Thursday

♣ 3 March 2010--Week 9 of 2010: 63 days this year…304 remain ♣

» Two Quotes to think about…Today «

" Better three hours too soon than a minute too late.

~"The Merry Wives of Windsor Act 2, Scene 2 (Shakespeare)

The unity of freedom has never relied on uniformity of opinion.”

~John F. Kennedy (1917-1963); 35th U.S. President

» Free Ramblings «

Flagstaff had a beautiful day. We made it to 50° on my deck. That was very nice.

I went to a financial planning dinner tonight. Seems our non-elected governor has sold off a number of state buildings to pay our state bills. That, turns out is good news for me. I thought I buy a REIT and get paid part of the rental money the state pays to use the very buildings they used to own. Not a bad deal. Turns out, while the company had expected to buy the buildings, and made a cash bid of $700 bijillion, just before approving the purchase, our wonderful legislature added the state mental hospital (with buildings closed in 2003), and another facility. Since this REIT is not interested in purchasing buildings that are vacant…and need massive rehab (no pun intended) before they can be rented… so the company withdrew its offer. So, bottom line, the REIT company lost out, the state lost out, and I lost out on a possible way to help myself and help the state I live in. This all happened in January, and to date the state hasn’t found any takers for its revised sale. Duh.

The dinner ran a little later than I had planned, but was good information. Two of the other guests at my table were a husband and wife who teach in Flagstaff, after a few years at Chinle. We were conversing about Flagstaff, and the lady stated how much she missed the train horns. We talked about a few other things, snow, the override election, usual stuff. Then the lady asked her husband, “When are they going to stop the train horns?” He told her it happened a few days ago. Her response was ‘Oh’. Yeah she really misses those horns. The two scary parts are that she babbled about missing them, not knowing they had stopped, and that she teaches at a high school in town and doesn’t even know the current events of the town. We did mention the primary election here in Flag. When I said I felt that Sara and Kara will be on the final ballot in May, her response was “It’s a Primary? So I guess I don’t have to get excited, guess I won’t have to go to the polls.” First, it’s a mail in ballot only—no polls. Second, the School Override vote is NOT a primary and she works for the district asking for money, and lives in the district that will have to pay the bill if passed. Third, from my point of view, a primary IS an important vote. My candidate may not make it to the general election if I don’t vote in the Primary. Forth, this woman is teaching high school students and should be preparing them for life…including voting…and should set the example. A good teacher in any subject area will find a way to make the voting process relevant in some way to their area. Grrrrrrrrrrr.

»Random Fact: «

One acre of peanuts will make 30,000 peanut butter sandwiches.

»Side Show Stories—«

ESLOV, Sweden - Police in Sweden said a man walked into a local precinct to complain about the quality of hashish he had purchased from a dealer. Eslov police said the 26-year-old man told police he was a frequent user of marijuana and its derivatives, including hash, but the latest batch of hash he purchased sent him on a bad trip that made him feel like his TV was talking to him and his girlfriend was turning into a dolphin, The Local reported Monday. Police said it was unclear whether the man, who brought a small amount of the hash in for testing, will face possession charges. Possession of marijuana and its derivatives in small amounts is an offense usually punished with a small fine.

§ Puzzle §

Word Boxes are like miniature crossword puzzles, except that each word is filled in across AND down the grid. That is, the answer to 1 across is the same word as the answer to 1 down; 2 across is the same as 2 down; etc. Can you solve these Word Boxes? To solve: draw a square that has 5 X 5 sections.

1 around (HINT: A - - - -)

2 anchorage place (HINT: - E - - -)

3 talk pompously (HINT: - - A - -)

4 speak (HINT: - - - E -)

5 not here (HINT: - - - - E)

§ Calendar Information §

• March’s Month Long Observances •

BIRTHSTONE: aquamarine and bloodstone (courage) FLOWER: Narcissus [daffodil, jonquil] (vanity)

National Cheerleading Safety Month • National Clean Up Your IRS Act Month • National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month • National Craft Month • National Ethics Awareness Month •National Eye Donor Month • National Frozen Food Month • National Multiple Sclerosis Education & Awareness Month •National Kidney Month• National Nutrition Month • National Social Work Month • National Umbrella Month • National Women's History Month • Optimism Month • Play The Recorder Month • Poison Prevention Awareness Month • Red Cross Month • Save Your Vision Month • Sing With Your Child Month • Small Press Month •Spiritual Wellness Month • Women's History Month • Workplace Eye Health and Safety Month • Youth Art Month

• Observance Weeks in March•

1-5: Newspaper in Education Week

1-7: National Cheerleading Week

     • National Ghostwriters Week

     • National Write A Letter of Appreciation Week

     • National Procrastination Week

     • Return The Borrowed Books Week

     • Universal Human Beings Week

     • Yo-Yo and Skill Toys Week

• 4 March Observances—US/UN/World •

Holy Experiment Day: A day to prayer for something and see if it comes true…really!

