24 Aug

 

 
Daily Almanac for Flagstaff
Week 35 Day 236 \ Ave. Sky Cover 10% \ Visibility 10 miles Flagstaff Today 82° \49° 
Wind 13mph \ Gusts 20mph  Air Quality Fair
Moderate High Extreme Risk of fire \ Nearest active fire 28mi \ Nearest Lightning 27mi
Aug Averages for Flagstaff: 79° \ 50° (9days of moisture)

 

Today’s Quote

Weekly Observations

Thru Sep.5 National Marina Days (From Memorial Day to Labor Day)  Link

18-24 Minority Enterprise Development Week

18-9/6   Ride Sober or Get Pulled Over Link

21-27  Brake Safety Week Link

22-26  National Safe at Home Week

22-28   National Composites Week Link

23-9/1   World Water Week Link

Daily Observations

International Strange Music Day Link
Knife Day Link
Maryland Day
National Ukraine Day Link
National Waffle Iron Day Link 
Peach Pie Day
Peach Pie Day
Pluto Demoted Day
Vesuvius Day
Waffle Day
Wayzgoose Day Link
William Wilberforce Day

My Sometimes-Long-Winded Thoughts

A nice warm summer day.

I had lunch with Andy and Faith. Good food, good conversation, lots of fun.

Since my last vehicle was from 2006, I’m learning that lots has changed in those 16 short years. I used the internet to find out about Neutral gear. It is push and hold for one second the gear shift while your foot is on the brake. So simple, once you know what to do. Faith has a 2020 vehicle, Andy has a 2019 truck. I learned today that many of the things I’m learning have been on new vehicles for at least 5 years. When I was working I traded in my vehicle every 3 years and always with at least 100K miles. After retiring, it took me 16 years to get 79,000 on the vehicle.

As the polls show, some midterm races are very getting close. Now the news is saying that the huge Republican gap of a few months ago is shrinking due to ‘candidate quality’ and the Roe decision will bring many more voters to the midterms. Whatever it is, every qualified voter needs to vote.

After years at schools on the rez, I am very aware of bus issues. Today, the local Flagstaff school district announced that one route would not be running and that parents needed to find alternate transportation. The problem: no available driver for the route.  What a hassle for parents.

Dr. Fauci is leaving the government after almost 50 years of service. He says he is not retiring, just following other passions while he has the energy. He is 81. What a guy!

Favorite Memes

One Hit Wonders

  "The Rapper," The Jaggerz (1970)

Penned by Donnie Iris, leader of The Jaggerz, who enjoyed their biggest and most popular success this single about the heights a guy will go to pick women. The song reached No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard chart. However, The Jaggerz never enjoyed anywhere near the success with the single before or after than the group did with this number. Of course, Iris hooked up with Wild Cherry (more from them in a bit) and enjoyed some solo success with Donnie Iris and the Cruisers.

Historical Events

1456 – The printing of the Gutenberg Bible was completed.1682 – William Penn received the area that is now the state of Delaware, and added it to his colony of Pennsylvania.

1932 – Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly across the United States non-stop, from Los Angeles to Newark, New Jersey.

1989 – Cincinnati Reds manager Pete Rose was banned from baseball ‘forever’ for gambling by Commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti.

1998 – First radio-frequency identification (RFID) human implantation was tested in the United Kingdom.

Birthdays Today

84 – Mason Williams, American guitarist, composer
@83 – Louis Teicher, American pianist (Ferrante & Teicher) (d.  2008)
@83 – Nancy Spero, American painter, academic (d.  2009)
” An artist’s job is to articulate what might otherwise be incoherent.– Nancy Spero
@81 – Kenny Baker, English actor, R2-D2 (d.  2016)
@77 – Duke Kahanamoku, American swimmer, actor, surfer (d.  1968; heart attack)
“Just take your time – wave comes. Let the other guys go, catch another one.”– Duke Kahanamoku
77 – Vince McMahon, American wrestler, promoter, co-founded WWE
” I’m not afraid of failing. I don’t like to fail. I hate to fail. But I’m not afraid of it.”– Vince McMahon
@75 – Yasser Arafat, 1st President of the Palestinian National Authority (d.  2004; stroke)
67 – Mike Huckabee, American minister, politician
65 – Stephen Fry, English actor, journalist, screenwriter
62 – Cal Ripken, Jr., American baseball player
“Get in the game. Do the best you can. Try to make a contribution. Learn from today. Apply it to tomorrow.”– Cal Ripken, Jr.
57 – Marlee Matlin, American actress
” You can do anything if you set your mind to it. Look out for kids, help them dream, and be inspired. We teach calculus in schools, but I believe the most important formula is courage plus dreams equals success.”– Marlee Matlin
49 – Dave Chappelle, American comedian, actor
“I’m famous today. People like me today. Might not like me tomorrow. You can’t count on it.”– Dave Chappelle
45 – John Green, American author, vlogger
41 – Chad Michael Murray, American model, actor
34 – Rupert Grint, English actor

