Feb 28


FYI: Any Blue text is a link. Click to check it out!
Feb. 28, 2020 Week: 9 Day: 59
86004: H 54° \ L 19° \ Average Sky Cover: 5%
Nearest lightning: 3069mi.; Nearest active fire: 515mi.
Wind: 7mph\Gusts: 13mph Visibility: 10 mi

Record High: 65°[1999 ] Record Low: -16°[1962]
Feb. Averages: 47°\19° (5 days with moisture)

Today’s LOVE Quote

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness:
only light can do that.
Hate cannot drive out hate:
only love can do that.”
― Martin Luther King Jr.

Random Tidbits

During sleep, the brain "consolidates" memories and skills, meaning that the brain strengthens, reorganizes, and restructures memories during sleep.
REM atonia, or sleep paralysis, occurs in the typical sleeper every night to prevent people from acting out their dreams. Only a few muscles have the ability to move during REM sleep, such as the eye muscles, the auditory muscles, and the diaphragm for respiration.

Observations This Week

Bird Health Awareness Week: 23-29 Link
National Eating Disorders Awareness Week: 23-29
Nat'l Invasive Species Awareness Week: 23-29 Link
National Justice for Animals Week: 23-29Link Link
Cordova Ice Worm Days: 25-3/1 Link
International Petroleum Week: 25-27 Link
Lent: 26-4/11
National Money Show: 27-29

Observations for Today

Floral Design Day Link
Girl Scout Cookie Weekend Link
National Chili Day
National Customized Wheel and Tire Day
National Tooth Fairy Day Link Lin
National Science Day
Rare Disease Day
Skip The Straw Day Link
Tartar Sauce Day Link
US Snow Shoe Days -3/1Link

My Rambling Thoughts

I attended my boss' son's funeral today. Beautiful service, nice burial, and great reception. Navajos don't believe in viewing deceased, Hopis do, others have a preference over religious beliefs. Andy, my boss, stood up after the closed casket funeral and announced that those who want to leave may, and Hopi who want to view will have an opportunity. Andy left with many of us, along with the Navajo. Hopi stayed behind and viewed and prayed the Hopi way. There was a Navajo speaker, a Hopi speaker, and a Christian minister. Similar actions at the burial. Then everyone gathered at the church for the meal. With three religions, it was the best way I have ever seen it take place. Glad I was included.

Tomorrow I'll be going with Andy and his brother-in-law to Phoenix to pick up the mobile trailer. It will take most of the day, so no update tomorrow.

I hope everyone enjoys the extra day we get on Saturday. It only comes every four years.

Today’s Puzzle
Answer at the bottom of the page

A farmer in California owns a beautiful pear tree. He supplies the fruit to a nearby grocery store. The store owner has called the farmer to see how much fruit is available for him to purchase. The farmer knows that the main trunk has 24 branches. Each branch has exactly 12 boughs and each bough has exactly 6 twigs. Since each twig bears one piece of fruit, how many plums will the farmer be able to deliver?



Historical Events

1066 - Westminster Abbey opened

1525 - Aztec king Cuauhtémoc was executed on the order of conquistador Hernán Cortés.
1784 - John Wesley chartered the first Methodist Church in the United States. An Anglican, Wesley wanted a church structure for his followers after the Anglican Church abandoned its American believers during the American Revolution.
1827 - The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was incorporated. It was the first railroad in America offering commercial transportation of both people and freight.
1854 - The Republican Party was organized in Ripon, WI. It was primarily anti-slavery people.
1885 - The American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T) was incorporated in New York, as the subsidiary of American Bell Telephone.
1922 - The United Kingdom ended its protectorate over Egypt through a Unilateral Declaration of Independence.
1935 - Wallace Carothers discovered Nylon while working at DuPont.
1839 - The non-existent word "dord" was published in the Webster's New International Dictionary, Second Edition.
1940 - Basketball was televised for the first time. The game was Fordam University vs. University of Pittsburgh
1953 - Cambridge University scientists James D. Watson and Frances H.C. Crick announced that they had found the double-helix structure of DNA, the molecule containing human genes.
1954 - The first color television sets using the NTSC standard were offered for sale to the general public.
1983 - CBS sitcom M*A*S*H ended after 11 seasons, airing a special two-and-a-half hour episode watched by 77% of the television viewing audience.
1993 - Near Mount Carmel in Waco, Texas, agents of the U.S. Treasury Department's Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) launch a raid against the Branch Davidian compound. At least 80 people, including 22 children, were killed.
1996 - KISS reunited at the Grammys in full makeup and costume.
2002 - Sotheby's auction house announced that Peter Paul Reubens was the creator of the painting The Massacre of the Innocents, not Jan van den Hoecke as previously believed.
2013 - Pope Benedict XVI resigned as the pope of the Catholic Church - the first pope to do so since 1415.

