Thursday

4 February 2010--Week 5 of 2010: 35 days this year…330 remain

» Quote Times Two «

"Put your brain in gear before starting your mouth." ~unknown

“We come to love not by finding a perfect person, but by learning to see an imperfect person perfectly.” ~Anonymous

» Free Ramblings «

My trip to the dentist was successful. My temporary is now permanent and work on the last crown started. I’ve been going to this office for over fifteen years, and while the dentists have changed a couple of times, the receptionist was always the same. My first dentist there got a weird cancer and had to quit his practice, but miraculously recovered and returned to practice. Then he realized life was more than work and retired to enjoy his life. A dentist from California bought the practice. I think he is Hawaiian or Samoan, and is a good dentist. Felicia was always there with a nice greeting and knew each patient by name, and recently always asked about my latest travel. Today I was told she had ‘retired’. She is a single mom in her late forties or early fifties. Anyway, while I don’t buy the retirement story, she is gone. She will be hard to replace. They have a temp in there right now, and the dental assistant is helping with the front office. Not a good plan. They don’t really know how to bill. They don’t really know how to send forms to insurance companies. So I pay a little, and wait to see what happens.

Our expected storm hasn’t arrived yet, but the weatherman says ‘maybe tonight’ with a dusting of snow—that’s down from 1-3” yesterday. It was a nice day, as we got up to 40° and it was only 19° night. Little breeze made it OK to be either inside or outside. About ½ of the ‘snice’ on my neighbor’s roof found its way down with a small crash. Luckily no one was outside at the time and it all fell onto the huge snow pile, so didn’t mean anybody had to shovel.

»* Winter Olympics* «

The Vancouver Olympics open on Feb 12.

Did you know…

The Olympic rings and flag were designed by de Coubertin after the 1912 Games in Stockholm. Those Games were the first to include athletes from all five continents. The rings were going to be used in the 1916 Games, but those games were cancelled because of World War I, so the rings made their debut in the 1920 Games in Antwerp, Belgium.

»Side Show Stories—«

BROWNSBORO, Texas - A Texas woman said she bit into a Milky Way candy bar and found a tooth with a silver filling in the candy. Sue Calhoun of Brownsboro said she brought the candy bar and a Coca-Cola along for the ride to Dallas with her husband to pick up a new tractor on New Year's Day and she noticed something strange about the chocolate bar, KLTV, Tyler, Texas, reported. "I took one bite and it was fine, so I took another bite and bit down on something and thought, 'Well, it may be a peanut,'"

Calhoun said. "I thought, 'Well, Milky bars don't have peanut or any kind of nuts in it," she said. "I looked at it and I thought, 'Oh, gosh! Gross! How terrible! (It's a) tooth!'" Calhoun said she called Mars Candy, manufacturers Milky Way, about the find. "She (a Mars representative) said, 'I'm going to send you a package to send the tooth and the candy back in.' But, I'm not real sure I'm going to send it back to them or not because they could keep the evidence and I'm not sure if I would ever see it again," she said. Calhoun said she is planning to have her local dentist examine the tooth.

»Random Fact«

Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and Jim Morrison were all 27 years old when they died.

» Puzzle «

A list of words is given. To solve the puzzle, think of a single word that goes with each to form a compound word or word pair that functions as a compound word. For example, if the given words are volley, field, and bearing, the answer would be ball, because the word ball can be added to each of the other words to form volleyball, ball field, and ball bearing. Answers are at the end of blog.

1 video, board, waiting

2 cheese, guitar, along

3 master, wedding, side

» Calendar Information «

☼ February’s Month Long Observances ☼

Birthstone: Amethyst …Flower: Violet and Primrose

Adopt A Rescued Rabbit Month^AMD/Low Vision Awareness Month^American Heart Month^Bake for Family Fun Month^Fabulous Florida Strawberry Month^Grapefruit Month^International Boost Self-Esteem Month^International Expect Success Month^Jobs in Golf Month^Library Lovers Month^Marijuana Awareness Month^National African American History Month^National Bird Feeding Month^National Black History Month^National Care About Your Indoor Air Month^National Cherry Month^National Condom Month^National Children's Dental Health Month^National Laugh-Friendly Month^National Mend A Broken Heart Month^National Parent Leadership Month^National Pet Dental Health Month^National Senior Independence Month^National Time Management Month^Plant the Seeds of Greatness Month^Pull Your Sofa Off The Wall Month^Relationship Wellness Month^Responsible Pet Owner's Month^Return Shopping Carts to the Supermarket Month^Spiritual Teachers Month^Spunky Old Broads Month^ Sweet Potato Month^Wise Health Care Consumer Month^ Youth Leadership Month^

☼ Observance Weeks in February ☼

Children's Authors & Illustrators Week: 1-7

National Patient Recognition Week: 1-7

National School Counseling Week: 1-5

Solo Diners Eat Out Weekend: 1-7

Women's Heart Week: 1-7

International Networking Week: 1-5

Intimate Apparel Market Week: 1-4

International Hoof Care Week: 2-5

Boy Scout Anniversary Week: 3-9

International Snow Sculpting Week: 3-6

☼ 4 February Observances—US/UN/World ☼

Create A Vacuum Day—remember the old egg into a milk bottle experiment?

