9/19/13

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Almanac: Flagstaff:  Week: 38/ Day: 262   

Today: H 73°…L 47°…Ave. humidity:  67%

Wind: ave:   8mph; Gusts:  39mph  

Average Low: 41°  Record Low: 27° (2006)

Average High: 72° Record High: 86° (1956)

Quote of the Day

Today’s Historical Highlights

1st carpet sweeper patented (Melville Bissell)…1876

1st commercial laundry established, in Oakland, CA…1849

Betty and Barney Hill saw a mysterious craft and that it tried to abduct them…1961

Bruno Haptmann arrested for kidnapping Lindbergh baby…1934

Continental Congress passes the first budget of the United States…1778

Jackie Robinson is named 1947 "Rookie of Year"…1947

New Zealand is first country to grant all its women the right to vote…1893

Nikita Khrushchev is denied access to Disneyland…1959

UN reject membership of China's People Republic…1950

US Olympic diver Greg Louganis hits his head on diving board…1988

Washington Post and New York Times publish the Unabomber's manifesto…1995

♫  Today’s Birthdays: ♫   

How many can you identify?…answers in Today’s Birthdays

My Free Rambling Thoughts   

Living in a complex with an HOA can be trying at times. Today the maintenance man I deal with showed up with letters from the HOA regarding three ‘new’ violations. Number 1 was the horrific violation of 3 pieces of tape (each less than 1”long) above my door that had been used to hold up my non-complying ‘As advertised on TV’ screen door which I had removed. Number 2 was for 8 small bricks I had placed next to the sidewalk to keep the boulders from falling onto my sidewalk. Number 3 was the café curtains in my office on the second floor. I called the HOA and got some ‘good’ news. The HOA photographers had feared that my curtain had fallen and that I simply hadn’t repaired it. The lady said she was sure that the café curtains were not a violation. I told them that I would remove the tape and the bricks, with the caveat that if I tripped or a visitor tripped because the rocks had fallen onto the sidewalk, I would let my insurance company deal with the lawsuit. She did tell me that since my last meeting with the photographers/board members, they were issuing a contact to clean up the back area behind our units…which I had pointed out to them. Seeing an opening with these idiots I suggested they do some landscaping on the ‘commons area’. She said that she would bring that up at the next board meeting. And the best news of this weird day was that the maintenance man said the owner of my unit had agreed to install a security door within the next month, as soon as the HOA board approves it. Living in a cookie cutter neighborhood had never been in my plans...and until this new board came in, it wasn’t like this.  I guess the new board wants to have no individuality in this complex. I asked the lady why they didn’t simply ring my bell and ask if my curtains had fallen. She said their legal department had warned them that this was not a good idea. I asked about the tape on my neighbor’s door had also been sited. She said she couldn’t say, then slipped that 64 letters were sent out this month. I got three, so that leaves 61 letters for the other 40 units. Quite a busy little board we have. So glad they are around to keep us on our toes so we can live in a beautiful cookie cutter neighborhood with absolutely no room for individuality.

 

As a former Federal employee, the month of September is never enjoyable. The end of the month ends the fiscal year for the government. Twice in my career the government was shut down and we were sent home in the middle of the day. We never lost any pay, but closing a boarding school in the middle of the week is never easy. Nor is it easy to shut down the National Park System and get all the visitors to leave. The shutdown of any facility is difficult. The shutdown of a government facility is no different. Yet today the talk is beginning that it will happen…again. It is always a trying time for all Federal workers and all the contractors that have government contracts. Most of the time it is fixed at the last minute, but not always. Non-government workers have no idea how stressful this really is. Nor do they realize the work that goes into the pre-shutdown process. Someone has to program the computer to send out checks on time for all the SS benefits, paychecks for the military and on and on. All Federal offices have to determine ‘essential employees’ during the process, usually 1 person (the top person) works. That means the FBI, CIA, HLS, and others will not be available. I can only hope that the talk is little more than gamesmanship. 

Game  Center (answers at the end of post)

Brain Teasers

George is dead. He was found face down in the street, squashed nearly flat. He must have been there some time as he was cool to the touch. In addition, when he was found, there was a bird perched on the back of his head. Who is George?

Lifestyle  Substance:     

Found on You Tube with some relevance to today

• Golding's Introduction to Lord of the Flies

• RED FOLEY-PEACE IN THE VALLEY

• Greg Louganis hits his head

• Betty and Barney Hill Abduction Case

Hmmmm…Fearsome Phobias
If you have an irrational fear of... Cyclones
You're suffering from... Anemophobia Greek anemos 'wind'

If you have an irrational fear of... Crucifixes
You're suffering from... Staurophobia Greek (meaning cross-shaped)

It is Illegal…

Bingo Games Can’t Last More Than Five Hours In North Carolina

Privileges granted to people in the U.S. (and many western nations) for being Christian…

You are never asked to speak on behalf of all the members of your faith.

Ok, then?

