Sep 4

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Sep. 4, 2019 Week: 36  Day: 247

86004:   H 84° \ L 53° \ Average Sky Cover: 30% 

Nearest wildfire:  80mi.  Nearest lightning:  114mi

Wind:   7mph\Gusts:  7mph  Visibility: 10 mi

Record High: 90°[1945]   Record Low: 27°[1961]

Sep Averages: 74°\42° (5 days with rain)

Today’s Quote

I am fond of pigs.

Dogs look up to us.

Cats look down on us.

Pigs treat us as equals.

Winston Churchill

Random Tidbits

Today's fun facts are all about bicycles!

In 1817, Karl von Drais, a German baron, invented a horseless carriage that would help him get around faster. The two-wheeled, pedal-less device was propelled by pushing your feet against the ground, the machine became known as the "draisine," and led to the creation of the modern-day bicycle.

The term "bicycle" was not introduced until the 1860s, when it was coined in France to describe a new kind of two-wheeler with a mechanical drive.

Observances This Month

Million Minute Family Challenge (September-December)
Mold Awareness Month
National Americana Month  Link
National Bake & Decorate Month
National Campus Safety Awareness Month Link
National Cheese Month  Link
National Chicken Month Link
National Child Awareness Month Link
National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month Link
National Chiari Awareness Month  Link  Link
National Coupon Month
National Disease Literacy Month Link
National DNA, Geonomics & Stem Cell Education Month
National Food Safety Education Month  Link
National Family Meals Month Link
National Fruit and Veggies Month 
National Guide Dog Month Link
National Head Lice Prevention Month
National Hispanic Heritage Month (9/15-10/15)
National Home Furnishings Month
National Honey Month Link
National Infant Mortality Awareness Month Link
National Mulled Cider Month Link
National Mushroom Month Link  Link
National Organic Harvest Month Link
National Osteopathic Medicine Month Link
National Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month (Gov't)
National Passport Awareness Month  Link
National Pet Memorial Month Link
National Preparedness Month  Link
National Prostate Cancer Awareness Month  Link
National Prime Beef Month Link
National Prosper Where You Are Planted Month
National Pulmonary Fibrosis Awareness Month  Link
National Recovery Month
National Rice Month
National Save A Tiger Month Link  Link
National Sewing Month  Link
National Service Dog Month
National Shake Month (Ice Cream)
National Sickle Cell Month  Link
National Skin Care Awareness Month
National Spinal Cord Injury Awareness Month  Link
National Suicide Prevention Month  Link
National Translators Month   Link
National Pediculosis (Head Lice)  Prevention Month Link
National Piano Month Link  Link
National Preparedness Month
National Wilderness Month

Observances This Week

1-5

Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over Link 

1-7

           International Enthusiasm Week
           National Nutrition Week (UNICEF-India) Link
           Self-University Week Link
           Substitute Teacher Appreciation Week
           National Waffle Week 

2-6

National Payroll Week 

3-4

Shetland Wool Week Link

3-7

Play Days 

4-7

Minimally Invasive Surgery Week Link

Observances for Today

Eat an Extra Dessert Day

National Macadamia Nut Day

Newspaper Carrier Day

My Rambling Thoughts

A Tuesday that feels like a Monday. Even retired, I still have to look at my calendar after a Monday holiday.

My Primary Doc is great. Last month I got a letter saying it was time to do my annual Medicare check to see if I’m still alive. Then on Friday I got another letter for the same thing. I looked back and my annual Medicare is around Sept. 20, my Service Comp Date (started work for Feds). I called today and made an appointment for Sept. 17. Two minutes later the lady called back and said it has to be later, after Sept. 21 as it has to be a year and a day after the last Medicare check. I changed it, and asked why I got two letters to remind me, she said she’d check to find out. Hmmm.

It looks like Florida is being spared, thankfully, from Dorian. That’s good. Some father north may have trouble. It just reminds me one of the many differences between Anglo culture and Native culture. In Native culture one tries to live with nature, in Anglo culture we try to control nature. Guess we still have a lot to learn about nature.

Today’s Puzzle

Answer at the bottom of this page

What English word has three consecutive double letters?

This one is pretty impossible, but use the facts you know about English to get on track. First, think of words with double vowels. And you must know this is probably going to be a compound word. The first and last letters of those combined words will form one set of double letters.

Historical Events

1682 - English astronomer Edmund Halley discovered the comet now named after him.

1781 - The city of Los Angeles was founded.

1833 - Barney Flaherty (age 10) was hired by the New York Sun as America's first newsboy.

1863 – Whitestone Hill Massacre, South Dakota: The Whitestone Hill Massacre saw the unnecessary murders of over 300 Yankton, Dakota, Hunkpapa and Sihasapa Lakota Men, Women, Elderly, Children, and BABIES by Brigadier General Alfred Sully. This unprovoked massacre was out of pure spite against the Dakota that had fled MN after the Dakota Conflict. The community was busy preparing for winter when the soldiers came upon them and were attacked and all properties destroyed, burned and stolen.

1888 - George Eastman patented his 1st roll-film camera and registered the "Kodak" name.

1893 - Beatrix Potter created Peter Rabbit when writing a letter to a friend dated today.

1900 - "Typhoid Mary" Mallon was a cook who was 'patient zero' for a series of Typhoid Fever outbreaks in the early 1900s. She claimed to have never been sick herself.

1951 - President Truman's address at the signing of the Japanese Peace Treaty (WW II) was broadcast.

1957 - Nine black students attempted to enter Little Rock Central High School but were blocked by the Arkansas National Guard. The next day, President Dwight D. Eisenhower ordered the 1,200-man 101st Airborne Battle Group of the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division from Fort Campbell, Kentucky, to escort the nine students into the school.

1957 - Ford introduced "The Edsel" automobile - one of the biggest business flops in history.

1961 - #1 Hit: The Highwaymen - Michael

1964 - NASA launched its 1st Orbital Geophysical Observatory (OGO-1). It is still in orbit.

1965 - #1 Hit: The Beatles - Help!

1971 - #1 Hit: Paul McCartney and Linda McCartney - Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey

1972 - Mark Spitz won his seventh gold medal in the 1972 Munich Olympics.

1976 - #1 Hit: Bee Gees - You Should Be Dancing

1982 - #1 Hit: Steve Miller Band - Abracadabra

1995- The series Xena: Warrior Princess which starred Lucy Lawless made its debut.

1999 - #1 Hit: Enrique Iglesias - Bailamos

2000 - Caillou & Clifford the Big Red Dog debuted on PBS

2002 - Kelly Clarkson won the first season of American Idol on FOX.

2012 - Live! with Kelly became Live! with Kelly and Michael, when Michael Strahan became the permanent co-host

Birthdays Today

Dr. Drew Pinsky, celebrity Doctor (61)

Damon Wayons, comedian (59)

Dick York, actor [Bewitched]

(d. 1992 @59 emphysema)

Mike Piazza, baseball catcher (51)

Matt Nix, screenwriter [Burn Notice] (48)

Carmit Bachar, American/Israeli singer [Pussycat Dolls] (45)

Max Greenfield, actor [Veronica Mars] (39)

Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter, singer (38)

Puzzle answer:

Bookkeeper