Mar 1

 

I am more than ready for Spring!

Mar 1, 2021 Week: 9    Day: 60                Visibility: 10 miles

Local: H 30°\ L 17°\Ave. Sky Cover: 5%    Wind:  9mph/ Gusts:  17mph

Nearest Lightning: 888mi.                          Moderate Risk of Fire:  Active fire:  337mi

Record: 67°[2009]  Record: -10°[1997] 

Mar. Averages: 53°/23° (6 days with moisture)            

Today’s Quote

Fire is the test of gold; adversity, of strong men.

~Martha Graham

Random Tidbits

Unless you're a real science geek, chances are you never knew these elements even existed. Nonetheless, many of them form the foundations of modern life.

Europium (Eu)

Euro paper banknotes contain tiny amounts of this hard, silvery metal as an anti-counterfeiting measure. It is also used to produce a strong, rich red color in television and computer screens.

A Little Humor

Why can't a bike stand on its own? It's two tired

True Things

Man sues female boss for discrimination…

A man in South Wales is suing the "woman-dominated" firm where he worked for 'extreme discrimination against males', claiming that his female boss told him to "man up" among other sexist comments and actions. Daniel Price claims that his manager Ashleigh Knowles told him "men are less organized" and that he was repeatedly ordered to "go away" during "girls-only" conversations. Mr. Price says he was the only worker instructed to carry boxes, being told "because you're a man". He once refused, due to a hernia, but was ordered to "man up and get on with it." Mr. Price said she once threatened him with disciplinary action for insubordination after he told her tasks should not lie solely with him because he was a man. An employment judge in Cardiff ruled he has an "arguable case" for sex discrimination and ordered a full hearing.

Monthly Observations

 

Action & Skill Toys Month Adopt A Rescued Guinea Pig Month Link Alport Syndrome Awareness Month American Red Cross Month or Red Cross Month  Link  or  Link Asset Management Awareness Month  Link Brain Injury Awareness Month Link Child Life Month Link Clap 4 Health Month Colic Awareness Month Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month (Different sponsor from  National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month) Credit Education Month

 

Weekly Observations

 

Lent [Christian]	Thru 4/3
National Pasty Week Cancelled	Thru 3/6
National School Breakfast Week: 1-5	1-5
Hearing Awareness Week Link LGBT Health Awareness Week Link National Cheerleading Week Nat’l Write A Letter of Appreciation Week National Ghostwriters Week National Invest in a Veteran Week  Link National Pet Sitters Week Link Return the Borrowed Books Week Telecommuter Appreciation Week Universal Human Beings Week Link Will Eisner Week   Link World Hearing Awareness Week Link	1-7

 

Today’s Observations

Asiatic Fleet Memorial Day Link
Baby Sleep Day
Casimir Pulaski Day (First Monday in March) Link 

Dadgum That's Good Day (Masterbuilt food products & cookbooks)
Endometriosis Day or Wear Yellow Day
National Black Women in Jazz & The Arts Day  Link
National Horse Protection Day
National Peanut Butter Lover’s Day Link

National Pig Day

Peace Corps Day

Pig Day
Plan a Solo Vacation Day

Refired, Not Retired Day
Saint David's Day Link
Self-injury Awareness Day  Link
World Compliment Day

Zero Discrimination Day Link

My Sometimes-Long-Winded Thoughts

Chilly and windy as a cold-front blows through.

I’m having a very nice birthday. I’ve gotten several phone calls, lots of emails, and messages on FB. The virus means no party or gathering. This is the second year my celebration with friends hasn’t happened. Even so, getting older is so much better than the alternative.

CPAC sure is strange. Someone has pointed out that the stage setup resembles a Nazi propaganda symbol. Trump got a 97% approval rating for his term. He also leads the poll at CPAC as the 2024 nominee (54%) for President. Guess they are right, it ain’t over till the fat lady sings. Several attendees have stated they expect America to become the next Myanmar with a coup to put Trump back in.

