Monday

341 days so far this year…24 days remain in 2009
18 shopping days remain until Christmas
***Provocative Quote***
"Whatever advice you give, be brief."~unknown
***Free Ramblings***
A chilly Sunday here in Flagstaff. A few flurries were in the air around 10am, but then the sky cleared up and it was windy and cold. The 30mph gusts are supposed to be bringing in our first big winter storm. We made it to 32° but the wind chill dropped that a good 10 degrees. Anticipation is all around. We need the moisture. We really need the moisture. No one is looking forward to the snow plows. They use chemicals on most of the main roads which stain our cars until washed. The local neighborhoods get snow plows. The snow plow makes two passes on residential streets. Each pass will pile snow onto sidewalks and driveways. If we get the 18-24” they are predicting, we may be trapped in our driveways until May. It’s always a hard call when it comes to cleaning sidewalks and driveways. Do you do it as it is piling up, so it never gets too deep, or do you wait until it ends and deal with the huge amount of snow to move. The newspaper will soon be filled with angry letters from residents on how they spent an hour or more clearing their sidewalk and driveway—by a city ordinance—and then the snow plow came and put a huge pile of ice on their work. The city will respond with an explanation of the cost of snow removal, the tight city budget, and how they are doing the best they can. Well, as my mother used to say—sometimes your best is just not good enough. It sounds cruel, but she meant it with love and encouragement. Many mountain towns in real mountain states do not have the problems that Flagstaff has with snow removal. If they did places like Aspen, Vail, Park City, and Stowe would not have a ski business. So we all prepare for Flagstaff’s first big storm. Knowing that travel will be difficult. Knowing that someday it will melt. Knowing that it will help our thirsty forest. Knowing that the city will somehow muddle though. I can deal with all of it but the wind.

I started decorating today, but delayed putting stuff outside. Probably not a smart move if the storm comes, but I just couldn’t stand to be on a ladder, in all that wind. I also started my Christmas letter. As I reviewed my daily planner, it was a good year. Lots of great lunches with friends, no major health problems, no disasters in my finances.

Now for the big question of the next decade. How will we say 2010? My grandfather used to tell stories about life in early nineteen hundreds—it was always nineteen aught seven or nineteen aught nine. The big decision in 2001 was how to say it. Was it going to be ‘twenty aught one’, ‘twenty oh one’, ‘two-thousand one’, or something else? Well we all know what one turned out. Now it’s time to wonder again. Will it be ‘twenty-ten’, ‘two-thousand-ten’ or something else? That decision we made in 2001 set the pace for nine years. This decision will set the pace for the remainder of the century. My money is on ‘twenty-ten’…it is short, easy to say, and follows the pattern of the previous centuries. But then, my money was on Obama ending the Iraq and Afghan Wars in twenty aught nine.
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± Quotes from Values.com—Common Ground
“When one sits in the Hoop Of The People, one must be responsible because all of Creation is related. And the hurt of one is the hurt of all. And the honor of one is the honor of all. And whatever we do affects everything in the universe. ”
~Black Elk [Hehaka Sapa] Lakota Chief

± Unusual News
GLENDALE, Ariz. - An Arizona woman said she was given peace and comfort from an unlikely source -- a pancake bearing an image she said resembles the Virgin Mary.
Bianca Lopez said she was cooking Batter Blaster pancakes for her family a few days before Thanksgiving at their Glendale home and she noticed the image of Jesus' mother looking back at her from the final pancake of the batch, KNXV-TV, Phoenix, reported Thursday. "I think it's God's way of telling us that the holidays aren't just about presents. It's about... spending time with your family and friends and telling us to not forget about him, that he's always there watching over us and taking care of us," Lopez said. Lopez said she is keeping the pancake safe in her freezer until she can decide what to do with it.

