2-21-11 Monday

TODAY’s HOLY MACKEREL: 1804 1st locomotive, Richard Trevithick's, runs for 1st time, in Wales

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MY FREE RAMBLING THOUGHTS

My Sunday paper never made it to my house. When I got up, there was about 18” of snow outside so I got that the paper might be late. I called the paper about 9:30 and listened to a recording that due to weather conditions, the papers were not fully delivered until 8am. I talked to the receptionist and she said she would take care of it. About 11:30 she called to see if I got the paper. Nope. She then said she would call the carrier. It was snowing, but the roads were in good condition. No paper by 2pm so I called again. The normal recording came on, telling me it might be recorded, then the recording that all agents—they have one—was assisting other customers then a new sound. After about a minute the machine says no recording made, for assistance press *H. I hit *5—where the letter H is—and was told invalid entry. I called back about 3:30 and when the new noise came on I left a message. No one ever called me back and no paper ever arrived. Very poor customer service for sure.

The news organizations are really scrambling to keep up with Africa. Tonight it is Libya that is protesting and there are no American journalists there and their leader, Muammar al-Gaddafi is not letting any journalists in. News leaking out is not good.

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DID YOU KNOW THAT…

Dusty artificial flowers? Pour some salt into a paper bag along with the flowers. Shake vigorously , the salt will remove the dust from your flowers and they will look like new again.

Stow a spray bottle of club soda with your car cleaning supplies. Use it on the windshield to cut through bird droppings or greasy stains.

SOMEWHAT USELESS INFORMATION… Super Bowl Part II

It wasn't until the mid-'90s that networks began airing prestige programming and awarding the timeslot to one of their signature shows. NBC was the first network to do so, when it aired Friends’ “The One After the Super Bowl” in 1995—and 53 million people watched. That number still hasn’t been topped.

2001's second-season premiere of Survivor is in second place, ratings-wise, at 45 million viewers. Last year's pilot of Undercover Boss—the only not-yet-established show to air since 1995—is in third, with nearly 39 million viewers.

FOX has twice used the spot to build up what is now its two-hour "Animation Domination" block, by leading out with The Simpsons and then debuting a new animated show—in 1999, with Family Guy, and in 2005, with American Dad!.

PUZZLE: Trivia Quiz […answers at bottom…]

1. Where was Alexander Graham Bell born in 1847?

2. What animal was the symbol of freedom in ancient Rome?

3. What animal's name literally translates as earth pig?

4. Which country invented French fried potatoes?

5. According to the nursery rhyme who killed Cock Robin - who killed him?

6. What does Humphry Davie, Michael Faraday,and Madam Curie?

7. Six Champagne bottles of are in a what?

8. In literature who is the alter ego of Percy Blakney?

9. What was Robin Williams paid for Disney's Aladdin in 1982?

10. These were invented 51 years later, which US president got one, what?

UNUSUAL NEWS ITEM… JACKSON, WY

— A 78-year-old retired doctor was handcuffed and hauled away on a toboggan for skiing uphill in Wyoming, but he won't face charges.

Roland Fleck of Jackson was arrested the morning of Feb. 5 after refusing ski patrollers' orders to stop. Jackson Hole Resort officials say avalanche danger and the presence of grooming machines made it unsafe.

Skiers can get uphill with snow-gripping "skins" on their skis, among other methods.

The Jackson Hole News & Guide says Fleck was jailed on charges of trespass, interference, unsafe skiing and theft of services.

Resort officials say they won't press charges because Fleck's removal resolved their complaint. Sheriff Jim Whalen says he sees no need for prosecution.

Fleck's son, attorney Dan Fleck, says his father did nothing wrong and the resort should change policies.