Courageous Follower Day

International Scrapbooking Industry Day

March Forth-Do Something Day

National Grammar Day

Toy Soldier Day

Pennsylvania : Charter Day (1681)

Vermont : Admission Day (1791)

US : Constitution Day (1789)

US: Inauguration Day from Adams to FDR

•4 March Observances—by country •

Thailand : Magha Puja: Holy Day for Buddahists.

§ Number One Songs in…

1951… Tennessee Waltz - Patti Page

1959…Stagger Lee - Lloyd Price

1967…Ruby Tuesday - The Rolling Stones

1975…Best of My Love - The Eagles

1983… Why Baby Why - Charley Pride

• Holy Mackerel: 1643 • the CANARSEE Indians will negotiate a peace with the Dutch in Fort Amsterdam. The CANARSEE are the Indians who sold Manhattan to Peter Minuit for $24 in trinkets, even though they did not own it.

• Born on this day •

     …The Arts

Authors, Artists and Composers

Sir Henry Raeburn, 1756,- Scottish artist: mostly male portraits

Johann Wyss. 1782. Swiss folklorist/writer (Swiss Family Robinson)

Entertainers in Cinema, Music, Theater, and TV

Emilio Estefan, 57, percussionist for the Miami Sound Machine

Patricia Heaton, 51, actress (“Everybody Loves Raymond”)

Miriam (Zensile) Makeba, 1932, Empress of African Song: singer

Paula Prentiss (Ragusa), 71, actress (“He & She,” What’s New Pussycat?)

Steven Weber, 49, actor (“Wings”)

Mary Wilson, 66, singer (original member of the Supremes)

     …Athletes

Kevin Johnson, 44, basketball (Suns)

Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini, 49, boxer

Reggie McElroy, 50, NFL tackle (Denver Broncos)

Knute Rockne, 1888, College Football Hall of Famer: Notre Dame coach

     …Business, Education

--

     …Politics

Chastity Bono, 41, child of Sonny & Cher

     …Science/Religion

Giovanni Schiaparelli, 1835, Italian astronomer (discovered canals of Mars)

Benjamin Waterhouse, 1754, physician (smallpox vaccine pioneer)

Willem H Winkel, 1885, Dutch physician/founder (Red Cross of Curaçao)

•Today’s Obits •

Arthur Babbitt, in 1992, Disney animator (Mr Magoo, Goofy), heart failure @ 84

John Candy, in 1994, actor (SCTV, Uncle Buck), heart attack @ 43

E.Y. ‘Yip’ Harburg, Lyricist 1981, - auto accident @ 82. Two ( Over the Rainbow from The Wizard of Oz)

Minnie Pearl, 1996, country comedienne (Grand Ole Opry), @ 84

•What Happened on this Day •

     …The Arts

1924 • "Happy Birthday To You" published by Claydon Sunny

1952 • Ernest Hemingway had finished a novel entitled The Old Man and the Sea

     …Athletics

1913 • New York Yankees are 1st to train outside US (Bermuda)

…Business, Education

1792 • Oranges introduced to Hawaii

1880 • Halftone engraving was used for the first time as the Daily Graphic was published in New York City.

     …Politics

1789 • 1st Congress declares constitution in effect (9 senators, 13 representatives)

1801 • 1st President inaugurated in Washington DC (Thomas Jefferson)

1841 • Longest inauguration speech (8,443 words), William Henry Harrison

1933 • Frances Perkins becomes Secretary of Labor, 1st US woman cabinet member

1994 • 4 Arab terrorist founded guilty of 1st bombing of the World Trade Center

1997 • President Clinton bans federally funded human cloning research

     …Science/Religion

1774 • 1st sighting of Orion nebula (William Herschel)

1909 • US prohibits interstate transportation of game birds

1930 • Coolidge Dam in Arizona dedicated

§ANSWERS to puzzle §

A B O U T

B E R T H

O R A T E

U T T E R

T H E R E

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