Monday August 2

This is Week 31 of 2010►Day 214 with 151 days left.

It is Day 105 of the BP Mess. Day 17 with Small(?) leaks

FREE RAMBLING THOUGHTS

BP says they are ready to kill the well. I will believe it when it happens. It should be happening this week. Let’s hope that it works and this environmental disaster can be put behind us, that we have learned from it, and that we can treat our earth better in the future.

I took my usual mile walk this morning. I had planned on a longer one, but the clouds looked very ominous. It rained during the night, stayed dry much of the morning, then rained hard this afternoon. Had I trusted a little more, I could have easily taken the longer walk. I stayed inside most of the afternoon and since it was raining decided to do some cleaning and some laundry. I am always amazed at how much cleaning is necessary for just one person who lives alone. As I grew up, our house was always ready for a photo shoot. Nothing was every out of place, in any room of the house—and we had ten rooms with two bathrooms. I will never understand how my mother found the time to do that. My sister-in-law was recently interviewed for a designer magazine. She mentioned that my brother works hard to have a place for everything type house. I wish I had a little more of that style of living. My home is not dirty, and most don’t think it is messy, unless the visit my office. Saying that, my home is seldom, if ever, ready for a photo shoot. I always blamed any mess on the fact that I worked long hours. Now that I’m retired, I don’t have that excuse and still haven’t come up a good excuse or even a reason. My best days for ending any mess have always been cloudy days. Living in the desert for the 39 years means that cloudy days are few and far between. The past four days have been basically cloudy and today was the first day I got into straightening. If it’s cloudy again tomorrow, watch out, I may even be ready for a photo shoot.

Flag had rain today. I was able to read the Sunday paper on my deck between rain storms. I did have to wear long pants as it was a little cool. Somehow, sitting in a deck chair and working my way through the paper on Sunday is quite relaxing. The rest of the week our small town paper is a small paper. Sunday takes a good hour and half to get through, other days can be done in less than 20. My deck is the perfect place to read the paper. There is sunshine, there are wild birds eating, and now that I have my little ‘no-bark’ monitor it is can be quiet. We only got to 67° and the moisture (95% humidity) and the slight breeze made it feel cooler than it was.

QUOTE FOR THE DAY

Baltasar Gracian (Spanish Jesuit and Baroque prose writer):

Things do not pass for what they are, but for what they seem. Most things are judged by their jackets.

HOLY MACKEREL: 1984 - Charles Schulz’ award-winning comic strip was picked up by the Daily Times in Portsmouth, OH. With the addition of that paper, Peanuts, became the first comic strip to appear in 2,000 newspapers.

SOMEWHAT USELESS INFORMATION on Hoover Dam

>Hoover Dam chief engineer Frank T. Crowe lived up to his nickname, “Hurry Up” Crowe. The dam was completed two years ahead of schedule, in 1935.

>Hoover Dam is 726 feet high, 45 feet thick at the top and 660 feet at the bottom. It's filled with 3.25 million cubic yards of concrete, enough to pave a strip 16 feet wide and 8 inches thick from San Francisco to New York City.

>On the wall across from the escalator to the dam tour is a plaque dedicated to the Hoover Dam mascot, a stray dog who “adopted” the dam and its workers. He is buried nearby.

>Hoover Dam is named for Herbert Hoover, the nation’s 31st president. After he left office, the names “Boulder Canyon Dam” and “Boulder Dam” were frequently used. Herbert Hoover was Sec. of Commerce and started the whole process to build the dam. He was a sitting president when it was completed and didn’t become officially Hoover Dam until 1947.

>Two winged figures, 30 feet tall and made of bronze, stand on the Nevada side’s approach to the dam. Legend has it that rubbing their toes brings good luck.

GREY MATTER PUZZLE 1

Using the Brain Tracker grid below, how many words can you find? Each word must contain the central H and no letter can be used twice, however, the letters do not have to be connected. Proper nouns are not allowed, however, plurals are. There is at least one nine letter word. Excellent: 8 words. Good: 7 words. Average: 6 words.

HIG

LHI

GTH

UNUSUAL NEWS ITEM

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — It's not made of gold, but a yellow lobster pulled from Rhode Island's Narragansett Bay is very rare. Lobsterman Denny Ingram says he found the lobster in one of his pots the bay's East Passage last week. It is golden on the top and bright yellow on both sides.

Experts say the genetic feature is very rare, occurring in about 1 in 30 million lobsters.

It's also apparently good luck for this lobster, who will not be heading to anyone's dinner table.

Ingram says he plans to keep the yellow lobster on display at the fishermen's co-op at the State Pier in Newport.

A LITTLE LAUGH

An engineer dies and reports to the pearly gates. St. Peter checks his dossier and says, "Ah, you're an engineer -- you're in the wrong place."

So, the engineer reports to the gates of hell and is let in. Pretty soon, the engineer gets dissatisfied with the level of comfort in hell, and starts designing and building improvements. After awhile, they've got air conditioning and flush toilets and escalators, and the engineer is a pretty popular guy.