A LITTLE LAUGH…

Mary, Anna, and Tess died and went to heaven. God said, "Do whatever you want, but don't step on the pink clouds." One day, Mary decided to go for a walk. When she came back, there was an ugly boy next to her. Anna and Tess asked, "Where'd you get that ugly boy?" "I stepped on a pink cloud." The next day, Anna decided to go for a walk. When she came back, there was an ugly boy next to her. Mary and Tess asked, "Where'd you get that ugly boy?" "I stepped on a pink cloud." The next day Tess decided to go for a walk. When she came back, there was a cute boy standing next to her. Mary and Anna asked, "Where'd you get that cute boy?"

The boy said, "I stepped on a pink cloud."

Top 10 In The World…Most airports

CLOSEUP PICTURE…

Can you identify this close up picture

FOUND ON ‘YOU TUBE’…

cowboy poetry gathering 2010

♫ 60’s Rock ♫

Click on Song Title to see and hear

♪… Bring It On Home To Me Sam Cooke

♪… Gimmie Shelter The Rolling Stones

♪…Dazed And Confused Led Zeppelin

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DAYBOOK INFORMATION

¤…THIS WEEK…¤

14-21 ► Alzheimer’s and Dementia Awareness Week ♥ Love a Mench Week ♥ National Condom Week: ♥ National Nestbox Week ♥ NCCDP Alzheimer's & Dementia Staff Education Week ♥ International Friendship Week ♥ National Conference on Education

20-27 ► National Future Farmers of America Week ♥ National Engineers Week National Entrepreneurship Week ♥ Build A Better Trade Show Image Week ♥ National Eating Disorders Awareness Week ♥ Read Me Week ♥ Learning Disabilities Week ♥ Texas Cowboy Poetry Week

¤…TODAY IS…¤

Card Reading Day

International Mother Language Day

Presidents Day

International Mother Language Day

Bangladesh: Martyrs Day and

…Language Movement Day, celebrated by Bengali speaking people for gaining right of mother tongue (1952)

Egypt: Independence from Great Britain in 1925Today’s Births...

Born on this Day

○ AUTHORS/COMPOSERS

1927 Erma Bombeck humorist (The Grass is Always Greener...)

1867 Otto Hermann Kahn banker, organized Metropolitan Opera Company

1903 Anaïs Nin Paris, novelist (Winter of Artifice, House of Incense)

1925 Sam Peckinpah film director (The Wild Bunch, Straw Dogs)

1821 Charles Scribner US, music publisher (Scribner Catalog)

1893 Andrés Segovia classical guitarist born in Linares Spain

○ ATHLETES

--

○ BUSINESS & EDUCATION

1855 Alice Freeman Palmer educator (Hall of Fame)

○ ENTERTAINERS (ACTORS/SINGERS/…)

Christopher Atkins, 50, actor (“Dallas,” The Blue Lagoon),

William Baldwin, 48, actor (“Dirty Sexy Money,” Born on the Fourth of July, Backdraft),

Corbin Bleu, 22, singer, actor (High School Musical)

Mary Chapin Carpenter, 53, singer, musician

Charlotte Church, 25, singer, born in Cardiff, Wales

Tyne Daly, 64, actress (“Judging Amy,” Emmy for “Cagney and Lacey”)

Kelsey Grammer, 56, actor (“Cheers,” “Frasier”)

Jennifer Love Hewitt, 32, actress (“Ghost Whisperer,” “Party of Five,” “Time of My Life”)

1922 Murray "the K" Kaufman NYC DJ (5th Beatle)

Gary Lockwood, 74, actor (Splendor in the Grass; 2001: A Space Odyssey)

1934 Rue McClanahan actress (Maude, Golden Girls)

1880 Frank Orth actor (Boston Blackie, The Brothers)

William Petersen, 58, actor (“CSI,” Manhunter, To Live and Die in LA)

1933 Nina Simone (Eunice Waymon) singer: I Loves You Porgy

○ POLITICIANS

1936 Barbara Jordan (Representative-D-TX, 1972-78)

1794 Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, Mexican president

Olympia J. Snowe, 64, US Senator (R, Maine)

