Apr 9

 

 

 

Apr 9, 2021   Week: 15    Day: 99                            

Visibility: 10 miles	Ave. Sky Cover: 30%
Local: H 71°\ L 35°	Nearest Lightning: 981mi.
Wind:  8mph/ Gusts:  18mph	EXTREME Risk of Fire:  Active fire:  149mi
Record:77 °[1991]   Record: 16°[1977]	Apr. Averages: 60°/27° (3 days w/moisture)

 

Today’s Quote

We are going to have peace even if we have to fight for it.

~Dwight D. Eisenhower

Random Tidbits

Most historians believe that the Dutch were the first to introduce the modern doughnut to North America in the form of olykoeks, or "oil cakes" as early as the mid-19th century. These early doughnuts were balls of cake fried in pork fat.

Today over 10 billion doughnuts are made in the U.S. each year.

Common Words: New Meanings

The Washington Post's Style Invitational also asked readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing one letter, and supply a new definition. Here are this year's winners:

1.  Bozone  (N.): The substance surrounding stupid people that stops bright ideas from penetrating. The bozone layer, unfortunately, shows little sign of breaking down in the near future.

2.  Foreploy  (V): Any misrepresentation about yourself for the purpose of getting laid.

Weekly Observations

National Cherry Blossom Festival Link	Thru 4/10
National Robotics Week Link	3-11
Bat Appreciation Week  National Dental Hygienest Week Link National Library Week Hate Week National Blue Ribbon Week Link  (Child Abuse) National Public Health Week National Window Safety Week	4-10
American Indian Awareness Week  Link CANCELLED Explore Your Career Options	5-9
International Dark Sky Week   Link  Mule Days The Masters Tournament	5-11
Satchmo Days: Link  Moved to September 30 due to COVID	8-11

 

Today’s Observations

Appomattox Day Link
Jenkins Ear Day
Jumbo Day  (Elephant came to US and created the word for big in our language.)
Name Yourself Day

National Cherish An Antique Day
National Chinese Almond Cookie Day

National Dive Bar Day Link 
National Former Prisoner of War Recognition Day
National Unicorn Day Link (Note: This is in Scotland, but it's become popular worldwide.)
Siblings Day
Winston Churchill Day

 

My Sometimes-Long-Winded Thoughts

Nice day but clouds are coming in over the mountain. No precipitation expected.

This vaccine hesitancy has me puzzled. I just read that 1/3 of active troops decline the vaccine, even though 260,000 active troops have been infected. Some are saying it is because the young all-volunteer force has access to internet misinformation. Maybe, but where are the parents encouraging their offspring to get the vaccine?

I have two medical stories: I’ve been using a CPAP machine for the past 5+ years…not enough Oxygen at 7000’ when I sleep, and my breathing slows. I have had to call them for new supplies every 3 months. Then I must wait a few days for the stuff to arrive. This morning I got a call from the supplier that my supplies were waiting to be picked up. What a happy shock as I was going to call them tomorrow. Then there is my dentist office. I had an exam and cleaning last month. The crazy lady said I owed $210. I asked about my insurance. She said they don’t pay very much. I said to send it in and then send me a bill. I got the bill; it was for $210.  I called to see why. She said the IT guy was on their server and she would call me back. When she called back, she said that the billing person messed up and didn’t send anything to the insurance. She will call me when it is straightened out.  I said not to bother, just send the bill. Thank goodness I didn’t pay when I was at the office, or I never would have known.

Tomorrow I’m pulling my tax info together and giving it to my tax guy. I hate this time of year.

 

Daily Puzzle

Answer: bottom of the page

54. A sundial has the fewest moving parts of any timepiece. Which has the most?

Historical Events

1585 – Sir Walter Raleigh departed England for Roanoke Island (now in North Carolina) to establish the Roanoke Colony.

1865 – At Appomattox, Virginia, Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered his 28,000 troops to Union General Ulysses S. Grant, ending the US Civil War.

1867 – The Alaska Purchase – the United States bought Alaska from the Russian Empire for $7.2 million, in a treaty ratified by the U.S. Senate.

1945 – The United States Atomic Energy Commission was formed.

1957 – The Suez Canal in Egypt was cleared and opened to shipping following the Suez Crisis.

1959 – NASA announced the selection of America’s first seven astronauts for Project Mercury. They were Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper, John Glenn, Gus Grissom, Wally Schirra, Alan Shepard, and Donald Slayton – the “Mercury Seven”

1965 – Astrodome opened with the first indoor baseball game is played. It was an exhibition game between the Houston Astros and the New York Yankees. The Astros won 2-1.

1967 – The first Boeing 737 made its maiden flight.

1974 – Phil Brooks was issued a US patent (#3,802,434) for a disposable syringe.

1981 – Nature published the longest scientific name in history. With 16,569 nucleotides, the systematic name for human mitochondrial DNA is 207,000 letters long. That would be over 1000 typical web pages.

1992 US Fed court finds Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega guilty of 8 out of 10 drug and racketeering charges

2002 Funeral of Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother at Westminster Abbey UK. More than a million people line the streets

2003 Baghdad falls to U.S. forces, ending the invasion of Iraq, but resulting in widespread looting

2018 US Senator Tammy Duckworth of Illinois becomes the first senator to give birth while in office

2019 Wolves have returned to the Netherlands after 140 years claim ecologists

2019 Nine prominent Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters found guilty on public nuisance charges for their part in 2014 "Umbrella Movement"

Birthdays Today

@91 – Hugh Hefner, American publisher, founded Playboy Enterprises (d. 2017)

82 – Michael Learned, American actress

@77 – Paul Robeson, American singer, actor, and activist (d. 1976; stroke)

67 – Dennis Quaid, American actor

@65 – Carl Perkins, singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1998; lung cancer)

58 – Joe Scarborough, American journalist

56 – Jeff Zucker, American businessman

55 – Cynthia Nixon, American actress

31 – Kristen Stewart, American actress

21 – Lil’ Nas X [Montero Lamar Hill], rapper

Puzzle Answer

An hourglass, with thousands of grains of sand