 

23 Aug

 

 
Daily Almanac for Flagstaff
Week 35 Day 235 \ Ave. Sky Cover 10% \ Visibility 10 miles Flagstaff Today 80° \50° 
Wind 5mph \ Gusts 6mph  Air Quality Fair
Moderate Risk of fire \ Nearest active fire 29mi \ Nearest Lightning 55mi
Aug Averages for Flagstaff: 79° \ 50° (9days of moisture)

 

Today’s Quote 

Weekly Observations

Thru Sep.5 National Marina Days (From Memorial Day to Labor Day)  Link

18-24 Minority Enterprise Development Week

18-9/6   Ride Sober or Get Pulled Over Link

21-27  Brake Safety Week Link

22-26  National Safe at Home Week

22-28   National Composites Week Link

23-9/1   World Water Week Link

Daily Observations

Day For The Remembrance of The Slave Trade & Its Abolition
Ride The Wind Day Link (Hang Gliding)
Spongecake Day
The Festival of Vulcan (The Vulcanalia, no longer celebrated)
Valentino Day

My Sometimes-Long-Winded Thoughts

A nice summer day.

I headed over to the mall for a much-needed pedicure. Happy to see that the lady who has done them for years has returned. She did a great job. My feet feel a whole lot younger. Another lady came in as I was finishing up and she too was happy to see the pedi-lady back.

I watched the Cards play last night. They are starting out just like the Broncos…1 win, 1 loss. Hoping for a better season by both teams.

I’m still trying to learn how to put my new Nissan into N. The only time I need to do that is when I’m getting a car wash at a ride-thru place. The shift knob doesn’t have an N, there is a button to push that moves it to N but it only works sometimes. Crazy. I’ll be very embarrassed if I must go to the dealership. ‘Excuse me, I’ve been a licensed driver over 50 years, but I can’t find Neutral on this vehicle.’ I’m sure the laughter will stop after about 10 minutes.

I have never understood ‘dark money’ in politics. One can donate to a PAC or SuperPAC and their name will not be released. That means we don’t know who is involved in politics. Recently, a new group led by conservative lawyers received $1.6billion anonymous donation. Marble Freedom Trust is that non-profit. It is led by the co-chair of The Federalist Society. In a democracy everyone is allowed to spend their money however they choose. I still believe that all political contributions need to be made available to the general public, so we know who is helping politicians. Why should it remain a secret?

Favorite Memes

One Hit Wonders

"Mississippi Queen," Mountain (1970)

Leslie West was one of the great rock guitarists of all time, and he made a name for himself with Mountain. Most notably, obviously, through the group's only real hit. This hard-charging, guitar-fueled classic track peaked at No. 21 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart and remains a classic rock staple. The band put out eight albums from 1970-2007, but none of its singles achieved the success as this one. And, yes, that's a cowbell that can be heard.

Historical Events

79 – Mount Vesuvius, the volcano erupted and buried the ancient Roman city of Pompeii under a thick carpet of volcanic ash on the feast day of Vulcan.

1305 – Sir William Wallace was executed for high treason at Smithfield in London.

1948 – World Council of Churches was formed.

1965 – The Sound of Music was released, starring Julie Andrews

1966 – Lunar Orbiter 1 took the first photograph of Earth from orbit around the Moon.

1973 – A bank robbery went wrong in Stockholm, Sweden, turned into a hostage crisis; over the next five days the hostages begin to sympathize with their captors, leading to the term “Stockholm syndrome”.

1991 – The World Wide Web was available to the public.

2006 – Pluto was demoted from full planet status to “dwarf planet”.

2007 – The skeletal remains of Russia’s last royal family members Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia, and his sister Grand Duchess Anastasia were discovered near Yekaterinburg, Russia.

Birthdays Today

91 – Barbara Eden, American actress
@83 – Gene Kelly, American actor, singer, and dancer (d. 1996)
” The way I look at a musical, you are commenting on the human condition no matter what you do. A musical may be light and frivolous, but by its very nature, it makes some kind of social comment.”
– Gene Kelly
73 – Shelley Long, American actress
73 – Rick Springfield, Australian-American singer-songwriter, actor
” I don’t know any musician, successful or otherwise, that got in it to make money. Or a writer, for that matter. You get into it because you love it.”
– Rick Springfield
@68 – Tex Williams, American singer-songwriter (d. 1985; cancer)
52 – Jay Mohr, American actor, screenwriter
” People are more interested in someone who goes on stage and tells the truth.”
– Jay Mohr
46 – Scott Caan, actor
@41 – Kobe Bryant, American basketball player (d. 2020; helicopter crash)
“I’ll do whatever it takes to win games, whether it’s sitting on a bench waving a towel, handing a cup of water to a teammate, or hitting the game-winning shot.”
– Kobe Bryant
@32 – Keith Moon, English drummer, The Who (d. 1978; OD)
32 – Seth Curry, NBA star
@23 – River Phoenix, American actor (d. 1993; OD)