Wednesday

♣ 10 March 2010--Week 10 of 2010: 69 days this year…296 remain ♣

♣ Two Quotes to think about…Today ♣

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."

~Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

"Powerlessness and silence go together. We...should use our privileged positions not as a shelter from the world's reality, but as a platform from which to speak. A voice is a gift. It should be cherished and used."

~Margaret Atwood

♣ Free Ramblings ♣

Old man winter will just not give it up. We had snow again today. Sometimes it snowed while the sky was grey. Sometimes it snowed as the sky was clearing. Sometimes it snowed while the sun was shining. Most of all, it just snowed. Most of it melted as it fell, but the magical weatherman says we got 6” of snow since last night. The wind almost constant gusts off 36mph kept our high temperature down to about 33°. We have had 133” of snow this year…the highest snowfall in ten years. We still have lots of snow to come before the snow season ends. Another storm is due late tomorrow.

Every year my doctor orders routine blood tests to see what is happening in various places in my body. Today was the day I decided to have the blood drawn. I have to fast for 14 hours before it is drawn. Since I am a great late night snacker, I have to prepare for the day. It means nothing to eat after 7pm. So this morning, during the snowstorm I headed across town to the lab. Roads weren’t bad, traffic was light, and things looked good until I got to the parking lot. There I was greeted with no parking spaces anywhere close to the lab. I guess lots of people decided that today would be a good day to give up some blood. The waiting room had three people waiting and it took about 30 minutes to get called. My blood came out slowly, but I finally filled the four vials. The hematologist told me to drink a lot of water before coming in again, and said that would make it easier to get the blood out. I will certainly do that, even if I am not thirsty. Anything to speed up the process. My next doctor visit isn’t until May, so then he will hand me a bunch of papers with lots of numbers and he will explain that everything is OK. Today’s Random Fact (below) makes me wonder how many blood cells were removed from my body in those four vials.

Our healthcare insurance system has to be fixed. I can’t believe how many lobbyists are hired by the insurance companies to stop reform. Again I heard today how the companies have raised rates, raised co-pays, cut coverage, and raised deductibles in preparation for some kind of reform. Again I am reminded that healthcare should be a moral issue, not a financial issue.

♣Random Fact: ♣

The human body is creating and killing 15 million red blood cells per second!

♣Side Show Stories—♣

EVESHAM, N.J. - Police in New Jersey said they charged a restaurant cook with aggravated assault for concealing a "body hair" in food prepared for an officer. Authorities said Ryan Burke, 26, of Stratford, was working Feb. 21 at Good Foods to Go in Evesham when he concealed the "body hair" on a bagel sandwich made for a police officer, whose name was not released, The Courier Post, Cherry Hill, N.J., reported Thursday. Burke was arrested and charged with aggravated assault, food tampering and retaliation for a past official action. Burke, who denies the accusation, said he was arrested by the officer in March 2009 for failing to pull over during a traffic stop. However, he said the officer is a regular at the restaurant and there had been no previous incidents. "I think that this is absurd," said Burke, who was fired from the restaurant following the incident. "They decided to ruin my life."

♣ 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 wanderer (HINT: N - - - -)

2 big (HINT: - B - - -)

3 deserve (HINT: - - R - -)

4 Shakespearean remark to audience (HINT: - - - D -)

5 redirect (HINT: - - - - R)

♣ 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•

6-21 •Iditarod Race

7-13 •Celebrate Your Name Week:

