Saturday 7-3

This is Week 26 of 2010, Day 184 with 181 days left. It is Day 75 of the BP Mess.

FREE RAMBLING THOUGHTS

Allergies in July. I’m not used to that, but sure had them today. Something must be in the air that likes to mess with my head. I haven’t had an attack like this since my youth. I guess I’m just being reminded of what a great life I have most of the time.

This is the holiday weekend. If I wasn’t aware of that, all I had to do was go out on the street. I went to get some groceries at 11 this morning. Highway 89 was already much more crowded than usual. In the short drive to the store—less than a mile—I must have seen 10 super motor homes—some probably had a dance hall and Jacuzzi on the first level, and three bedrooms upstairs. I should mention that I did have to pass the local KOA campgrounds and many of these monsters were turning in or out of the campground. Upon arrival at Safeway I discovered the parking lot was basically filled. Inside was little better. There were three intercom calls for all available people to open registers. The shortest line had two people ahead of me. The guy checking out looked like a summer camp counselor. He had four kids with him. All four teenagers stood there reading magazines while the groceries were being cleared from the belt. They were too involved to move out of the way so the next lady could empty her cart onto the belt. She was elderly and had a portable oxygen tank in her cart. It took her extra time, but wasn’t her fault. I felt sympathy for her because she unloaded all her stuff, then put her personal shopping bags on the belt. The clerk simply put the plastic bags in her bags…kinda defeating the purpose. The good thing out of this was that Safeway was accepting donations for the American Prostate Cancer Society. Even better, Safeway would match the donation. I gladly donated $10. Safeway does this kind of donation stuff fairly often. You punch a couple of buttons, it’s added to your bill and they get on the intercom and yell out WHOOOO HOO!. Not a bad gimmick for many a worthy cause. I was out again later in the afternoon, and the Safeway lot was jammed with cars looking for parking places. Every one of their spaces was filled—sure glad I went early.

This holiday weekend will sure be a busy one. Flag wisely isn’t doing fireworks, but there is a parade, the horse races, the Hopi show, and lots to do. The only real problem is moving around town. I expect to make the parade and the horse races at least once. Should be nice as I always see people at both places. Usually it’s people I only see once a year.

I heard on the news today that Mike Steele, the head of the Republican something or other, rewrote history today when he stated that Afghanistan is Obama’s War. How dumb does he think everyone is? Even Republican politicians are saying he is misinformed. Now let’s see if and how he wiggles out of this.

No rain, a few early clouds, 85°, but it sure felt warmer. Last night we dropped to 72° so I think that’s why it seemed hotter.

HOLY MACKEREL: On this date in 1966 ►Race riots in Omaha Nebraska 

MY QUOTE FOR THE DAY

George Bernard Shaw: Liberty means responsibility. That is why most men dread it

Abraham Lincoln: Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves.

William J. Clinton: There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America.

SOMEWHAT USELESS INFORMATION

The population in July, 1776 was about 2.5 million

Last year China exported $2.5 million in American flags to the US

Last year Mexico imported $333,000 worth of American Flags

GREY MATTER PUZZLE 1

Start with the letter 'U', and then each time add a letter and shuffle it to make a new word. You need to continue this process until you reach the word 'SUPPORT'. Not including 'U', you must do this in six (6) turns.

U

_ _

_ _ _

_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _

S U P P O R T

UNUSUAL NEWS ITEM

ATLANTA — Maggots falling from an overhead bin from a spoiled container of meat forced a US Airways flight to return to the gate so the bin could be cleaned.

Passenger Donna Adamo said she noticed a couple of flies on the Monday flight when she got to her seat but didn't think much of it. Then, as the plane was taxiing, she heard a passenger behind her causing a commotion and refusing to take her seat.

"Then I heard the word 'maggot' and that kind of got everybody creeped out," she said. "All of a sudden, I felt somebody flick the back of my hair and on the front of me came a maggot, which I flicked off me."

A passenger had the container in a carry-on bag and brought it on Monday's flight heading from Atlanta to Charlotte, N.C., said US Airways spokesman Todd Lehmacher. The pilot announced that they were returning to the gate because of a "minor emergency on board" and the flight attendants told everyone to sit down and be calm, Adamo said.

"I felt like they were crawling all over me because it only takes one maggot to upset your world," she said. "And as they're telling us to stay calm and seated, I see a maggot looking back at me and I'm thinking, 'These are anaerobic, flesh-eating larvae that the flight attendants don't have to sit with.' "

A shaky cell phone video shot by Adamo as passengers deplaned shows a small white maggot wriggling across a seat.

Once the plane returned to the gate, the passengers were asked to get off, and a crew boarded to clean up the mess, Lehmacher said. The flight then continued on to Charlotte, where the plane was taken out of service and fumigated "out of an abundance of caution."

A LITTLE LAUGH

One day an Irishman, who had been stranded on a deserted island for over 10 years, saw a speck on the horizon.

He thought to himself, "It's certainly not a ship".

As the speck got closer and closer, he began to rule out even the possibilities of a small boat or a raft.

Suddenly there strode from the surf a figure clad in a black wet suit. Putting aside the scuba tanks and mask and zipping down the top of the wet suit stood a drop-dead gorgeous blonde!

She walked up to the stunned Irishman and said to him, "Tell me, how long has it been since you've had a good cigar?"

"Ten years," replied the amazed Irishman.

