Saturday July 24

This is Week 29 of 2010►Day 205 with 160 days left.

It is Day 96 of the BP Mess.

FREE RAMBLING THOUGHTS

Luckily there was no rain more flooding today. In fact, my place didn’t even get any rain. The flooding and the aftermath is really a mess. I got an email from a couple from our discussion group who lives in the area. Their house and out building with the amazing telescope survived, but their attached garage is worse for the wear. The black dirty smelly water got into the garage and did substantial damage. I’m going to go by their place tomorrow to see if there is anything I can do to help them. As a side note, this couple bought flood insurance during the fire, while they were evacuated and staying in a hotel. The insurance has a 30 day waiting period before it goes becomes effective. They are still in the waiting period. To add to that, since they have already been flooded, if another flood comes this season, it probably won’t be covered either, with the insurance company claiming that any subsequent flooding is based on the current flooding. The Phoenix news has reporters here in Flag and have been reporting daily. Families have lost everything. Once the dirty mess makes it inside the house, anything touching the floor seems to be lost. The smell just won’t go away. Carpet—gone. Furniture—gone. Wood floors—gone. In some cases, appliances—gone. The worst part of this flooding seems to be that no one knows when the next flash flood might come. For these residents, it isn’t like a hurricane or an overflowing river that leaves after a day or two. Every time it gets a little cloudy, another flash flood could be coming. And there seems to be nothing anyone can do to stop it. Some of residents have put up those cement barriers you see at highway construction sites. The problem, it protects their house and sends the water to other houses that might not have been in the path of the original flood. It’s the same story with digging trenches and ditches for the water. All that water has to go somewhere. I don’t recall ever hearing of this ‘neighborhood’ or ‘neighborly’ problem with other floods in other places. Now there is a question that if one puts up the barriers or backhoes a trench and the water floods someone downstream is the home owner who was protecting their property now responsible legally for the damage done to other homes? Turns out it is the same if the state or county tries and fails to divert the water from its ‘natural path.’ The fear is that the insurance companies will try to prove that the homeowner or county that diverted the water to protect their home are financially responsible for the damage to those downstream. In this crazy time and this financial crisis, many are concerned.

Tempe, a suburb of Phoenix had a lake. The damn that made this recreational area in the heart of the city was basically a series of huge rubber bladders that held back the water. A couple of nights ago, one of the bladders collapsed. The ensuing flood sent millions of gallons of water into a dry river bed. There was little or no damage from the flooding. However, the lake was full of fish. About 90% of the fish died. First problem is the smell of the dead fish, in a town that is usually over 100° each day and not much lower at night. The city has brought in a couple of alligators to help with that problem. Volunteers are also busy bagging up the dead fish and sending them to an alligator reserve nearby. The second problem is scavenger hunters walking around in the former lake to collect fishing poles and other junk that had been at the bottom of the river. The city worries that if someone is injured the city could be sued. Finally, the dead fish may attract birds—lots of them. Phoenix International Airport is close by and this could cause problems for flights coming and going.

This week has certainly had a lot of ‘water’ stories in Arizona—a desert state. Arizona has been in the international news spotlight: First it was SB1070 and how the state wants to deport illegals, then the fires in Flagstaff, now the flooding in Flagstaff. We are the 48th state. We are not a very populated state. We don’t like being in the international news. Everyone I know just wants to go back to being a quiet state where people come to see the ditch (Grand Canyon), the Indians, and the beauty of the landscape.

One final side note: Our non-elected governor is in a little trouble. Two of her top advisors have a financial interest in a private prison system here in Arizona. This private company has a contract with the Feds to house ‘illegal immigrants’. If 1070 actually goes into effect, those advisors are set up to make a lot of money. Many are wondering if the signing of the bill was encouraged by these advisors. They claim they didn’t. Duh. The 1070 signing moved our governor from fourth place in her party to be a candidate for governor to 1st place. She has been brought from a sidebar in National News—taking over from Napolitano—to daily interviews on National News. Her Facebook posts now state things like “I’ll be Gretta’s show tonight.” Of course she is claiming that the local station that broke the story is simply an example of left-wing media distortion, saying the story is a non-issue story.

