Thursday

~~~Free Ramblings
I got a call from my dermatologist’s nurse this morning. Seems my nose does need surgery. I will be getting it when I get back from Africa. According to them, it is not a big deal, just a ‘little bump in the road’ of life. Easy for them to say, they aren’t having their nose cut. Oh well, this will be another experience many people go through. This procedure was not on my ‘bucket list’.

So I call BCBS to get my prescriptions. As expected, to get to a human I was challenged to listen to no less than 4 menus, and my choice was usually number five or six. I don’t know how many there were. The last time I had to do this, the lady wanted to know the exact date I was leaving, returning, and what countries I would be in. This time I told her I was going on vacation and she wanted no more information. I asked why she didn’t ask about my plans, and she said, “You said you were going on vacation. That means you are not being deployed. That is all we need to know.” Great. For those who care about this stuff, Federal BCBS uses Caremark Pharmacy as their pharmacy that determines how one can get refills. Interesting side note, my mother’s nursing home also used Caremark Pharmacy for part of the time she was there. It is odd to me that one Pharmacy gets to decide about refills for its competitors. When I get back, I’ll check into using Caremark and see if they use the same restrictions that they place on refills made by competitors when I buy from them. I really don’t want to get my meds by mail. I like talking to the pharmacist, and seeing them count out the tablets.

Another piece of good news today, that rainy day secret account my mom had, that I just learned about…I called the bank and found out it was ‘frozen’ because it had been inactive since 2004. I faxed them the letter I got, Greg from the bank called me back in about an hour. All I have to do now is fax them a letter that I want to close the account, since my name was also on it, and they will send me a cashier’s check for the amount in the account. Very cool, my trip to Africa is now a gift from my parents and my brother can get some more work done on their hacienda down in Mexico.

We had a nice day here. There was a small human caused fire on the Peaks. Well, small according to the forest service—about 8 acres. Whenever it is breezy and one sees a plume of smoke on the Peaks, concern certainly is appropriate. There were several ‘prescribed’ burns planned for today, but all were cancelled. It was hard to tell from the news report if the burn cancellation was due to the 15 mph breeze or the gusts to 30mph or the fact that many forest service people were at the 8 acre fire. Luckily they were able to put it out quickly. We made it to 64° this afternoon, and last night only dropped to 41°, so I could enjoy the fresh air. The breeze did remind me that it’s time for another hair cut.
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~~~Random Facts
The revenue that is generated from gambling is more than the revenue that comes from movies, cruise ships, recorded music, theme parks, and spectator sports combined.

X-rays of the Mona Lisa show that there are three completely different versions of the same subject, all painted by Leonardo da Vinci, under the final portrait.

~~~Unusual News Story
JERSEY CITY, N.J. – New Jersey police said an incident that started with a public urination summons ended with a woman attempting to attack another woman with a samurai sword.

Jersey City Police Lt. Edgar Martinez said an off-duty officer spotted a man urinating on a tree at about 1 a.m. Sunday and six people emerged from a house where a party was taking place to argue with the officer while he was writing the man a summons, The Jersey Journal, Jersey City,reported. Investigators said Thanh Huynh, 39, emerged from the party during the argument and attempted to cut one of the women speaking with the officer with a three-foot-long samurai sword. Huynh was arrested and charged with aggravated assault, possession of a weapon for unlawful purposes and unlawful possession of a weapon.

Police said they do not know Huynh’s motive for allegedly attacking the other woman.

~~~Before They Were Famous
Beyonce Knowles formed Destiny's Child in 1990 at the age of nine with her best friend.

Ashton Kutcher once pursued a career in biochemical engineering at the University of Iowa.

Burt Lancaster once worked as an acrobat in a circus until an injury forced him to quit.
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~~~October Month Long Observances

Birthstone: Opal Birth flower: calendula
Adopt A Shelter Animal Month ~ Apple Month ~ Celebrate the Bilingual Child Month ~ Domestic Violence Awareness Month ~ Emotional Intelligence Month ~ Gay & Lesbian History Month ~ Halloween Safety Month ~ Month of Free Thought ~ Nat’l Arts and Humanities Month ~ Nat’l Book Month ~ Nat’l Cyber Safety Awareness Month ~ Nat’l Popcorn Poppin’ Month ~ Nat’l Sarcastic Awareness Month ~ Photographer Appreciation Month ~ Squirrel Awareness Month ~ Vegetarian Month