With that, she reached over and unzipped a waterproof pocket on the left sleeve of her wet suit and pulled out a fresh package of cigars and a lighter.

He took a cigar, slowly lit it, and took a long drag. "Faith and begorrah," said the castaway, "that is so good! I'd almost forgotten how great a smoke can be!"

"And how long has it been since you've had a drop of good Bushmill's Irish Whiskey?" asked the blonde.

Trembling, the castaway replied, "Ten years."

Hearing that, the blonde reached over to her right sleeve, unzipped a pocket there and removed a flask and handed it to him.

He opened the flask and took a long drink. " 'Tis nectar of the gods!" shouted the Irishman. " 'Tis truly fantastic!!!"

At this point the gorgeous blonde started to slowly unzip the long front of her wet suit, right down the middle. She looked at the trembling man and asked, "And how long has it been since you played around?"

With tears in his eyes, the Irishman fell to his knees and sobbed, "Jesus, Mary and Joseph! Don't tell me that you've got golf clubs in there too!

GREY MATTER PUZZLE 2

What kind of coat can only be put on when wet?

FOUND ON YOU TUBE

Lou Gehrig’s speech: Click Here!

GREY MATTER PICTURE

This is a close up of what common object?

SOME CALENDAR INFORMATION

► Weekly Observances ◄

28 -7/5: Fish Are Friends, Not Food! Week AND National Prevention of Eye Injuries Awareness

► Today’s Observances ◄

Stay Out Of The Sun Day

Compliment Your Mirror Day

International Day of Cooperatives
Idaho: Admission Day (1890)

Algeria: Independence Day (1962)

Belarus: Independence Day, celebrates the liberation of Minsk from Nazi occupation by Soviet troops in 1944.

United States Virgin Islands: Emancipation Day since 1848

► Hit Songs on this date ◄

Maria Elena: Jimmy Dorsey in 1941

Too Young: Nat "King" Cole in 1951

Quarter to Three: Gary U.S. Bonds in 1961

It's Too Late/I Feel the Earth Move: Carole King in 1971

Bette Davis Eyes: Kim Carnes in 1981

► Born today ◄

…The Arts

Dave Barry, 63, humorist, author, born Brooklyn, NY

George M. (Michael) Cohan, 1878, actor, singer, composer: Over There, The Yankee Doodle Boy, born in Providence, RI

Pete Fountain, 80, jazz musician, born New Orleans, LA

Franz Kafka, 1883, author (Metamorphosis, Trial, Amerika), born in Prague, Bohemia now Czech Republic

Montel Williams, 54, talk show host, born Baltimore, MD

+++

Tom Cruise (Thomas Cruise Mapother IV), 48, actor (Mission: Impossible films, Collateral, Jerry Maguire, Top Gun), born in Syracuse, NY

Tony Curtis [Bernard Schwartz], 86, actor, born in Bronx NY

George Sanders, 1906, Russia, actor (All About Eve-Academy Award 1950), born in Saint Petersburg, Imperial Russia to English diplomats

…Athletics

Cesar (Leonardo) ‘Pepito’ Tovar, 1940, baseball: Twins, Phillies, Rangers, Athletics, Yankees, born in Caracas, Venezuela

…Business & Education

Geraldo Rivera aka Gerry Rivers, 1943, newsman, born in Brooklyn, NY

…Politics

Earl L Butz, 1909, US Secretary of Agriculture , born in Albion, IN

…Science / Religion

Samuel de Champlain, 1567, explorer (Lake Champlain), born in Brouage, in the FrenchProvince of Saintonge

► Obituaries today ◄

Jim Backus, actor (Magoo, Gilligan's Island), pneumonia @ 76 in 1989

Andrei Gromyko, Soviet diplomat, dies just short of his 80th birthday in 1989

Ross Martin, actor (Mr Lucky, Wild Wild West), heart attack playing tennis @ 61 in 1981

Jim Morrison, rocker (Doors), heart failure @ 28 in 1971

Rudy Vallee, singer (Vagabond Dreams), @ 84 in 1986

► Events ◄

…The Arts

1981 ►First mention in the New York Times of a disease that would later be called AIDS

…Athletics

1939 ►Lou Gehrig day; Gehrig makes "luckiest man" speech

…Business & Education

1839 ►1st state normal school in US opens

…Politics (US)

1775 ►Washington takes command of Continental Army

1863 ►Battle of Gettysburg Pa ends

1930 ►Veterans Administration created

2009 ►Sarah Palin, former running-mate for John McCain, announced that she will resign from her office of governor of Alaska

…Politics (outside US)

1608 ►City of Quebec founded by Samuel de Champlain

1915 ►US military forces occupy Haiti, remain until 1934

1976 ►103 hostages were rescued by an Israeli commando unit in a raid on Entebbe airportin Uganda

…Science / Religion

1913 ►Common tern banded in Maine; found dead in 1919 in Africa (1st bird known to have crossed the Atlantic)

…Indigenous people

1761 ►Northwest Confederacy is created at a council near Detroit. Its members include the Delaware, Miami, Ojibwa, Ottawa, Potawatomi, Shawnee and the Wyandot.

GREY MATTER ANSWERS

…1

U

UP

PUT

POUT

SPOUT

STUPOR or SPROUT

SUPPORT

…2

A coat of paint

…Photo

Roulette Table

TODAY’S PHOTO SHOT

A day early, I know.

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