○ SCIENCE & RELIGION

1964 Jane Tomlinson, British cancer campaigner

Today’s Obits…

1945 Eric Liddell Scottish runner (Olympics-gold 1924), brain tumor while interred in Chinese Camp @ 43

1965 Malcolm X [Little], black Moslem leader, assassinated @ 39

1911 Comanche Chief Quanah Parker @ 66 

Today’s Events…

○ ARTS

1925 1st issue of "New Yorker" magazine published

○ ATHLETICS

1904 National Ski Association formed, Ishpeming MI

1952 Dick Button performs 1st figure skating triple jump in competition

1985 Largest NBA crowd to date 44,970 (Atlanta at Detroit)

○ BUSINESS & EDUCATION

1828 1st American Indian newspaper in US, Cherokee Phoenix (weekly), Georgia

1931 Alka Seltzer introduced

1947 1st instant developing camera demonstrated in NYC, by E H Land

1986 AIDS patient Ryan White returns to classes at Western Middle School

○ INDIGENOUS PEOPLE

1861 Navaho Indians elect Herrero Grande as chief

1861 Camp Cooper is officially decommissioned and abandoned. It is located on the Clear Fork of the Brazos River, not far from Fort Griffin in modern Throckmorton County, Texas. The camp is established to keep watch over a nearby Comanche Reservation.

○ POLITICS (International)

1431 England begins trial against Joan of Arc

○ POLITICS (US)

1857 Congress outlaws foreign currency as legal tender in US

1885 Washington Monument dedicated (Washington DC)

1887 Oregon becomes 1st US state to make Labor Day a holiday

○ SCIENCE & RELIGION

1795 Freedom of worship established in France under constitution

1866 Lucy B Hobbs (Taylor) becomes 1st US woman to earn a DDS degree

1971 Series of tornadoes cuts through Mississippi & Louisiana killing 117

1988 Televangelist Jimmy Swaggert resigned from his ministry

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ANSWERS

Quiz ANSWERS…

1. Where was Alexander Graham Bell born in 1847? Edinburgh

2. What animal was the symbol of freedom in ancient Rome? Cat

3. What animal's name literally translates as earth pig? Aardvark

4. Which country invented French fried potatoes? Belgium

5. According to the nursery rhyme who killed Cock Robin - who killed him? Sparrow

6. What does Humphry Davie, Michael Faraday,and Madam Curie?

They were all poisoned by chemicals at work

7. Six Champagne bottles of are in a what? Rheoboam

8. In literature who is the alter ego of Percy Blakney? Scarlet Pimpernel

9. What was Robin Williams paid for Disney's Aladdin in 1982? Scale $485 day + Picasso Painting

10. These were invented 51 years later, which US president got one, what? Telephone on his desk

Close Up Picture…

Tigger and Roo

« AND THAT’S ALL FOR NOW »

2-20-11 Sunday

TODAY’s HOLY MACKEREL: 1943 American movie studio executives agree to allow the Office of War Information to censor movies.

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MY FREE RAMBLING THOUGHTS

The weatherman was off a little. We have about 18” of snow, so far today. He said 12”. When he said it would be wet, he wasn’t kidding. About 9am I went out to clear about 3” off the sidewalk and car. As a former skier, when I saw all that snow, all I could think was what great powder skiing. Wrong. The sidewalk was 2.5” of heavy slush with a little snow on top. It had not frozen so it slid right off my vehicle, and slid easily off the sidewalk. It has been snowing most of the day and looks like it’s going to keep going a long time. It has not gotten cold, so the slush is difficult, if it freezes, watch out. Winter Wonderland in Flag.

