This is Week 45 of 2010►Day 317 with 48 days left.
Flagstaff Weather: H—49°; L—14°; RH—24%; —clear sky and wind—7 mph
QUOTE FOR THE DAY—E. B. White
People are, if anything, more touchy about being thought silly than they are about being thought unjust.
FREE RAMBLING THOUGHTS
Another very chilly day here in Flag. My furnace kept coming on throughout the day. I keep the house at 68° and it came on three or four times today. Guess I better get ready for higher gas bills. I ran some errands this morning but even the stores were chilly. I guess no one is ready for winter. It would be so much nicer to deal with the chilly weather if it was bringing in some moisture, but in Flag, we can’t have everything.
I finally called the HOA today to find out when the numbers are going back up on our units. It’s been three weeks with a piece of paper in my window with my number. I did point out that this could be a safety hazard, in case there was any kind of emergency at my unit, or any other unit in the campus. We don’t need our First Responders having to find a number on one of the unpainted doors, then count the doors. She said she would check with the guy on Monday. OK then, and she did seemed surprised, so hopefully she will get some action.
While I was on my trip, I somehow chipped a tiny piece of turquoise out of my ring. The jeweler who made the ring has moved out of the state. The family owned business is difficult to deal with. The old jeweler was fantastic. So on Tuesday I took the ring in to ask a jeweler what my options were. The owner/sales lady would not let me talk to the jeweler who was standing in the work room. She said she would take the ring, send it to Phoenix, and get an estimate. This would take two to three weeks. I asked if there was another solution. She said that she would send it to Phoenix. I asked to speak to the jeweler, and she said I will send it to Phoenix. She then babbled about how inlay turquoise chips quite often and how hard it is to find a piece that matches. I asked for a ball park figure and she said somewhere between $300-$500 dollars. I said can’t you just put some epoxy in it, so it won’t chip again, and since turquoise is well known for its veins, it wouldn’t be noticeable. She said she could do that and it would be $12. I agreed and was told I could get the custom made ring on Thursday. When I got home about an hour later, there was a message on my phone. The lady had called to tell me the jeweler had suggested darkening the epoxy so it would look more like a vein. Brilliant was my response. She also said the jeweler said the ring needed to really cure and would be ready Friday evening. This morning about 10am the son/owner called to tell me the ring was ready. He was with a couple and left them to get my ring while they were deciding. The ring looks very nice and I asked him to speak to the jeweler. She stepped out of the workroom and I told her how happy I was with her work. The couple, a Navajo lady and white man about my age asked it they could see the ring. They made a couple of nice comments. I really wanted to tell the son how unhelpful his mom had been, but decided not to. Just not the right time or place.
The Post Office is in deep financial difficulty…welcome to the real world. They expect to lose almost $8.5billion this year alone. I like many Americans pay my bills on line, communicate through e-mail or phone, and am fed up with the junk mail I get every day. I am sure that if junk mail had to pay the price we pay for mail, two things would happen. First there would be a lot less junk and second, the post office would either thrive or perish. The Postal workers have to put up with a lot, and I get that. The postal workers I know are very nice people, most of the time. For all the crap they put up with, they are amazing. When I was helping Martha after her surgery, I found out about their horrible hours, saw some of the stupid people they have to deal with—always smiling, and the fact that they get sent around to other post offices on a regular basis. They do have a great medical plan, a retirement plan as good as or better than Civil Service workers, and a very strong union. Martha and her book business would be in great difficulty if the Post Office wasn’t there, offering good prices to mail books and media. I also met some other e-bay or Amazon sellers that use the post office daily with packages. They would have to find another way to keep their customers happy. I only check my mailbox every couple of days. There are usually a couple of important pieces of mail and a couple dozen pieces of useless junk mail. My mom has been gone for several years, and I am still getting stuff from AAA, charities, and other junk for her. The AAA one get me, as if she were alive she would be 91 and I doubt she would still be driving. In fact she dropped out of AAA when she was 85 after selling her car. Anyway, I’m sorry that the PO is unable to make ends meet, and hope they find a reasonable way to stay in business.