One day, God calls Satan up on the telephone and says with a sneer, "So, how's it going down there in hell?"

Satan replies, "Hey, things are going great. We've got air conditioning and flush toilets and escalators, and there's no telling what this engineer is going to come up with next."

God replies, "What??? You've got an engineer? That's a mistake -- he should never have gotten down there; send him up here."

Satan says, "No way. I like having an engineer on the staff, and I'm keeping him."

God says, "Send him back up here or I'll sue."

Satan laughs uproariously and answers, "Yeah, right. And just where are YOU going to get a lawyer?"

GREY MATTER PUZZLE 2

I am a memory of things that have passed. Your first breath is your introduction to me. I am the one who cradles your love and tear. I am the one who reminds you that neither is permanent. I am the who who is heralded but may not be touched. I am your guardian that leads you through the unknown. Who am I?

FOUND ON ‘YOU TUBE’

Lobsters come in many colors: Click Here!

GREY MATTER PICTURE

This is a close up of what object?

SOME CALENDAR INFORMATION

♦ Weekly Observances ♦

1-7: World Breastfeeding Week…Simplify Your Life Week…National Clown Week…National Fraud Awareness Week…Single Working Women's Week

2-6: Exhibitor Appreciation Week…Intimate Apparel Market Week…Psychic Week

♦ Today’s Observances ♦

National Ice Cream Sandwich Day

Azerbaijan: Day of Azerbaijani cinema

Costa Rica: Virgin of Angels feast (Our Lady of the Angels Day)

Grenada: Emancipation Day

Lesotho: National Tree Planting Day

Malawi: Bank Holiday

Russia and Ukraine: Day of Airborne Forces

♦ Hit Songs on this date ♦

At Your Command Bing Crosby 1931

Daddy Sammy Kaye  1941

Come On-a My House Rosemary Clooney  1951

Tossin' and Turnin' Bobby Lewis  1961

How Can You Mend a Broken Heart The Bee Gees  1971

Jessie's Girl Rick Springfield  1981

♦ Today’s Births ♦

• The Arts

Frederic Bartholdi, sculptor: Statue of Liberty—born in 1834 Colmar, Alsace, France

Wes Craven, 71, writer, director (The Nightmare on Elm Street, Scream), born Cleveland, OH

Pierre Charles L’Enfant, architect, engineer, Revolutionary War officer: designed the plan for city of Washington D.C—born in 1754 Anet, Eure et Loire, France

Jack L. (Leonard) Warner (Eichelbaum), movie mogul: one of Hollywood’s famed Warner Brothers—born in 1892 London, Ontario, Canada

~~~

Peter O’Toole, 77, actor (Venus, Lawrence of Arabia, Becket), born Connemara, Ireland

Myrna Loy, actress—born in 1905 Helena, MT

Carroll O'Connor, actor (All in the Family, Heat of the Night) —born in 1922 NYC, NY

• Athletics

Bob Beamon, 46, long jumper (Olympic-gold-1968 29' 2")—born in Queens, NY

• Business & Education

Betsy Bloomingdale, 84, dept store mogul—born in LA, CA

James Fallows, 61, journalist, former editor (US News & World Report), born Philadelphia, PA

• Politics

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• Science/Religion

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♦ Today’s Obituaries ♦

Claude A Barnett, founded Associated Negro Press, @ 78 in 1967

Brian Cole, rocker with the Association, heroin OD @ 28 in 1972

Pres Warren Gamaliel Harding, heart attack @ 58 in 1923 while in office

Wild Bill Hickok, shot dead (from behind) by Jack McCall while playing poker @ 39 in 1876. He held a pair of Aces & a pair of 8's (Dead Man’s Hand)

Paul Von Hindenburg, @ 86 in 1934, Hitler takes over presidency

♦ Today’s Events ♦

• The Arts

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• Athletics

1986 Jackie Joyner-Kersee (US) sets record for heptathlon (7161 pts)

• Business & Education

1375 1st roller skating rink opens (London)

1824 Fifth Avenue was opened in New York City

1858 1st street mailboxes-Boston, Mass

• Indigenous People

1792 Mohegan Samson Occom dies in New Stockbridge, New York. A protégé of Rev. Eleazar Wheelock, Occom learns numerous foreign languages, become an ordained minister, be the first Indian to preach in England, minister to many Indian tribes, and be instrumental in the establishment of Dartmouth College in New Hampshire.

• Politics (US)

1769 The city of Los Angeles was named on this day Nuestra Senora la Reina de Los Angeles de Porciuncula

1909 1st Lincoln head pennies minted

1943 PT-109 rammed & sunk

• Politics (International)

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• Science / Religion

1492 Jews are expelled from Spain by King Ferdinand & Queen Isabella

1819 1st parachute jump in US

GREY MATTER ANSWERS

↔ 1

ghi, hi, high, HIGHLIGHT, hight, highth, hili, hilt, hit, light, thigh.

↔ 2

I am Time

↔ Picture

A ceiling fan

TODAY’S PHOTO SHOT

Hoover Dam, formerly Boulder Dam

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