Jul 23

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Jul. 23, 2019 Week: 30 \ Day: 204

86004:   H 87° \ L 59° \ Average Sky Cover: Smokey 

Nearest wildfire:  3mi. Nearest lightning:  132mi

Wind:   7mph\Gusts:  7mph

Visibility: 8 mi

Record High: 92°[1996]   Record Low: 37°[1987]

Jul Averages: 82°\542° (8 day with rain)

Today’s Quote

Firefighters are some of the most selfless public servants you will ever encounter. Denis Leary

Random Tidbits

The United States has 71,862 tons of nuclear waste. Waste can stay dangerous for tens of thousands of years. The industry's nuclear pile of waste is growing about 2,200 tons a year. Some waste sites contain four times the amount of spent fuel they were designed to handle.

The first nuclear-powered surface vessel was the Russian icebreaker Lenin. The largest nuclear powered surface ship is the 1,100-foot-long USS George H.W. Bush, the most recent of the Nimitz Class carriers which was commissioned in 2009.

The U.S.S. Nautilus was the first nuclear-powered submarine and was put to sea in December 1954. Named after the submarine in Jules Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, she was the first vessel to travel submerged under the North Pole, on August 3, 1958. She was decommissioned in 1980 and has been preserved as a National Historic Landmark.

Observances This Week

6-28
Tour de France

18-25

Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS) Education & Awareness Week

20-24

National Scrabble Week Link 

20-28

National Moth Week Link

21-27

Captive Nations Week
International Lace Week  Link

National Independent Retailers Week Link  
National Zoo Keeper Week Link

RAGBRAI

Observances for Today

Gorgeous Grandma Day

Hot Enough For Ya Day

Official* Hot Dog Day

Vanilla Ice Cream Day

My Rambling Thoughts

On the top of my mind today is this 1000+ acre fire on the mountain near my place. Yesterday I learned about the ‘Ready, Set, Go’ program. First text message said ‘Get READY for an evacuation. Gather important papers, meds, cell phone and charger and pets, and know where you can go. This morning the text said, ‘Get Set’, have your papers, meds, phone, charger, pets and plan SET for evacuation. I’ve lived around here for many years. Good to know our town is prepared. I have faith I won’t have to evacuate the area but am prepared if that happens. The trash man just made his daily run, a good sign.

Today, in 1914, my father was born. He and his sister were raised by a single mom after his father had a heart attack on Christmas Eve when he was only 5 years old. He was in both the Navy (volunteered) and the Army (drafted after Pearl Harbor) He married my mom in 1939 and lived 80 good years. He worked as an accountant. He and my mom raised two adopted sons. They provided a good life for the family. He passed in 1994 and is still missed.

More on the fires…planes are finally back in the air. Seems there are idiots in our area who keep flying drones over the fire area. When a drone is spotted, all air traffic ceases. I am getting numerous messages to report any drone to 911. There are 200 firefighters on the line, numerous aircraft dropping water when they can fly.

Holy crap…local police are going door to door in my complex. Telling me to tie a white shoestring on our door if I  evacuate, so they won’t break down the door trying to save me.

Today’s Puzzle

Answer at the bottom of this page

I was born in the 18th century, yet still live on today. Appearing on TV when I have something to say. Called everything from "honest" to a dirty rotten "crook", I used to wear a wig, but have had several looks. I've always had a party, but never disturb the neighbors. I've been shot at many times - major stories for the papers. What am I?

Today’s Highlighted Historical Events

1700’s

1798 Napoleon captures Alexandria, Egypt

1800’s

1829 William Austin Burt patents America's first "typographer" (typewriter)

1900’s

1900 The Canadian government reviews immigration policy, prohibiting criminals and paupers from landing in Canada

1904 Ice cream cone created during St Louis World Fair - the 1st cone reputedly by Charles E. Menches

1937 Isolation of pituitary hormone announced (Yale University)

1946 Menachem Begin's Zionist militant group Irgun bombs the King David Hotel, the then British administrative headquarters for Palestine

1967 First successful liver transplant, on 19 month old Julie Rodriguez by Dr Starzl at the University of Colorado

1973 US President Richard Nixon refuses to release Watergate tapes of conversations in the White House relevant to the Watergate investigation

1982 International Whaling Commission votes for total ban on commercial whaling (starting 1985)

1994 Goodwill Games open in St Petersburg

2000’s

2014 20th Commonwealth Games open in Glasgow, Scotland

2015 NASA's Kepler mission announces discovery of the most Earth-like planet yet - Kepler-452b, 1,400 light years from Earth

2018 International Monetary Fund predicts inflation of 1 million percent in Venezuela by end of 2018

Highlighted Birthdays Today

0’s

1892 Haile Selassie

[Ras Tafari Makonnen],

Emperor of Ethiopia (1930-74), born in Ejersa Goro, Ethiopian Empire (d. 1975: @83)

1894 Arthur Treacher,

English TV announcer (Merv Griffin Show), born in Brighton, England (d. 1975: @81)

1967 Philip Seymour Hoffman,

American actor (Capote, Moneyball), born in Fairport, New York (d. 2014: @46: accidental suicide )

58- Woody Harrelson,

American actor (Woody Boyd in Cheers), born in Midland, Texas

54- Slash

[Saul Hudson],

English-American rock guitarist & songwriter (Guns N' Roses-Sweet Child o' Mine), born in London, England

46- Monica Lewinsky,

American White House intern (improper relationship with Bill Clinton), born in San Francisco, California

30- Daniel Radcliffe,

English actor (Harry Potter in the Harry Potter series of movies), born in London, England

Highlighted Historical Obits Today

90’s

@93-2010 Daniel Schorr,

American broadcast journalist (CBS)

@92-2001 Eudora Welty,

American novelist (Optimist's Daughter-Pulitzer 1973)

70’s

@73-1948 D.W. Griffith,

American director and producer, dies of cerebral hemorrhage

60’s

@67-1951 Robert Flaherty,

American filmmaker and the father of documentary film (Nanook of North)

@63-1885 Ulysses S. Grant,

18th US President (1869-77) and Union general, dies of esophageal cancer

@61-2012 Sally Ride,

American astronaut and 1st American woman in space, dies of pancreatic cancer

20’s

@27-2011 Amy Winehouse,

British singer songwriter, dies from alcohol poisoning

Puzzle answer:

The Office of the President of the United States.