Minimum wage has been in the news. Dems waned $15/hr while Republicans wanted about $10/hr. As an older person, who started working for minimum wage at 16, it is important to see how our country has changed. When I started at the grocery store a loaf of bread was 25cents, gasoline was about 35 cents and the vast majority of minimum wage workers were teenagers at their first job. Looking at inflation, that $1.25 should be $14.38. Today 691 per 1000 workers 16-24 make minimum wage. AND 401 per 1000 workers 25-34 make minimum wage, 187 per 1000 workers make minimum wage, 187 for workers 35-44, 156 for workers 45-64, 118 for workers 55-64, and 50 for workers 65+. Today many minimum wage earners are trying to raise a family. I can’t imagine the difficulty that causes.

Daily Puzzle March will have logic puzzles.

Answer: bottom of the page

There are two ducks in front of a duck, two ducks behind a duck and a duck in the middle. How many ducks are there?

Historical Events

1516 Printing is completed of Erasmus' "Novum Instrumentum omne", first published New Testament in Greek

1628 Writs are issued in February by Charles I of England mandating that every county in England (not just seaport towns) pay ship tax by this date.

1692 Sarah Goode, Sarah Osborne, & Tituba arrested for witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts.

1780 Pennsylvania becomes 1st US state to abolish slavery (for newborns only)

1845 US President John Tyler signs a resolution annexing the Republic of Texas

1870 War of the Triple Alliance finally ends with the Battle of Cerro Corá and the death of Paraguayan Dictator Francisco Solano López after over 5 years of bloodshed between Paraguay and Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay.

1890 1st US edition of Sherlock Holmes' first story "A Study in Scarlet" by Arthur Conan Doyle published.

1896 Battle of Adwa: 80,000 Ethiopians destroy 20,000 Italians in Ethopia, killing two generals and capturing General Matteo Albertone.

1927 Bank of Italy (later Bank of America) becomes an American National Bank

1932 The "Lindbergh kidnapping", 20-month-old son of Charles and Anne Lindbergh kidnapped from home in East Amwell, New Jersey, found dead 12 May

1945 US President Franklin D. Roosevelt announces success of Yalta Conference.

1954 US explodes Castle Bravo, a 15 megaton hydrogen bomb at Bikini Atoll, which accidentally became the most powerful nuclear device ever detonated by the US

1961 US President JFK establishes the Peace Corps

1967 US House of Representatives expels Rep Adam Clayton Powell Jr (307 to 116)

2014 US President Barack Obama warns Russian President Vladimir Putin over involvement in Ukraine.

2016 Forbes Richest List released, Bill Gates No. 1 with $75 billion, number of world's billionaires shrinks to 1,810.

2016 US primary elections: Super Tuesday - both Republican Donald Trump and Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton win seven state races each

2018 Vladimir Putin in his annual state address claims Russia has an "invincible” intercontinental cruise missile.

2018 US President Donald Trump says he will impose 25% steel, 10% aluminium import tariffs, raising fears of a trade war.

2020 First known COVID-19 case identified in New York, a health care worker returning from Iran

Birthdays Today

@92 Archer John Porter Martin, English chemist, Nobel laureate, (d. 2002)

@73 Yitzhak Rabin, Prime Minister of Israel (1974-77 and 1992-95), 1994 Nobel Peace Prize winner (d. 1995; assassinated)

67 – Ron Howard, Director, actor

@65ish -- Sandro Botticelli, Florentine Renaissance painter (Birth of Venus), (d. 1510)

55 – Don Lemon, Commentator

52 -- Javier Bardem, actor

47 -- Mark Paul Gosselaar, TV actor

38 -- Lupita Nyong'o, actor

33 – Kesha, singer

27 – Justin Bieber, pop star

Puzzle Answer

Three. Two ducks are in front of the last duck; the first duck has two ducks behind; one duck is between the other two.

 

Feb 28

 

 

Feb 28, 2021   Week: 8    Day:59               Visibility: 10 miles

Local: H 48°\ L19 °\Ave. Sky Cover: 5%    Wind:  15mph/ Gusts:  7mph

Nearest Lightning: 896mi.                          Moderate Risk of Fire:  Active fire:  244mi

Record: 65°[1999]  Record: -16°[1962]     Feb. Averages: 47°/19° (5 days with moisture)            

Today’s Quote

To love deeply in one direction makes us more loving in all others.

