Jan 21

 

2021…at last

Jan  21, 2021  Week: 3  Day: 21	Local:  H 42°\ L 20°\Ave. Sky Cover: 5%
Wind:   6mph\Gusts:  11mph	Today’s Ave. Temp.: H 43°\ L 18°
Nearest lightning:1522mi.; Active fire:  59mi	Very Low Risk of Fire           Visibility:  10mi
Record: 60°[1944]   Record: -24°[1937]	Jan Averages: 44°/16° (4 days with moisture)

Today’s Quote

To cherish what remains of the Earth and to foster its renewal

is our only legitimate hope of survival.

~Wendell Berry

Random Tidbits

But by the Middle Ages, blonde women were held with suspicion, and by the mid-14th century, depictions of Eve were consistently giving her free-flowing locks of golden blonde hair that marked her as an evil temptress.

In Ancient Rome, women tried to dye their hair blonde with pigeon dung. In Renaissance Venice, they used horse urine.

A Little Humor

I went camping recently. It was intense

True Things

It is unclear whether Joseph Brennan of Massachusetts was planning to make a bomb. What is clear is that he blew himself clean out of the driver's door of his Toyota Camry when he lit a smoke.

A bystander heard the explosion from a block away and came running. He found Brennan with singed hair and burns on his face, lying in the street next to his burning vehicle.

"I'm an idiot," was the first thing Brennan allegedly told the bystander. "I lit a cigarette with gunpowder in the front seat."

Once again, what Brennan was doing with loose gunpowder is unclear, but according to the bystander he risked his life to go back to his wrecked vehicle where he allegedly removed multiple items and put them in the trunk.

This, of course, did not deter the police who searched Brennan's car, where they removed 14 liquids and powders, some of which when combined could create what they called a destructive device.

Sounds like 'bomb' to me.

Brennan allegedly told police he had gotten various materials from a friend to tinker with. "I wasn't going to do anything malicious," he said, according to the report.

Police Chief Theodore Ross said in a statement that law enforcement searched Brennan's house and found "precursor components, detonators, and one completed incendiary device." Although Brennan's Facebook page shows an interest in rocket propellants, so it is probably harmless tinkering.

Bomb or amateur rocketry, he certainly found a quick way to remove a lot of body hair.

Interestng facts about AZ

Ø The geographic center of Arizona is 55 miles southeast of Prescott near the community of Mayer.

Ø You could pile four 1,300-foot skyscrapers on top of each other and they still would not reach the rim of the Grand Canyon.

Ø The hottest temperature recorded in Arizona was 128 degrees at Lake Havasu City on June 29, 1994

Weekly Observations

No Tillage Week	15-21
International Snowmobile Safety and Awareness Week Link	16-24
National Fresh Squeezed Juice Week Healthy Weight Week Hunt For Happiness Week National Activity Professionals Week National Handwriting Analysis Week	17-23
Sugar Awareness Week No Name Calling Week Link Week of Christian Unity	18-23

 

Today’s Observations

Get to Know Your Customers Day 
International Sweatpants Day
National Cheesy Socks Day
National Granola Bar Day
National Hugging Day:  Cancelled
National Hug Your Puppy Day
Squirrel Appreciation Day

Women's Healthy Weight Day

National New England Clam Chowder Day

My Sometimes-Long-Winded Thoughts

About 15 minutes after I got up, I had an angio-edema episode…swollen lip. It took my pill and it was not swollen in about 45 minutes.

I watched the Inauguration. Our democracy has begun its healing. Every inauguration is historic for our country. Today’s events, following the desecration of the Capitol, is monumental as well as historic. We are so fortunate to live in a country where we can disagree on policy and still have a peaceful transfer of power. The Biden-Harris administration has lots of work to do and I am sure that some of their action will not set well with me and others. Even so, we have new leadership.

I took a short break to pick up some meds at Walgreen’s Drive Thru. When I pulled in there were two vehicles ahead of me. Both were doing COVID-19 Tests. Each test took about 10 minutes. When I finally got up to the window, my transaction only took a couple of minutes. I get the importance of testing. I just wish they could figure out a better way.

Daily Puzzle

Answer at the bottom of the page

I have four wings, but cannot fly, I never laugh and never cry. On the same spot, I’m always found, toiling away with little sound. What am I?

Historical Events

1472 – The great daylight comet of 1472 was visible in daylight for 8 days.

1790 – Dr. Joseph-Ignace Guillotin proposed the guillotine to the newly formed National Assembly of Paris as a “humane” method of execution.

1799 – Edward Jenner’s smallpox vaccination was introduced.

1807 – The London Institution for the Advancement of Literature and The Diffusion of Useful Knowledge (The London Institution) received a royal charter signed by King George III, to “promote the diffusion of Science, Literature, and the Arts, by means of Lectures and Experiments, and by easy access to an extensive collection of books, both ancient and modern, in all languages.”

1861 – Jefferson Davis resigned from the United States Senate.

1911 – The first Monte Carlo Rally took place, with 23 cars.

1915 – Kiwanis International was founded, in Detroit.

1970 – The Boeing 747, made its 1st commercial flight, between New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport and Heathrow Airport in London, England.

1977 – President Jimmy Carter pardoned most Vietnam War draft evaders.

1981 – Production of the iconic DeLorean sports car began.

1985 – President Regan’s first inauguration (Jan 20, 1981) was the warmest on record at 55°F, while his second inauguration (Jan 21, 1985) was the coldest on record at 7°F.

1998 – News of the Monica Lewinsky/Bill Clinton affair was published, President Clinton said he “did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky.”

1999 In one of the largest drug busts in American history, the US Coast Guard intercepts a ship carrying 4,300 kg of cocaine.

2004 NASA's MER-A (the Mars Rover Spirit) ceases communication with mission control. The problem lies with Flash Memory management and is fixed remotely from Earth on February 6.

2017 More than 2 million people protest worldwide in the 'Women's March' against Donald Trump, with 500,000 marching in Washington, D.C.

2020 World's oldest asteroid impact at 2.2 billion years old found in Yarrabubba, Western Australia, may have ended an ice age, reported in "Nature Communications"

Birthdays Today

@97 – Roger Nash Baldwin, founder of the American Civil Liberties Union (d. 1981)

81 – Jack Nicklaus, American golfer, sportscaster

@78 – Mac Davis, American singer-songwriter (d. 2020, following surgery )

@73 – Karl Wallenda, German-American acrobat and tightrope walker, founded The Flying Wallendas (d. 1978; tightrope fall)

@72 – Richie Havens, singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2013; heart attack)

@72 – Telly Savalas, American actor (d. 1994; cancers)

71 – Billy Ocean, Trinidadian-English singer-songwriter

@68 – [Alfred Hawthorne] Benny Hill, English comedic actor (d. 1992; heart attack)

@65 – Paul Allen, American businessman, co-founded Microsoft (d.2018; cancer)

65 – Geena Davis, American actress

@57 – Wolfman Jack [Robert Weston Smith], DJ, radio host (d. 1995; heart attack)

@52 – Ethan Allen, American general (d. 1789; stroke)

@52 – Christian Dior, French fashion designer (d. 1957; heart attack)

@47 – Grigori Rasputin, Russian Mystic (d. 1916; shot)

@39 – Stonewall Jackson [Thomas Jonathan Jackson], (Confederate) general (d. 1863; pneumonia; shot)

27 – Nils Allen "Booboo" Stewart Jr, actor

Puzzle Answer

A windmill.