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MY FREE RAMBLING THOUGHTS
A windy day is a pain in the butt. A windy day that is not bringing in any new weather is useless. It might be a little warmer in a few days, but no moisture, no more clouds, just the friggin wind. While I am sure there are people somewhere who would welcome steady winds of 20-25mph, I am not one of them. Oh well, at least there isn’t any dust or sand.
I got a semi-panic call from Mary this morning. She and Cheryl use the same handy man to fix their homes. The guy called Mary because Cheryl hadn’t answered her phone for two days. Mary wanted to know when was the last time I heard from her. I had gotten an email yesterday. She called back about 20 minutes later to tell me that Cheryl answered her phone on the first ring and was fine. She uses her cell phone the old fashioned way, when she is away from home. It’s in her jacket in the closet when she is home. The handy man should know that, but somehow didn’t. Happy ending thank goodness. Then Mary told me about her upcoming trip to Phoenix this long weekend. Her husband’s mom and Mary’s son and grandkids both live in the area. It turns out Mary’s ex is in Phoenix, visiting the grandkids. While Mary communicates with him sometimes, the ex doesn’t like to be around Mike. He was fine with Mike until he and Mary married a few years ago. So Mary will be spending the weekend with the in-law and won’t see the grandkids. What a pain for all concerned—especially the grandkids. So sad when adults put their needs above those of their grandkids.
The hospital called today to say that BCBS had approved my thyroid operation. They also told me I had to pay the $250 deductible and wanted to know if I could pay when I checked in at 5:45am on the day of the operation. Thankfully I can, but that seems so unnecessary. They hadn’t asked that before the last operation. Hmmmm. Had I been on Medicaid they probably would have told me that it wasn’t covered.
Our governor has finally proposed her new budget. She has big cuts in education--K-12, University, Community College, early childhood education, big cuts in Medicaid, big cuts other places. I’m sure that everyone will be finding ways to save their favorites. Of course all the proposed cuts will have short term effects for programs, for employee salaries, and for those who receive these services. Long term, it appears that our governor does not really believe in education as a means to prepare for the future. Those who do not have decent health care will place a larger burden on society until they die. When one has medical issue treated early, they continue to be productive members of society. One doesn’t usually just die if not treated in the early stages. Those people can and do become a burden to the entire health care system. So with these cuts, AZ will continue to hold its place as near the bottom in Education funding and near the bottom in health care funding.
The border ‘build the dang’ fence issue died today. It won’t be built. The simple concept that a fence along the border would solve problems turned out not to be so simple. Like so many techy issues, the virtual fence that used technology to ‘see’ illegals trying to cross just didn’t meet the hype. It couldn’t tell coyotes—the four legged ones from the two legged ones. It didn’t work well during a wind storm. It didn’t work well at night. It didn’t work well during the daylight. So the Feds scrapped it. I’m sure that our governor will be talking about this, if only to draw attention from her very scary budget proposal. Maybe those state employees who will be facing additional unpaid furlough days will have to patrol the border on their furlough days.
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∞ JEOPARDY PUZZLE—(Super-Jeopardy Answers) from 1990 TOMs & THOMASes
…answers at bottom…
• His fans had high hopes that he'd win an Oscar this year for "Born on the Fourth of July"
• He turned professional "hit man" in 1977, the same year he won the Golden Gloves championship
• He's the current Speaker of the House
• March 7 is the feast day of this Medieval saint, also known as the "Angelic Doctor"
• "Jitterbug Perfume" is a book written by this "King of Underground Farce"
UNUSUAL NEWS ITEM-- ROSCOMMON, MI
A northern Michigan woman has put her own spin on Leonardo da Vinci's "The Last Supper" by making a replica out of laundry lint.
Laura Bell of Roscommon collected lint from her dryer and fashioned it into a 14-foot-long, 4-foot tall reproduction of the Italian Renaissance painter's masterpiece.