Anne-Sophie Swetchine

Random Tidbits

A little group called NASA discovered that just a 26-minute nap increases performance by 34 percent and alertness by 54 percent. Pilots take advantage of NASA naps while planes are on autopilot.

A Little Humor

What does a frog use to fish with?

A tad pole.

True Things

People tend to look at this pandemic as a local crisis, but it is a global concern. And a global debate. Just like in the United States, there are people around the world who underestimate the seriousness of the threat and are reluctant to follow all of the safety protocals. Like this woman in South Africa who was challenged when she walked into a supermarket without a mask on. When management threatened to throw her out she resorted to the only mask she had on her person. The one between her legs.

The bizarre incident was caught on camera at a Pick-n-Pay supermarket in South Africa. The shopper was asked to put on a face covering by a security guard, but she claimed she didn't have one. When the woman was warned that she would be refused service unless she had a mask on, she removed her thong undies and put them on her face.

The video has since gone viral.

You can clearly see the woman reach under her dress and dig around a bit. A moment later out comes the black thong which she deftly pulls over her head. Another female shopper appears to congratulate her, saying "well done". It's impossible to say whether this comment was made sarcastically, or if that's just how the ladies roll in South Africa.

Back in December, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa stressed that not wearing a face mask in public is a criminal offence. The clip has sparked outrage online with many blasting the woman for entering the shop without a face mask on. One person commented: "We have a serious virus and (she thinks) a G-string will save her. Come on grow up. What must your family think?"

It was not reported whether the supermarket allowed the woman to shop with panties on her face.

Weekly Observations

Lent [Christian]	17-4/3
National Pasty Week Cancelled	28-3/6

 

Today’s Observations

Floral Design Day  Link
Girl Scout Cookie Weekend: 26-28  Link  On-line sales only!!!
Golden Globe Awards
National Chili Day

National Science Day

National Souffle Day

National Tooth Fairy Day  Link   Link  
Public Sleeping Day
Rare Disease Day Link  

US Snow Shoe Days: 26-28 Link Cancelled

 

My Sometimes-Long-Winded Thoughts

Cool off quite a bit last night. Very slowly warming up with a stiff breeze.

After changing linens and cleaning the bathrooms, I decided it is a good day to be lazy. That is what I’m doing.

It is extremely difficult to read about the slaughter in Ethiopia. Our Focus/HLO visit there years ago was so enlightening. Almost every airport I have visited since then I have met at least one Ethiopian as a shuttle driver or other worker. They love their country. They also love the US. This is so heartbreaking.

The news is telling us about CPAC, the Conservative Political Action Conference. This year’s CPAC has people attending that believe the election was stolen. A few believe that Trump will be inaugurated again in March. The overall tone seems to be that Trump is the leader of the Republican Party and will remain so. I understand that people can have different ideas and still be friends. I am reminded everyday that some of my friends are conservative. They except the election results and hope that Trump will run again in 2024. The line between being conservative and being a Trump conservative has become very blurred. I only hope the Republican Party can figure out what is going on within their party and realize that things have to change.

Daily Puzzle

Answer: bottom of the page

Shoot at me a thousand times and I may still survive. But one scratch from me and you will find your prospects take a dive. What am I?

Historical Events

1066 – Westminster Abbey opened

1525 – Aztec king Cuauhtémoc was executed on the order of conquistador Hernán Cortés.

1784 – John Wesley chartered the first Methodist Church in the United States. An Anglican, Wesley wanted a church structure for his followers after the Anglican Church abandoned its American believers during the American Revolution.

1827 – The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was incorporated. It was the first railroad in America offering commercial transportation of both people and freight.

1854 – The Republican Party was organized in Ripon, WI. It was primarily anti-slavery people.

1885 – The American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T) was incorporated in New York, as the subsidiary of American Bell Telephone.

1922 – The United Kingdom ended its protectorate over Egypt through a Unilateral Declaration of Independence.

1935 – Wallace Carothers discovered Nylon while working at DuPont.