It was a nice day here. There was virtually no breeze and it we only made it to 74°. A nice day for a long walk. The forest near my house is open again, except for campfires, so I spent about an hour wandering around. Great time. Just as I thought it was a day of no rain, it got dark and a light rainstorm cooled things off quite nicely. For the flood people, it looks pretty dark in that area. Prayers to all that no more flooding comes tonight.

MY QUOTE FOR THE DAY

Aristotle: Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work.

HOLY MACKEREL: 1824►Harrisburg Pennsylvanian newspaper publishes results of 1st public opinion poll. Clear lead for Andrew Jackson

SOMEWHAT USELESS INFORMATION

The Number of possible ways of playing just the first four moves on each side in a game of chess is 318,979,564,000!

***

Playing Tetris after a post-traumatic stress event can actually help reduce flashbacks and bad memories of the event. They are even linking it to helping people with Alzheimer's and reducing people's stress levels.

GREY MATTER PUZZLE 1

Below, 10 nine letter words have been broken into chunks of three letters. These chunks have been mixed up, no chunk is used twice and all chunks are used. Can you determine what the 10 words are?

rbr tim sag tel lig ent

hea dli ble whi htn fer

car age esc ing ind wat

til hai ush dif eta new

rlw all erf ope ent ght

UNUSUAL NEWS ITEM

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — An Alaska police officer used his Taser to discourage a small black bear that had gotten into someone's fish fryer. Lt. Dave Parker delivered a 30-second burst of 100,000 volts to scare away the bear from a house.

Parker told the Anchorage Daily News the bear flipped on its back, flailing its feet in the air, growling and crying until it rolled off the porch. Parker says it shook its head and then quickly bolted away.

Parker hopes the stun gun tactic will keep the bear out of further mischief.

A LITTLE LAUGH

More Morons:

A man spoke frantically into the phone: 'My wife is pregnant and her contractions are only two minutes apart'. 'Is this her first child?' the Doctor asked. 'No!' the man shouted, 'This is her husband!'

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In Modesto , CA , Steven Richard King was arrested for trying to hold up a Bank of America branch without a weapon. King used a thumb and a finger to simulate a gun. Unfortunately, he failed to keep his hand in his pocket.. (hellooooooo)!

***

Last summer, down on Lake Isabella, located in the high desert, an hour east of Bakersfield, CA, some folks, new to boating, were having a problem. No matter how hard they tried, they couldn't get their brand new 22 foot boat, going. It was very sluggish in almost every maneuver, no matter how much power they applied. After about an hour of trying to make it go, they putted into a nearby marina, thinking someone there may be able to tell them what was wrong. A thorough topside check revealed everything in perfect working condition The engine ran fine, the out-drive went up and down, and the propeller was the correct size and pitch. So, one of the marina guys jumped in the water to check underneath. He came up choking on water, he was laughing so hard. Under the boat, still strapped securely in place, was the trailer!

GREY MATTER PUZZLE 2

A person has one tiger, one sheep and a bundle of grass. He wants to cross a river but there is only one boat and it can't sustain the weight of more than two articles at time. Also, he has to make sure that the tiger doesn't eat the sheep and the sheep doesn't eat the grass. How will he get to the other side of the river with all three intact?

FOUND ON ‘YOU TUBE’

George Strait honors cowboys: Click Here!

GREY MATTER PICTURE

This is a close up of what object?

