Tuesday

♣ 2 March 2010--Week 9 of 2010: 61 days this year…304 remain ♣

» Two Quotes to think about…Today «

"There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty:

soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order."

~Ed Howdershelt (Author)

“There is no security on this earth; there is only opportunity.”

~Douglas MacArthur (1880-1964); American General and Field Marshal

» Free Ramblings «

New week, new month, gotta make some changes. It is time to get out my St. Patrick’s Day decorations for the windows and door. But first, I decided that this afternoon I would work on my entryway. I still have a snow bank on one side that is about five feet high, and one on the other side about four feet high. I also have a clear ice mound on the sidewalk, formed each day from the dripping off the porch roof. I took a spade, that’s a square ended shovel, and chopped through both sides till I got to the edge of the sidewalk. I was successful on the shorter pile, not so much on the higher pile. The higher pile, it turns out has several big large icebergs—from the roof clearing—that do not want to break up. The sidewalk is a little wider, but I have no idea how to get rid of the icebergs. I keep thinking about all those really cool Christmas pictures with the snow gently falling, people wrapped up in a sleigh, being pulled by horses through the beautiful scenery. I have to wonder why those photographers or painters or illustrators don’t show us in March, still trying to climb over and through the snow. Cheryl was telling us about a lady in Williams who is complaining because the Williams’ snow is so dirty. She wants to know why Williams doesn’t have the beautiful white snow like other places. I think it is just too many tourists.

Our city council, a paid and elected group, have been working on the ‘new’ budget since August. They will make their final vote in April. Turns out, to date, they are still talking about if any cuts are actually necessary. Sounds like next month they will prioritize any necessary cuts. I did budgets while I was in the Bureau. By the end of my career, the budget was a year round process. Sometimes we had to do three budgets—one with no increase in funding, one with a 10% cut in funding, and a third with a 20% cut. We never knew what congress was going to give us, and we had to be prepared. The 20% budget basically meant the janitor would stay on duty to protect the buildings—since about 93% of our budget was salaries. Here in Flagstaff the council knows that our incoming revenue has decreased drastically. Housing values have plummeted—dropping property taxes, and retail sales have dropped. New construction has virtually stopped. Our famous BBB tax has fallen about 20%. Flag was an early adopter of the Bed, Booze, Board (BBB) tax that increase the amount a visitor pays for a hotel and everyone pays a tax on the alcoholic drinks in bars and on food from a restaurant. At the time, many businesses raised the prices substantially and falsely blamed it on the BBB tax. Now the tourist dollars have fallen for more than a year with no end in sight. Our city leaders (?) just don’t get it. So Flag has another couple of months in la-la land before the reality of this recession finally understood.

Chile had a severe earthquake, about 500 times stronger than the one that hit Haiti. Chile has a much stronger economy and a better seeded government than Haiti. Building codes are stricter and require ‘earthquake’ resistant buildings. This means that there was a lot less damage than could have happened. However, since Chile is a richer country, they are looting. Unlike Haiti, which saw basically no looting, people in Chile are taking lots of things. Certainly I understand the grocery store looting—everyone needs food and help hasn’t arrived. I don’t get the looting of electronics stores—taking big screen TVs and other such stuff. The interviews with locals are also different. In Haiti few were crying and only wanted food, water, and doctors. In Chile, they are crying and begging for people help them find relatives. To me, thousands of miles away, I see the Chilean people less able to deal with the crisis than the Haitians. So sad for so many.

The weather guy says even though March is our biggest snow month, the next week will be nice. Tomorrow we are expected to reach 50°. That should melt some of my iceberg. We dropped to 17° last night, so it took quite some time to reach our high of 46° today. All in all, a good day.

»Random Fact: «

Lemons ripen after you pick them, but oranges do not.

»Side Show Stories—«

In 1998, a would-be Texas grocery store robber went to the trouble of disguising his face with a balaclava but forgot remove from his breast pocket a laminated badge which bore his name, place of employment and position within the company - an oversight spotted by at least a dozen witnesses.