I have never been a big fan of Unions. I was ignored while I was a carry out boy at $1.25/hr. Two days after becoming a checker at $1.40/hr the union rep showed up and told me I had to join. If I had joined as a carry out boy it would have been $50 and $2/month. Joining as a checker it was $100 and $4/month. My second union experience was when the BIA made me a ‘career seasonal’ employee—along with all teachers—which in essence dropped our salary about 20% per year. In that encounter I ended up being the President of the Union that represented BIA teachers in Navajo Area and Albuquerque Area—basically the BIA teachers in the Southwest. During contract negotiations I learned a lot. Both sides come to the table with goals. We asked for a lot, the BIA wanted to give nothing. At the time, newer teachers basically received no leave except for school vacations and sick leave. Personal days were non-existent. For non-Indian teachers and for all teachers in isolated areas this made life difficult. We were off only on Federal Holidays, Christmas, and a two or three days at Easter. Sounds like a good deal, but banks are closed on Federal holidays, loan officers were off too. That meant that it could take two or more trips to Flagstaff to buy a vehicle or get any kind of loan. We were able to get 3 personal leave days in those negotiations. This all leads to the mess in Wisconsin. The Tea Party seems to hate unions. The Governor is basically trying to stop all unions for state employees. Back in the day, it was Wisconsin that made sure Americans only worked 5 days a week, got paid for overtime, made a livable wage, required certain safety standards for workers. What the Tea Party doesn’t realize is that both the union and the state agreed to the salaries and benefits. Now the Governor wants to take away the bargaining chips. Turns out I have a couple of Chicago family in-laws who teach in Wisconsin. The Governor’s plan will decrease their salary by adding more days to the 5 day furlough they have already accepted. They will now have to pay more into their healthcare insurance and their pensions will be decreased and they will have to work longer to be eligible for it. All these changes are without any contract negotiations. Yeah, these are tough times and everyone has to tighten their belt. My relatives say they get that, but don’t want to lose the pension benefits they were promised in good faith. Interestingly the cuts do not include the governor, his staff, the legislature or its staff. He isn’t one of those $1/yr CEO’s to help the state. Many other state governors are watching all this play out, and if the governor wins, they will follow suit and so will Congress. It has never been easy to be a government worker, now it is getting much much more difficult. One final thing, the only unions that the governor has gone after are the ones that did not back his bid for the top post. Hmmm.

Big parades down South honoring the 150th anniversary of the inauguration of Jeff Davis as President of the Confederacy. I wonder how they would feel if there was a parade and reenactment for the Battle of the Little Big Horn, or if Germany held a parade and reenactment of the swearing in of Hitler? The Civil War almost destroyed our country. A little odd that part of the US still celebrates its terrorist actions. FYI: terrorism: the calculated use of violence (or the threat of violence) against civilians in order to attain goals that are political or religious or ideological in nature; this is done through intimidation or coercion or instilling fear

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DID YOU KNOW THAT…

Calm an upset stomach with club soda. Add a dash of bitters to 6 ounces of club soda and soothe that indigestion or a hangover.

To keep your bathroom free of mildew once a month spray your ceiling, shower, and tub with a combination of half hydrogen peroxide and half water.

SOMEWHAT USELESS INFORMATION… Super Bowl

From 1967 to 1984, only CBS and NBC ever aired the Super Bowl, trading off each year. ABC entered the rotation in 1985, and FOX followed suit in 1997.

Until 1995, what aired in the lead-out spot varied wildly. Networks tried everything from cheesy TV movies (NBC’s Brotherhood of the Rose, in 1989) to dud pilots (ABC’s Davis Rules, in 1991) to long-running golf tournaments (Bing Crosby Pro-Am, a.k.a. AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, in 1971) to news magazines (60 Minutes, which CBS aired multiple times after the game) to old favorites like Lassie (in 1967) and All in the Family in (1978).

On occasion, the lead-out slot has launched huge hits—including The Wonder Years (which premiered in 1988) and Homicide: Life on the Street (which premiered in 1993). The New Perry Mason is the only show to ever air its series finale after the Super Bowl (in 1974). Though it only ran for one season, anyway.