Liberace Day

Quacker Day: Commercial advertising day for the selling of their ‘stuff’ on QVC. Those who wear Quacker Factory Clothes are to greet fellow wearers with “Quack Quack.”

USO Day—United Servicemen’s Organization since 1941

World Cancer Day: by WHO (World Health Organization) since 2005 to educate

US : Kosciuszko Day for General Thaddeus Kosciuszko, Lithuanian, served as George Washington’s aide

“Across the Universe” Day: in 2008 NASA beamed this Beatles Song out into the universe toward the North Star on the 40th anniversary of the song, and the 50th anniversary of NASA

☼4 February Observances—by country ☼

Angola : Outbreak of Fighting Against Portuguese in 1961—continues until independence in 1975

Sri Lanka (Ceylon) : Independence Day (1948 from Britain)

☼ Holy Mackerel: On this day in 1968 : The continued persecution of Asians in Kenya is forcing many thousands to leave the country and many are choosing Britain for their future . Kenya has introduced new tough immigration laws which only allow work permits to Kenyan Citizens.

☼ Born on this day ☼

     » The Arts

 Authors, Artists and Composers

Betty Friedan, in 1921, feminist writer (Feminine Mystique)

 Entertainers in Cinema, Music, Theater, and TV

Clint Black, 48, country singer, songwriter

David Brenner, 65, comedian

Gary Conway, 74, actor (“Burke’s Law”)

Alice Cooper (Vincent Damon Furnier), 62, singer, songwriter

Eddie Foy Jr, in 1905, actor

Ida Lupino, in 1914, English actress

John Schuck, 70, actor (“McMillan and Wife”)

     »Athletes

Oscar De La Hoya, 37, champion boxer

Woody Hayes [Wayne], in 1913, college football coach (Ohio)

Lawrence Taylor [LT], 51, NFL's greatest linebacker (New York Giants)

»Business, Education, Politics

Constance Gore-booth Markiewicy, in 1868, Irish patriot/playwright/MP

Rosa Lee Parks, in 1913, civil rights activist (bus protester)

J. Danforth (Dan) Quayle, 63, 44th vice president of US

     »Science/Religion

Raymond Dart, in 1893, Australian paleoanthropologist (Australopithecus)

Charles A Lindbergh, in 1902, pilot (1st fly solo across Atlantic)

Clyde William Tombaugh, in 1906, astronomer (discovered Pluto)

☼Today’s Obits ☼

Robert Blair, in 1746, Scottish poet (Grave), @ 46

Joseph Hardaway, in 1957, creator of Bugs Bunny, heart attack @ 66

Thelma Ritter, in 1969, actress (All About Eve, Pillow Talk), heart attack @63

Karen Carpenter, in 1983, singer/drummer (Carpenters), anorexia @ 32

Wladziu Valentino Liberace, in 1987, pianist, AIDS @ 67

☼What happened on this day? ☼

     » The Arts

1938…The animated film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was released and had major success in the box-office

1959…Today was the first day of the invention of the Barbie Doll. This doll was created by Ruth Handler, who was one of the founders of the Mattel Company. Barbie was named after Ruth’s daughter. Later on, when the Ken doll was made, it was named after Ruth’s son.

1977…Fleetwood Mac's "Rumours" released

2004…Facebook, a mainstream online social network is founded by Mark Zuckerberg.

     »Athletics

1932…The first Winter Olympics was held in the United States--Lake Placid, New York

1939…Glenn Cunningham (top miler) says 4-minute mile beyond human effort

1971…Baseball announces a special hall of fame wing for blacks

     »Business, Education, Politics

1789…1st electoral college chooses Washington & Adams as President & Vice President

1822…Free American Blacks settle Liberia, West Africa

1854…Alvan Bovay proposes the name "Republican Party"

1861…Confederate constitutional convention meets for 1st time, Montgomery AL, GA, FL, LA, MS & SC elect Jefferson Davis President of Confederacy

1865…Hawaiian Board of Education formed

1895…1st rolling lift bridge opens, Chicago

1899…Revolt against US occupation of Philippines

1945…FDR, Churchill & Stalin meet at Yalta

1957…1st electric portable typewriter (Smith-Corona) placed on sale (Syracuse NY)

1964…24th Amendment abolishes Poll tax

1969…Yassar Arafat takes over as chairman of PLO

1974…Patricia Hearst (19), daughter of publisher Randolph Hearst kidnapped by Symbionese Liberation Army

1985…20 countries (but not US) sign UN treaty outlawing torture.

1993…The “Family and Medical Leave Act” was passed by the U.S. Congress this day

2004…The Massachusetts high court declare that gays are entitled to get married.

     »Science/Religion

1846…Mormons leave Nauvoo MO for settlement in the west

» Number One Songs in…

1947…For Sentimental Reasons - Nat King Cole

1955…Sincerely - McGuire Sisters

1963…Walk Right In - The Rooftop Singers

1971…Knock Three Times - Dawn

1979…Y.M.C.A. - Village People

» ANSWERS to puzzle «

1 GAME: video game, board game, waiting game

2 STRING: string cheese, string guitar, string along

3 RING: ringmaster, wedding ring, ringside