Puzzle Answer:

None. A pear tree does not bear plums.



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Feb 27


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Feb. 27, 2020 Week: 9 Day: 59
86004: H 45° \ L 22° \ Average Sky Cover: 5%
Nearest lightning: 1675mi.; Nearest active fire: 231mi.
Wind: 11mph\Gusts: 16mph Visibility: 10 mi

Record High: 64°[1921 ] Record Low: -12°[1961]
Feb. Averages: 47°\19° (5 days with moisture)

Today’s LOVE Quote

“A friend is someone who knows all about you
and still loves you.”
― Elbert Hubbard

Random Tidbits

Sleep is a universal characteristic of complex living organisms and has been observed in insects, mollusks, fish, amphibians, birds, and mammals. In fact, sleep is so important that humans can survive longer without food than they can without sleep.

Observations This Week

Bird Health Awareness Week: 23-29 Link
National Eating Disorders Awareness Week: 23-29
Nat'l Invasive Species Awareness Week: 23-29 Link
National Justice for Animals Week: 23-29Link Link
Cordova Ice Worm Days: 25-3/1 Link
International Petroleum Week: 25-27 Link
Lent: 26-4/11
National Money Show: 27-29

Observations for Today

Anosomia Awareness Day Link
Digital Learning Day Link
International Polar Bear Day Link
International Toast Day Link
National Chili Day Link
National Kahlua Day
National Retro Day Link
National Strawberry Day
World NGO Day Link

My Rambling Thoughts

Cheryl has a bad cough from her visiting son, so we postponed my bday lunch till next week. So Mary and I ate at one of our favorites. We'll party when Cheryl recovers.

AZ is very conservative. The AZ House just passed a bill to require inmates who are injured doing prison work and sue will have to pay their medical expenses if they win in court. Seems a little Draconian to me.

I have always believed that the Olympics should not be political. I was against all the boycotts, against the fist thing and anything else political. This is the 40th anniversary of the Miracle on Ice. Trump was in Vegas for a rally. At the same time, the team was at other events for the 40th. They were invited to his rally and called up on stage. As they were climbing the stairs, they were handed MAGA hats. Some wore them, some didn't. Social media is lambasting those who wore the hats. I agree, their achievement was not political during the game. It shouldn't be 40 years later.

Today’s Puzzle
Answer at the bottom of the page

One is to three as three is to five and five is to four and four is the magic number. What is the pattern?