PUZZLE: Trivia Quiz […answers at bottom…]

1. What was the first ocean liner to have a swimming pool?

2. The song 'You'll Never Walk Alone' came from which 1945 musical show?

3. In the Bolshoi Ballet what does the word 'Bolshoi' mean?

4. In 1656, Christian Huygens invented what type of timekeeper?

5. Mathew Webb, who swam the channel died in a drowning acident. Where did he drown?

6. What song was The Pittsburgh Pirates' anthem?

7. One eighth of the US population has done what?

8. In which country do they play houlani a type of hockey?

9. Why did Roselin Franklin (pre discovery of the dna helix) not get a Nobel?

10. Which actor was dubbed the 'Muscles from Brussels'?

UNUSUAL NEWS ITEM… MALMO, Sweden

--Police in Sweden said a man who drove to the police station to pick up a friend who was arrested for drunk driving also was arrested for the same crime.

Malmo police said the 28-year-old man, who was charged Tuesday with aggravated drunken driving, drove to the police station late at night to pick up his friend, who was arrested earlier in the day on a drunken driving charge, and a guard inside the facility suspected he had been drinking, The Local reported Thursday. The guard alerted a nearby police officer, who administered a breath test and determined the man's blood alcohol content was well over the legal limit for driving. "I didn't feel drunk, but I had been drinking, so it was unnecessary and poorly thought out," the Skanska Dagbladet newspaper quoted the man as saying after the September 2010 incident. Police said the man had driven the same car his friend was driving at the time of his arrest.

A LITTLE LAUGH…

A man goes into a bar with his dog. He goes up to the bar and asks for a drink.

The bartender says "You can't bring that dog in here!" The guy, without missing a beat, says "This is my seeing-eye dog."

"Oh man,” the bartender says, "I'm sorry, here, the first one's on me." The man takes his drink and goes to a table near the door.

Another guy walks into the bar with a Chihuahua. The first guys sees him, stops him and says "You can't bring that dog in here unless you tell him it's a seeing-eye dog."

The second man graciously thanks the first man and continues to the bar. He asks for a drink. The bartender says "Hey, you can't bring that dog in here!"

The second man replies "This is my seeing-eye dog." The bartender says, "No, I don't think so. They do not have Chihuahuas as seeing-eye dogs."

The man pauses for a half-second and replies "What??! They gave me a Chihuahua??!"

Top 10 In The World...Greatest Population

CLOSEUP PICTURE…

Can you identify this close up picture

FOUND ON ‘YOU TUBE’…

Picasso in The Metropolitan Museum of Art

♫ 60’s Rock ♫

Click on Song Title to see and hear

♪…A Hard Day's Night The Beatles

♪…Paint It, Black The Rolling Stones

♪… Do You Believe in Magic? The Lovin' Spoonful

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DAYBOOK INFORMATION

¤…THIS WEEK…¤

14-21 ► Alzheimer’s and Dementia Awareness Week ♥ Love a Mench Week ♥ National Condom Week: ♥ National Nestbox Week ♥ NCCDP Alzheimer's & Dementia Staff Education Week ♥ International Friendship Week ♥ National Conference on Education

20-27 ► National Future Farmers of America Week ♥ National Engineers Week National Entrepreneurship Week ♥ Build A Better Trade Show Image Week ♥ National Eating Disorders Awareness Week ♥ Read Me Week ♥ Learning Disabilities Week ♥ Texas Cowboy Poetry Week

¤…TODAY IS…¤

Brotherhood Day (1934)

Clam Chowder Day

Daytona 500

Hoodie Hoo Day

Love Your Pet Day

World Day for Social Justice

US: John Glenn Day (1962)

Today’s Births...

○ AUTHORS/COMPOSERS

1902 Ansel Adams photographer (1966 ASMP Award)

1925 Robert Altman director: M*A*S*H, Nashville, Brewster McCloud

○ ATHLETES

Charles Barkley, 48, former basketball (76ers, Suns, Rockets), sportscaster

Philip Anthony (Phil) Esposito, 69, hockey executive, former coach and Hall of Fame hockey player

Stephon Marbury, 34, basketball (Timberwolves, Nets, Suns, Knicks, Celtics)