~~~Week of 12 Oct
National School Lunch Week
World Rainforest Week

~~~15 OCT Observances
288 days so far this year…77 days remain in 2009
Get Smart About Credit Day
Nat’l Grouch Day
White Cane Safety Day
Global Hand Washing Day
^Brazil Teachers' Day
^Fiji Independence Day (from Great Britain since 1874)
^French Guiana : Cayenne Holiday
^Tunisia : Evacuation Day

~~~Births on this day
~ The ARTS
70 B.C. __Virgil poet

1831__Helen Maria Hunt Jackson author (Ramona)
1844__Friedrich Nietzsche Germany, philosopher/anti-Semite
1881__P.G. Wodehouse British-American writer
1921__Mario Puzo author (Godfather and others)
1937__Barry McGuire Oklahoma City, singer (Eve of Destruction)
1937__Linda Lavin Portland Maine, actress (Alice)
1942__Penny Marshall Bronx NY, actress & director
1945__Jim (James Alvin) Palmer Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher
1959__Emeril Lagasse celebrity chef, TV host

~ATHLETICS
1858__John L Sullivan Mass, heavyweight boxing champ
1946__Jim Beirne football: Houston Oilers
1951__Roscoe Tanner tennis player
1965__Trace Armstrong football-Bears, Dolphins, Raiders, Pres of NFL Players Assoc.

~POLITICS/BUSINESS/EDUCATION
1908__John Kenneth Galbraith writer/economist

1917__Arthur Schlesinger Jr historian/author
1924__Lee A Iacocca CEO Chrysler Corp.
1959__Sarah Ferguson [Fergie], Duchess of York

~SCIENCE/RELIGION
1904__Marty Mann social activist: first woman to stay sober in Alcoholics Anonymous [AA]

~~~In Remembrance–
1880__Victorio, (Bidu-ya) Chiricahua Apache leader @ 55

1917__Mata Hari Dutch dancer/German spy executed by firing squad in Paris @ 41
1930__Herbert Henry Dow American chemical industrialist @ 64
1946__Hermann Goering Nazi Reich marshal, poisons himself in prison @ 53
1964__Cole Porter American composer @ 73
1976__Carlo Gambino American gangster @ 74

2003__Ben Metcalfe Canadian environmental activist @ 84


~~~Historical Events on this day

1789__1st presidential tour-George Washington in New England

1878__Edison Electric Light Company incorporated
1892__The U.S. government convinced the Crow Indians to give up 1.8 million acres of their reservation for 50 cents per acre

1937__Ernest Hemingway novel "To Have & Have Not" published
1940__Charlie Chaplin's satirical comedy The Great Dictator opens.
1949__Billy Graham begins his ministry
1951__"I Love Lucy" debuts on CBS TV .
1964__Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev is deposed.
1984__Three feet of snow falls near Colorado Springs.

~ Holy Mackerel
1860__11-year-old Grace Bedell writes to Lincoln, tells him to grow a beard. He does, the rest is history.
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Jeopardy Categories Quiz
Correction: yesterday the answer to #1 should have been Georgia O’Keefe. To my knowledge there is no state named Irmgard and while she did write a book named ‘Red Poppy’, she was not a painter.

(These answers all relate to nobility or royalty)
1. This American jazz composer was given a noble nickname because of his elegant manners and style.
2. This Kentucky poet laureate based All the King's Men on the life of former Louisiana governor Huey Long.
3. This French king entertained the nobles at court with ballets and performances of Moliere's {Jean-Baptiste Poquelin} comedies.
4. A contemporary of Michelangelo and Leonardo, this writer is known for his treatise on power, The Prince.
5. This Russian Count wrote Anna Kerinina and War and Peace but was exiled when a spiritual conversion caused him to reject political and religious institutions.

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Answers:
1. Who is William "Count" Basie?
2. Who Is Robert Penn Warren?
3. Who is Louis XIV?
4. Who is Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli ?
5. Who is Leo Tolstoy?

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