4 Sep

 

 

Daily Almanac for Flagstaff
Week 37 Day 247 \ Ave. Sky Cover 5% \ Visibility 10 miles Flagstaff Today 82° \51° 
Wind 7mph \ Gusts 12mph  Air Quality Moderate
High Risk of fire \ Nearest active fire 57mi \ Nearest Lightning 250mi
Sep Averages for Flagstaff: 74° \ 42° (5days of moisture)

 

Today’s Quote

Monthly Observations

Library Card Sign-up Month
(World) Leukemia and Lymphoma Awareness Month Link
Million Minute Family Challenge (September-December)
Mesothelioma Awareness Month Link
Mold Awareness Month
National Americana Month  Link
National Bake & Decorate Month
National Be A Food Hero Month
National Campus Safety Awareness Month Link
National Cheese Month  Link
National Chicken Month Link
National Child Awareness Month Link
National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month Link
National Chiari Awareness Month  Link  Link
National Coupon Month
National Disease Literacy Month Link
National DNA, Geonomics & Stem Cell Education Month
National Food Safety Education Month  Link
National Family Meals Month Link
National Fruit and Veggies Month 

Weekly Observations

Thru Sep.5 National Marina Days (From Memorial Day to Labor Day)  Link

Thru 9/6   Ride Sober or Get Pulled Over Link

Thru 9/11 US Open Tennis Championships

1-4  Chuckwagon Races

1-7 International Enthusiasm Week National Nutrition Week (UNICEF-India) Link Self-University Week Link

1-5  Golden Onion Week

1-10  Substitute Teacher Appreciation Week

2-5  Hog Days

2-3   Cow Chip Throwing Days US Snow Shoe Days

2-6  Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over Link

3-11  Link International Air Ambulance Week

4-10  Suicide Prevention Week National Waffle Week

Daily Observations

Appreciation Day
Bowling League Day  Link  
Eat an Extra Dessert Day
Macadamia Nut Day
National Spice Blend Day  Link
National Wildlife Day Link 
Newspaper Carrier Day
Pet Rock Day Link 
Wildlife Day

My Sometimes-Long-Winded Thoughts

Yet another great summer day.

A friend called yesterday afternoon. The vehicle was overheating about 30 miles South of Flagstaff. I picked up some anti-freeze and helped them nurse the vehicle back to Flagstaff. Got it checked out…everything OK. The heat (around 100°) and the climb up that mountain was too much for the 2016 Kia…since it has 220,000 miles on the odometer.

I saw a news story last night that was very disturbing. In Bucha, Ukraine they buried 76 unidentified civilian bodies…some children. They are part of the 400+ that were killed by Russian troops about a month ago. Sadly, these remained unidentified.

I had never heard of the Oban Society until yesterday. They are a humanitarian group that returns ‘items’ to the families of the soldiers killed. A man from Phoenix was going through his recently deceased father’s home. He found a Japanese flag with writing all over it. His father had fought in WWII in the Pacific. The son did some research and found that in Japanese culture, a soldier would have all his relatives sign a flag, which he would then carry into battle. The family believed that the flag carries the spirit of the soldier and his family. In his research he found the Oban Society. He sent them the flag. About a year later he got an email that they had found the family. The Society set up a video call so the Japanese family could thank him for returning their soldier’s flag. Very moving for sure.

It looks like Artemis rocket will be delayed again. Better safe than sorry.

This weekend is the Coconino County Fair. It is a nice fair, but parking and traffic is always an issue. I may head over that way sometime this weekend.

Favorite Memes

Moon Facts…

  The Moon Is Made Out of Cheese

The idea that the moon was made out of cheese may have been first proposed in Asian folklore. In an ancient fable, a fox convinces a hungry wolf that instead of chowing down on him, there’s a much better meal of cheese floating on a nearby body of water. Of course, that circle of cheese was simply the moon’s reflection, but, fooled, the wolf gulps the entire body of water and bursts.

Then in 1546, according to Mental Floss, an English writer named John Heywood wrote a book of proverbs where he coined the phrase “a penny for your thoughts” and “the more, the merrier.” He also said that “the moon is made of a green cheese” as a descriptor for someone who would believe anything.

While it’s pretty clear that no adult really ever thought the moon was made out of cheese, a 1902 American Journal of Psychology survey of 423 children revealed that more than a few kiddos thought the moon was made out of this delicious dairy item. Other things kids thought the moon was out of included rags, gold, balloons, yellow paint, God, and “dead people who join hands in a circle of light."

Myth Buster

Thomas Edison invented the light bulb

In fact, this American inventor relied more on the work of Henry Woodward and Mathew Evans to improve, not invent, the electric light bulb. The two Canadians filed a patent in 1874 before being forced to abandon their research due to a lack of funding. Thomas Edison then acquired the famous patent in 1879 for $5,000, which led to a legal battle after the patent office ruled that he was not the inventor.

Historical Events

1781 – The city of Los Angeles was founded.
1870 – Emperor Napoleon III of France was deposed and the Third Republic is declared.
1882 – The first public electric lights were turned on in Manhattan, NYC.
1883 – 10-year-old Barney Flaherty was the first newsboy, hired by The New York Sun.
1888 – George Eastman patented his 1st roll-film camera and registered the “Kodak” name.
1893 – Beatrix Potter created Peter Rabbit when writing a letter to a friend dated today.
1900 – “Typhoid Mary” Mallon was a cook who was ‘patient zero’ for a series of Typhoid Fever outbreaks in the early 1900s. She claimed to have never been sick herself.
1957 – Nine black students attempted to enter Little Rock Central High School but were blocked by the Arkansas National Guard. The next day, President Dwight D. Eisenhower ordered the 1,200-man 101st Airborne Battle Group of the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne Division from Fort Campbell, Kentucky, to escort the nine students into the school.
1972 – Mark Spitz won his seventh gold medal in the 1972 Munich Olympics.

Birthdays Today

@90 – Paul Harvey, American radio host ‘Good Day!’ (d. 2009)
“In times like these, it helps to recall that there have always been times like these.”– Paul Harvey
@83 – William Lyons, English businessman, co-founded Jaguar Cars (d. 1985)
90 – Mitzi Gaynor [Francesca Marlene de Czanyi von Gerber], American actress, singer, dancer
“Dancing is still the hardest profession. Gene Kelly said dancing is a man’s game Women have to do the same thing in heels, and have to sing and smile at the same time. Professional athletes don’t even have to do that – and they get to wear sneakers.”– Mitzi Gaynor
64 – ‘Dr. Drew’ Pinsky, American radio and television host
“Your partner cannot read your mind, so talk to your partner about how you’re feeling and what you need.”– Drew Pinsky
52 – Ione Skye, English-American actress
43 – Max Greenfield, American actor
41 – Beyonce’ Giselle Knowles-Carter, singer, songwriter…
38 – Kyle Mooney, American comedic actor, screenwriter