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Today’s Historical
Highlights
240
BC - 1st recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet
1822 - Congress
combined East & West Florida into Florida Territory
1854 -
Indians successfully attack, and defeat a company of dragoons at Cieneguilla,
New Mexico.
1867 - US
buys Alaska from Russia for $7,200,000 (2 cents an acre - Seward's Folly)
1981 - Pres Reagan
shot & wounded by John W Hinckley III
♪Happy Birthday To: ♪
Free Rambling Thoughts
We moved
our weekly lunch to Friday. Mary is very happy to have a new grandson. Mary
will head out in a few weeks, though she wants to be there now. Cheryl got
called to jury duty in Williams today and had hoped to get out in time for
lunch. She didn’t get to be on the jury, as they settled during a break, but
she didn’t get out until 11:00 and we had already decided to meet tomorrow.
If
Affordable Health Care is set aside by the Supreme Court…I wonder if the many
conservatives in this country will then push a law that requires hospitals to
no longer pass non-insured patient costs on to insured people. A fairly deep secret
in Health Care is that the insurance companies are in constant negotiations
regarding all kinds of costs…the health care provider agrees to accept a
negotiated price for all services, set by the insurance company; the insurance
companies negotiate with ‘groups of insured’ to set the monthly price for its
insurance and what it will cover; similar negotiations take place with
pharmacies on the cost of meds. When a non-insured patient is treated, they too
have some small room to negotiate the price and payments. Many who have gambled
by not having insurance, for whatever reason, have found out that costs are
high and failure to pay is difficult, until the person’s assets are gone. My
mom had good insurance, but ended living in a health care facility that didn’t
accept Medicare. Her monthly bill was $7000, she had very good care, good food,
and her last few years were good for her. Thankfully she had the money. Many
don’t. Several people at the health center stayed until their money was gone,
then moved to a Medicare facility. So sad.
Game Center
(answers at the end of post)
Brain Game
NPR Sunday Puzzle
Every
answer is a familiar two-word phrase, in which each word has a short
"A" vowel sound. For example, given the clue "A pest weed in
lawns," the answer would be "crab grass."
1.
product of Hefty: trash bag
2.
A group of sheets of paper where you may
doodle: scratch pad
3.
An annoying thing that accompanies a sitcom:
laugh track
4.
Medical image of inside the body: CAT scan
5.
Protection from poison in the air: gas mask
6.
Where you might hang your chapeau: hat rack
7.
Group that included Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis
Jr, Dean Martin: rat pack
8.
Activity for Sammy Davis Jr and Gregory Hines:
tap dance
9.
What you might get a club to allow re-entry:
hand stamp
10.
Something that prevents you from slipping in
the shower: bath mat
11.
According to superstition, it brings bad luck
when it runs in front of you: black cat
12.
Winner of all the tricks in a bridge hand:
grand slam
Wuzzles What concept or phrase do these suggest?
Lifestyle Substance
Planet Earth—
Found on You Tube
Vincent Van Gogh Paintings
Harper’s Index
Percentage decrease in the median US household income during the ‘Great Recession’: 3.2
Joke-of-the-day
A man in a
hot air balloon realized he was lost. He reduced altitude and spotted a woman
below. He descended a bit more and shouted,” Excuse me, can you help? I
promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago, but I don't know where I
am."
The woman
below replied, "You are in a hot air balloon hovering approximately 30
feet above the ground. You are between 40 and 41 degrees north latitude and
between 59 and 60 degrees west longitude."
"You
must be an engineer," said the balloonist.
"I
am," replied the woman. "How did you know?"
"Well,"
answered the balloonist, "everything you told me is technically correct,
but I have no idea what to make of you, and the fact is I am still lost.
Frankly, you've not been much help so far."
The woman
below responded, "You must be in management."
"I
am," replied the balloonist, "but how did you know?"
"Well," said the woman, "you
don't know where you are or where you are going. You have risen to where you
are, due to a large quantity of hot air. You made a promise which you have no
idea how to keep, and you expect people beneath you to solve your problems. The
fact is you are in exactly the same position you were in before we met, but
now, somehow, it's my fault!"
Rules of Thumb
Easy shortcuts to make
an ‘educated’ guess
You can predict your marathon time by multiplying your best 10 kilometer time by 4.65.
Somewhat Useless
Information
The
Clydesdale became the enduring symbol of Budweiser in 1933 when Prohibition was
repealed. Even though horse-drawn carriages were no longer used to deliver
brew, August A. Busch Jr. purchased a team of geldings and hitched them to a
beer delivery wagon as a surprise for his father.
Former
major leaguer Bob Uecker actually gained more fame as the perennial
"loser" in a series of ads for Miller Lite. Not everyone thought of
him in this way, though. In 2006, he was forced to file a restraining order
against a persistent stalker.
New York's
Rheingold beer was famous for its annual "Miss Rheingold"
competition, and Gothamites took this contest seriously. In the 1959 contest,
22 million votes were cast, making the New York turnout second only to the
following year's presidential election.
Spuds
MacKenzie, the "ultimate party animal" that pitched Bud Lite, was
actually a female dog. The English Bull Terrier, whose real name was Honey Tree
Evil Eye, was a female dog forced to live a lie and pretend to be male in front
of the cameras.
The frosty
mug filled with ice-cold beer seen on TV commercials is actually
room-temperature beer with dish soap and salt added to keep a good foamy head.
Glycerin is sprayed on the outside of the mug to simulate water drops.
