Jan 11

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Jan. 11, 2020 Week: 1  Day:11

86004:   H 33° \ L 11° \ Average Sky Cover: 5%

Nearest lightning:  751mi.; Nearest active fire:  287mi.  

Wind:   3mph\Gusts:  8mph  Visibility: 10 mi

Record High: 63°[1990]   Record Low: -23°[1913]

Jan. Averages: 43°\16° (22” days with snow)

Today’s Einstein Quote

Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen.

Random Tidbits

7% of American adults believe that chocolate milk comes from brown cows.

That actually works out at 16.4 million American adults.

Observations This Week

Home Office Safety and Security Week: 5-11 

National Folic Acid Awareness Week: 5-11

Dating & Life Coaches Recognition Week: 5-11

National Lose Weight/Feel Great Week: 5-11

Elvis' Birthday Celebration Week: 8-11

Cuckoo Dancing Week: 11-17

Observations for Today

Cigarettes Are Hazardous To Your Health Day
Eagle Day
Learn Your Name in Morse Code Day Link
National Hot Toddy Day

National Human Trafficking Awareness Day Link
National Milk Day

National Vision Board Day

Step in a Puddle and Splash Your Friend's Day

My Rambling Thoughts

Our weekly retirement group lunch lasted a long time as we all shared stories of pics of our Christmas adventures. All good, as I really enjoy hearing the enthusiasm in their story telling. Mary also had some great stories about her every-two-week lunch with her church elderlies. Mary is the youthful one as all others are over 80 and four are over 90. They do separate checks when they order. Then when the order comes, most have forgotten what they ordered. Then the bill comes after the meal. Lots of digging for change, comments on how this or that was good, but very expensive and ‘I didn’t order that, this is not my bill’. It always ends well as they plan their next luncheon.

It started snowing early last evening.  I had just done a quick $5 car wash the day before to get all the road gunk off my ride from the previous storm. By this morning, the sun was shining. Weatherman sez we got about 3-1/2” of the white stuff, but by noon, most was melted. And my clean car ain’t clean no more.

An astronomer friend sent me a great article about Vera Rubin. She passed in 2016 @88, but during her career she did amazing studies of black holes and dark matter. Some of that work was done right here at Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff. Her work, over decades, is being recognized by naming a new observatory in Chile after her. Very cool.

Last year the Power Plant near Lake Powell, and the coal mine near Kayenta permanently closed after decades of operation. Not only did the mine and plant provide much needed jobs for several generations of Navajo, it also provided much needed coal for local Navajo and Hopi at basically no cost. They just had to load up the coal by pulling their vehicle under a dump spot and let the coal fall in. Prior to the mine opening, Navajo had wood stoves for cooking and heat. Many switched to coal as it burned and heated better than local wood, and was much less labor intensive to get. Now, with the mine closed, hundreds of Navajo and Hopi families have to return to wood. The elderly are in need of help, and the younger generations have never had to find, chop, or haul wood before for the cold winter nights. We are all aware that times change, and the hope is always that the change will make life more convenient. In this case, they are turning to the pre-1960’s and life suddenly got much harder. Sad.

Today’s Puzzle

Answer at the bottom of the page

How many birthdates does the average Japanese woman have?

Historical Events

1908 - The Grand Canyon National Monument was created.

1922 - Leonard Thompson (1908-35) was the first person to receive an injection of insulin as a treatment for diabetes.

1927 - Louis B. Mayer, head of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), announced the creation of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, at a banquet in Los Angeles, California.

1935 - Amelia Earhart became the first person to fly solo from Hawaii to California.

1949 - It snowed in Los Angeles for the first time (that we know of)

1958 - #1 Hit: Danny & the Juniors - At The Hop

1964 - US Surgeon General Dr. Luther Leonidas Terry, M.D., published the first governmental report saying that smoking may be hazardous to health.

1973 - Major League Baseball owners voted to approve of the American League adopting the designated hitter position.

1995 - The WB Television Network was launched.

2005 - The iPod Shuffle (1st generation) was released.

2007 Author J. K. Rowling finishes the 7th and last Harry Potter novel in room 552 of the Balmoral Hotel, Edinburgh

2018 US President Donald Trump causes worldwide controversy when it is reported he called African countries "shitholes" during immigration meeting

Birthdays Today

@102 - Albert Hofmann, Swiss chemist and academic, discoverer of LSD (died in 2008)

@89 - Carroll Shelby, American race car driver, engineer, and businessman, founded Carroll Shelby International (died in 2012)

@84 - James Paget, English surgeon and pathologist (died in 1899)

@82 - David L. Wolper, American director and producer (died in 2010)

74 - Naomi Judd, American singer-songwriter and actress

@68 - William James, American psychologist (died in 1910)

67 - Lee Ritenour, American guitarist

@58 - Darryl Dawkins, American basketball player and coach (died in 2015; heart attack?)

49 - Mary J. Blige, American singer-songwriter

@47 - Alexander Hamilton, Nevisian-American, American politician, 1st United States Secretary of the Treasury (died in 1804; shot in duel)

36 - Matt Mullenweg, American web developer, co-created WordPress

33 - Scotty Cranmer, American Professional BMX rider

Puzzle Answer:

According to the World Health Organization, Japanese women tend to have the highest life expectancy. However, Japanese women, like women in the rest of the world, only have "one" birthdate (the day that they were born).