Wednesday

Week 2 of 2010: 13 days so far this year…352 days remain

►Provocative Quote      .

"Some men are discovered; others are found out."

~Fortune Cookie Insert

►Free Ramblings         .

I finally got some thank you notes sent to my in-laws in Chicago. I did not have any of their emails or physical addresses until yesterday. I had a really good time during Christmas, and wanted to let them know that I did appreciate being welcomed into the family so easily. My brother and his wife had been together for 14 years before I met any her side of the family. Now after spending two Christmas’ together, we are exchanging gifts, and just hangin’ out with them. Hangin’ out is so much better than being a guest in one’s home. One does pick up on some of the family issues, hears some things that are ‘family business’, and gets to hear some great family stories. One of the grandpas, who just turned 90, thanked everyone for having another great Christmas, another great year, and how proud he was of all his kids, grandkids, and great grandkids. A thank you note doesn’t cover their kindness. I am so lucky.

Tomorrow I help my dentist get his new mansion. Actually I’m just having a cap prepared. I need to have two done before either one of the teeth crack or break. He is a good guy and I’m sure his work will save the teeth. Getting older leads to lots of ‘new’ issues. I had very crooked teeth as a young teen. Braces fixed that. My dentist back then said my molars had unusually deep something or other that led to bigger fillings when needed. Now, some 45 years later, those bigger fillings now pose a danger to the teeth. The dentist had replaced from the old silver fillings to porcelain ones years ago. Somehow, big fillings make teeth crack with age. I did have a tooth crack and break about seven years ago. That led to a root canal, oral surgery to prepare the tooth for a cap, and finally the cap. I don’t want to go through that again. So with almost worthless dental insurance, I don’t mind the preventative stuff. I do wish some of the cost was covered by my not-to-cheap insurance.

It was a little cold again last night, 10°. While it did warm up to 48° but along about 3:00 some very grey clouds moved in, and it sure looks like snow is in our very near future. The ol’ weatherman says only a 30% chance for snow tomorrow and Thursday. We’ll see. All I say is, it sure looks like it’s gonna snow a little.

►Quotes from Values.com—LIVE LIFE .

This was a splendid life. Splendid in its obscurity and humility, splendid in its strength and charity, splendid in its achievements.”

~Robert C. Mortimer Anglican Bishop of Exeter

►Side Show Stories Strange Headlines .

Student Excited Dad Got Head Job

Tiger Woods plays with his own balls, Nike says

Lake County to spend $250,000 to advertise lack of funds

Volunteers Search for Old Civil War Planes

DOE to do NEPA’s EIS on BNLF’s AMWTP at INEEL after SRA Protest

Missippi’s Literacy Program Shows Improvement

►Random Fact       .

A ten gallon hat holds less than one gallon of liquid.

§ Interesting Statistics

*Note: I realize that statistics can be made to say just about anything.

~1 in 12 merchant ships worldwide are sitting idle due to declining trade.

§ January Month Long Observances

Birthstone: Garnet …Flower: Carnation

Book Blitz Month * Bath Safety Month * Birth Defects Month * California Dried Plum Digestive Month * Celebration of Life Month * Cervical Cancer Screening Month * Financial Wellness Month * High Tech Month * International Creativity Month * International Quality of Life Month * International Wayfinding Month * International Wealth Mentality Month * National Be On-Purpose Month * National Bird Feeding Month * National Clean Up Your Computer Month * National Get Organized Month * National Glaucoma Awareness Month * National Hot Tea Month * National Mail Order Gardening Month * National Mentoring Month * National Personal Self-Defense Awareness Month * National Poverty in America Awareness Month * National Radon Action Month * National Skating Month * National Soup Month * National Volunteer Blood Donor Month * Oatmeal Month * Rising Star Month * Self-help Group Awareness Month * Senior Women’s Travel Month * Shape Up US Month * Thyroid Awareness Month

§ Observance Weeks in January

Universal Letter Writing Week: 8-14

Cuckoo Dancing Week: 11-17 [honoring Laurel and Hardy]

National No Tillage Week: 13-16 [to reduce soil damage and increase crop production—especially organic farms]

§ 13 January Observances—US/UN/World

Stephen Foster Day

Rubber Ducky Day

§13 January Observances—by country

Ghana : Redemption Day (1972)—2nd junta

Sweden: Christmas ends on the 20th day, St. Knut's Day or Tjugondag Knut. Children celebrate a party throwing out the Christmas tree (julgransplundring).

