June 3

 

 
Daily Almanac for Flagstaff
Week 23 Day: 154 \ Ave. Sky Cover: 5% \ Visibility: 10 miles Flagstaff Today 81° \39° 
Wind: 7mph \ Gusts: 17mph
Extreme Risk of fire \ Nearest active fire: 10mi \ Nearest Lightning: 510mi
June Averages for Flagstaff: 80° \ 43° (1 day of moisture)

 

Today’s Quote

 

Monthly Observations

Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Pride Month Link
Georgia Blueberry Month
Give A Bunch of Balloons Month Link
Great Outdoors Month
Hydranencephaly Awareness Month Link
International Childhood Cancer Awareness Month
International Men's Month
International Surf Music Month Link
Dairy Month Link
June is Lane Courtesy Month Link
June is Perennial Gardening Month
June is Turkey Lovers Month Link
Mens Health Education and Awareness Month

Weekly Observations

Thru 6/5   National Seat Belt Reinforcement Week Link National African Violet Week

Thru 6/3  Black Single Parents Week

Thru 9/5 National Marina Days (From Memorial Day to Labor Day)  Link

2-5 Great American Brass Band Week  Link

Daily Observations

 

My Sometimes-Long-Winded Thoughts

Another nice day…

I don’t get it…I’ve been retired for like forever, yet, when there is a 3-day holiday weekend, my internal calendar doesn’t work. I knew yesterday was Wed., but my mind kept saying it was Thurs. Thankfully, my mind is working today…it IS Thursday.

I headed to Sam’s for my weekly fix. Also filled up with gas…@$4.58/ gallon...a tad more than the $0.61 cents it would have cost in 1970.

President Biden has cancelled some $5.8 billion in student loans for students who owed money to the Corinthian College. They were closed after the government proved they lied about graduation and job placement rates. Good for him. It may cost us a little bit more in taxes, but it was the right thing to do.

Favorite Memes

Everyday Phrases with a Dark Meaning

Diehard

The term "diehard" dates to the 1700s. But it wasn't quite used to describe a huge fan of something. Instead, it was attributed to those who struggled the longest when hanged!

A few years later, the term became popular after its use in 1811’s Battle of Albuera, when British officer William Inglis supposedly told his men: "Stand your ground and die hard … make the enemy pay dear for each of us!"

Riddle of the Day

v   What English word has three consecutive double letters?

 This one is pretty impossible but use the facts you know about English to get on track. First, think of words with double vowels. And you must know this is probably going to be a compound word. The first and last letters of those combined words will form one set of double letters. Now, just wrack your brain!

§  Answer: Bookkeeper

Historical Events

Ë  1621 – The Dutch West India Company receives a charter for New Netherland (now the eastern US) and the Caribbean.

Ë 1888 – The poem Casey at the Bat by Ernest Lawrence Thayer, was published in the San Francisco Examiner.

Ë 1889 – The first long-distance electric power transmission line in the United States was completed, 14 miles between a generator at Willamette Falls and downtown Portland, Oregon.

Ë 1937 – The Duke of Windsor married Wallis Simpson.

Ë 1940 – The Battle of Dunkirk ended with a German victory and with Allied forces in full retreat.

Ë 1948 – The 200-inch reflecting Hale Telescope at the Palomar Mountain Observatory in California was dedicated.

Ë 1956 – Santa Cruz, CA authorities announced a total ban on rock and roll at public gatherings, calling the music “Detrimental to both the health and morals of our youth and community.”

Ë 1968 – Valerie Solanas attempted to assassinate Andy Warhol by shooting him three times.

Ë 1989 – The government of China sent troops to force protesters out of Tiananmen Square after almost 2 months of occupation.

Ë 1992 – Presidential candidate Bill Clinton appeared on the Arsenio Hall Show and played the saxophone.

Ë 1996 – Zenith introduced the first HDTV-compatible front projection TV in the U.S.

Ë 1989 – The government of China sent troops to force protesters out of Tiananmen Square after seven weeks of occupation.

Ë 2010 – Long suspected of his involvement in the 2005 disappearance of Natalee Holloway, Joran van der Sloot was arrested for the murder of Stephany Flores in Lima, Peru.

