Jan 23

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Jan 23, 2019 Week: 03  \ Day: 23

86004 Today: H 40° \ L 12° \ Average Sky Cover: 5% 

Wind:   6mph\Gusts:  18mph Visibility: 10 mi

Record High: 61°[1970]   Record Low: -15°[1937]

Jan Averages: 43°\11°

Today’s Quote

It's not what happens to you,

but how you react to it that matters.

Epictetus

Random Tidbits

A common urban myth is that daddy longlegs have the most toxic venom of all spiders, but their fangs are too small to bite. We now know that these critters aren't even spiders, and to thoroughly debunk the myth, daddy longlegs don't have venom glands or even fangs. So, no, if you come across a daddy longlegs in the garden, you aren't looking at a deadly creature.

More features that set daddy longlegs apart from spiders are that they don't form webs, or even make silk. They also have a pill-shaped body, without the "waist" that spiders have between body segments. They have just two eyes - not eight - and they can each chunks of food, not just liquids.

Sure, they have long legs, but they aren't really into running away when faced with danger. Daddy longlegs will just curl their legs in and play dead if they're disturbed. The hope is that along with their excellent camouflage color, a predator won't be able to see them if they aren't moving. They'll play dead for several minutes, just to be sure they're out of danger

Observances This Week

17-23

National Fresh Squeezed Juice Week

18-25

Week of Christian Unity

19-27

International Snowmobile Safety and Awareness Week

20-26

Clean Out Your Inbox Week

Healthy Weight Week

Hunt For Happiness Week

National Activity Professionals Week

National CRNA (Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists) Week

National Handwriting Analysis Week

National School Choice Week

Sugar Awareness Week

No Name Calling Week

22-25

International Hoof-Care Week

Observances for Today

National Handwriting Day

National Pie Day

Paul Pitcher Day 

Snowplow Mailbox Hockey Day

My Rambling Thoughts

Sun shining but a tad windy & chilly. Snow and ice are gone.

And the shutdown goes on and on. I don’t think any American voted for this. [side note: A long, long time ago when I was teaching our entire department’s manual timesheets disappeared…twice. The first time Payroll in Albuquerque covered for my boss. The second time there was no fixing it. We were all called together and told that we would not be getting a paycheck until the next pay period and it would cover both paychecks. When our checks arrived two weeks later we were shocked…the payroll machine had taken out taxes and retirement as if the double check was our normal 2-week salary and that meant MORE than double the taxes and retirement pay-in. And weeks later we all got a bill for health and life insurance that wasn’t paid in the normal check. I’m sure the system is still in use.] Something this shutdown has not addressed. And I heard this morning that many banks are allowing loan payments to be paid after the shutdown ends. Except, the non-payment[s] are still reported to the Credit Bureaus.

Today’s Significant Historical Events

1600’s

1647 Scottish Presbyterians sell captured Charles I

          to English parliament

1700’s

1789 Georgetown, 1st US Catholic college, founded

1793 Humane Society of Philadelphia (1st aid

          society) organized

1800’s

1849 Elizabeth Blackwell becomes 1st woman in the

          US to earn a medical degree

1900’s

1930 Clyde Tombaugh photographs planet Pluto in

          Flagstaff, AZ

1933 20th amendment, which changed the date of

          US presidential inaugurations to 20th January,

          is ratified

1964 24th Amendment to the United States

          Constitution ratified, barring poll tax in federal

          elections

1973 Helgafell, island of Heimaey Iceland erupts for

          1st time in 7,000 yrs

1978 Sweden becomes the first nation in the world

          to ban aerosol sprays, believed to be

          damaging to earth's ozone layer.

2000’s

2001 The Chinese Communist Party stages a self-

          immolation in Tiananmen Square to frame

          Falun Gong and escalate the persecution.

2002 Reporter Daniel Pearl kidnapped in Karachi,

          Pakistan, and subsequently murdered.

2016 Category 5 blizzard delivers record 3ft of snow

          to the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast US, killing 55

          and incurring estimated $500m - $3bn

          economic losses

2016 8 museum workers from Egyptian Museum,

          Cairo referred for prosecution for reattaching

          Tutankhamun's beard with inappropriate glue

2018 Twelve camels disqualified from the King

          Abdulaziz Camel beauty contest, Saudi Arabia

          after their owners used Botox on their lips

Birthdays Today

1737 John Hancock,

American merchant & statesman who was 1st

to sign the Declaration of Independence, born

in Braintree, Massachusetts

(d. 1793)@56

1832 Edouard Manet,

French impressionist painter (Olympia, The

Luncheon on the Grass), born in Paris, France

(d. 1883)-@51- syphilis & rheumatism

1888 Paul Peter Ewald,

German Crystallographer and physicist who

devised the theory of X-ray interference by

crystals and pioneered X-ray diffraction

methods, born in Berlin, Germany

(d. 1985)-@97

1918 Gertrude B. Elion,

American biochemist and drug researcher who

developed groundbreaking leukemia and

herpes drug treatments (Nobel 1988), born in

NYC, New York

(d. 1999)-@81

1919 Ernie Kovacs,

American comedian (Ernie Kovacs' Show), born

in Trenton, New Jersey

(d. 1962)-@42-dies in auto accident

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76- Gil Gerard,

American actor (Buck Rogers in 25th Century),

born in Little Rock, Arkansas

69- Richard Dean Anderson,

American actor (MacGyver, Emerald Pt NAS),

born in Minneapolis, Minnesota

68- Chesley Sullenberger III,

American pilot (successfully executed

emergency landing US Airways Flight 1549 in

the Hudson River), born in Denison, Texas

66- Antonio Villaraigosa,

Hispanic-American 52nd Mayor of Los Angeles,

born in East Los Angeles

55- Mariska Hargitay,

American actress (Law and Order: Special

Victims Unit), born in Santa Monica, California

45- Tiffani Theissen,

American actress (Saved by Bell, 90210), born

in Long Beach, California

Historical Obits Today

@96-2011 Jack LaLanne,

American fitness and nutritional expert

@89-1989 Salvador Dali,

Spanish surrealist artist (Crucifixion)

@83-2015 Ernie Banks,

American baseball shortstop, 1st baseman and

hall of famer known as "Mr Cub" as he played

all 19 of his seasons with the Chicago Cubs,

dies of a heart attack

@80-1944 Edvard Munch,

Norwegian painter (The Scream), bequeathed

all of his work to the city of Oslo

@79-2005 Johnny Carson,

American comedian and TV host (The Tonight

Show, Who Do You Trust), dies of respiratory

failure arising from emphysema

@77-1976 Paul Robeson,

American singer (Old Man River), actor and

civil rights activist,

dies of stroke

@77-1803 Arthur Guinness,

Irish brewer (founder of Guinness brewery)

@76-2004 Bob Keeshan,

American actor (Captain Kangaroo)

@54-2003 Nell Carter,

American actress (Nell-Gimme a Break, Lobo),

dies of heart disease

@49-1931 Anna Pavlova,

Russian prima ballerina and choreographer

(Diaghilew, Dying Swan),

dies from pneumonia