Historical Events

1703 - The first Mardi Gras was celebrated in Mobile, Alabama in 1703.
1801 - District of Columbia Organic Act of 1801 - Washington, D.C. is placed under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Congress. 'Taxation without representation.'
1812 - Lord Byron gave his first address as a member of the House of Lords, in defense of Luddite violence against Industrialism in his home county of Nottinghamshire.
1827- Masked and costumed students danced through the streets of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the first of the city's famous Mardi Gras celebrations.
1879 - Saccharin, the artificial sweetener, was discovered by Constantin Fahlberg,
1900 - German chemist Felix Hoffmann was issued the patent (#644,077) for 'Acetyl Salicylic Acid'. We now call it Aspirin.
1936 - Shirley Temple received a new contract from 20th Century Fox that paid the seven-year-old star $50,000 per film.
1951 - The Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution, limiting Presidents to two terms, was ratified.
1960 - The US Olympic hockey team defeated the Soviet Union in the semifinals at the Winter Games in Squaw Valley, California. The next day, the US team beat Czechoslovakia to win its first-ever Olympic gold medal in hockey.
1973 - The American Indian Movement (AIM) occupied Wounded Knee, South Dakota.
1974 - People magazine was published for the first time
1980 - There was only one Grammy for Best Disco Recording ever, and it was awarded to Gloria Gaynor for I Will Survive.
1999 - Colin Prescot and Andy Elson set a new endurance record after being in a hot air balloon for 233 hours and 55 minutes.
2006 - The African Burial Ground National Monument was established in Lower Manhattan, New York. Over 15,000 Africans, slave and free, were buried there from the 1690s through 1790s.
2010 (Earthquake) Coastal Maule, Chile
2013 Pope Benedict XVI presents his farewell address to Vatican City
2018 Jared Kushner, son-in-law of President Trump, has his top-secret security clearance at the White House downgraded
2019 Michael Cohen, former lawyer to Donald Trump testifies before the House Oversight Committee saying Trump is "racist", a "con man" and "a cheat"
2019 Second summit begins between US President Donald Trump and North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un in Hanoi, Vietnam


Birthdays Today
40- Chelsea Clinton, daughter of Bill and Hillary
@66-John Steinbeck, author (d. 1968; heart disease)
@79-Elizabeth Taylor, actor (d. 2011)

Puzzle Answer:

One has three letters in the word three has five letters in it five has four letters and four has four letters in it (if you try more numbers they will always come back to the number four: so four is the magic number)



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Feb 26


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Feb. 26, 2020 Week: 9 Day: 57
86004: H 35° \ L 18° \ Average Sky Cover: 5%
Nearest lightning: 1507mi.; Nearest active fire: 296mi.
Wind: 12mph\Gusts: 22mph Visibility: 10 mi

Record High: 71°[1986 ] Record Low: -7°[1977 ]
Feb. Averages: 47°\19° (5 days with moisture)

Today’s LOVE Quote

You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.”
― Dr. Seuss

Random Tidbits

In the late 19th century, running was called "pedestrianism."

Recreational running didn't become mainstream until the late 1960s. In 1958, the Chicago Tribune announced a strange new fitness fad: jogging.
In the 1960's, running for exercise was so unusual that some people were stopped by police. People would try to run in the morning because police becamse suspicious if they saw a grown man running at night.

Observations This Week

Bird Health Awareness Week: 23-29 Link
National Eating Disorders Awareness Week: 23-29
Nat'l Invasive Species Awareness Week: 23-29 Link
National Justice for Animals Week: 23-29Link Link
Cordova Ice Worm Days: 25-3/1 Link
International Petroleum Week: 25-27 Link
Lent: 26-4/11

Observations for Today



For Pete's Sake Day

Inconvenience Yourself Day

Levi Strauss Day

Losar Link

National Personal Chef's Day Link


Pink Shirt Day Link


World Pistachio Day Link

My Rambling Thoughts
Ellie, Focus Travel Club leader, celebrated a birthday on the 25th, so hope it was a very happy one.

Two comments on the current election cycle: There needs to be a movement from the voters to have a constitutional amendment that limits Representatives and Senators to two terms. Each one can then sit out one election cycle, and if so compelled he/she can run again. The second comment is about Bernie's comment about Cuba. I agree that Castro did improve education, but at a much higher cost than was necessary. My two trips to Cuba, during the Obama administration, when there was a lifting of travel restrictions and in Cuba and more freedom for private ownership, I also saw the repression that was still present. Americans who have never traveled to Cuba do not have a true picture of life there. It is better than during Fidel's reign, but still has a lot to make up for in the realm of personal freedoms and a democratically elected government. Bernie's comments will not get him votes from Cuban-Americans, or probably from other Hispanic voters.