SOME CALENDAR INFORMATION

► Weekly Observances ◄

18-25: Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS) Education & Awareness Week

………..Captive Nations Week

………..National Independent Retailers Week

► Today’s Observances ◄

Cousins Day

National Drive-Thru Day

Tell An Old Joke Day

National Day of the Cowboy

Denmark: Midsummer Day

Ecuador, Venezuala: Bolivar Day (1783)

Idaho, Utah : Pioneer Day (1847)

Spain: Valencia Fair Day-Battle of the Flowers

Stirling, Alberta: Stirling Settler Days (for the mormons in Salt Lake)

► Hit Songs on this date ◄

Jingle Jangle Jingle Kay Kyser in 1942

Auf Wiederseh'n Sweetheart Vera Lynn in 1952

Roses Are Red Bobby Vinton  in 1962

Alone Again (Naturally) Gilbert O'Sullivan in 1972

Eye of the Tiger Survivor in 1982

► Born today ◄

…The Arts

Alexandre Dumas (Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie), author (3 Musketeers) , born in 1802 Picardy, France

Robert Graves, poet/historical novelist (I, Claudius) , born in 1895 Wimbledon, London, England

+++

Ruth Buzzi, 74, comedienne, actress (“Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In,” “Sesame Street”), born Westerly, RI

Lynda Carter, 59, actress (“Wonder Woman,” “Partners in Crime”), former Miss World–USA, singer, born Phoenix, AZ

Jennifer Lopez, 40, actress (Maid in Manhattan, The Cell, Out of Sight), singer, born the Bronx, NY

Anna Paquin, 28, actress (“True Blood,” X-Men films, The Piano, Fly Away Home), born Winnipeg, MB, Canada

…Athletics

Barry Bonds, 46, baseball player, born Riverside, CA

Karl Malone, 47, former basketball player, born Summerfield, LA

…Business & Education

--

…Politics

Bella Abzug (Stavitsky), feminist, attorney, U.S. Congresswoman, born in 1920 NYC, NY

Simon Bolivar (Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar Palacios y Blanco) freed 6 Latin American republics from Spanish rule, born in La Puebla de Bolívar, Basque Country, Spain

Charlie Crist, 54, Governor of Florida (R), born Altoona, PA

…Science/Religion

Amelia Earhart, aviator, born in 1898 Atchison, KS

► Obituaries today ◄

Martin Van Buren, 8th pres, @ 80 in 1862

Mary Church Terrell, educator/civil rights leader, dies at 90 in 1954

Montgomery Clift, actor, heart attack @ 45 in 1966

Peter Sellers, actor, heart attack @ 54 in 1980

Isaac Bashevis Singer, Nobel prize winning author, dies at 87 in 1991

► Events ◄

…The Arts

1956►After a decade together as the country’s most popular comedy team, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis called it quits

…Athletics

1979►Red Sox Carl Yastrzemski hits his 400th HR

…Business & Education

1799►William Clark (of Lewis & Clark) is willed the slave York

1847► Richard M. Hoe of New York City patented the rotary-type printing press.

1925►Scopes guilty of teaching evolution in a Tn HS, fined $100 & costs

…Indigenous People

1534►Jacques Cartier erects a thirty-three foot high cross on a small island in Gaspe Harbor. He then claims the area for France.

1836►Georgia militia and Creek Indians have a brief fight near Wesley Chapel in Stewart County, Georgia. The Creeks appear to have won.

…Politics (US)

1866►Tennessee becomes 1st Confederate state readmitted to Union

…Politics (outside US)

1701►French make 1st landing at site of Detroit

…Science / Religion

1847►Brigham Young & his Mormon followers arrive at Salt Lake City, UT

1934►1st ptarmigan hatched & reared in captivity, Ithaca, NY

1987►IBM-PC DOS Version 3.3 (updated) released

GREY MATTER ANSWERS

…1

Telescope, timetable, hairbrush, different, waterfall, lightning, headlight, whirlwind, cartilage, newsagent

…2

Take the sheep across, then the bundle of grass. Take the sheep back across and then take the tiger across. Then take the sheep back across and they are all unharmed.

…Photo

A book with gilded page

TODAY’S PHOTO SHOT

ptarmigan

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