Aug 19

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Aug. 19, 2019 Week: 34  Day: 231

86004:   H 83° \ L 52° \ Average Sky Cover: 20% 

Nearest wildfire:  21mi.  Nearest lightning:  297mi

Wind:   16mph\Gusts:  25mph  Visibility: 10 mi

Record High: 88°[1973]   Record Low: 35°[1979]

Aug Averages: 79°\50° (9 day with rain)

Today’s Quote

The most I can do for my friend is simply be his friend.

Henry David Thoreau

Random Tidbits

The world's biggest spider is the goliath spider (Theraphosa blondi). It can grow up to 11 inches wide, and its fangs are up to one inch long. It hunts frogs, lizards, mice, and even small snakes and young birds.

The world's smallest spider is the Patu marplesi. It is so small that 10 of them could fit on the end of a pencil.

Observances This Week

15-21

National Aviation Week

15-25

Little League World Series

18-24

Minority Enterprise Development Week
National Chef's Appreciation Week  Link )

Observances for Today

Aviation Day

"Black Cow" Root Beer Float Day
Coco Chanel Day
Cupcake Day Link 
International Bow Day Link
International Orangutan Day   Link
National Potato Day

National Soft-Serve Ice Cream Day
National Hot & Spicy Food Day

World Humanitarian Day Link 
World Photo Day  Link

My Rambling Thoughts

Lazy Sunday. Sat on the deck to read the Sunday Paper. Little could be a better way to spend part of the morning. It’s warm and friendly out there.

This country is well-known for its low voter turnout. Lots of excuses as to why it happens: people are working on Tuesdays, one vote doesn’t really matter, no time to prepare for the vote, doesn’t really matter who wins as nothing really changes. Law makers don’t want to change anything, because they won. In most democracies, voting day is a legal holiday, stores are closed, and they have a much higher voter turnout. Early in my career I voted after work, until one Presidential election where I was in line from 5:10p-7:15p before voting. Polls closed at 7p, unless one was in line. After that, I voted before work, getting to the poll about 7a and always being voter #1 or voter #2. Now that I’m retired I vote around 10a and am one of the first 20 voters every time. I'm all for making Vote Day a National Holiday, with all business closed while the polls are open.  All employees would be given a minimum of 2 hours paid leave to vote. First Responders, and essential employees would be given a minimum of 2 hours paid leave to vote. Non-workers on public assistance would receive a 2% increase in their benefits for voting that month. To be a democracy, people have to be involved.  Just an idea.

Today’s Puzzle

Answer at the bottom of this page

A Japanese ship was leaving the port and on its way to open sea. The captain went to go oil some parts of the ship and took his ring off so it wouldn’t get damaged. He left it on the table next to his bunk. When he returned, it was missing. He had suspected three crew members could be guilty and asked them what they had been doing for the ten minutes that he had been gone.

The cook said, “I was in the kitchen preparing tonight’s dinner.”

The engineer said, “I was working in the engine room making sure everything was running smoothly.”

The seaman said, “I was on the mast correcting the flag because someone had attached it upside down by mistake.”

The captain immediately knew who it was. How?

Historical Events

295 BC - The first temple to Venus, the Roman goddess of love, beauty and fertility, was dedicated by Quintus Fabius Maximus Gurges

1612 - The "Samlesbury witches", three women from the Lancashire village of Samlesbury, England, were put on trial, accused of practicing witchcraft, with all three of the Samlesbury women acquitted.

1692 - In Salem, Province of Massachusetts Bay, five people, one woman and four men, including a clergyman, are executed after being convicted of witchcraft at the Salem Witch Trials.

1812 - American frigate USS Constitution defeated the British frigate HMS Guerriere off the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada, earning the nickname "Old Ironsides".

1848 - The New York Herald published the news to the East Coast of the US about the Gold Rush in California.

1909 - The first automobile race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

1934 - The first All-American Soap Box Derby was held in Dayton, Ohio.

1950: Gordon Jenkins and The Weavers - Goodnight Irene

1960 - With Korabl-Sputnik 2, the Soviet Union launched the satellite with the dogs Belka and Strelka, 40 mice, two rats and a variety of plants. All of the creatures survived

1964 - Syncom 3, the first geostationary communication satellite, was launched.

1967: The Beatles - All You Need Is Love

1973 - The (real) Texas Chain Saw Massacre occurred.

1991 - Black groups targeted Hasidic Jews on the streets of Crown Heights in New York, New York for three days, after two black children were hit by a car driven by a Hasidic man.

2006: Fergie - London Bridge

Birthdays Today

Coco Chanel (d. 1971 @87)

Orville Wright, aviator

(d. 1948 @76)

Bill Clinton, 42^nd US President (73)

Ogden Nash, poet

(d.1971 @68; Crohn’s Disease)

Philo T. Farnsworth, inventor [300+ for TV]

(d. 1971 @64; pneumonia)

John Stamos, actor (56)

Kyra Sedgwick, actor (54)

Kevin Dillon, actor (Entourage) (54)

Matthew Perry, actor (50)

Tracie Thoms, actor (Rent; Cold Case) (45)

Puzzle answer:

It was clearly the seaman. It was a Japanese ship and a Japanese flag is white with a single red dot in the middle. It can’t be hung upside down.