I'm still coping with Chris' needless death. After his last stint in rehab, he would call me every couple of weeks to check up on me and let me know he was doing his best to deal with his issues. Hard to know I won't be getting anymore of those calls. He had a lot of relatives and friends his own age that are trying to find answers too.

Today’s Puzzle
Answer at the bottom of the page

If a chicken says, "All chickens are liars". Is the chicken telling the truth?

Historical Events

1815 - Napoleon Bonaparte escaped from Elba.

1870 - New York City's first pneumatic-powered subway line, created by Alfred Beach, was opened to the public.
1909 - Kinemacolor, the first successful color motion picture process, was first shown to the general public at the Palace Theatre in London with 21 short films.
1919 - 800,000 acres of the Grand Canyon, already a national monument, was designated a national park under President Woodrow Wilson
1929 - President Calvin Coolidge signed into law a bill establishing the Grand Teton National Park, in Wyoming.
1946 - Finnish observers reported the first of thousands of sightings of ghost rockets.
1977 - # 1 Hit : Eagles - New Kid in Town
1993 - The first of the World Trade Bombings occurred , the bomb went off in a parked truck under the North Tower. The bombing killed six and injured over a thousand people.
1995 - Selena Quintanilla-Perez performed her last concert in Houston before being shot by her manager.
2005 Hosni Mubarak, President of Egypt, orders the constitution changed to allow multi-candidate presidential elections, asking Egyptian parliament to amend Article 76
2005 - Halle Berry accepted her Razzie Award at the 25th annual ceremony at Hollywood’s historic Ivar Theatre.
2011 - # 1 Hit: Lady Gaga - Born This Way
2012 - Trayvon Martin, an African-American teen walking home from a trip to a convenience store, was fatally shot in an altercation with George Zimmerman, a Hispanic neighborhood watch volunteer patrolling the townhouse community of the Retreat at Twin Lakes in Sanford, Florida.


2018 Global Seed Vault in Svalbard, Norway, receives its 1 millionth seed on 10 year anniversary
2019 More than 4,500 complaints of child sexual abuse against migrant children received by US Health Department, Department of Justice received 1,300 more
2019 City of Venice in Italy introduces a day visitors tax

Birthdays Today


@89 - Fats Domino, American singer-songwriter and pianist (died in 2017)
@84 - Tony Randall, American actor (died in 2004)
@83 - Victor Hugo, French author, poet, and playwright (died in 1885)
@78 - Robert Novak, American journalist and author (died in 2009; brain cancer)
@73 - Levi Strauss, German-American fashion designer, founded Levi Strauss & Co. (died in 1902)
@72 - Tex Avery, American animator, producer, and MGM voice actor (died in 1980, lung cancer)
@71 - Jackie Gleason, American actor (died in 1987; diabetic complications)
@71 - Johnny Cash, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (died in 2003; diabetic compications)
@70 – William Frederick Buffalo Bill Cody, American soldier, showman and hunter (died in 1917)
67 - Michael Bolton, American singer-songwriter
@29 - Christopher Marlowe, English playwright (died in 1593; stabbed)


Puzzle Answer:

Chickens cannot talk.
[This is a dumb answer]



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Feb 25


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Feb. 25, 2020 Week: 9 Day: 56
86004: H 56° \ L 23° \ Average Sky Cover: 5%
Nearest lightning: 1043mi.; Nearest active fire: 232mi.
Wind: 8mph\Gusts: -mph Visibility: 10 mi

Record High: 70°[1986 ] Record Low: -10°[1919]
Feb. Averages: 47°\19° (5 days with moisture)

Today’s LOVE Quote

“You've gotta dance like there's nobody watching,
Love like you'll never be hurt,
Sing like there's nobody listening,
And live like it's heaven on earth.”
― William W. Purkey