Bell says she needed about 800 hours to do enough laundry to get the lint, and 200 hours to recreate the mural. She bought towels of the colors she wanted and laundered them separately to get the right shades of lint.
Her artwork has caught the eye of Ripley's Believe It or Not! The company plans to put it on display at one of its museums.
Ripley's says it also has Last Supper replicas made from a grain of rice, a dime and burned toast.
SOMEWHAT USELESS INFORMATION— Tin cans and can openers
• The tin canister, or can, was invented in 1810 by a Londoner, Peter Durand. The year before, French confectioner, Nicolas Appert, had introduced the method of canning food by sealing the food tightly inside a glass bottle or jar and then heating it.
• Tin canning was not widely adopted until 1846, when a method was invented to increase can production from six in an hour to 60. The products labels would read: “cut around on the top near to outer edge with a chisel and hammer.”
• The can opener was invented in 1858 by American Ezra Warnet. There also is a claim that Englishman Robert Yeates invented the can opener in 1855. The can opener didn't become popular until ten years later when it was given away for free with canned beef.
• The well-known wheel-style opener was invented in 1925.
• Beer in a can was launched in 1935. The easy-open can lid was invented by Ermal Cleon Fraze in 1959.
• Since 1972, some 64 million tons of aluminum cans (about 3 trillion cans) have been produced. Placed end-to-end, they could stretch to the moon about a thousand times.
• Recycling cans saves 95% of the energy required to make aluminum from ore, or the equivalent of 18 million barrels of oil, or 10.8 billion kilowatt hours. Used aluminum cans that are recycled return to store shelves within 60 days.
A LITTLE LAUGH
"Do you remember first meeting your wife?"
"Sure, I found Jill lying face down in the gutter. I lifted her to her feet and promised her that if she agreed to marry me, she would begin a new life and I'd never allow her near the gutter again."
"Wow, what an incredible story! I hope she appreciates what you did for her."
"Not really. Even though she stunk at it, Jill hated to give up bowling."
GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS—Animal records
• The world record for the highest jump by a pig is 70 cm (27.5 in) and was achieved by Kotetsu, a pot-bellied pig on 22 August 2004 at the Mokumoku Tedsukuri Farm, Mie, Japan.
• The smallest dog in terms of length is Heaven Sent Brandy, a female chihuahua who measured 15.2 cm (6 in) from the nose to the tip of the tail on January 31, 2005. Brandy lives with her owner, Paulette Keller in Largo, Florida, USA.
• The world's longest goat horns measured a tip-to-tip spread of 132 cm (52 in) on April 16, 2004 and belong to 'Uncle Sam' the goat, who is owned by William A and Vivian A Wentling (both USA) of Rothsville, Pennsylvania, USA.
•The longest ears on a dog measured 34.9 cm (13.75 in) and 34.2 cm (13.5 in) for the right and left ears, respectively, on September 29, 2004. They belong to Tigger, a bloodhound, who is owned by Bryan and Christina Flessner of St Joseph, Illinois, USA.
∞CLOSEUP PICTURE
Can you identify this close up picture?
