Mar 20

 

Week 13 Day: 79  Ave. sky cover: 40% \ Visibility: 10 miles Flagstaff Today 55° \23°  Wind: 9mph \ Gusts: 15mph
Extreme risk of fire \ Nearest active fire: 313mi \ nearest Lightning: 1199mi
Mar Averages for Flagstaff: 53° \ 23°  (6 days of moisture)

Today’s Quote

Weekly Observations

 

14-20	International Brain Awareness Week Link National Fix A Leak Week  Link
20-4/17	National Cherry Blossom Festival Link
20-26	American Chocolate Week Link National Agriculture Week National Animal Poison Prevention Week  Link  Link National Inhalant & Poisons Awareness Week Link   Link National Poison Prevention Week National Protocol Officer's Week World Folktales & Fables Week

 

Daily Observations

My Sometimes-Long-Winded Thoughts

Clouds coming in but a warm nice day.  No precipitation in the forecast.

I will be missing our next discussion group as I’m in Tahiti. The topic is Xi’s China.  Sounds interesting. After a small hassle with phones and messages, I got everything set up. I know they will have a great discussion.

Living in the high desert, I hear a lot about solar energy. I just read an article about solar production by state. CA is #1 with 17,498KW/h. Then #2 is AZ with 2924KW/h.

Here’s how much electricity various appliances use:

Ø 50″ LED Television: around 0.016 kWh per hour

Ø Electric dishwashers: around 2 kWh per load

Ø Most ovens are around 2.3 kWh per hour

Ø Electric water heater: 380-500 kWh per month

Ø Refrigerator (24 cu. ft frost free Energy Star): 54 kWh per month

Ø Clothes Washer (warm wash, cold rinse): 2.3 kWh per load

Ø Clothes Dryer: 2.5 – 4.0 kWh per load

Ø Air Conditioner (3 ton 12 SEER): 3.0 kWh per hour

Ø Nissan Leaf Electric Car – 40 kWh per full battery charge

Guess solar is part of the answer. 

Favorite Memes

 

A bit of Humor

What word looks the same backwards & upside down?

SWIMS.

Trivia

The Human Brain

Scientists claim that the most complicated and mysterious thing in the universe is the human brain. Scientists know more about stars exploding billions of light years away than they know about the brain.

Aristotle (384 BC - 322 BC) believed that the center of thought was the heart, and that the brain's function was merely to cool the heart. It was an early Greek physician, Alcmaeon of Croton (c. 6th century B.C.), who was the first to claim that the brain, not the heart, is the central organ of sensation and thought.

In South America, scientist have discovered deliberately made 'skull holes' that may have been made to treat painful headaches, brain disease, or to let 'evil spirits' out of the head. Called 'trepanation,' the process of making those holes was incredibly painful. The high number of trepanized skulls suggests that this brain surgery was commonplace.

Contrary to the popular belief that humans use just 10 percent of their brain capacity, humans actually use virtually every part of the brain, and most of the brain is active all the time.

Historical Events

Ø  1602 – The Dutch East India Company was established.

Ø  1760 – The Great Boston Fire of 1760 destroyed 349 buildings, but no reported deaths.

Ø  1852 – Harriet Beecher Stowe’s anti-slavery novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, was published.

Ø  1854 – In Ripon, Wisconsin, former members of the Whig Party formed the Republican Party.

Ø  1916 – Albert Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity was published in Annalen der Physik.

Ø  1923 – The Arts Club of Chicago hosted the opening of Pablo Picasso’s first United States showing.

Ø  1964 – The precursor of the European Space Agency, ESRO (European Space Research Organisation) was established.

Ø  1985 – Libby Riddles became the first woman to win the 1,135-mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

Ø  1999 – Legoland California, the first Legoland outside of Europe, opened in Carlsbad, California.

Birthdays Today

@98 – Carl Reiner, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2020)

91 – Hal Linden, American actor

@76 – Edgar Buchanan, American character actor (d. 1979; pneumonia)

@74 – Fred Rogers, American children’s television host (d. 2003; stomach issue)

74 – Bobby Orr, Canadian ice hockey player

@71 – William Hurt, actor (d. 2022; cancers)

@69 – Ozzie Nelson, American actor and bandleader (d. 1975; liver cancer)

65 – Spike Lee, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter

64 – Holly Hunter, American actress

@41 – Chester Bennington, Linkin Park singer (d. 2017)