Robert William (Bobby) Unser, 77, auto racer

○ BUSINESS & EDUCATION

Patty Hearst

Gloria Vanderbilt, 87, fashion designer, artist

○ ENTERTAINERS (ACTORS/SINGERS/…)

1929 Amanda Blake (Beverly Louise Neill) actress: Gunsmoke: Miss Kitty; Betrayal, The Glass Slipper, Sabre Jet, Stars in My Crown

Cindy Crawford, 45, model, actress

1914 John Daly South African newscaster/TV game show host (What's My Line)

Sandy Duncan, 65, actress (Funny Face, “The Hogan Family,” Peter Pan)

Mitch McConnell, 69, US Senator (R, Kentucky)

Jennifer O’Neill, 63, actress (The Summer of ’42, “Cover-Up”), born Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Sidney Poitier, 84, actor (In the Heat of the Night; Oscar for Lilies of the Field)

Rihanna, 23, singer, born Robyn Rihanna Fenty

Buffy Sainte-Marie, 70, Canadian folksinger

French Stewart, 47, actor (“3rd Rock from the Sun”)

Peter Strauss, 64, actor (“Rich Man, Poor Man,” Soldier Blue)

Nancy Wilson, 74, singer

○ POLITICIANS

Gordon Brown, 60, former prime minister of Great Britian (2007–10), born Glasgow, Scotland 1904 Aleksei N Kosygin Soviet premier (1964-80)

○ SCIENCE & RELIGION

Robert Huber, 74, German chemist, 1988 Nobel laureate in chemistry

1759 – Johann Christian Reil, German physician, founder of psychiatry

Today’s Obits…

1895 Frederick Douglass escaped slave, anti-slavery leader, @ 78

1976 Kathryn Kuhlman religious leader/faith healer, complications in surgery @ 69

1966 Chester W Nimitz US Admiral (WWII), @ 80

1920 Robert E Peary US pole explorer (North Pole, 6/4/1909), of premature aging due to cold temperatures @63

1992 Dick York actor (Bewitched), emphysema @ 63  

Today’s Events…

○ ARTS

1872 Metropolitan Museum of Art opens (New York NY)

1944 Batman & Robin comic strip premieres in newspapers

1950 Dylan Thomas arrives in New York NY for his 1st US poetry reading tour

1952 A true American classic, The African Queen, opened at the Capitol Theatre in New York City

○ ATHLETICS

1997 San Francisco Giants Barry Bonds signs record $22.9 million 2 year contract

1998 Tara Lipinski wins Olympics figure skating gold medal

○ BUSINESS & EDUCATION

1673 1st recorded wine auction held (London)

1872 Silas Noble & JP Cooley patents toothpick manufacturing machine

1872 Luther Crowell received a patent for a machine for manufacturing paper bags.

○ INDIGENOUS PEOPLE

1725 10 sleeping Indians scalped by whites in New Hampshire for £100/scalp bounty

1805 Kagohami talks of a 120-year-old man to Lewis and Clark.

1832 Northeastern District Choctaw Chief, Peter Pitchlynn, and his followers, arrive in Fort Smith, in western Arkansas, . Floods, cold weather, low rivers, and mud have delayed their trip considerably.

1893 A Congressional Act modifies the White Mountain-San Carlos-Camp Apache Reserve, in western Arizona Territory.

○ POLITICS (International)

1745 Bonnie Prince Charlie's troops occupy Fort August, Scotland

1746 Bonnie Prince Charlie occupies Castle of Inverness

○ POLITICS (US)

