Pita

Our lunch group found a very cool lunch place today. It’s the Pita Jungle. Great food and lots of it for the price. The cheese and fruit plate would have been enough for two. My gyro was full of meat. The humus was very mild and very good. The Pita bread was fresh and very tasty. Reminded me of Egypt. I know it should remind me of Greece, but I haven’t been to Greece and at least for me, at this time, Pita bread is Egypt. This hummus was much milder than the hummus of Egypt. The place is located next to New Frontiers Food Market and is surrounded by numerous empty buildings. The economic crisis seems to have slowed this new center’s growth. During the noon hour, the Jungle had a steady flow of people in and out. It is an AZ chain with about a dozen locations. Well worth a stop for some good food.

A friend stopped by on the way back from Vegas to Tuba. There was an education conference on Reading this week. It seems that downtown Vegas is being rebuilt with lots of new casinos. The strip is also being added to. Soon it will be to Henderson. The strange, or sad, part is that while there appears to be lots of construction---fences, big earth moving machines, and piles of construction materials—there are very few workers. Maybe it’s because it is really hot in Vegas in July. I fear it is the busted economy. Lots of Natives usually work over there, and most I know are back on the Rez, awaiting some work when the building starts up again.

My hair cut lady finally moved to another shop. She’s been cutting my hair forever. A few years ago she moved to a shop in downtown Flagstaff. I hated it. The shop was nice, everyone was friendly, but, as I’ve said before, finding a parking place made the hassle of getting a haircut was made even worse. She has moved into a strip mall. Now it will be much easier to get a haircut. With no parking hassle, I won’t dread the trip nearly as much. I told Teri how happy I was that she had moved—because of the parking—and she said she was surprised how many of her regulars were saying the same thing. Duh...

Today would have been my father’s 95th birthday. My brother and I had a nice talk today. We had both been thinking about how good our father was to our mom and to us. He had been in poor health the last five years of his 80 years. It was a good thing that he didn’t have to suffer. He worked hard to make sure my mom was taken care of after he was gone. He did a very good job at that. She had a huge monthly bill at her luxury nursing home for almost three years. My brother and I never had to dip into savings to pay for any of it. When my mom passed, there was still money for both of us. While we never ‘kept up with the Joneses’ we had a good life and never were in need. Actually we were far from any need. It was good to remember the good times. We both needed the conversation and today was a good day to do it.

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Random Fact
The first FAX machine was patented in 1843, 33 years before Alexander Graham Bell demonstrated the telephone.

July is…

…Air Conditioning Appreciation Month…Blueberries Month…Cell Phone Courtesy Month…Family Reunion Month…Herbal/Prescription Awareness Month…Nat’l Doghouse Repair Month…Nat’l Grilling, Nat’l Hot Dog, Nat’l Horseradish, and Nat’l Ice Cream Month…Smart Irrigation Month…Social Wellness Month…Tour de France Month…Women’s Motorcycle Month…

Week of July 23
Lumberjack Week—for the real ones, not the NAU ones

July 24—205 days so far this year…160 days remain in 2009

Cousins Day
National Drive-Thru Day
National Tequila Day—US Only
Tell An Old Joke Day
*Ecuador: Simon Bolivar Day
*Utah: Pioneer Day [1847]
*Denmark: Midsummer Day


BIRTHS ON THIS DAY…
1783
Simon Bolivar freed 6 Latin American republics from Spanish rule
1802
Alexandre Dumas France, author (3 Musketeers)
1895
Robert Graves England, poet/historical novelist (I, Claudius)
1898
Amelia Earhart into the wild blue yonder
1900
Zelda Fitzgerald 1st wife of F Scott
1920
Bella Abzug (Rep-D-NY)
1936
Ruth Buzzi Westerly RI, comedienne (Laugh-In)
1951
Lynda Carter Phoenix Az, Miss USA/actress (Wonder Woman)
1964
Barry Bonds baseball
1969
Jennifer Lopez actress

IT HAPPENED ON THIS DAY…

1534
Jacques Cartier erects a thirty-three foot high cross on a small island in Gaspe Harbor, Quebec. He then claims the area for France.
1683
1st settlers from Germany to US, leave aboard the Concord
1701
The French trader Antoine de la Mothe, Sieur de Cadillac, founds Detroit (originally "La Ville d'Etroit," or "city of the strait") to control the fur trade in the region
1704
Great Britain takes Gibraltar from Spain
1847
Brigham Young & his Mormon followers arrive at Salt Lake City, UT
1934
1st ptarmigan hatched & reared in captivity, Ithaca, NY
1967
Race riot in Cambridge Maryland .
2005
Lance Armstrong wins a record seventh consecutive Tour de France, cycling's premier event.

Word Puzzle from NPR Sunday Puzzler…1987

Each answer here is a familiar two-word phrase with two consecutive M’s inside it—one ending the first word, the other starting the second word.

EX: Cause of computer breakdown
Answers: system malfunction

1. Head of a marching band
2. Daily drink that’s low in fat
3. Athletic contest held in a pool
4. 1999 ‘Star Wars’ episode with ‘The’
5. 1960’s civil rights protest, involving walking from one city to another
6. Leader of the Doors
7. Old movie cowboy
8. ‘Cheers’ bartender
9. In the title of a best selling book, “Men Are …”
10. Branch of physics dealing with atoms and molecules
• Bonus: Tractor and thresher, for example

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Answers:
1. Drum Major
2. Skim milk
3. Swim meet
4. “Phantom Menace’
5. Freedom March
6. Jim Morrison
7. Tom Mix
8. Sam Malone
9. From Mars
10. Quantum mechanics
* Bonus: Thom McAn
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