1940 – Basketball was televised for the first time. The game was Fordham University vs. University of Pittsburgh

1953 – Cambridge University scientists James D. Watson and Frances H.C. Crick announced that they had found the double-helix structure of DNA, the molecule containing human genes.

1954 – The first color television sets using the NTSC standard were offered for sale to the general public.

1983 – CBS sitcom M*A*S*H ended after 11 seasons, airing a special two-and-a-half-hour episode watched by 77% of the television viewing audience.

1993 – Near Mount Carmel in Waco, Texas, agents of the U.S. Treasury Department’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) launch a raid against the Branch Davidian compound. At least 80 people, including 22 children, were killed.

1996 – KISS reunited at the Grammys in full makeup and costume.

2002 – Sotheby’s auction house announced that Peter Paul Reubens was the creator of the painting The Massacre of the Innocents, not Jan van den Hoecke as previously believed.

2013 – Pope Benedict XVI resigned as the pope of the Catholic Church – the first pope to do so since 1415.

2012 Discovery of the largest prehistoric penguin, Kairuku grebneffi, at nearly 5ft tall

2018 700 illegal churches closed in Rwanda for being too noisy and lacking building permits.

2019 Summit between North Korea's Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump collapses without agreement

Birthdays Today

@93 – Linus Carl Pauling, American chemist and biochemist (d. 1994)

90 – Gavin MacLeod, American actor

88 – Paul Krugman, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate

73 – Bernadette Peters, American actress, singer

66 – Gilbert Gottfried, American comedian, actor

@62 – Zero Mostel, American actor, comedian (d. 1977; aneurism)

60 – Rae Dawn Chong, Canadian-American actress

@27 – Brian Jones, Stones guitarist, songwriter, producer (d. 1969; misadventure)

Puzzle Answer

An eight-ball

 

Feb 27

 

 

Feb27 , 2021     Week: 8    Day: 58                            Visibility: 10 miles

Local: H 53°\ L 24°\Ave. Sky Cover: 5%                   Wind:  5mph/ Gusts:  6mph

Nearest Lightning: 1951mi.                                         Moderate Risk of Fire:  Active fire:  131mi

Record: 64°[1921]  Record: -12°[1962] 

Feb. Averages: 47°/19° (5 days with moisture)            

Today’s Quote

Such is the inconsistency of real love, that it is always awake to suspicion, however unreasonable; always requiring new assurances from the object of its interest.

Ann Radcliffe (1764 - 1823), The Mysteries of Udolpho, 1764

Random Tidbits

One of the keys to power napping is to keep them short. Many experts say 20 minutes is the ideal duration to bolster energy and heighten alertness. Too long a nap can risk grogginess.

A Little Humor

Why did the archaeologist go bankrupt? Because his career was in ruins.

…

I wanted to learn how to drive a stick shift, but I couldn’t find a manual.

Weekly Observations

Bird Health Awareness Week Link   Build A Better Trade Show Image Week  National Eating Disorders Awareness Week National Engineers Week National Invasive Species Awareness Week Link National Justice for Animals Week  Link  Link	21-27
Lent [Christian]	17-4/3
National FFA Week Link	20-27
International Petroleum Week  Link	23-25
American Birkenbreiner Race	25-27

 

Today’s Observations

 Anosmia Awareness Day Link
Girl Scout Cookie Weekend: 26-28  Link  On-line sales only!!!
International Polar Bear Day Link
International Sword Swallowers Day 
International Tongue Twister Day Link  
National Kahlua Day

National Retro Day Link

National Strawberry Day

No Brainer Day 

Open That Bottle Night
US Snowshoe Days: 26-28 Link Cancelled
World NGO Day: 27  Link

World Sword Swallowers Day

My Sometimes-Long-Winded Thoughts

Cold front moved out. Warm Day, sunny and great day for a walk. It was a short one as I also did my weekly shopping.

I’m watching Andy and Faith’s place until next Saturday. Her dad passed in Indiana. She knew it was coming and visited him for a couple of weeks a few months ago. Still hard to lose a parent.