During the
late 1970s, actor James Coburn was paid a sum of $500,000 for uttering just two
words in a series of beer commercials: "Schlitz...Light."
Yeah, It Really
Happened
ARLINGTON,
Texas - The company that handles concessions for the Texas Rangers said fans at
Rangers Ballpark will be able to buy a 1-pound hot dog for $26. Concessions
firm Sportsservice said the "Boomstick" hot dog, named in honor of
right fielder Nelson Cruz, is topped with shredded cheese, chili, sautéed
onions and fries, ESPNDallas.com reported Monday.
"I
don't know how many calories are in this thing, but it's got to be 2,000 or
3,000," said Casey Rapp, operations manager for Sportsservice. "We
did a half-pound hot dog during the World Series and wanted to top it,"
Rapp said. "Our company had to have the hot dog made special and we had to
find a local bakery to make the bun. The bun is like a loaf of bread just to
hold this thing."
Calendar Information
…Happening This Week:
25-31
Consider Christianity Week:
Passiontide (3/25-4/7)
National Conference on Family Literacy
Pediatric Nurse Practioner Week
Root Canal Awareness Week
National Protocol Officer's Week
National Cleaning Week
Today Is
Doctors Day
Grass Is Always Browner On The Other Side Of The Fence Day
I Am In Control Day
Pencil Day 1858 - Pencil with attached
eraser patented (Hyman L Lipman of Phila)
Today’s Other Events
1400’s
1422 - Ketsugan,
Zen teacher, performs exorcisms to free aizoji temple
1500’s
1533 - Henry
VIII divorces his 1st wife, Catherine of Aragon
>
1800’s
1802 - The
Indian Trade and Intercourse Act becomes law
1814 - Britain
& allies march into Paris after defeating Napoleon
1842 - Ether
was used as an anaesthetic for 1st time by Dr Crawford Long (Ga)
1856 - Russia
signs Peace of Paris, ending the Crimean War
1900’s
1943 - Rodgers &
Hammerstein's "Oklahoma!," premieres
in NYC
1950 - Phototransistor
invention announced, Murray Hill, NJ
1964 - Astronaut
John Glenn withdraws from Ohio senate race
1967 - Cover
picture of Beatles' "Sgt Pepper's" is photographed
1987 - Vincent van
Goghs "Sunflowers" sells for record 22.5M pounds ($39.7 million)
2000’s
2006 - Marcos
Pontes is the first Brazilian astronaut in space
2006 - UK Terrorism
Act 2006 becomes law
Today’s Birthdays
In their 80’s
Richard
Dysart, Brighton Mass, actor (Leland MacKenzie-LA Law) is 83
Peter
Marshall, Huntington WV, TV game show host (Hollywood Squares) is 85
In their 70’s
Warren
Beatty actor (Bonnie & Clyde,Shampoo, Dick Tracy) is 75
In their 60’s
Eric
Clapton, Ripley England, singer/guitarist (Tears in Heaven) is 67
In their 50’s
M C
Hammer, [Stanley Kirk Burrell], Oakland Ca, rapper (Hammer Time) is 50
In their 40’s
Ian
Ziering, West Orange NJ, actor (Steve Sanders-Beverly Hills 90210) is 48
In their 30’s
Remembered for being
born on this day
McGeorge
Bundy, Boston, national security adviser (JFK) in 1919
Countee
Cullen, US poet (Color, Ballad of the Brown Girl) in 1903
John
Fiske, [Edmund Fisk Green], US historian/philosopher in 1842
John
Hawkins, England, wrote 1st history of music in 1719
Nichiren,
Japan, Buddhist priest/saint in 1222
Secreteriat,
race horse, triple crown (1973) in 1970
Anna
Sewell, British author in 1820
Vincent
van Gogh, Groot-Zundert, Netherlands, artist, painter and pioneer of
Expressionism (The Potato Eaters, Irises) in 1853
John-Baptist
Xavery, Flemish sculptor in 1697
Today’s Obits
Alistair
Cooke, English-born journalist dies at 96 in 2004
William
Hunter, Scottish anatomist dies at 64 in 1783
W F A A
Louisa/Lovisa, queen of Sweden/Norway, dies at 42 in 1871
Benedict
Augustin Morel, psychologist (dementia praecox), dies at 63 in 1873
Answers
Brain Game
NPR Sunday Puzzle
1.
A product of hefty:
a.
trash bag
2.
A group of sheets of paper where you may
doodle:
a.
scratch pad
3.
An annoying thing that accompanies a sitcom:
a.
laugh track
4.
Medical image of inside the body:
a.
CAT scan
5.
Protection from poison in the air:
a.
gas mask
6.
Where you might hang your chapeau:
a.
hat rack
7.
Group that included Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis
Jr, Dean Martin:
a.
rat pack
8.
Activity for Sammy Davis Jr and Gregory Hines:
a.
tap dance
9.
What you might get a club to allow re-entry:
a.
hand stamp
10.
Something that prevents you from slipping in
the shower:
a.
bath mat
11.
According to superstition, it brings bad luck
when it runs in front of you:
a.
black cat
12.
Winner of all the tricks in a bridge hand:
a.
grand slam
Wuzzle
- play by play OR double play
- detonate
- silo
All ‘data’ info is from
the internet sites and is usually checked with at least one other source, but I
have learned that every site has mistakes and sadly once out the information is
out there, many sites simply copy it and is therefore difficult to verify. Also
for events occurring before the Gregorian calendar was adopted [1582] the dates
may not be totally accurate.
☺ And That Is All for Now ☺