± Random Facts
The earthquake-proof design of the Imperial Hotel inspired architect Frank Lloyd Wright's son John to create Lincoln Logs in 1916.
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§ December Month Long Observances
Birthstone: Blue Topaz…Flower of the Month: Narcissus
Colorectal Cancer Education and Awareness Month + Hi Neighbor Month + National Write A Business Plan Month + National Tie Month + Rising Star Month + Safe Toys and Gifts Month + Spiritual Literacy Month + Stress Free Family Holiday Month + Universal Human Rights Month + Read A New Book Month+ World Aids Month

§ Week of 6 December
Operation Santa Paws Week (Donations for Shelter Animals Care) ~ National Hand washing Awareness Week ~ Clerc-Gallaudet Week (Honored for work in the Deaf Community)

§ 7 December Observances
International Civil Aviation Day (since 1994)
National Cotton Candy Day
National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day (since 2008)
     Pearl Harbor Day (1942-2008)
Delaware : Ratification Day (1787)

-Colombia: Día de las Velitas (Day of the Candles)—celebrating Immaculate Conception & beginning of Christmas Season
-India: The Armed Forces Flag Day
-Ivory Coast: National Day (from France 1960)
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~ Holy Mackerel: On this day in 1912…Bust of Queen Nefertiti found in El-Amarna, Egypt. Today Egyptologists are not sure now that it is really her/him/whomever.

BIRTHS ON THIS DAY
~ The Arts
Ellen Burstyn (Edna Rae Gilhooley) in 1932 Academy Award-winning actress
Willa (Sibert) Cather in 1873 Pulitzer Prize-Winning author
Harry Chapin in 1942 New York NY, folk/rock singer/songwriter
Noam Chomsky in 1928 linguist (founded transformational grammar)
C Thomas Howell in 1966 Los Angeles CA, actor
Ted Knight in 1923 (Mary Tyler Moore)
Louis Prima in 1911 musician: trumpet, bandleader
Eli Wallach in 1915 actor

~Athletics
Johnny Bench in 1947 baseball catcher (Reds)
Larry Bird in 1956 hoop star (Boston Celtics)
Terrell Owens in 1973 wide receiver

~Business / Education / Politics
Helen Gurley Brown in 1917 editor-in-chief (Cosmopolitan)
Victor Kermit Kiam II in 1926 CEO (Remington shavers)/NFL owner (Patriots)
Mary Stuart in 1542 Queen of Scots

~Science / Religion
Gerard Kuiper in 1905 Dutch/US astronomer (discovered moons of Uranus, Neptune)

In Remembrance~
William Bligh British naval officer of "Bounty" fame @ 63
George Darwin theorized Moon was pulled out of Pacific Ocean @ 67
Rube Goldberg US cartoonist (Mike & Ike, Pulitzer 1948), @ 87

Historical Events on this day
36BC…Earliest known Mayan inscription, Stela 2 at Chiapa de Corzo
1804…Lewis & Clark go on a buffalo hunt with Big White.
1831…The CHOCTAW removal process has begun.
1842…New York Philharmonic's 1st concert

1926…Gas refrigerator patented
1931…ord produces the last Ford Model A
1945…Microwave oven patented
1952…My Little Margie, starring Gale Storm and Charles Farrell, made its debut on CBS radio
1967…Otis Rescue records "Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay"
1986…Basketball coach Pat Riley got coaching victory number 300
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§ Double Play
In order to make sense of the letters below, you need to add a letter at the start of the expression, divide the string of letters, and insert the same letter again. The result will be an alliterative familiar phrase of two words.

Take "eachall" an example, add a 'b' before the 'e', divide the expression between the 'h' and 'a' and add the 'b' again. The result is BEACH BALL.

1. uelilter
2. liveil
3. umboet
4. alicoat
5. eadbeatad
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Hint: 1-f, 2-o, 3-j, 4-c, 5-d
Scroll down for answers
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ANSWERS
1. fuel filter
2. olive oil
3. jumbo jet
4. calico cat
5. deadbeat dad