1809 Supreme Court rules federal government power greater than any state

1839 Congress prohibits dueling in District of Columbia

1929 American Samoa organized as a territory of US

○ SCIENCE & RELIGION

1835 Concepción, Chile destroyed by earthquake

1937 1st automobile/airplane combination tested, Santa Monica CA

1962 John Glenn is 1st American to orbit Earth (Friendship 7)

1989 Total eclipse of the Moon

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ANSWERS

Quiz ANSWERS…

1. What was the first ocean liner to have a swimming pool? Titanic

2. The song 'You'll Never Walk Alone' came from which 1945 musical show? Carousel

3. In the Bolshoi Ballet what does the word 'Bolshoi' mean? Big

4. In 1656, Christian Huygens invented what type of timekeeper? Pendulum clock

5. Mathew Webb, who swam the channel died in a drowning accident. Where did he drown? Niagara Falls

6. What song was The Pittsburgh Pirates' anthem? 'We are Family' by Sister Sledge

7. One eighth of the US population has done what? Worked in MacDonald's

8. In which country do they play houlani a type of hockey? Turkey

9. Why did Roselin Franklin (pre discovery of the dna helix) not get a Nobel? She was dead

10. Which actor was dubbed the 'Muscles from Brussels'? Jean Claude Van Dam

Close Up Picture…

Rope

« AND THAT’S ALL FOR NOW »

Shaw, 57, newspaper heiress who was kidnapped

2-19-11 Saturday

TODAY’s HOLY MACKEREL: 1913 1st prize inserted into a Cracker Jack box

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MY FREE RAMBLING THOUGHTS

My working friends are ready for their three-day weekend. It is the Presidents’ Day Holiday. This is the day set aside to honor all our Presidents. In my younger days it was Washington’s Day—the ‘I can’t tell a lie’ Day. I am for a holiday that honors the Presidents, but I really wonder how many know much about those who led us? I know those during my lifetime and a little bit about most of the rest. I can recognize them in a list of names, but certainly couldn’t name them all off the top of my head. We, like every country, have a complicated history. Some of the current questions out there are ‘should we clean up Mark Twain?’, should a Civil War Leader and former KKK man be honored? ‘should state’s rights be revisited?’ ‘how far does our military go beyond our borders to protect the states?’ and on and on. Presidents’ Day won’t answer those questions, but does give us a time for reflection.

With all the 24/7 news organizations I wonder why there is so much misinformation out there. Wisconsin has certainly opened up the budget crisis. Not to be outdone, AZ is pushing some interesting bills forward. One will set up a committee to review any Federal law, directive; etc that a citizen of AZ feels is beyond the Feds power. If the committee decides that it is not within the Feds power, then any state or Federal official in AZ who tries to enforce it can be arrested and charged with a felony. This will lead it to the Supreme Court and the law does agree to abide by the decision of the Supreme Court. How strange to live in AZ at this time.

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DID YOU KNOW THAT…

If glue drips while you're working on a project, simply let dry, then slide the blade of a single-edge razor carefully along the length of the bead of glue and lift it off.

Calm the stinging pain of razor burn with a tea bag. Brew the tea in a cup and let cool, then lay the wet bag on top of the affected area. the tannins act as a pain reliever.

Use Mustard as an ingredient in a hot soothing bath. Combine two tablespoons of mustard and one teaspoon of Epsom salts to running bath water. Leisurely soak in the bath for approximately twenty minutes to relieve minor muscle aches and pains. After your mustard bath, be sure to rinse thoroughly to avoid the lingering scent of mustard on your skin.

SOMEWHAT USELESS INFORMATION… Super Bowl Part II

The trophy handed out to the winning team is called the Vince Lombardi Trophy. It’s made by Tiffany & Co and is about 21 inches tall and about 6.5 lbs. The value of the trophy is only just over $25,000.

The economic impact the Super Bowl XLV will have on the Dallas region will be about $610 million. This eclipses the $500 million that Super Bowl XLII brought in to Arizona.

About 150,000 visitors from out of state descended on Dallas along with 4,600 members of the media. A total of 24,000 hotel rooms had been reserved in 12 North Texas cities. About 600 private jet landed.

PUZZLE: Trivia Quiz […answers at bottom…]

1. Astronomer Joseph-Jerome de Lalande would eat what on bread butter?

2. What's the proper name of a Texas Wedge golf club?

3. A Paralian always lives near what?

4. What is the original literal meaning of the word 'bride'?

5. FT (London), Dow Jones (USA) what is Japans Share Index called?

6. 53 is the international dialling code for what country?

