Jul 16

 

 

 

Jul  16, 2021 Week: 29 Day: 197

Ave. Sky Cover: 30%\Visibility: 10 miles

Local Temp:  75°\ 57°

Wind: 7mph\ Gusts: 5mph

Low risk of fire

Active fire: 28mi. \ Lightning: 11mi.

Jul Averages: 82°\51° (9 days w/moisture)

 

Today’s Quote

 

 


 

Random Tidbits

 

          During a car crash, 40% of drivers never even hit the brakes.

          When the moon is directly overhead, you weigh slightly less.

          Sitting straight up is bad for your back. You should slough at an angle of 135              degrees.

 

True Things

 

Yeah, Science!

In a study published June 10 in the journal Green Chemistry, scientists at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland announced a breakthrough. They had genetically engineered bacteria to convert terephthalic acid -- a compound left over when plastic-eating bugs (discovered in Japan in 2016) do their thing -- to vanillin, the primary component of extracted vanilla beans that produces the taste and smell of vanilla. Global demand for the chemical is far outpacing the world's supply of natural vanilla beans. "Using microbes to turn waste plastics ... into an important commodity is a beautiful demonstration of green chemistry," said Ellis Crawford of the U.K.'s Royal Society of Chemistry. [The Guardian, 6/10/21]

 

Idioms Origins

 

Retsyn

Certs Breath Mints have been around since 1956. When they first came out, they marketed themselves as both a candy and a breath mint. Candies are subject to certain tariffs, and they went back and forth in the courts finally deciding they were breath mints.

Those breath mints contain ‘retsyn’, which sounds good, but it’s basically just homogenized vegetable oil. It sounds scientific though.

Ribbit (frog sound)

Ribbit came from a 1965 episode of Gilligan’s Island. Mel Blanc provided the voice of the frog, I’d have to call him the inventor. Before that, frogs were usually referred to by their croaking sound.

 

Weekly Observations

 

Tour de France Link

Thru 7/18

 Family Golf Week Link

National Farriers Week

National Vodka Week Link

National Therapeutic Recreation Week Link

Operation Safe Driver Week Link

 

 

11-17  

National Ventriloquism Week Link

14-17  

National Cancer Survivor Sibling Week Link  

15-18  

Rabbit Week

15-21

National Sweet Corn Week

16-17

 

Today’s Observations

 

 

Celebration of The Horse Day 
Fresh Spinach Day

National Corn Fritter Day

National Guinea Pig Day Link
National Ice Cream Day

National Personal Chef's Day Link 
World Snake Day Link

 

 

My Sometimes-Long-Winded Thoughts

 

The return of the monsoon. It has been 3 years since we have had a good monsoon. It is so nice to have it back. I have already had two storms today with significant rain…for the desert.

Our local flooding made the internet and national news. There is a short video of a small car being pushed down the street by water. It hits a truck and a car before stopping. No injuries, just some great footage for the internet.

Mary and I had lunch at Olive Garden. It has been forever since we ate there. The All-You-Can-Eat soup and salad was great. Mary is leaving next week for 2 weeks at her beach house in Oregon. It will be a nice break for Mike and Mary.

For the past month or so my CPAP mask has irritated by skin where it wraps around my nose/mouth. Skin is really red. I have tried lotions to no avail. I picked up my CPAP supplies and they had me call the respiratory therapist. He is sending some cloth covers for the facemask. I hope they help. It is embarrassing to have red skin around my mouth and nose.

 

2 New Puzzles Everyday

Answer: bottom of the page

 

 

sgeg  gersg

 

 

14

26Paint32

17

 

 

Historical Events

 

1661 – The first banknotes in Europe were issued by the Swedish bank Stockholm’s Banco.

1769 – Father Junípero Serra founded California’s first mission, Mission San Diego de Alcalá, later known as San Diego, California.

1790 – The District of Columbia was established as the capital of the United States with the Residence Act.

1862 – David Farragut was promoted to rear admiral, becoming the first officer in United States Navy to hold the rank.

1915 – The Boy Scout’s First Order of the Arrow ceremony took place and the Order of the Arrow was founded.

1935 – The world’s first parking meter was installed in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The first US patent for the device was filed by Roger W. Babson, on August 30, 1928.

1941 – Joe DiMaggio hit safely for the 56th consecutive game, an MLB record that still stands.

1945 – (Manhattan Project) The US successfully detonated a plutonium-based test nuclear weapon near Alamogordo, New Mexico.

1951 – The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger was published for the first time, by Little, Brown and Company.

1956 – Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus closed its last “Big Tent” show in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

1965 – The Mont Blanc Tunnel linking France and Italy opened.

1969 – Apollo 11 was launched from the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Kennedy, Florida.

1994 – Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 collided with Jupiter, through July 22.

1999 – John F. Kennedy Jr., his wife, Carolyn, and her sister, Lauren Bessette, died when the Piper Saratoga PA-32R aircraft he was piloting crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard.

2004 – Millennium Park was opened to the public by Mayor Richard M. Daley.

2005 "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince", the 6th book in the series by J. K. Rowling, is published worldwide. 9 million copies sell in 24 hrs

2014 Bashar al-Assad is sworn in for a third term as President of Syria

2018 12 new moons discovered orbiting Jupiter bringing planet's moon total to 79, by scientists at Carnegie Institution for Science

2018 Historic cemetery (1878-1911) announced discovered near Houston, Texas, containing 95 remains though to be African Americans slaves

 

Birthdays Today

 

@88 – Orville Redenbacher, farmer, businessman, founded Orville Redenbacher’s (died in 1995)

@82 – Barbara Stanwyck, American actress (died in 1990)

@64 – Joseph Jefferson Jackson ‘Shoeless’ Joe Jackson, baseball player (d. 1951; heart attack)

54 – Will Ferrell, American comedic actor

53 – Larry Sanger, American philosopher and businessman, co-founded Wikipedia

50 – Corey Feldman, American actor

 

Puzzles Answer

 

Scrambled eggs                                                                  paint by numbers

 

 

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Flagstaff, Arizona, United States
I retired in '06--at the ripe old age of 57. I enjoy blogging, photography, traveling, and living life to it's fullest.