Random Tidbits

The Badwater Ultramarathon claims to be the world's toughest footrace. Stretching 135 miles from Death Valley (the lowest point in North America) to Mount Whitney (the highest point in the lower 48 states), this grueling race is by invitation only.
The treadmill was orginally designed for English prisons as a too for punishment
Observations This Week

Bird Health Awareness Week: 23-29 Link
National Eating Disorders Awareness Week: 23-29
Nat'l Invasive Species Awareness Week: 23-29 Link
National Justice for Animals Week: 23-29Link Link
Cordova Ice Worm Days: 25-3/1 Link
International Petroleum Week: 25-27 Link

Observations for Today

Shrovetide

Fasching

IHOP National Pancake Day Link

International Pancake Day

Shrove Tuesday

Museum Advocacy Day Link


Pancake Day Race

Paczki Day


Rubber Ducky Day Link


World Spay Day USA

My Rambling Thoughts

I got sad news last night. My former boss, Andy, lost his adult son, Chris, last night. Chris had lots of problems and OD'd down in Phoenix. He was working day jobs down there, but continued his drinking and drugs. He was in his mid-thirties. His dad tried very hard to help, but sadly, nothing really helped. At lease Chris is a peace, finally.

That storm we had here over the weekend dropped 15+” of new snow on our peaks. Much needed moisture.

I watched some of the Kobe Memorial. Very emotional. Such a sad time.

Being raised an Episcopalian, we observed Lent by giving up something. It is that time again, and even though I am not practicing that religion, I still may give up something for Lent. Always find it a good reminder that not everyone has the great life that I do.

Today’s Puzzle
Answer at the bottom of the page

There is a clothing store in Bartlesville. The owner has devised his own method of pricing items. A vest costs $20, socks cost $25, a tie costs $15 and a blouse costs $30. Using the method, how much would a pair of underwear cost?

Historical Events

1836 - Samuel Colt was granted a United States patent (#9430X) for his Colt revolver.

1901 - J.P. Morgan incorporated the United States Steel Corporation.

1919 - Oregon became the first US state to levy a gasoline tax by placing 1 cent tax on every gallon of gas.

1932 - Adolf Hitler obtained German citizenship by naturalization, which allowed him to run in the 1932 election for Reichspräsident.

1950 - Your Show of Shows, hosted by Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca premiered on NBC.


1964 - Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali), age 22, defeated champion Sonny Liston in a technical knockout to win the world heavyweight boxing crown.

1967 - Gene Kelly starred in Jack and the Beanstalk on NBC (produced by Hanna-Barbara) it was the first TV special to combine live action and animation.

1984 - # 1 Hit : Van Halen - Jump

1991 - The Warsaw Pact officially disbanded.

2004 - The Passion of the Christ, Mel Gibson’s film about the last 44 hours of Jesus of Nazareth’s life, opened in theaters, eventually earning over $370,700,000.

2006 - The world's population reached an estimated 6.5 billion people

2017 Tom Perez is elected Chair of the Democratic National Committee

2018 China briefly bans the letter 'N' as part of widespread censorship efforts



Birthdays Today

85 - Sally Jessy Raphael, American journalist and talk show host

@79 - Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Frech painter (died in 1919)

@78 - Zeppo Marx, American comedian and Brother (died in 1979; lung cancer)

@77 - Bobby Riggs, American tennis player (died in 1995; prostate cancer)

@76 - Jim Backus, American actor (died in 1989; pneumonia)

@71 - John Foster Dulles, American statesman (died in 1959; colon cancer)

71 - Jack Handey, American author: Deep Thoughts-SNL

@58 - George Harrison, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (died in 2001; cancer)

55- Scott Thompson Carrot Top, comedian

54 - Téa Leoni, American actress

@48 - Enrico Caruso, Italian-American tenor (died in 1921; peritonitis)

45 - Chelsea Handler, American comedian and talk show host

Puzzle Answer:

$45. The pricing method consists of charging $5 for each letter required to spell the item.



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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.