Dec 8



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Dec. 8, 2019 Week: 50  Day: 342
86004:   H 54° \ L 36° \ Average Sky Cover: 50%

Nearest lightning:  1935mi
Nearest active fire:  468mi.  
Wind:   3mph\Gusts:  7mph  Visibility: 10 mi

Record High: 63°[2015]   Record Low: -23°[1978]
Dec. Averages: 44°\17° (5 days with moisture)

Today’s Quote

“We do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors,
we borrow it from our Children.”
Chief Seattle
~ Native American Proverb

Random Tidbits

The US Mint began putting notches, called reeding, on the edges of coins containing gold and silver to discourage holders from shaving off small quantities of the precious metals.
Dimes, quarters and half dollars are notched because they used to contain silver.
Pennies and nickels aren't notched because the metals they contain are not valuable enough to shave.

Observances This Week

1-7
Cookie Cutter Week Link
National Hand Washing Awareness Week 
Link  
Recipe Greetings For The Holidays Week
Older Driver Safety Awareness Week
 Link  

3-10
Clerc-Gallaudet Week Link

3-24
Andisop (Meteorological Fiddling  Link

Observances for Today

AFL-CIO Day
Bodhi Day  
Link [Traditional]
International Children's Day
National Brownie Day
Worldwide Candle Lighting Day (The Compassionate Friends) Link
World Choral Day 
 Link 
World Pear Day 
Link

My Rambling Thoughts

Happy camper, I got a call from the local company where I brought my mattress & foundation letting me know they would be delivering around 10am. Sure enough, at 10:02 they pulled up. They moved my old stuff downstairs and brought the new stuff upstairs. No hassle, no problems. I checked and they had already put Scotchguard on the new mattress. They called in my card, since I had only made a down payment when I bought it. I asked why they didn’t use the magic phone square where they can simply swipe my card. Turns out, the people who sell you that magic little square charge the company 3% of all sales, on top of the 1.5% the credit card company charges. Interesting and I’ll keep that in mind when I buy something that uses the cute little gadget. After they left, I set up both beds with clean and/or new stuff. Nice. Can’t wait till tonight when I can sleep on it.

The piles of snow continue to melt slowly. All the icicles are gone, but snow on the roof continues to send droplets of water off the roof, making a nice little shower out my office window.

I have never been to Saudi Arabia; I don’t personally know any Saudi citizens. May knowledge is limited to what I read and seeing Saudi on two different trips to Abu Dubai on different Focus trips. Wondering now what happened in Pensacola when a Saudi was being trained by the US, on a naval base, and the Saudi goes on a shooting rampage, killing at least 3 Americans and injuring at least 8. I have to wonder if this will change America’s relationship with the Saudi leadership?

No pain today from my dental appointment yesterday, even though he warned me there might be some. His assistant had made a Christmas play list from Spotify to be played over the office speakers. She is young and all the songs were recent Christmas songs, except for Feliz Navidad which was scattered throughout the play list by different artists. I’m old and a bit traditional, so I didn’t recognize most of the songs. The music wasn’t bad, but it didn’t put me in the Christmas mood as I want to hear ‘traditional’ Christmas music to get me in the spirit. I am going to check out Spotify to find some ‘real’ Christmas music.


Today’s Puzzle
Answer at the bottom of this page

Before Francisco de Orellana attempted to discover the source of the river Amazon, which was the world's longest river?

Historical Events

1854 - Pope Pius IX proclaimed that the Immaculate Conception, was Roman Catholic dogma, stating that Mary was conceived without 'original sin.'

1881 - A fire at the Ring Theater in Vienna, Austria, killed over 600 people.

1886 American Federation of Labor (AFL) formed by 26 craft unions Samuel Gompers elected AFL president
1896 - Lemon Squeezer patent (# 572,849) was issued to the Black-American inventor J.T. White.

1931 - AT&T gained the patent for coaxial cable (#1,835,031)

1941 - 1941 US President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivers "Day of Infamy" speech to US Congress a day after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Almost everyone in the US congress voted to go to war with Japan. Montana's Jeanette Rankin was the only person to vote against it.

1941 - The Chinese government announced that they would back the allies, the Unites States and Great Britain against Germany, Italy and Japan.

1952 - On the CBS show I Love Lucy, a pregnancy was acknowledged in a TV show for the first time, with the announcement that 'Me and my husband are about to have a blessed event.'


1965 - Broadway Show - Cactus Flower (Play) opened

1979 - #1 Hit: Styx - Babe

1980 - John Lennon was shot by Mark David Chapman outside of his home in New York City.

1982 - Sophie's Choice, starring Meryl Streep, opened in theaters.

1983 - England's House of Lords voted in favor of allowing cameras to broadcast live television proceedings from its chamber.


1990 - #1 Hit: Stevie B - Because I Love You (The Postman Song)

1993 - The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) between Canada, Mexico and the United states, was signed into law by President Bill Clinton.

1987 - Frank Vitkovic entered the Melbourne Queen Street Post Office and opened fire on customers and staff with a sawed-off shotgun, killing eight before killing himself. One of the earliest instances of 'going postal' also happened in Australia in 1926.

1989 - The War of the Roses debuted in theaters.

1994 - A new element (#111) was created, named unununium, symbol 'Uuu'

1995 - The Grateful Dead announced they were breaking up after 30 years, a few months after the death of bandmate Jerry Garcia.

2010 With the second launch of the SpaceX Dragon, SpaceX becomes the first privately held company to successfully launch, orbit and recover a spacecraft.

2013 – Metallica performed a show in Antarctica, making them the first band to perform on all seven continents.

Birthdays Today

@85 - William C. Durant, American businessman, founder
of General Motors and Chevrolet
(died in 1947)

@83 - Maximilian Schell, Austrian-Swiss actor
(died in 2014)

@72 - David Carradine, American actor
(died in 2009; autoerotic asphyxiation)

@70 - Diego Rivera, Mexican painter and educator
(died in 1957)

@69 - Gregg Allman, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
(died in 2017; liver cancer)

@66 - James Thurber, American humorist and cartoonist (died in 1961; blood clot/pneumonia)

66 - Kim Basinger, American actress

@64 - Sammy Davis, Jr., American actor, singer, and dancer
(died in 1990; throat cancer)

@64 - Lee J. Cobb, American actor
(died in 1976; heart attack)

@59 - Eli Whitney, American engineer, and inventor- Cotton Gin
(died in 1825; prostate cancer)

58 - Ann Coulter, American conservative

55 - Teri Hatcher, American actress

53 - Sinéad O'Connor, Irish singer-songwriter

@43 - Elzie Crisler ‘E.C. Segar’, American cartoonist, creator of Popeye
(died in 1938; leukemia)

37 - Nicki Minaj, Trinidadian-American rapper and actress

35 - Sam Hunt, American country singer-songwriter

@27 - Jim Morrison, American singer-songwriter, 27 Club (died in 1971; heart failure)

Puzzle answer:

The Amazon has always been the world's longest river - even before it was 'discovered'.



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Flagstaff, Arizona, United States
I retired in '06--at the ripe old age of 57. I enjoy blogging, photography, traveling, and living life to it's fullest.