Jan 5

 

2021…at last

Jan  5, 2021  Week: 1  Day: 5	Local:  H 49°\ L 24°\Ave. Sky Cover: 5%
Wind:   3mph\Gusts:  2mph	Nearest lightning:  1786mi.; Active fire:  59mi
Moderate Risk of Fire	Visibility:  10mi
Record: 61°[1948]   Record: -22°[1908]	Jan Averages: 44°/\16° (4 days with moisture)

Today’s Quote

He is richest who is content with the least,

for content is the wealth of nature.

Socrates

Random Tidbits

A Fiery Night in Scotland

Don’t visit Scotland for New Year’s Eve if you aren’t ready for some heat. Join the locals for Hogmanay, a traditional celebration that incorporates fire into the festivities. Larger cities like Edinburgh have torchlight processions where locals march together in the streets to bring in the new year. However, the real thrill happens at midnight in the city of Stonehaven. Here, Scots dressed in kilts wave poles with fireballs around while they parade through streets filled with spectators. They use the fire as a means to purify the new year. The spectacle ends in the scenic town center near the harbor when they toss their fire sticks into the sea. Visit a castle, have a drink and watch the sparks fly in one of these beautiful Scottish towns.

Yellow for Luck in Colombia

Historic Cartagena on Colombia’s Caribbean coast is a beautiful choice for New Year’s Eve — complete with palm trees, white beaches, fireworks and bright yellow underwear. If you’re traveling to a country in Central or South America for the holiday, be sure to pack your brightly colored undergarments. In many of these countries, like Colombia, wearing red or yellow undergarments on New Year’s Eve can increase your chances of finding love or luck in the new year. Yellow is by far the most popular color choice, and if you forget yours, don’t worry — they even sell them on the streets before the holiday.

A Little Humor

Q: How many people can ride on a bird? Toucan..

I peed so hard that a little laugh came out

True Things

Even Arnold Schwarzenegger knew you don't stow away on an airplane in the wheel well. Jumping from a moving jet is better than freezing to death in the unpressurized under-belly at 45,000 feet.

But maybe the movie 'Commando' isn't very popular in Indonesia, because a man there took a free ride in the landing gear of an aircraft this week, and actually survived the high-altitude flight of nearly two hours in thin air and sub-zero temperatures.

Mario Stevan Ambarita, 21, was spotted staggering around the tarmac at Jakarta airport, shortly after the Garuda Indonesia domestic flight landed from Sumatra Island to the north.

"The case was quite a surprise to us," Garuda CEO Arif Wibowo told reporters.

The stowaway scaled a 8-foot fence to reach the aircraft, where he tucked himself into the rear wheel housing.

He collapsed after the flight and was taken to hospital with a bleeding ear and other light injuries before spending the night in a police cell.

According to local media reports, Ambarita had spent up to a year studying aircraft taking off and landing, had learned from the Internet how to hide in the wheel well and had made an unsuccessful attempt in the past to hitch a free plane ride.

 

Weekly Observations

Christmas Bird Count Week Link	Thru 1/5
Diet Resolution Week	1-7
Silent Record Week	1-7
New Year's Resolutions Week	1-8  Link
Someday We'll Laugh About This Week	2-8
National Personal Trainer Awareness Week [cancelled]	2-9
Home Office Safety and Security Week Link National Folic Acid Awareness Week Link Dating & Life Coaches Recognition Week National Lose Weight/Feel Great Week	3-9

 

Today’s Observations

Earth at Perihelion
Golden Globes
National Keto Day Link
National Screenwriters Day  Link
Monopoly Game Day  Link 
National Bird Day

National Screenwriters Day

National Whipped Cream Day

Twelfth Night
Whipped Cream Day  Link

My Sometimes-Long-Winded Thoughts

I headed out early to pick up my monthly essentials. I was even wearing the free cool mask I got from BC/BS. It stretchy.

Yesterday was not a great day for Broncos or Cards. Both lost. The highlight was that the Broncos only lost by a point. Wish I could have seen that one.

A Flagstaff landmark has closed…The Museum Club. It started out as a museum filled with taxidermized animals some 84 years ago. By the time I came to Flag in the early 70’s, it was a Country/Western Nightclub…with some of the stuffed animals still present. It was the first place to have off-track betting along with lots of bands. It got new owners a few years ago and Covid killed it. Sad.

I have voted in every election since I turned 21. Sometimes my candidate wins, and I am happy. Sometimes my candidate loses, and I am not happy. Never in my voting life have I even had a thought that the election was rigged. I just don’t get how some news organizations can claim that 74 million are outraged that the election was stolen. I also don’t get how so many can claim the election was stolen at the top of the ballot but are pleased that so many Conservatives won down ballot. I guess they believe that the ‘stealers’ were only smart enough to change Presidential office vote. Strange!

NPR interviewed the CEO of Dominion today. Those are the ballot machines that ‘stole’ the election. Those machines were created so that the state using them would have a paper-trail. Other brands did not provide the paper-trail. Lawsuits are in the works against those who claim the machines were changed. Sadly, many Dominion employees and executives are being harassed online, at the place of business, and even at their homes. None of the allegations against Dominion have been proven. The damage to their employees, executives, and the company name may never be compensated for. Disgusting!

Daily Puzzle

Answer at the bottom of the page

Who makes it, has no need of it. Who buys it, has no use for it. Who uses it can neither see nor feel it. What is it?

Historical Events

1889 – The word hamburger first appeared in print in the Walla Walla Union, a Walla Walla, Washington, newspaper.

1905 – The National Association of Audubon Society incorporated.

1933 – San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge construction began

1945 – Pepe LePew debuted in Warner Brother’s Odor-able Kitty

1957 – Dodgers’ Jackie Robinson retired rather than be traded to New York Giants

1998 – Vandals decapitated Copenhagen’s Little Mermaid

2019 Chinese government report predicts China's population will peak at 1.44 billion in 2029 before declining

Birthdays Today

@93 – Jeane Dixon, American astrologer and psychic (d. 1997)

93 – Walter Mondale, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 42nd VP

@90 – Jane Wyman, American actress (d. 2007)

90 – Robert Duvall, American actor

79 – Charlie Rose, American journalist, and talk show host

@77 – King Camp Gillette, founded the Gillette Company (d. 1932)

75 – Diane Keaton, American actress

71 – Chris Stein, American guitarist, and songwriter [Blondie]

68 – George Tenet, American civil servant

53 – Carrie Ann Inaba, American actress, and dancer

52 – Marilyn Manson [Brian Hugh Warner], American singer-songwriter, AKA

@45 – George Reeves, American actor, and director (d. 1959; murder/suicide?)

 

Puzzle Answer

A coffin.