I talked to Cheryl, a former colleague. She’s doing fine in Williams. She is taking her dog for grooming in Ashfork next week. “Two” is a dog with very curly hair and needs professional grooming several times a year. She got her first Covid shot last week with only a sore arm. Her son in California got his first shot this week with no problem. Her sisters in Michigan also got their first shots today.  

Daily Puzzle

Answer: bottom of the page

The cost of making only the maker knows, Valueless if bought, but sometimes traded. A poor man may give one as easily as a king. When one is broken pain and deceit are assured. What is it?

Historical Events

1703 – The first Mardi Gras was celebrated in Mobile, Alabama in 1703.

1801 – District of Columbia Organic Act of 1801 – Washington, D.C. is placed under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Congress. ‘Taxation without representation.’

1812 – Lord Byron gave his first address as a member of the House of Lords, in defense of Luddite violence against Industrialism in his home county of Nottinghamshire.

1879 – Saccharin, the artificial sweetener, was discovered by Constantin Fahlberg,

1900 – German chemist Felix Hoffmann was issued the patent (#644,077) for ‘Acetyl Salicylic Acid’. We now call it Aspirin.

1936 – Shirley Temple received a new contract from 20th Century Fox that paid the seven-year-old star $50,000 per film.

1951 – The Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution, limiting Presidents to two terms, was ratified.

1960 – The US Olympic hockey team defeated the Soviet Union in the semifinals at the Winter Games in Squaw Valley, California. The next day, the US team beat Czechoslovakia to win its first-ever Olympic gold medal in hockey.

1973 – The American Indian Movement (AIM) occupied Wounded Knee, South Dakota.

1974 – People magazine was published for the first time.

1980 – There was only one Grammy for Best Disco Recording ever, and it was awarded to Gloria Gaynor for I Will Survive.

1999 – Colin Prescot and Andy Elson set a new endurance record after being in a hot air balloon for 233 hours and 55 minutes [9.7 days].

2012 Wikileaks begins disclosing 5 million emails from private intelligence company Stratfor.

2013 Pope Benedict XVI presents his farewell address to Vatican City.

2012 Wikileaks begins disclosing 5 million emails from private intelligence company Stratfor

2013 Pope Benedict XVI presents his farewell address to Vatican City

2014 US Republican Governor Jan Brewer vetoes a "religious freedom" bill that would have allowed businesses to turn away gay customers 2018 Jared Kushner, son-in-law of President Trump, has his top-secret security clearance at the White House downgraded

2019 Michael Cohen, former lawyer to Donald Trump testifies before the House Oversight Committee saying Trump is "racist", a "con man" and "a cheat"

2019 Second summit begins between US President Donald Trump and North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un in Hanoi, Vietnam

2019 Smallest baby boy ever born to be later successfully released, goes home, after original birth weight of 268g (9.45oz) from Tokyo hospital

2020 Dow Jones Index suffers its biggest points fall in history closing down 1,190.95 in New York amid concerns about COVID-19

2014 US Republican Governor Jan Brewer vetoes a "religious freedom" bill that would have allowed businesses to turn away gay customers

2018 Jared Kushner, son-in-law of President Trump, has his top-secret security clearance at the White House downgraded

2019 Michael Cohen, former lawyer to Donald Trump testifies before the House Oversight Committee saying Trump is "racist", a "con man" and "a cheat"

2019 Second summit begins between US President Donald Trump and North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un in Hanoi, Vietnam

2019 Smallest baby boy ever born to be later successfully released, goes home, after original birth weight of 268g (9.45oz) from Tokyo hospital

2020 Dow Jones Index suffers its biggest points fall in history closing down 1,190.95 in New York amid concerns about COVID-19

Birthdays Today

87 – Ralph Nader, American lawyer, politician, and activist

@79 – Elizabeth Taylor, English-American actress (d.2011; heart disease)

@75 – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, American poet (d. 1882; peritonitis)

@66 – John Steinbeck, American journalist, author, Nobel Prize laureate (d.1968; heart failure)

@65 – Constantine the Great, Roman emperor (d. 337)

50 – Sara Blakely, American businesswoman, founded Spanx

41 – Chelsea Clinton, American journalist and personality

40 – Josh Groban, American singer-songwriter

Puzzle Answer

Promise