Apr 23

FYI: Any Blue text is a link. Click to check it out!

Apr. 23, 2020 Week: 17 Day: 114

86004: H 65° \ L 34° \ Average Sky Cover: 5%

Wind: 5mph\Gusts: 8mph Visibility: 10 mi

Nearest lightning: 286mi.; Nearest active fire: 517mi.

Record High: 78°[2012] Record Low: 14°[1963]

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

Today’s Quote

Life begins at 40 –

but so do fallen arches, rheumatism, faulty eyesight,

and the tendency to tell a story to the same person, three or four times.
”– Helen Rowland

Random Tidbits

Guarding Fort Knox and its gold reserves are members of the United States Mint Police. Established in 1792, the Mint Police organization is one of the country's oldest federal law enforcement agencies. Before being tasked with guarding the gold, each member of the Mint Police must go through a three-month training regiment, followed by a five-week specialized training in the field.

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.

Have a smile

A friend sent these to me

Question:What do you call 2 Banana Peels?
Answer: A pair of slippers.

Observations This Week

National Dance Week: 17-26 Link CANCELLED due to COVID-19.
Cleaning For A Reason Week: 18-24
Consumer Awareness Week: 18-23
National Park Week: 18-26 Link
Police Officers Who Gave Their Lives In The Line of Duty Week: 18-23
Animal Cruelty/Human Violence Awareness Week: 19-25 Link 
Bedbug Awareness Week: 19-25
Chemists Celebrate Earth Week: 19-25
Festival of Ridvan: 19-5/1
Fibroid Awareness Week: 19-25
Medical Laboratory Professionals Week: 19-25 Link
National Coin Week: 19-25
National Crime Victims Rights Week: 19-25 Link
National Infertility Awareness Week: 19-25 Link
National Library Week: 19-25
National Paperboard Packaging Week: 19-25
National Pet ID Week: 19-25 Link  Link
National Princess Week: 19-25 Link
National Volunteer Week: 19-25

Sky Awareness Week: 19-25
Spring Astronomy Week: 19-25
Administrative Professionals Week: 20-24
National Environmental Education Week: 20-24 Link
National Stationery Week: 20-26 Link
Nat'l Work Zone Safety Awareness Week: 20-24 Link
Undergraduate Research Week: 20-24
International Mariachi Week: 22-29 Link
Fiddler's Frolic: 23-26
Gathering of the Nations Powwow: 23-25 Link CANCELLED due to COVID-19

Ramadan (Muslim) 23-5-23

Observations for Today

Celebrate Teen Literature Day
English Language Day  Link
English Muffin Day
Impossible Astronaut Day  Link Link  (Dr. Who)
Internat'l Girls in Information-Telecommunication Technologies Day

Movie Theater DayNational Cherry Cheesecake Day

National Lost Dog Awareness Day  Link    Link
National Picnic Day

National Pie Day-25    Link  CANCELLED due to COVID-19.
Ramadan begins at sundown

Spanish Language Day  Link

Take a Chance Day

Take Your Daughters & Sons to Work Day Link CANCELLED due to COVID-19.
Talk Like Shakespeare Day  Link
World Book & Copyright Day Link
World Book Night  Link

World Labratory Day

My Rambling Thoughts

A really nice spring day...so I took a nice walk. Checked my bank account and my $1200 check was deposited...not sure if it had Trump's signature or not. Can't go any where to spend it, so I transferred it to my savings account. I'm sure I'll find a way to spend it when the country opens up again. I'm so grateful that I didn't need the check to pay for food or rent or other necessities. So many I know are not that fortunate.

I normally appreciate my emergency alerts on my phone. The Amber Alert system needs some work. At 5:15am my phone went off with the siren tone. Three small children had been taken by the non-custodial father in Phoenix. I slowly went back to sleep, as the tone is one that pumps some adrenaline in everyone's body. When I got up I was watching the Phoenix news. The kids were abducted at 9:15pm and were found, at the husband's mother house, about 10 miles from where they were abducted at 7am this morning. Two things: seems to me the Amber Alert should have gone out about 10pm last night...instead of 5:15am this morning, and that a found alert should have gone out soon after the children were found safe. They never send out an alert when the missing person is found.

Tonight Ramadan begins for the 1.8 million Muslims in the world. This year's celebrations have been curtailed. Normally the devout fast and pray throughout the day, then have a family feast with friends after sunset. Not this year.

Between now and early July, when the monsoon begins, we are usually very concerned about fire in our nearby forest. The Forest Service is usually very slow is closing the forest or even stopping open campfires. This year, because of Covid-19, the forests in AZ and many other places have campfires banned from today until the end of June. They say it is because of Covid-19 concerns that people will gather. Whatever the reason, it's a good move.

Today’s Puzzle

Answer at the bottom of the page

I have no eyes, no legs, or ears, and I help move the earth. What am I?

Historical Events

1516 - A Beer Purity Law was put into law still in effect today in Germany. It was decreed on April 23, 1516, by Munich's Duke Wilhelm, protecting the country’s beer drinkers from contaminants, chemicals and any other additives that unsavory merchants might have thought of adding.

1564 - William Shakespeare was born. He went on to write 38 plays and invent dozens of English words.

1635 - The first public school in the Americas, the Boston Latin School, was founded in Boston.

1916 - The Chicago Cubs played their first game at Weeghman Park (now Wrigley Field).

1940 - A leak-proof flashlight battery (the Ray-o-Vac) was patented (#2,198,423) by Herman Anthony.

1961 - Judy Garland performed at Carnegie Hall, the performance is often called "the greatest night in showbiz history."

1985 - Coca-Cola changed its formula and released 'New Coke'.

1994 - Physicists at the Department of Energy's Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory discovered the subatomic particle called the top quark.

2003 Beijing closes all schools for two weeks because of the SARS virus

2005 - First YouTube video was uploaded, titled "Me at the zoo".

2013 A 1% flash crash hits the US stock market after a news agency was hacked and claimed injury to President Obama

2015 Loretta Lynch is confirmed as the first African-American woman as US Attorney-General, succeeding Eric Holder

2019 World's first malaria vaccine, giving partial protection to children, begins in Malawi by the WHO

Birthdays Today

@85-Actress, Shirley Temple (d.2014)

81-Actor, Lee Majors

@77-15^th U.S. President, James Buchanan (1791)

@76-Actor, Duncan Renaldo (d. 1980)

71-Actress, Joyce DeWitt

66-Filmmaker, Michael Moore

@57-Fashion designer, Halston [Roy Halston Frowick] (d. 1990; AIDS)

@57-Actress, Jan Hooks (d. 2014;throat cancer)

60-Actress, Valerie Bertinelli

59-Actor, George Lopez

@52-Musician, Roy Orbison (d.1988; heart attack)

@52-Poet/Playwright, William Shakespeare (d.1616)

@50-Actor, Herve Villechaize (d.1993; suicide)

43-Wrestler/Actor, John Cena

43-Actor, Kal Penn

43-Comedian, John Oliver

30-Actor, Dev Patel

Puzzle Answer:

An earthworm