Jun 20

 

 

Jun 20, 2021   Week: 26    Day: 171

Visibility: 10 miles Ave. Sky Cover: 45%

Local: H 91°\ L 56°

Wind:  7mph/ Gusts:  11mph

EXTREME Risk of Fire:  Active fire:  23mi Nearest Lightning: 4mi.

Jun Averages: 70°/42° (1 day w/moisture)

 

Today’s Quote

 

Many a trip continues long after movement in time and space have ceased. John Steinbeck

 

Random Tidbits

 

Rice is the seed harvested from the long, grass-like stalk of the Oryza sativa plant (Asian rice) or the Oryza glaberrima (African rice).

As a cereal grain, it is the most widely consumed staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in Asia.

From East Asia, rice was spread to South and Southeast Asia. Rice was introduced to Europe through Western Asia, and to the Americas through European colonization.

 

Humor: Robots

 

Party for one

One night in Hamburg, Germany, one Amazon Alexa took the evening’s entertainment into its own, er, hands. At about 1:50 a.m., this particular Alexa started playing music at such exceedingly high volume that neighbors were forced to call the police. The police arrived and knocked, but, of course, no one was there to answer the door. They broke in and pulled the plug on the device. As a parting gift, they left a new lock on the door, for the homeowner to discover when he returned. He was forced to head to the police station to pick up the new key—and pay the considerable locksmith bill. He and his Alexa have since parted ways, after this “U-turn” in their relationship.

 

True Things

 

The Foreign Press

Diplomats and their families from the Russian embassy in Pyongyang, North Korea, worked around extreme COVID-induced travel restrictions by pushing themselves across the border in a rail trolley to reach their home country on Feb. 25, the BBC reported. The group of eight, including children, traveled 32 hours by train and two hours by bus to reach the Russian border, but trains and wagons cannot enter or leave North Korea, so the embassy's third secretary, Vladislav Sorokin, completed the last half-mile of the journey by pushing the trolley filled with the group and their baggage on train tracks over the Tumen River, where they were met by Russian officials at the border station. [BBC, 2/26/2021]

 

Weekly Observations

 

National Hermit Week	13-20
Meet A Mate Week Men's Health Week  Link   Link  US Open Golf Championship	14-20
National Week of Making Link National Nursing Assistants Week Waste and Recycling Workers Week Link	17-23
Animal Rights Awareness Week Link    Link Greencare For Troops Awareness Week National Play Catch Week  Old Time Fiddlers Week Link Carpenter Ant Awareness Week  Fish Are Friends, Not Food! Week Link   Lightning Safety Awareness Week Link  National Craft Spirits Week Link  National Mosquito Control Awareness Week Link   Universal Father's Week	20-26

 

Today’s Observations

 

American Eagle Day Link Ann & Samantha Day Link Dollars Against Diabetes Day(s): 18-20 Link Family Awareness Day  Father's Day Link Link Flitch of Bacon Day Link  Link Global Orgasm Day  Husband Caregiver Day   Ice Cream Soda Day International Nystagmus Awareness Day Link Lambrusco Day Link Litha National Bald Eagle Day National Hike With A Geek Day  Link National Kouign Amann Day Link National Sea Shell Day  Link   National Turkey Lovers Day National Vanilla Milkshake Day Midsummer Summer Solstice Turkey Lovers Day Link   World Juggling Day World Productivity Day World Refugee Day

 

My Sometimes-Long-Winded Thoughts

 

Parts of our mountain town got some rain, sadly, none here at my place. It is still hot and dry.

I cleaned the bedroom, flipped the mattress, and got ready for the first day of summer tomorrow. Washed two loads of linens, now just waiting for them to dry.

A recent survey shows that 1 in 4 parents of children 6-12 refuse to sign consent for the vaccine even after the child has asked for it.  We will never get to herd immunity if this trend continues. I’m sure glad I’m not working in a school. I would have a hard time dealing with the non-vaccine parents as it would be exposing all the other children.

As we pull out of Afghanistan, we must protect those who served as translators, guides, and their families. The pro-American Afghans helped and if we don’t evacuate them, they will be dead. The US has done this in every war and this one is no different. Congress needs to appropriate funds NOW so they can get out by the Sept. deadline. If we do not evacuate them, the next time we get into a conflict/war, word will spread rapidly that we don’t protect locals who help us. Vets are pushing Congress to do this, but so many in Congress don’t think it is necessary. So short-sighted and sad.  

 

2 New Puzzles Everyday

Answer: bottom of the page

 

FIVE	SOMEWHERE RAINBOW

 

Historical Events

 

1214 – The University of Oxford received its Royal charter.

1782 – Congress adopted the Great Seal of the United States, with the Bald Eagle clutching both an olive branch and thirteen arrows.

1837 – Queen Victoria, age 18, ascended the British throne following the death of her uncle, King William IV. She ruled for 63 years to 1901.

1840 – Samuel Morse received the patent (#1647) for the telegraph.

1893 – Lizzie Borden was acquitted of the murders of her father and stepmother.

1944 – The German experimental MW 18014 V-2 rocket reached an altitude of 176 km, becoming the first man-made object to reach outer space.

1945 – The United States Secretary of State approved the transfer of Wernher von Braun (and other Nazi rocket scientists) to America.

1948 – Toast of the Town, a variety series hosted by Ed Sullivan, premiered on CBS. It was later renamed The Ed Sullivan Show.

1963 – The United States and the Soviet Union agreed to establish a “hotline” communication system between the two nations.

1975 – Hollywood’s first major summer ‘must see’ blockbuster, Jaws, opened in theaters.

1988 Supreme Court upholds a law that made it illegal for private clubs to discriminate against women and minorities

1990 Nelson Mandela lands in NYC to begin a tour of US

1991 The Bundestag (German parliament) decides to move the capital from Bonn back to Berlin

1995 Space probe Ulysses begins 2nd passage behind the Sun

2018 US President Donald Trump signs Executive Order ending family separation at the border for illegal immigrants

2019 Chinese President Xi Jinping meets Kim Jong-un in Pyongyang, the first Chinese president to visit North Korea in 14 years

2020 Highest-ever temperature recorded in the Arctic circle, 38C (100F) in Verkhoyansk, Siberia

 

Birthdays Today

 

@86 – Danny Aiello, American actor (d. 2019)

79 – Brian Wilson, American singer-songwriter and producer [Beach Boys]

75 – Bob Vila, American television host

72 – Lionel Richie, American singer-songwriter

69 – John Goodman, American actor

54 – Nicole Kidman, American-Australian actress

53 – Robert Rodriguez, American director, producer, and screenwriter

@50 – Errol Flynn, Australian-American actor (d. 1959; heart attack)

@45 – Audie Murphy, American lieutenant and actor, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1971; private plane crash)

 

Puzzles Answer

 

High five                                                                   Somewhere over the rainbow