§ 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 Alexander (HINT: G - - - -)

2 musical form (HINT: - O - - -)

3 furnish (HINT: - - D - -)

4 clay hut (HINT: - - - B -)

5 dryer (HINT: - - - - L)

§ 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

• 1 March Observances—US/UN/World •

Namesake Day

NEA's Read Across America Day

Old Stuff Day

Texas: Independence Day (from Mexico in 1836)

•1 March Observances—by country •

Burma : Peasant's Day

Ethiopia : Battle of Aduwa Day (1896), 1st African Nation to defeat Colonial power (Italy)

Morocco: Independence Day (from France in 1956)

§ Number One Songs in…

1949…Far Away Places - Margaret Whiting

1957…Young Love - Tab Hunter

1965…I’ve Got a Tiger by the Tail - Buck Owens

1973…Killing Me Softly with His Song - Roberta Flack

1981…I Love a Rainy Night - Eddie Rabbitt

• Holy Mackerel: 1867…An act is passed today which will purchase a reserve for SAUK and FOX of 4.5 square miles.
• Born on this day •

     …The Arts

Authors, Artists and Composers

Dr Seuss [Theodor Geisel], 1904, children's book author (Green Eggs and Ham, Horton Hears a Who!)

John Irving, 68, author (Cider House Rules, The World According to Garp)

Tom Wolfe, 79, author, journalist (The Bonfire of the Vanities, The Right Stuff)

Entertainers in Cinema, Music, Theater, and TV

Desi Arnaz, (Desiderio Alberto Arnez y De Acha III) 1917, (Santiago Cuba), singer/actor (Ricky Ricardo-I Love Lucy)

Jon Bon Jovi (John Bongiovi), 48, singer, songwriter, actor

Karen Carpenter,1950, vocalist/drummer (We've Only Just Begun)

Daniel Craig, 42, actor (Casino Royale, The Golden Compass, Munich)

Jennifer Jones (Phyllis Isley), 1919, actress (Oscar for The Song of Bernadette)

Chris Martin, 33, singer, songwriter (Coldplay)

Eddie Money[Mahoney] , 61, musician

Laraine Newman, 58, comedienne (“Saturday Night Live”)

     …Athletes

Reggie Bush, 25, football player (Saints)

Peter O'Sullevan, 1918, (Ireland), horse racing commentator

     …Business, Education

Willem Bruynzeel, 1901, Dutch timber-merchant

     …Politics

Russell D. Feingold, 57, US Senator (D, Wisconsin)

Mikhail Sergeyvich Gorbachev, 79, former Soviet political leader

Sam[uel] Houston, 1793, 1st president of Texas

Robert II the Steward,1316, King of Scotland (1371-90)

Ken Salazar, 55, current US Secretary of the Interior

     …Science/Religion

Edward Uhler Condon, 1902, atomic scientist (Manhattan Project)

•Today’s Obits •

Sandy Dennis, 1992, actress (Up the Down Staircase), cancer @ 54

Howard Carter, 1939, British archaeologist/Egyptologist (King Tut), lymphoma @ 65

David H Lawrence, 1930, poet/writer (Lady Chatterley's Lover), TB @ 44

Heinrich Olbers, 1840, German astronomer (discoverer of comets & asteroids), @ 81

Sir Michael Redgrave, 1985, actor/writer Parkinson's disease @ 77

Randolph Scott, 1987, actor (Fort Worth, Gung Ho, Jesse James), @ 89

Harry E Soref, 1957, inventor (padlock), @ 70

Dusty Springfield, 1999, singer, cancer @ 59

Horace [Horatio] Walpole, 1797, British horror writer, @ 79

•What Happened on this Day •

     …The Arts

1933…The Original King Kong movie has its world premiere in New York

     …Athletics

1874…Baseball batter's box is officially adopted

1962…Wilt ‘The Stilt’ Chamberlain scored 100 points and broke an NBA record

     …Business, Education

1983…Compact Disc recordings developed by Phillips & Sony introduced

     …Politics

1819…Territory of Arkansas organized

1861…Government Printing Office purchases 1st printing plant

1861…US Congress creates Dakota & Nevada Territories out of the Nebraska & Utah territories

1867…US Congress creates the Department of Education

1899…President McKinley signs bill creating Mount Rainier National Park

1925…Nationwide road numbering system & US shield marker adopted

1989…The NAVAJO Code Talker Monument is erected.

     …Science/Religion

1950…Silly Putty invented

§ANSWERS to puzzle §

GREAT

RONDO

ENDOW

ADOBE

TOWEL

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