Thursday

337 days so far this year…28 days remain in 2009
22 shopping days remain until Christmas
***Provocative Quote***
"An honest politician: One who stays bought."~unknown

***Free Ramblings***
Busy, busy, busy…and not with Christmas. I was busy at medical places today. Got my temporary cap early this morning and then had stitches removed from my nose job this afternoon. Both went very well. Living in a small town, I have to wait two weeks, maybe, to get my permanent cap. If it doesn’t come in the 17th I have to wait until after Christmas break. Here’s hoping it comes in by the 17th. The dentist put in a shiny silver temporary cap. Something about it being on a smaller tooth and it would work better than a plastic one. It only shows when I have a wide smile. Not the kind of bling I was hoping for, good it’s only temporary.

Tomorrow will be another big day. Tuba Boarding is holding its first open house since the new school opened. I got an invite on Monday, another on Tuesday, and another today. Then I got a phone call today to be sure I was coming. I called my old principal, and he too is going, so we will take off together tomorrow morning at 6:30am. This will be my third trip to Tuba since I retired. The other two were right after I retired, when I worked at the Cross Country Meet and Wrestling Tourney. I haven’t been there since the major construction started up after a three year stoppage. We all change as time passes. Tuba was a great experience. It will be strange to go back. Seeing the new school should provide some closure. It will also be good to see Jerry again. We only see each other occasionally—usually at Home Depot or some other store. This will give us time to catch up on what’s been happening. The last time I checked it’s still takes a little over an hour to get to Tuba and about the same amount of time to get back. Lots of time for conversation.

While I was out and about, it was a very cool (48°) with a fairly good 20mph wind, which dropped the temperature to feel more like 38°. The sky is still clear and no moisture is in the forecast. . ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
± Quotes from Values.com—Making a Difference
“I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do.” ~Helen Keller
± Unusual News
BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - Officials at an Illinois zoo said the facility's gift shops will soon be selling necklace pendants made from dried reindeer dung. The Miller Park Zoo in Bloomington said the Magical Reindeer Gem necklaces, which go on sale Friday for $15 each, were inspired by tree ornaments made from the same substance that went on sale at the zoo last year, The (Bloomington) Pantagraph reported.
"We kept hearing from people who were buying the ornaments,
'Do you have any jewelry?'" said Susie Ohley, spokeswoman for the Miller Park Zoological Society. "We thought we would make them available for the big shopping day," she said of the launch Friday, the largest shopping day of the year. "It may be silly, but it not only brings in money and support to the zoo, (but) it brings people smiles."
Ohley said the zoo expects to make as much as $16,500 from sales of the ornaments and necklaces during the holiday season.

± Random Facts on The Grinch Who Stole Christmas
The original Grinch was not green—like everything else in the book, he was black and white with some red and pink splotches.
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It has been said that the conflict between the Whos and the Grinch was inspired by how German immigrants in Dr. Seuss's native Springfield, Massachusetts, were mistreated by the owners of the factories where they worked.
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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 1 December
Cookie Cutter Week ~ Tolerance Week ~ Recipe Greetings for The Holidays Week ~ Operation Santa Paws Week ~ Hand Washing Awareness Week

§ 3 December Observances
National Roof-Over-Your-Head Day
International Day of Disabled Persons
Illinois : Admission Day (1818)
International Heart Transplant Day (1967)
International Day of the Basque language---1,000,000 speakers
-India: Advocate's Day in memory of Rajendra Prasad, first President and an eminent lawyer
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~ Holy Mackerel: On this day in 1621…Galileo perfects the telescope

BIRTHS ON THIS DAY
~ The Arts
Maria Callas in 1923 opera singer
Joseph Conrad (Józef Teodor Konrad Nalecz Korzeniowski) in 1857 author: Lord Jim, Heart of Darkness
Brendan Fraser in 1968 actor
Daryl Hannah in 1960 actress
Ludvig Baron Holberg in 1684 a founder of Danish & Norwegian literature
Ferlin Husky in 1927 country singer
Kate O'Brien in 1897 Irish writer (Without My Cloak)
Ozzy Osbourne in 1948 rock vocalist, reality TV show
Andy (Howard Andrew) Williams in 1930 singer (Moon River, Andy Williams Show)

~Athletics
Katarina Witt in 1965 figure skater

~Business / Education / Politics
Sir Rowland Hill in 1795 introduced 1st adhesive postage stamp
Andrew Hutchings in 1907 teachers' leader
Muntu Myeza in 1950 South African anti-apartheid activist

~Science / Religion
Cleveland Abbe in 1838 meteorologist (Father of the US Weather Bureau)
John Backus in 1924 inventor (FORTRAN computer language)
Samuel Crompton in 1753 English inventor (mule-jenny spinning machine)
Francis P Kenrick in 1797 Irish/US archbishop of Baltimore
Karl Manne Georg Siegbahn in 1886 physicist (röntgen spectroscope, Nobel 1924)

In Remembrance~
Mary Baker Eddy founder (Christian Science (Monitor) @ 89
Frank E Gannett newspaper publisher, @ 81
Elizabeth Meyer Glaser wife of Paul Michael Glaser, AIDS @ 47
Pierre A Renoir French painter/sculptor, @ 78
Robert Louis Stevenson English writer (Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde) cerebral hemorrhage @ 45

Historical Events on this day
1557…1st Covenant of Scottish protestants form
1586…Sir Thomas Herriot introduces potatoes to England, from Colombia
1621…Galileo perfects the telescope
1834…1st US dental society organized (New York)
1881…Henry M Stanley finds Leopoldville/Kinshasa
1833…Oberlin College in Ohio started classes as the first coed institution of higher learning in the United States.
1910…Neon lights, 1st publically seen (Paris Auto Show)
1944…Hungarian death march of Jews ends
1947…Tennessee Williams play "A Streetcar Named Desire" premieres in NY
1950..Paul Harvey begins his national radio broadcast
1956…Wilt Chamberlain's 1st collegiate basketball game (scores 52)
1964…"Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer" 1st airs on TV
1967…1st human heart transplant performed (Dr Christiaan Barnard, South Africa)
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§ Are you Red-y?
Complete the following expressions featuring the color RED.

1 give an eminent visitor privileged treatment:
2 excessive bureaucracy
3 on the debit side of the ledger:
4 small spicy candies:
5 a warning of danger:
6 virile:
7 symbol of a cardinal's office:
8 Boston baseball team:
9 an old star:
10 British soul pop band formed in 1984:
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ANSWERS

1 give an eminent visitor privileged treatment: roll out the red carpet
2 excessive bureaucracy: red tape
3 on the debit side of the ledger: in the red
4 small spicy candies: red hots
5 a warning of danger: red flag
6 virile: red blooded
7 symbol of a cardinal's office: red hat
8 Boston baseball team: Red Sox
9 an old star: red dwarf
10 British soul pop band formed in 1984: Simply Red