Apr 24

 

 

 

Apr 23, 2021   Week: 17    Day: 114       

Visibility: 10 miles	Ave. Sky Cover: 25%
Local: H 66°\ L 33°	Nearest Lightning: 284mi.
Wind:  4mph/ Gusts:  16mph	High Risk of Fire:  Active fire:  557mi
Record: 81°[2007]  Record: 25°[1965]	Apr. Averages: 60°/27° (3 days w/moisture)

 

Today’s Quote

Either I will find a way, or I will make one.

~Philip Sidney

Random Tidbits

When the moon formed 4.6 billion years ago, it was 14,000 miles (22,530 km) from Earth. Now it's more than 280,000 miles (450,000 km) away. The moon looked three times larger when it was closer to Earth.

The moon's gravity has slowed the speed of Earth's rotation. Long ago, it was much faster and days were much shorter.

Humor

I tried having my mother’s phone disconnected, but the customer-service rep told me that since the account was in my dad’s name, he’d have to be the one to put in the request. The fact that he’d been dead for 40 years didn’t sway her. Then a solution hit me: “If I stop paying the bill, you can turn off the service, right?” “Well, yes,” she said reluctantly. “But that would ruin his credit.”

Real Cities

Terramuggus, Connecticut: a census-designated place (CDP) in the town of Marlborough, Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. It contains the town center village and surrounding areas. The population was 1,025 at the 2010 census.

True Things

Women use mop to eject alligator from home

A pair of Florida women used a Swiffer mop to try to eject a baby alligator that invaded a home and documented the experience in a live-streamed video. Sazan Powers said her neighbor, Erika Venza, had left the sliding glass door open at her home in Wesley Chapel, just outside of Tampa, and her dog alerted her just before noon that there was an invader inside the house. Venza discovered the 1-foot alligator wandering around inside the house and called Powers for backup. Powers streamed the experience on Facebook Live as she and Venza attempted to use a Swiffer mop to usher the reptile back out of the house. The women used empty TV boxes to barricade the alligator and prevent it from wandering further into the home. The women said it took about 20 minutes to get the alligator to go back out of the house through the sliding door.

Weekly Observations

 

Ramadan	Thru 5/11
National Dance Week Link	16-25
International Wildlife Film Week Link	17- 5/15
National Park Week Link	17-25
Animal Cruelty/Human Violence Awareness Week Link  Chemists Celebrate Earth Week Cleaning For A Reason Week National Coin Week Medical Laboratory Professionals Week  Link Numismatic Week ( National Coin Week   Link  National Crime Victims Rights Week Link National Infertility Awareness Week  Link National Paperboard Packaging Week National Pet ID Week   Link  Link National Princess Week     Link National Volunteer Week Sky Awareness Week    Spring Astronomy Week    Administrative Professionals Week	18-24
Festival of Ridvan	20-5/1
National Stationery Week Link	20-26
American Quilters Society Week Link CANCELLED International Mariachi Week  Link CANCELLED
Fiddler's Frolic	22-25
Gathering of the Nations Powwow Link AFRMA (Fancy Rat & Mouse) Days: 23-24 Link  CANCELLED	23-24
American Crossword Puzzle Days Link Interstate Mullet Toss National Dream Hotline National & Global Youth Service Days	23-25
National Scoop The Poop Week World Immunization Week	24-30

 

Today’s Observations

 

Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day Link
Bob Wills Day Link  
Eeyore's Birthday Day  Link
Independent Bookstore Day 
International Marconi Day Link 
International Sculpture Day Link  
National Dance Day 
National Go Birding Day 
National Herb Day4 
National Kiss of Hope Day  Link
National Pie Day CANCELLED
National Pigs-in-a-Blanket Day

National Pool Opening Day Link 
National Prepare-A-Thon Day Link 
National Rebuilding Day 
National Take Back Day Link  (DEA) 
National Sense of Smell Day Link 
New Kids on The Block Day Link
Pet Tech CPR Day 
Sauvignon Blanc Day  Link  Link  
Save The Frogs Day Link  
St. Mark's Eve Link
World Day for Animals in Laboratories Link
World Healing Day Link 
World Tai Chi & Qigong Day Link  
World Veterinary Day 
World Meningitis Day Link

 

My Sometimes-Long-Winded Thoughts

 

Friday is shopping day. I headed out about 8a to get groceries and pick up 2 scripts. Shopping went fine until I got to checkout. I was buying a small bottle of Tequila as I expect friends to stop by in the next week. At the self-checkout I scanned the bottle and the machine said to wait for approval. Eventually the lady came over, punched some buttons and asked for my birthdate. I said ‘Seriously, you think I am under 21?’. She said ‘No, but I can’t let you buy it until I get your birthdate.’ I gave it to her, but I see this as a real invasion of my privacy. Why does the machine get to know my birthday and to whom does the machine give that data? She said she didn’t know.

So cool to watch the helicopter on Mars fly again and for the rover to produce breathable oxygen. A couple of generations from now, there may actually be earth humans on Mars. WOW!

There is a wide spot in the road between Flagstaff and Grand Canyon. It has been called Valle forever. Now the area residents want to name it Grand Canyon Junction. They believe the change will help the wide spot grow. Hmmm.

The CDC is falling down on its job. Every store, every city/town, and every state have set their own mask requirements. I understand that this is a free country and people need to decide how to follow rules they believe are incorrect. However, with so many deaths and so many hospitalizations, and so many scared people, it seems the CDC should advise the government that there needs to be a nation-wide set of rules. I have no problem wearing a mask in order to prevent the spread of the disease. I do have a problem with others who refuse to wear a mask. All the local control sure ain’t working. It is causing a great deal of confusion.

 

Daily Puzzle

Answer: bottom of the page

 

73.  A family has two parents and six sons. Each of the sons has one sister. How many people are in the family?

 

Historical Events

 

1184 BC – The fall of Troy (with the Trojan Horse) took place, according to tradition.

1704 – The first regular newspaper in British Colonial America, the News-Letter, was published in Boston, Massachusetts.

1800 – The Library of Congress was established.

1885 – American sharpshooter Annie Oakley joined Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show.

1907 – Hersheypark, founded by Milton S. Hershey initially for the exclusive use of his employees, was opened.

1913 – The 57 floor Woolworth Building skyscraper in New York City opened.

1928 – The fathometer was Patented (#1,667,540) by Herbert Grove Dorsey. It was designed to measure the depth of water.

1953 – Winston Churchill was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.

1970 – The first Chinese satellite, Dong Fang Hong I, was launched.

1981 -The first IBM personal computer was completed.

1982 – Jane Fonda’s first Workout video was released.

1990 – STS-31 – The Hubble Space Telescope was launched from the Space Shuttle Discovery.

2016 – The Apple Watch was released.

2018 US President Donald Trump hosts his first state dinner for visiting French President Emmanuel Macron

 

Birthdays Today

 

87 – Shirley MacLaine, American actress, singer, and dancer

@79 – Vincent de Paul, French priest and saint (d. 1660)

79 – Barbra Streisand, American singer and actress

57 – Cedric the Entertainer, American comedian, actor, and producer

@54 – Jill Ireland, English actress (d. 1990; breast cancer)

39 – Kelly Clarkson, American singer-songwriter

29 – Joe Keery, American actor

 

Puzzle Answer

Nine. Two parents, six sons, one daughter!