Birthdays Today

@87 – Chuck Barris, American game show host and producer (d. 2017)
@85 – Tony Curtis [Bernard Schwartz], American actor (d. 2010)
@70 – Allen Ginsberg, American poet (d. 1997; hepatitis)
70 – Jill Biden, 1^st Lady
@68 – Josephine Baker, French actress, singer, French Resistance operative (d. 1975; stroke)
55 – Anderson Cooper, American journalist
36 – Rafael Nadal. Tennis star 

 

June 2

 

 
Daily Almanac for Flagstaff
Week 23 Day: 153 \ Ave. Sky Cover: 5% \ Visibility: 10 miles Flagstaff Today 76° \35° 
Wind: 4mph \ Gusts: 10smph
Extreme Risk of fire \ Nearest active fire: 10mi \ Nearest Lightning: 663mi
June Averages for Flagstaff: 80° \ 43° (1 day of moisture)

 

Today’s Quote

Monthly Observations

California Avocado Month Link
Cancer From the Sun Month
Caribbean-American Heritage Month
Cataract Awareness Month
Celibacy Awareness Month
Child Vision Awareness Month
Children's Awareness Month
Dairy Alternatives Month
Dementia Care Professionals Month
Effective Communications Month
Entrepreneurs "Do It Yourself" Marketing Month
Fashion in Colonial Virginia Month
Fireworks Safety Month

Weekly Observations

Thru 6/5   National Seat Belt Reinforcement Week Link National African Violet Week

Thru 6/3  Black Single Parents Week

Thru 9/5 National Marina Days (From Memorial Day to Labor Day)  Link

2-5 Great American Brass Band Week  Link

Daily Observations

My Sometimes-Long-Winded Thoughts

Nice warm day. We need moisture.

Yesterday a squirrel caused a power outage to 6600 Flagstaff residents. Luckily, not where I live. The outage lasted about 3 hours until about 9am.

During the long Memorial Day weekend, 12 illegal campfires were reported. All received a citation. I guess those 12 thought ‘the rules are for thee, but not for me.’

I read an interesting article this morning. The argument was that President Biden does not have the authority to cancel student debt. The government helps students with grants that do not have to be repaid and for loans that do need to be repaid. Those taking out government loans fully understood that it was NOT a grant, and that it would have to be paid back. It seems that politically astute people would have pointed this out years ago. I think I’ll wait and see what Biden does and then follow the aftermath.

Favorite Memes

Everyday Phrases with a Dark Meaning

Meet a deadline

Probably one of the most popular phrases you'll hear throughout your entire life. First as a student, and then as an employee. Hopefully you won't die if you don't meet these deadlines but crossing the original deadline would have that result!

A deadline was an actual line drawn on Civil War prisons. If a prisoner escaped and crossed that line, he would be killed. Not quite the same consequence as not responding to an email, right?

Riddle of the Day

What word in the English language does the following: the first two letters signify a male, the first three letters signify a female, the first four letters signify a great, while the entire world signifies a great woman. What is the word? 

 

This is hard because it gets you thinking about gender and the ways they’re different. You must think of one word that holds the others. It’s easy when you think about it!

Answer: Heroine

Historical Events

  Ë 1098 – First Crusade: The first Siege of Antioch ended as Crusader forces take the city. The crusades were a result of Muslim conquests of the Christian holy lands.
Ë 1692 – Prosecutions in the Salem Witch Trials began
Ë 1835 – P. T. Barnum and his circus began touring the United States.
Ë 1858 – The Donati Comet was first seen and named after its discoverer, Giovanni Battista Donati, in Florence.
Ë 1865 – Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith, a commander of Confederate forces, signed the surrender terms offered by Union negotiators, ending the US civil war.
Ë 1928 – Kraft’s Velveeta Cheese was made available.
Ë 1953 – The coronation of the United Kingdom’s Queen Elizabeth II.
Ë 1964 – The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) was formed.
Ë 1966 – Surveyor 1 landed in Oceanus Procellarum on the Moon.
Ë 1997 – Timothy McVeigh was convicted on 15 counts of murder and conspiracy for his role in the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, in which 168 people died.
Ë 2004 – Ken Jennings began his 74-game winning streak on the syndicated game show Jeopardy.

Birthdays Today

@87 – Tom Hardy, English novelist (d. 1928)
81 – Stacy Keach, American character actor
@79 – Johnny Weissmuller, Hungarian-American swimmer, actor (d. 1984;   

           pulmonary edema)
@74 – Marquis de Sade, French philosopher, politician (d. 1814)
74 – Jerry Mathers, American actor
@70 – Martha Washington, 1st First Lady (d. 1802)
@68 – Marvin Hamlisch, American composer, conductor (d. 2012; hypertension)
62 – Kyle Petty, American race car driver, sportscaster
53 – Wayne Brady, American actor
50 – Andy Cohen, comedian, game show host
44 – Justin Long, American actor
44 – Dominic Cooper, English actor
44 – Nikki Cox, American actress