.

1873 – The first commercially successful margarine manufacturing process was Patented (No. 137,564) by Alfred Paraf of New York.

1879 – Echo Farms Dairy Co. of New York sold milk in glass bottles for the first time in the US.

1911 – Dutch physicist Heike Kamerlingh Onnes discovered superconductivity.

1952 – US President Harry Truman announced the seizure of all domestic steel mills to prevent a nationwide strike.

1953 – Man in the Dark, the first 3D motion picture produced and released by a major company, opened at the Globe Theater in New York City.

1959 – A team of computer manufacturers, users, and university people led by Grace Hopper met to discuss the creation of a new programming language, leading to COBOL.

1964 – Gemini 1, an unmanned test flight, was launched.

1992 – Retired tennis great Arthur Ashe announces that he had AIDS, acquired from blood transfusions during one of his two heart surgeries.

1994 – Lead Singer of Nirvana, Kurt Cobain was found dead, having committed suicide three days earlier.

2000- Nineteen US Marines are killed when a V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft crashes near Marana, Arizona

2004 -U.S. National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice testifies before the 9/11 Commission

2019 -600 million birds die each year in the US after striking tall buildings with Chicago the worst city, according to Cornell Lab of Ornithology

2020 -World Trade organization predicts a drop in global trade greater than the 2008 financial crisis, between 13% and 32% for 2020

 

Birthdays Today

@93 – Betty Ford (Elizabeth Bloomer), 40th American First Lady (d. 2011)

@87 – Mary Pickford [Gladys Marie Smith], Canadian-American actress and producer, co-founded United Artists (d. 1979)

61 – John Schneider, American actor

58 – Julian Lennon, English singer-songwriter

@57 – Sonja Henie, Norwegian-American figure skater, actress (d. 1969; leukemia)

53 – Patricia Arquette, French-Canadian Russian/Polish Jewish-American actress

Puzzle Answer

An earthworm