FOUND ON ‘YOU TUBE’
Over 10 million people have watched King’s Speech
♫ T V COMMERICALS OF 1950’s♫
Click on Title to see and hear
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DAYBOOK INFORMATION
‡…THIS WEEK…‡
8-14 Universal Letter Writing Week:
9-15 Home Office Safety and Security Week • International Snowmobile Safety and Awareness Week
11-17 Cuckoo Dancing Week:
12-16 National Soccer Coaches of America Week:
15-17 Bald Eagle Appreciation Days
‡…TODAY IS…‡
Hat Day
Bald Eagle Appreciation Day
Humanitarian Day
Miss America Pageant
Japan: Adults Day/Seijin-No-Hi
Jordan: Arbor Day
North Korea: Korean Alphabet Day
Venezuala: Teachers' Day/Dia Del Maestro
‡…Today’s Births…‡
• AUTHORS
1812 Peter C Asbjørnsen Norwegian fairy tale writer
1798 Thomas Crofton Croker Irish story teller (Fairy legends)
Ernest J. Gaines, 78, author (The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, A Lesson Before Dying)
1622 - Jean Baptiste Moliere (Poquelin) playwright: The Affected Young Ladies, The School for Wives, Tartuffe, Don Juan, The Misanthrope, The Miser, The Learned Ladies
• ATHLETES
Drew Brees, 32, football (Chargers, Saints)
1841 Lord Frederick Stanley presenter of hockey's Stanley Cup
• BUSINESS / EDUCATION
1845 Ella Flagg Young 1st woman president (National Educational Association)
• ENTERTAINERS (ACTORS/SINGERS/…)
1913 Lloyd Bridges actor (Sea Hunt, Roots, Airplane)
1909 Gene Krupa Benny Goodman's drummer (Sing Sing Sing)
Margaret O’Brien, 74, actress (Little Women, Meet Me in St. Louis)
Mario Van Peebles, 54, actor (Love Kills, Judgment Day), director
• POLITICIANS
1929 Reverend Dr Martin Luther King Jr assassinated dreamer (Nobel 1964)
• SCIENCE & RELIGION
1920 John J "Cardinal" O'Connor Roman Catholic Archbishop of New York
1908 Edward Teller Hungarian fathered H-bomb (Manhattan Project)
‡…Today’s Obituaries…‡
1922 John Kirk Barry Dr/explorer David Livingstone's companion, @89
1987 Ray Bolger actor/dancer (Wizard of Oz), @ 82
1896 Matthew B Brady US photographer (Civil War), streetcar accident @ 72
1986 James H "Jim" Crowley US football player (Notre Dame), @ 83
1994 Harry Nilsson rock vocalist (Without You, Everybody's Talkin' ), heart failure @ 52
‡…Today’s Events…‡
• ARTS
1961 Supremes signed with Motown Records
1977 Coneheads debut on "Saturday Night Live"
• ATHLETICS
1942 FDR asks commissioner to continue baseball during WWII
• BUSINESS & EDUCATION
1797 1st top hat worn (John Etherington of London)
1863 1st US newspaper printed on wood-pulp paper, Boston Morning Journal
1975 Space Mountain opens (Disneyland)
• INDIGENOUS PEOPLE
1864 Sixty starving NAVAJOs surrender to Kit Carson after the Canyon de Chelly fight.
• POLITICS (US)
1870 Donkey 1st used as symbol of Democratic Party, in Harper's Weekly
1951 Supreme Court rule "clear & present danger" of incitement to riot is not protected speech & can be a cause for arrest
1943 The world’s largest office building completed: 34 acres of land and has 17 miles of corridors: the Pentagon
• POLITICS (International)
1752 Tobias Smollett publishes pamphlet accusing Fielding of plagiarism
1994 Queen Elizabeth falls off her horse & breaks her left wrist
• SCIENCE & RELIGION
1535 Henry VIII declares himself head of English Church
1971 Aswan Dam officially opens in Egypt
1998 NASA announces John Glenn, 76, may fly in space again
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ANSWERS
∞ JEOPARDY
• His fans had high hopes that he'd win an Oscar this year for "Born on the Fourth of July"
Who was Tom Hanks?
• He turned professional "hit man" in 1977, the same year he won the Golden Gloves championship
Who was Thomas Hearns?
• He's the current Speaker of the House
Who was Tom Foley? (if you answered John Boehner—that is for 2011, not 1990, and his name isn’t Tom)
• March 7 is the feast day of this Medieval saint, also known as the "Angelic Doctor"
Who is Thomas Aquinas?
• "Jitterbug Perfume" is a book written by this "King of Underground Farce"
Who is Tom Robbins?
∞ Close up Picture
Gas Pump
• AND THAT’S ALL FOR NOW •