Harper’s Index    

Portion of US stock market activity that is made up of computer assisted ‘micro-trades’: 1/2

Unusual Fact of the Day

In 1970, the Oregon Department of Transportation used a half ton of dynamite to blow up a sperm whale carcass. The blast showered the beach with rotten blubber, and one piece of debris crushed a car.

Joke-of-the-day

One day an employee came in to work with both of his ears bandaged.

When his boss asked him what happened, he explained:

"Yesterday I was ironing a shirt when the phone rang and I accidentally answered the iron instead of the phone!"

"Well," the boss said, "that explains one ear, but what about the other?"

"They called back!"  

Rules of Thumb:   

Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess

THWARTING A BURGLAR

The average burglar will spend only five or six minutes trying to break into a house. If you make your place look formidable, he'll go to your neighbor's instead.    

Yeah, It Really Happened

TEMPE, Ariz. - A meteorite found in California last year contained organic molecules, suggesting an extraterrestrial source for the evolution of life on Earth, scientists say. Researchers at Arizona State University found the so-called Sutter's Mill meteorite contains organic molecules not previously found in any meteorites, suggesting a far greater availability of extraterrestrial organic molecules than previously thought possible that could have contributed to molecular evolution on the early Earth. The rapid recovery of the California meteorite allowed scientists to study for the first time a primitive meteorite with little exposure to the elements, providing the most pristine look yet at the surface of primitive asteroids, a university release said Tuesday. The researchers conducted experiments on some of the meteor's fragments under hydrothermal conditions mimicking early Earth settings and observed the release of a complex mixture of oxygen-rich compounds and a large variety of long chain linear and branched polyether molecules. This addition to the inventory of organic compounds produced in extraterrestrial environments suggests their delivery to the early Earth by comets and meteorites might have aided the molecular evolution that preceded the origins of life on our planet, the researchers said.  

Somewhat Useless Information   

• Tanks were initially called "landships." However, in an attempt to disguise them as water storage tanks rather than as weapons, the British decided to code name them "tanks."

• Big Bertha was a 48-ton howitzer used by the Germans in WWI. It was named after the wife of its designer Gustav Krupp. It could fire a 2,050-lb shell a distance of 9.3 miles. However, it took a crew of 200 men six hours or more to assemble. Germany had 13 of these huge guns or "wonder weapons."

Calendar Information        

Happening This Week:

 15th-21st

Balance Awareness Week
Build A Better Image Week
Dating and Life Coach Recognition Week
National Clean Hands Week
National Farm & Ranch Safety and Health Week
National Indoor Plant Week

National Love Your Files Week

National Rehabilitation Awareness Week
National Singles Week
Pollution Prevention Week
Prostate Cancer Awareness Week

17th-23^rd

Constitution Week

Today Is                                                                      

·        International Women's Ecommerce Day

·        National Butterscotch Pudding Day

·        National Woman Road Warrior Day

·        Talk Like A Pirate Day

~~~~

·        Japan: Respect For the Aged Day ()

Today’s Events through History  

5 Spanish ships sink in storm off Tampa, about 600 die…1559

George Washington's farewell address as president…1796

Mickey Mouse's screen debut (Steamboat Willie)…1928

Simon & Garfunkel reunite for a NYC Central Park concert…1981

Start of the walking for the "Walking Purchase" from the Delaware…1737

Today’s Birthdays                                                           

Adam West, actor (Batman, Last Precinct) is 85

David McCallum, Glasgow Scot, actor (Man From UNCLE. NCIS) is 80

Randolph Mantooth, actor (Emergency, Loving) is 68

Jeremy Irons, Isle of Wight, England, actor (Reversal of Fortune, The Lion King) is 65

Twiggy Lawson, [Leslie Hornby], England, model/actress is 64

Joan Lunden, news host (Good Morning America) is 63

Soledad O'Brien, American journalist is 47

Trisha Yearwood, country singer (Sweetest Gift) is 49

Remembered for being born today

Jean Baptiste Joseph Delambre, French mathematician and astronomer [1749-1822]

"Mama" Cass Elliot, rock vocalist (Mamas & The Papas) [1941-1974]

Ricardo Cortez [Jacob Krantz], actor and director (The Maltese Falcon) [1900-1977]

Joe Pasternak, Transylvania, producer (Spinout, Where the Boys Are) [1901-1991]

James Van Alen, created Simplified Scoring System for tennis [1902-1991]

William Golding, Cornwall, novelist (Lord of the Flies-Nobel 1983) [1911-1993]

Ferry Porsche, Austrian automobile pioneer [1909-1998]

Today’s Historical Obits                                                           

Orville Reddenbacher, popcorn magnate…1995…@88

Chester F Carlson, inventor (photocopying)…heart attack…1968…@62

Red Foley, country singer… respiratory failure…1968…@58

James A Garfield, 20th President…gunshot wound…1881…@49

Brain Teasers

The George in question is George Washington, specifically the picture of Washington on the quarter. He was, in fact, dead when he was found. As he is on a coin, he would be nearly flat, and cool to the touch. Finally, when you turn the quarter over, on the "back of the head" you will find a perching eagle.

Disclaimer: All opinions are mine…feel free to agree or disagree.

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  §