       •National Consumer Protection Week

       •National Words Matter Week

       •Save Your Vision Week

       •Telecommuter Appreciation Week

       •National Professional Pet Sitters Week

       •Read an E-Book Week

       •Teen Tech Week

8-12•Make A Referral Week

      •National Sleep Awareness Week

      •National School Breakfast Week

8-14• Universal Women's Week

• 10 March Observances—US/UN/World •

Festival Of Life In The Cracks Day: Hmmm

Learn What Your Name Means Day

International Day of Awesomeness

Mario Day—for all those named Mario, no one in particular

Registered Dietician Day

Salvation Army Day

World Culture Day

•10 March Observances—by country •

Laos : Teachers' Day

Tibetan Uprising Day (Tibetan independence supporters) since 1959

♣ Number One Songs in…

1949•Far Away Places - Margaret Whiting

1957•Young Love - Tab Hunter

1965•The Jolly Green Giant - The Kingsmen

1973•Killing Me Softly with His Song - Roberta Flack

1981•I Love a Rainy Night - Eddie Rabbitt

1989•Lost in Your Eyes - Debbie Gibson

• Holy Mackerel: 1893•New Mexico State University cancels its 1st graduation ceremony, its only graduate Sam Steele was robbed & killed the night before

• Born on this day •

     …The Arts

Authors, Artists and Composers

James Herriot, 1916, (Scotland), writer (All Creatures Great & Small)

Entertainers in Cinema, Music, Theater, and TV

Barry Fitzgerald, 1888, (Dublin Ireland), actor (Academy Award-Going My Way)

Jasmine Guy, 46, singer, actress (“A Different World”)

Jon Hamm, 39, actor (“Mad Men”)

Sam Jaffe, 1891, actor (on Ben Casey)

Gary Owens, 74, announcer (Laugh-in)

Sharon Stone, 52, actress (Basic Instinct, The Specialist, Casino)

Dean Torrence, 70, surf music singer (Jan & Dean)

Carrie Underwood, 27, singer (“American Idol”)

     …Athletes

Shannon Miller, 33, Olympic gymnast

     …Business, Education

Wayne Dyer, 70, psychologist (Universe Within You)

Chuck [Carlos Ray] Norris, 70, martial arts, fitness guru, actor (Missing in Action, “Walker, Texas Ranger”)

     …Politics

Kim Campbell, 63, first woman prime minister of Canada (for five months in 1993)

Prince Edward (Edward Antony Richard Louis) Earl of Wessex and Viscount Severn, 46, son of Queen Elizabeth II

James Earl Ray, 1928, assassin (Martin Luther King Jr)

     …Science/Religion

John Playfair, 1748, (Scotland), clergyman/geologist/mathematician

•Today’s Obits •

Harriet Tubman, 1913, abolitionist, conductor on Underground RR, @ 92 or 93

Charles Gordon Curtis, 1953, inventor of (Curtis-steam turbine), @ 92

Herman Tarnower, 1980, doctor (Scarsdale Diet), killed by Jean Harris @ 70

Ray Milland, 1986, actor (Lost Weekend-Academy Award 1945), @ 81

Glenn Cunningham, 1988, US world record miler, @ 78

•What Happened on this Day •

      …The Arts

1940•1st US opera telecast, W2XBS, New York NY, I Pagliacci

1978•"The Incredible Hulk" premiers on TV

     …Athletics

1951•FBI director J Edgar Hoover declines post of baseball commissioner

     …Business, Education

1791•John Stone, Concord MA, patents a pile driver

1847•1st money minted in Hawaii

1903•Harry C. Gammeter of Cleveland, OH patented the multigraph duplicating machine.

     …Politics

0418•Jews are excluded from public office in the Roman Empire

1624•England declares war on Spain

1910•China ends slavery

1945•Japan declares Vietnam Independence

1959•After the Chinese invasion and control of Tibet, Tibetan rebels revolt against the chinese control by surrounding the summer palace of the Dalai Lama to protect the Dalai Lama but he is forced to flee to India who granted him political asylum.

     …Science/Religion

1933•Major earthquake in Long Beach CA, over 100 die

1977•Rings of Uranus discovered
1987•Vatican formal opposition to test-tube fertilization & embryo transfer

♣ANSWERS to puzzle ♣

NOMAD

OBESE

MERIT

ASIDE

DETER

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