The BBB (Better Business Bureau) has been around for 98 years. My parents would always check with them when they found a new local business they weren’t familiar with, and they did use BBB to report bad service. Like so many icons of the last century, BBB is under fire. It turns out that for a mere $400/year any business can receive an A grade for their business. Some prankster paid the $400 and got an A grade for his business—Hamas the radical Palestine group. Another prankster got an A grade after paying for his non-existent restaurant. There are stories of members moving from a C or B grade to an A grade after joining the organization, for a mere $400. How sad. I so hate to see icons fall. I guess the BBB is just like the Chamber of Commerce—join and get help with your public image, don’t join and suffer the consequences. Both groups started for a very good reason and had a clear message—to help consumers. As time passed, it became little more than a money making machine. What’s next? I’m waiting to hear that Consumer Reports has changed too. This is 2010 and our new decade has started with a serious recession with business in deep trouble. Just like a century ago,’ Buyer Beware’ is the mantra and sadly there are few organizations out there to help the consumer.
HOLY MACKEREL: 1927»After seven years of construction and over $48 million, the Holland Tunnel, New York City’s connection to Jersey City, NJ, opened to traffic
JEOPARDY PUZZLE—(1984 games)(answers below)-Firsts
$200-Combat candies made to melt in a GI's mouth, not in his hand
$400-Until Swanson offered them in '54, you couldn't officially eat in front of the boob tube
$600-The first ones had to be nurses to serve coffee, tea or milk
$800-Brand of cereal thou could 1st buy in 1901
$1000-n 1868, a Mobile, Ala. Mardi Gras parade 1st featured these
SOMEWHAT USELESS INFORMATION—Fruit
»Lemons are thought to have originated in the wild both in China and India and have been in existence for at least 4,000 years. They were taken to the Middle East between 400 and 600 BC and then to the Mediterranean where food historians say they have been in cultivation from as early as the first century AD.
»The kiwi fruit has its origins in China's Yangtze River valley. The fruit has been around for over 700 years and was a favorite in the courts of the great Khans.
»In the early 1900s, New Zealand missionaries took the seeds from kiwi fruit home where the plant was named for the indigenous bird. Plants were later sent to the United States, Italy, South Africa and Chile.
»The watermelon is of the same botanical family as cucumbers, pumpkins and squash. They were first harvested in Egypt about 5,000 years ago and are now grown in almost 100 countries. Every part of a watermelon is edible, even the seeds, and the rinds which are often pickled.
»The papaya, or paw paw, is believed to have originated in southern Mexico or Central America and now grows in all tropical and subtropical countries as the plants need warmth throughout the year. Papayas are the only natural source of papain, an effective natural digestive aid, which breaks down protein and cleanses the digestive track.
»Once cut or squeezed the vitamin C in an orange quickly begins to dissipate. After eight hours at room temperature or 24 hours in the refrigerator, the orange will experience a 20 percent vitamin C loss.
UNUSUAL NEWS ITEM—finally the Rest of the Story
LANSING, MI — It's "Team Victory" all right.
A $129 million Powerball lottery ticket sold at an urban porn shop is being split by members of a group primarily from southeast Michigan.
The group calls itself Team Victory. A representative wasn't saying Friday whether the winning ticket was bought inside Uptown Book Store or at an outside, walk-up lottery ticket window frequented by many in the depressed Highland Park neighborhood.
Mike Greer of Farmington Hills also wouldn't describe the group members or how they know each other.
Greer picked up the check Friday. He says he didn't buy the ticket himself or know how it was purchased. He also says that doesn't matter to the group members.
The ticket was bought just outside Detroit for the Nov. 6 drawing.
A LITTLE LAUGH
"Don't worry, I can stay out late tonight," Joe told his friend Bob. "My wife's gone for a two-week vacation in the Caribbean."
"Jamaica?" Bob asked.
"No, it was her idea."
FOUND ON ‘YOU TUBE’
GREY MATTER PICTURE
This is a close up of what object?
