24 Dec

 

 24 December 2022

Daily Almanac for Flagstaff
Week 52 Day 358 \ Ave. Sky Cover 10% \ Visibility 10 miles Flagstaff Today 49° \24° 
Wind 2mph \ Gusts 2mph  Air Quality: Low\ Moderate Risk of fire \ Nearest active fire 350mi \ Nearest Lightning 1535mi
Dec Averages for Flagstaff: 43° \ 17° `
Sunshine

Today’s Quote

 

Weekly Observations

Andisop (Meteorological Fiddling): 5-24   Link
Christmas Bird Count Week: 14-1/5 Link 
Halcyon Days: 14-28 
Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over: 15 - 1/1/23  Link 
Posadas: 16-24
Chanukah: 18-26
Gluten-free Baking Week: 18-24  Link 

Daily Observations

Christmas Eve

Last Minute Shopper’s Day

National Egg Nog Day Link

My Sometimes-Long-Winded Thoughts

Sun is shining. Not too cold. I am lucky to be in the only part of the country that is not suffering from the winter cold and winter weather.

I got my car washed and waxed this morning. Glad it is clean.

Our town has to drain a pond dedicated to a local environmentalist. This year’s fires sent too much ash and debris into the water supply for the lake. The pond has lost all of its stocked fish and many plants. It will take time, but the water will be drained, the debris removed and then refilled in the early summer. Then they will restock the pond. There is no word on how the will effect the wild birds that inhabit the area.

This will be my last post until a day or two after Christmas.  I will be busy celebrating with friends here in Flag and in Tuba.

I hope everyone has a joyful time this weekend.

Favorite Memes

If…

•          I used to be a watchmaker. I loved the job because I made my own hours. 

Slang Origins

1946: Fubar

Meaning: completely messed up, destroyed, ruined

“Fubar” is an acronym thought to have been used by the military in WWII. It gained popularity in the years after the war and is now often used in computer programming and software development. Because the original acronym contained an expletive, some have shifted the meaning behind the letters to “fouled beyond all recognition.”

Mysteries…

WHO KILLED JFK?

This is probably the biggest mystery in American history that will never be resolved to everyone's satisfaction. On Nov. 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was shot in Dallas by Lee Harvey Oswald (although some speculate that he wasn't the only one shooting). On Nov. 24, 1963, before Oswald could stand trial, Oswald was fatally shot by nightclub owner Jack Ruby. Ruby died of lung cancer on Jan. 3, 1967.

The most widely accepted explanation is that Oswald killed JFK on his own and Ruby killed Oswald, on his own volition. Ruby's stated motivation was to spare Jacqueline Kennedy "the discomfiture of [Oswald] coming back to trial." However, there are still a significant number of professional historians, along with many amateurs, who do not agree with this explanation and since JFK's death, numerous alternative explanations have been brought forward by historians and amateurs. Given that significant new evidence is unlikely to appear, a firm consensus will probably never be reached.

Historical Events

1814 – Representatives of the United Kingdom and the United States signed the Treaty of Ghent, ending the War of 1812.
1818 – The first performance of Silent Night took place in the church of St. Nikolaus in Oberndorf, Austria
1851 – The Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., burned, destroying 35,000 books, about 2/3 of the library’s collection.
1945 – Five of the nine Sodder children become missing after their home in Fayetteville, West Virginia, mysteriously burned down.

Birthdays Today

81 – Anthony Fauci, Doctor
@81 – Fritz Leiber, American fantasy, science fiction author (d. 1992)
“A scientist ought to have a healthy disregard for coincidences.”– Fritz Leiber
@70 – Howard Hughes, American businessman, engineer, and pilot (d. 1976; kidney failure)
@70 – Lemmy Kimister, English rock singer-songwriter, bass player (d. 2015; cancer)
@69 – Jean-Louis Pons, French astronomer, found 37 comets (d. 1831)
@67 – Ava Gardner, American actress (d. 1990)
@66 – Clarence Gilyard, actor [Matlock; Walker, Texas Ranger] (d. 2015; long illness)
@58 – Christopher ‘Kit’ Carson, American general, and frontiersman (d. 1868; aneurysm)
@55 – Kate Spade, American fashion designer, co-founder of Kate Spade New York (d. 2018)
51 – Ricky Martin, Puerto Rican-American singer-songwriter
@49 – John, King of England, Magna Carta (d. 1216; dysentary)
49 – Stephenie Meyer, American author
“I like the night. Without the dark, we’d never see the stars.”– Stephenie Meyer
48 – Ryan Seacrest, American radio host, and television personality
“Failure? Scared to death of it.”– Ryan Seacrest
45 – Michael Raymond-James, American actor