Togo : Liberation Day (1963)

§ Holy Mackerel: On this day in 1957…Wham-O Company produces the 1st Frisbee

§Who was born on this day?

     ~ The Arts

Horatio Alger Jr in 1834 – minister, author (Lost at Sea, Work & Win)

Army Archerd in 1919 Hollywood columnist/TV host

Orlando Bloom in 1977 - actor: Lord of the Rings

Patrick Dempsey in 1966 - actor

Julia Louis-Dreyfus in 1961 - comedienne

Ralph Edwards in 1913 - TV host (This is Your Life)

Billy Gray in 1938 - actor (Bud-Father Knows Best)

Richard Moll in 1943 - actor (Night Court)

Charles Perrault in 1628 [France] - lawyer/writer (Mother Goose)

Charles Nelson Reilly in 1931 - actor (Match Game)

Robert Stack (Robert Langford Modini) in 1919 - actor (Eliot Ness-Untouchables)

Brandon Tartikoff in 1949 - TV exec (NBC)

Rip Taylor in 1934 - comedian

Sophie Tucker [Kalish] in 1884 [Russia] - singer/last of red hot mammas

     ~Athletics

Sharon Miller in 1941 - golfer

Mark Francis O'Meara in 1957 - PGA golfer

     ~Business, Education, Politics

Titus M Mafolo in 1955 - South Africa journalist/ANC-leader

     ~Science/Religion

Ross Granville Harrison in 1870 – , American biologist

Wilhelm Wien in 1864 – German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate

§Who Died on this day?

Wyatt Earp in 1929 US marshall (OK Corral), @ 80

George Fox in 1691 founder of Quakers, natural causes @ 66

Stephen Foster in 1864 composer (My Old Kentucky Home), fever and fall @ 37

James Joyce in 1941 novelist (Ulysses), dies in Zürich Switzerland, perforated ulcer @ 58

Edmund Spenser in 1599 poet (Faerie Queene), heartbroken @ 46

Carol Wayne in 1985 Johnny Carson's teatime movie hostess, drowned @ 42

§What happened on this day?

1559…Elizabeth I crowned queen of England in Westminster Abbey

1695…Jonathan Swift ordained an Anglican priest in Ireland

1785…John Walter publishes 1st issue of London Times

1888…National Geographic Society founded (Washington DC)

1920…New York Times editorial (falsely) reports rockets can never fly

1930…"Mickey Mouse" comic strip 1st appears

1942…Henry Ford patents a method of constructing plastic auto bodies

1953…Marshal Josip Tito chosen president of Yugoslavia

1958…US newspaper "Daily Worker" ceases publication
1966…1st black selected for Presidential cabinet (LBJ selects Robert C Weaver-HUD)

1988…Supreme Court rules (5-3) public school officials have broad powers to censor school newspapers, plays & other expressive activities

1990…1st elected US black governor inaugurated (Douglas Wilder-Virginia)

►Rhyme & Reason Puzzle      .

Answer the following clue in two rhyming words (e.g. an obese feline is a fat cat) If only one number is given, the answer is a word featuring internal rhyme (e.g. voodoo)

1. cost to rent the rink? (3,5):

2. premature claim that things will start up again (10,10):

3. from this lofty perspective, one can see the white cliffs (4,5):

4. perspiration resulting from worry (4,5):

5. cold and wet place for earning interest (4,4):

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ANSWERS

1. cost to rent the rink? (3,5): ice price

2. premature claim that things will start up again (10,10): resumption assumption

3. from this lofty perspective, one can see the white cliffs (4,5): over Dover

4. perspiration resulting from worry (4,5): fret sweat

5. cold and wet place for earning interest (4,4): dank bank