Apr 8

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Apr. 8, 2020 Week: 15 Day: 99

86004: H 61° \ L 33° \ Average Sky Cover: 5%

Wind: 8mph\Gusts: 14mph Visibility: 10 mi

Nearest lightning: 1378mi.; Nearest active fire: 131mi.

Record High: 78°[1989] Record Low: 14°[1999]

Apr. Averages: 60°\27° (3 days with moisture)

Today’s Quote

"It is during our darkest moments

that we must focus to see the light."

-Aristotle

Random Tidbits

Conspiracy theorists often claim that the gold vaults at Fort Knox are empty, but the United States government contends that Fort Knox houses a ton of gold. Actually, more. There is said to be more than 147.3 million ounces of gold. Nearly all of the gold has been converted into gold bars, each weighing about 27 pounds. That much gold, at the current market of gold, means that Fort Knox is storing about $190 billion worth of gold.

Back to those conspiracy theorists. They believe that the gold has all been removed and sold off and that the government, to keep up the ruse, has painted a whole bunch on tungsten bricks to look like gold bars, just in case someone does get a chance to peer inside the vault.

Observations This Week

Passiontide: 29-4/11
National Cherry Blossom Festival: 20-4/12 Link

******

National Dental Hygienest Week: 4-10 Link
Hate Week: 4-10
National Robotics Week: 4-12 Link CANCELLED due to COVID-19
Money Smart Week: 4-11 Link CANCELLED due to COVID-19
Bat Appreciation Week: 5-11
Holy Week: 5-11
National Blue Ribbon Week:  5-11 Link  (Child Abuse)National Public Health Week: 5-11
National Window Safety Week: 5-11
Undergraduate Research Week: 5-11 Link
World Irish Dancing Week: 5-12
American Indian Awareness Week:  6-10  Link CANCELLED due to COVID-19
Explore Your Career Options: 6-10
The Masters Tournament: 6-12

Observations for Today

All is Ours Day

Buddha Day (Historical Birth Date) Link
Draw A Bird Day    LinkInternational Roma Day

National Dog Fighting Awareness DayNational Empanada Day

Trading Cards for Grownups Day  Link
Passover begins at sundown

Zoo Lover's Day

My Rambling Thoughts

I got my walk in before the wind started. It is a really nice day and glad I took the walk a little early. To make the day better I'm limiting my news watching to 30 minutes in the morning...a different alphabet channel every day...and 30 minutes in the evening. That's enough to keep me grounded during this mess.

Many of our retirement group's local restaurant favorites are offering home delivery. I'm seriously considering ordering some lunches, to help them out during this devastating time for restaurants.

As I have mentioned, I'm FB friends with a few tour guides Focus has used. This is a world-wide crisis. South Africa, Russia and Ethiopia are shut down and wearing masks everywhere. Tourism is devastated.

Discouraged that the US Supreme Court decided to let the Wisconsin Primary go on as planned.

A man from Page, AZ, bordering the Navajo Rez, was arrested for a disgusting post about saying it is now lawful to shoot any Navajo seen in Page. The post said that COVID19 is the reason for the change in the law.  Disgusted!

Today’s Puzzle

Answer at the bottom of the page

A man is headed to a mountain along with a lion, a goat, and a basket of vegetables. On the way, he needs to cross a river and the boat can only carry two things at a time. If he takes the vegetables, the lion will eat the goat. If he takes the lion, the goat will eat the vegetables. How does he cross the river?

Historical Events

1730 - Shearith Israel, the first synagogue in New York City, was dedicated.

1820 - The Venus de Milo statue was discovered on the Aegean island of Melos.

1873 - The first commercially successful margarine manufacturing process was Patented (No. 137,564) by Alfred Paraf of New York.

1879 - "Fire Escape Ladder" was Patented (#214,224) by J.R. Winters.

1879 - Echo Farms Dairy Co. of New York sold milk in glass bottles for the first time in the US.

1943 U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt, in an attempt to check inflation, freezes wages and prices, prohibits workers from changing jobs unless the war effort would be aided thereby, and bars rate increases to common carriers and public utilities.

1952 - US President Harry Truman announced the seizure of all domestic steel mills to prevent a nationwide strike.

1953 - Man in the Dark, the first 3D motion picture produced and released by a major company, opened at the Globe Theater in New York City.

1959 - A team of computer manufacturers, users, and university people led by Grace Hopper met to discuss the creation of a new programming language, leading to COBOL.

1964 - Gemini 1, an unmanned test flight, was launched.

1983 In front of a live audience of 20 tourists, David Copperfield makes the Statue of Liberty disappear

1990 - Twin Peaks premiered on ABC

1994 - Lead Singer of Nirvana, Kurt Cobain was found dead, having committed suicide three days earlier.

2005 - Olympic Park bomber Eric Rudolph agreed to plead guilty. A security guard named Richard Jewell was initially considered the prime suspect in the case.

2012 Günter Grass labelled persona non gratta by Israeli internal affairs minister Eli Yishai

2012 Pope Benedict XVI calls for an end to Syrian blood shed in papal Easter message

2019 Protests in Sudan against the government of Omar al-Bashir continue with seven killed and 2,500 arrested in Khartoum

Birthdays Today

@93-U.S. First Lady, Betty Ford (d.2011)

84- Coach-John Madden (1949)

73-Actor, Gerald McRaney (1948)

60-Actor, John Schneider (1954)

@57-Ice skater/actress, Sonja Henie (d. 1969; leukemia)

57-Musician, Julian Lennon (1963)

52-Actress, Patricia Arquette (1968)

@46ish-Conquistador, Juan Ponce de Leon (d 1521; poison arrow)

Puzzle Answer:

Trip 1: He takes the goat with him, leaving the lion and the vegetables behind. On reaching the other riverbank, he drops off the goat.Trip 2: He then comes back for the lion, leaving the vegetables behind. On reaching the bank this time, he drops the lion, and again takes the goat along.Trip 3: He drops off the goat again and takes the vegetables with him to the other shore.Trip 4: Lastly, he comes back alone for the goat.