Aug 24

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Aug. 24, 2019 Week: 34  Day: 236

86004:   H 82° \ L 54° \ Average Sky Cover: 5% 

Nearest wildfire:  23mi.  Nearest lightning:  161mi

Wind:   11mph\Gusts:  11mph  Visibility: 10 mi

Record High: 91°[1985]   Record Low: 30°[1968]

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

Today’s Quote

People are not disturbed by things,

but by the view they take of them.

Epictetus

Random Tidbits

President Trump and congress are on track to create the biggest budget deficit in an expanding economy. But the U.S. is no stranger to debt.

The U.S. was in debt even in its first yearly report on January 1, 1791, in the amount of $75,463,476.52. Every president since Truman has added to the national debt.

When Reagan took office, U.S. debt was under $1 trillion. After he left eight years later, debt was $2.6 trillion and the U.S. had moved from being the world's largest international creditor to the world's largest debtor nation.

Observances This Week

15-25

Little League World Series

18-24

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

24-9/1

Chuckwagon Races: 

Observances for Today

Knife Day Link

International Bat Night: thru-25 

National Peach Pie Day

National Waffle Iron Day Link

Sand Castle Day Link

Pluto Demoted Day

Vesuvius Day

Wayzgoose Day Link

William Wilberforce Day

My Rambling Thoughts

There are currently about a half-dozen small wildfires…all contained…in N. AZ. The big Museum fire, which effected so many of us in Flag, has a price tag for suppression of over $12million from a variety of resources and the cost continues to grow. Thank goodness for the first responders who are keeping things under control. We need moisture NOW!

I have a neighbor, about 2 units away who is a flutist. For the past few weeks, she practices with her door/window open. It’s a nice sound and relaxing. I just wish she would play longer tunes. She only plays about 20 minutes/session. 

As the horrific fires in the Amazon continue to grow, finally there is talk about the various indigenous tribes that are being affected by the devastation.  In the past 3 months, 500million bees have died in Brazil. These fires are a world-wide emergency. 20% of the earth’s oxygen comes from the Amazon. Most if not all the fires are started by humans who want to clear the Amazon of tribes for big farming and mineral searches, an idea the dictator of Brazil is pushing.

I finally got on line to pick my Focus Tahiti excursions. Quite a list and have to review several emails to see what others are doing. The plan is to decide on Sunday.

On Saturday our discussion group meets to discuss ‘Cyber Threats’. Should be interesting, after I do all the readings.

Today’s Puzzle

Answer at the bottom of this page

A chemist was murdered in his own lab. The only evidence was a piece of paper that had the names of chemical substances written on it. The substances were nickel, carbon, oxygen, lanthanum, and sulfur.

The chemist only had three people come by his lab on the day of the murder: fellow scientist Claire, his nephew Nicolas, his wife, and his friend Marc.

The police arrested the murderer right away. How did they know who it was?

Historical Events

79 (Volcano Eruption) Mount Vesuvius erupted. The cities of Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Stabiae were buried in volcanic ash, although some scholars believe it was October 24th.

1215 - Pope Innocent III declared Magna Carta invalid.

1456 - The printing of the Gutenberg Bible was completed.

1635 - Great Colonial Hurricane of 1635, Colonial USA

1662 - The Act of Uniformity requires England to accept the Book of Common Prayer.

1682 - William Penn received the area that is now the state of Delaware, and added it to his colony of Pennsylvania.

1690 - Job Charnock of the East India Company establishes a factory in Calcutta, essentially founding the city.

1875 - Navy Captain Matthew Webb began his swim as the first person to swim the English Channel without a life preserver

1891 - Thomas Edison applied for his patent (#589,168) the motion picture projector (kinetograph). It was approved on August 31.

1932 - Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly across the United States non-stop, from Los Angeles to Newark, New Jersey.

1959 - #1 Hit: The Browns - The Three Bells

1974 - #1 Hit: Paul Anka and Odia Coates - (You're) Having My Baby

1979 - The Facts of Life premiered on NBC.

1985 - #1 Hit: Huey Lewis and the News - The Power of Love

1989 - Pete Rose was banned from baseball for life.

1995 - Microsoft Windows 95 was released.

1998 - First radio-frequency identification (RFID) human implantation was tested in the United Kingdom.

Birthdays Today

Kenny Baker, actor (R2D2 in Star Wars) (d. 2016 @81)

Vince McMahon, wrestling promoter (74)

Steve Guttenberg, actor, author (61)

Cal Ripken Jr, MLB star (59)

Craig Kilborn, actor, commentator (57)

Marlee Matlin, movie/TV actor (54)

Dave Chappelle, comedian (46)

Chad Michael Murray, actor (38)

Rupert Grint, British actor (Harry Potter: Ron Weasley) (31)

Puzzle answer:

There was a very obvious clue on the piece of paper. If you combine the abbreviations of the chemical substances on the paper, you’ll get a name: Ni-C-O-La-S.