May 15

 

 
Daily Almanac for Flagstaff
Week 21 Day: 135 \ Ave. sky cover: 5% \ Visibility: 10 miles Flagstaff Today 78° \35° 
Wind: 5mph \ Gusts: 10mph
Extreme risk of fire \ Nearest active fire: 12mi \ nearest Lightning: 972mi
May Averages for Flagstaff: 68° \ 34°  (3 days of moisture)

 

Today’s Quote

Weekly Observations

6-15 National Public Gardens Week  Link

8-15 Reading is Fundamental Week  Link   Salvation Army Week   Salvation Army Week   Work At Home Moms Week

9-15  National Hospital Week  Link National Stuttering Awareness Week

10-16 Universal Family Week

15-21   EMS (Emergency Medical Services) Week Link   International Heritage Breeds Week International New Friends, Old Friends Week National Eosinophil Awareness Week Link   National Medical Transcription Week Link National Transportation Week National Unicycle Week Police Week World Trade Week

 

Daily Observations

My Sometimes-Long-Winded Thoughts

Sunny day with no wind…paradise here.

I turned on my computer this morning to discover no internet connection. I tried all the usual things. Nada. Called I called CenturyLink, my provider. “Our offices are currently closed. Please call back during regular business hours, 9am-5pm M-F”. I was dumbfounded. Internet is supposed to be 24/7 and so should tech support. I played around and found a chat for tech support. I used my cellphone to connect. No luck. I turned off the computer and went about my day. After some shopping, laundry, and cleaning, I tried again. Internet connection was back on. I guess it was magic.

The big story on NPR this morning was the baby formula shortage. This shortage certainly makes us appear to be a 3^rd world country. I am curious as to why conservatives are not speaking out and suggest fixes to this mess. As an adopted child, I know the importance of good baby formula for babies.

Here’s something I hadn’t thought about until I saw a story about it…Crash dummies have always been male. Women are more likely to die in a crash than males. Part of this is because females are built differently than males. Duh… Some crash dummies are ‘made smaller’ to study what happens to ‘smaller males’ in a crash. A couple of crash dummy companies have begun making female dummies. The problem now is that crash test results do not include what happens to the female dummies. Therefore, few tests use the female equivalent. I hope Congress learns this and changes the rules for crash dummies to include results of females.

 

Favorite Memes

 

State Trivia

Pennsylvania: Charles Dickens' pet raven lives here

Dead, but preserved since 1841, a unique piece of history is on display in the Rare Books department of the Philadelphia Free Library. Grip, a taxidermized black raven that was once Charles Dickens' pet, is the same that inspired Edgar Allan Poe's famous poem The Raven. Dickens' pet was mentioned in a lesser-known story of his, Barnaby Rudge. Poe reviewed the book and published his poem soon after. In fact, the Maryland NFL team Baltimore Ravens are also, by extension, inspired by Grip as the team was named in honor of Baltimore resident Poe's poem.

Rhode Island: White Horse Tavern is the oldest in the US

Believed to be the USA’s oldest tavern building, Newport’s White Horse Tavern is a real slice of history. Established in 1673 by William Mayes Senior, it then passed down to his son, who was a pirate and is still believed to haunt it today. It then served as accommodation for loyalists and British troops during the Occupation of Newport in the Revolution, but today it's best known for its clam chowder.

South Carolina: there's a monkey colony

South Carolina's coast is dotted with countless barrier islands and marshland that stretches from Berkeley to Jasper counties. Each of these islands share landscapes and wildlife apart from one. A small barrier island off the coast of Beaufort has an unusual population. The 2,000 acres of Morgan Island are roamed by a colony of nearly 4,000 Rhesus monkeys. The monkeys were moved to the island in the late 1970s from a research facility in Puerto Rico and have lived on the island since. Unfortunately, it's not accessible for humans.

South Dakota: there is a monument bigger than Mount Rushmore

Well, there almost is. Mount Rushmore is one of the country's most famous monuments, however, there is an even larger and more spectacular one in the works. The Crazy Horse Memorial is the world's only mountain carving in progress and, when finished, it'll be the world's largest sculpture, standing 563 feet (172m). So far only the face of Crazy Horse, an indigenous Lakota warrior, has been finished and current work continues on his outstretched arm.

Paraprosdokians

Winston Churchill paraprosdokians

v War does not determine who is right - only who is left.

v Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.

v They begin the evening news with 'Good Evening,' then proceed to tell you why it isn't.

v To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism. To steal from many is research.

v I thought I wanted a career. Turns out, I just wanted pay checks.

v In filling out an application, where it says, 'In case of emergency, notify:' I put "DOCTOR."

Historical Events

Ø    1501 – Ottaviano Petrucci opened the first modern-style music publishing house, by producing the first book of music made from movable type, in Venice.
Ø    1536 – Anne Boleyn, Queen of England, stood trial in London on charges of treason, adultery and incest. Found guilty, she was executed a few days later, May 19.
Ø    1793 – Diego Marín Aguilera flew a glider for approximately 1,000 feet during one of the first attempted manned flights, in Spain.
Ø    1800 – President John Adams ordered the new US federal government to leave Philadelphia and move to the nation’s new capital in Washington DC.
Ø    1862 – President Abraham Lincoln signed a bill into law creating the United States Bureau of Agriculture, later renamed the United States Department of Agriculture.
Ø    1869 – Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton form the National Woman Suffrage Association, in New York.
Ø    1911 – With Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey v. The United States, the United States Supreme Court declared Standard Oil to be an “unreasonable” monopoly under the Sherman Antitrust Act and ordered the company to be broken up.
Ø    1928 – Walt Disney character Mickey Mouse premiered in his first (silent) cartoon, Plane Crazy. 1929’s Steamboat Willie had sound. Plane Crazy was re-released with sound later in 1929.
Ø    1932 – Japanese insurgents plotted to kill Charlie Chaplin and their own Prime Minister to provoke war with the US and incite “restoration” in the name of the Emperor.
Ø    1940 – Nylon stockings went on sale for the first time in the United States.
Ø    1941 – Joe DiMaggio began a 56-game hitting streak.
Ø    1942 – Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps (WAACs) was formed, granting women official US military status.
Ø    1958 – The Soviet Union launched Sputnik 3.
Ø    1970 – President Richard Nixon appointed Anna Mae Hays and Elizabeth P. Hoisington the first female United States Army generals.
Ø    2008 – California became the second U.S. state (after Massachusetts in 2004) to legalize same-sex marriage
Ø 2010 – Jessica Watson became, at age 16, the youngest person to sail, non-stop and unassisted around the world solo.

Birthdays Today

92 – Lainie Kazan, American actress

91 – Jasper Johns, American painter and sculptor

@89 – Eddy Arnold, American singer-songwriter (d. 2008)

@88 – Joseph Cotten, American actor (d. 1994)

@62 – L. Frank Baum, American novelist (d. 1919; stroke)

@77 – Roger Ailes, American broadcaster (d. 2017; fall & hemophilia)

@74 – Richard J. Daley, American lawyer, 48th Mayor of Chicago (d. 1976; heart attack)

32 – Stella Maxwell, New Zealand model