SOME CALENDAR INFORMATION
¤ Weekly Observances ¤
7-13: National Nurse Practioner's Week, Pursuit of Happiness Week, National Rad Tech Week , Fraud Awareness Week, Dear Santa Letter Week, National Young Reader's Week, World Kindness Week
14-20: American Education Week, Geography Awareness Week, National Hunger & Homeless Awareness Week, National Global Entrepreneurship Week
19-25:National Farm-City Week
21-28: National Bible Week, National Family Week, National Game & Puzzle Week, National Teens Don't Text and Drive Week, Better Conversation Week, Church/State Separation Week
¤ Today’s Observances ¤
National Indian Pudding Day
World Kindness Day
National Donor Sabbath Days—see yesterday
Grenada, New Zealand : Remembrance Day
Laos : King's Birthday
¤ Top 10 songs of 1969 ¤
Click on Song Title to see and hear the original
***correction****
¤ Today’s Births ¤
╬ THE ARTS
Jimmy Kimmel, 43, late-night talk show host, comedian
Garry Marshall, 76, producer, director (Beaches, Pretty Woman), actor (“Murphy Brown”)
Robert Louis Stevenson, Scottish author (Treasure Island)—in 1850
♦♦Actors♦♦
Richard Mulligan, actor (Soap, Empty's Nest, Big Bus)—in 1932
Gerard Butler, 41, actor (P.S. I Love You, 300, The Phantom of the Opera)
Whoopi Goldberg, 61, comedienne, actress (Oscar for Ghost; Sister Act, The Color Purple), born Caryn Elaine Johnson
Joe Mantegna, 63, actor (Tony for Glengarry Glen Ross; House of Games, Things Change, “Criminal Minds”)
Chris Noth, 53, actor (“Sex and the City,” “Law & Order” )
Madeline Sherwood, 88, actress (Mother Superior on “The Flying Nun”)
Robert Sterling, actor (George Kirby-Adv of Topper)—in 1917
Steve Zahn, 42, actor (Rescue Dawn, National Security, Sahara)
╬ ATHLETICS
Vincent Frank (Vinny) Testaverde, 47, football (Buccaneers, Ravens, Jets, Browns, Cowboys, Panthers, Patriots)
╬ BUSINESS & EDUCATION
--
╬ POLITICS
Louis D Brandeis, Supreme Court Justice (1916-39)—in 1856
╬ SCIENCE & RELIGION
James Maxwell, Scottish physicist (Treatise on Electricity)—in 1831
Joseph F Smith, 6th President of Mormon church—in 1838
¤ Today’s Obituaries ¤
Henry the Navigator, prince of Portugal, @ 66 in 1460
Gioacchino (Antonio) Rossini, composer (Barber of Seville), @ 76 in 1868
"Alvin" Junior Samples, country singer (Hee Haw), heart attack @ 56 in 1983
Karen Silkwood, killed in a car crash under suspicious circumstances, @ 28 in 1974
¤ Today’s Events ¤
╬ THE ARTS
1830»Oliver Wendell Holmes publishes "Old Ironsides"
1921»"The Sheik," starring Rudolph Valentino, is released
1940»Walt Disney's "Fantasia" released
1977»After 43 years as a regular feature in hundreds of newspapers, Al Capp brought his comic strip, Li’l Abner, to a final conclusion.
╬ ATHLETICS
1875»National Bowling Association organized in NYC
1964»Bob Petit (St Louis Hawks) becomes 1st NBAer to score 20,000 points
1982»Korean boxer Duk Koo Kim fatally injured when KOed by Ray Mancini
╬ BUSINESS & EDUCATION
1789»Ben Franklin writes "Nothing . . . certain but death & taxes"
1865»PT Barnum's New American museum opens in Bridgeport
1895»1st shipment of canned pineapple from Hawaii
1933»1st modern sit-down strike, Hormel meat packers, Austin, MN
1946»1st artificial snow produced from a natural cloud, Mt Greylock, MA
╬ INDIGENOUS PEOPLE
1747»Conference regarding alliances is held for the next four days between representatives of the British in Pennsylvania and the Miami, Shawnee and "Six Nations" tribes.
1833»Just before sunrise, there is a phenomenal meteor shower, which is seen all over North America. This event is recorded on Kiowa picture calendars as the most significant event of the year.
╬ POLITICS (US)
1775»American Revolutionary forces capture Montreal
1865»US issues 1st gold certificates
1931»Hattie Caraway (D-AK) appointed 1st US woman senator
1970»VP Spiro Agnew calls TV executives "impudent snobs"
╬ POLITICS (International)
1864»The new Constitution of Greece is adopted.
1887»Bloody Sunday clashes in central London.
╬ SCIENCE & RELIGION
1843»Mt Rainier in Washington State erupts
GREY MATTER ANSWERS
↔ JEOPARDY
$200-Combat candies made to melt in a GI's mouth, not in his hand
What are M&M’s?
$400-Until Swanson offered them in '54, you couldn't officially eat in front of the boob tube
What are frozen TV Dinners?
$600-The first ones had to be nurses to serve coffee, tea or milk
What are stewardesses or flight attendants?
$800-Brand of cereal thou could 1st buy in 1901
What is Quaker Oatmeal?
$1000-In 1868, a Mobile, Ala. Mardi Gras parade 1st featured these
What are floats?
↔ PICTURE
A Skelly gas station pump sign
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