7. Where did Spam get its name?

8. Who invented the television?

9. What was banned in US movie theatres in the 1920s?

10. What color is cerulean?

UNUSUAL NEWS ITEM… BURLINGTON, N.C.

 — A man who suffered a head injury after falling off a moving vehicle had been attempting to hold down mattresses that were on the roof of the vehicle, Burlington police said.

Police said Timothy Lee Walker, 48, struck his head and was lying in the street when officers arrived at the scene at North Ireland Street and Virginia Avenue on Tuesday.

Walker fell from the vehicle when the driver of the 1996 Ford Explorer, Stella Thomas, 42, rounded a curve, causing the mattresses to slide off the roof, police said.

Walker was taken by helicopter to a hospital in Chapel Hill. His latest medical condition wasn't known, police said.

Police said no charges have been filed, but the investigation hasn't been completed.

A LITTLE LAUGH…

It seems a woman's brain cell was implanted in a man's brain. As the new addition look around the male cranium, the female cell was surprised to see it was completely dark. Frightened and lonely, she cried out, "Hello, hello," but there was no reply. She tried again more loudly, "Hello, is anyone here?" She heard a barely audible male voice reply, "Hello" to which she asked, "Where are you?" The answer was:

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"I'm way down here."

Top 10 In The World… cleanest countries

CLOSEUP PICTURE…

Can you identify this close up picture

FOUND ON ‘YOU TUBE’…

Grandpa Jones - In The Future (1955)

♫ 60’s Rock ♫

Click on Song Title to see and hear

♪…The Times They Are A-Changin' Bob Dylan

♪… Crazy Patsy Cline

♪… The Loco-Motion Little Eva

«« « « » » » »

DAYBOOK INFORMATION

¤…THIS WEEK…¤

13-19 ► International Flirting Week ♥ National Secondhand Wardrobe Week ♥ PTA Take Your Family To School Week

14-21 ► Alzheimer’s and Dementia Awareness Week ♥ Love a Mench Week ♥ National Condom Week: ♥ National Nestbox Week ♥ NCCDP Alzheimer's & Dementia Staff Education Week ♥ International Friendship Week ♥ National Conference on Education

¤…TODAY IS…¤

National Chocolate Mint Day

Iwo Jima Day (Landing)

Ethiopia : Martyr's Day (1930s)

Gabon : Constitution Day (1959)

Turkmenistan: Flag Day, the birthday of the President Saparmurat Niyazov, established in 1997

Today’s Births...

○ AUTHORS/COMPOSERS

1912 Stan Kenton [Newcomb], jazz musician/orchestra leader

1917 Carson McCullers (Smith) author: The Member of the Wedding, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, Reflections in a Golden Eye

Amy Tan, 59, author (The Joy Luck Club)

○ ATHLETES

1916 Eddie (George) Arcaro only jockey to win two Triple Crowns [1941, 1948]

Roger Goodell, 52, commissioner of the National Football League

○ BUSINESS & EDUCATION

1881 Evert Gorter founder of Dutch medical child care

○ ENTERTAINERS (ACTORS/SINGERS/…)

Justine Bateman, 45, actress (“Family Ties,” “Men Behaving Badly”)

Lou Christie (Glen Willard), 68, singer

Jeff Daniels, 56, actor (The Purple Rose of Cairo, Something Wild, Dumb and Dumber)

Benicio Del Toro, 44, actor (Oscar for Traffic; Che, 21 Grams, The Usual Suspects) born in Puerto Rico

1943 "Mama" Cass Elliot singer (Mamas & Papas-Monday Monday)

1924 Lee Marvin  actor (Paint Your Wagon, Cat Ballou)

1917 Merle Oberon (Thompson) actress: Wuthering Heights, Stage Door Canteen, Deep in My Heart, Hotel, The Oscar, Interval

Smokey Robinson (William Robinson, Jr), 71, singer, songwriter

○ POLITICIANS

Prince Andrew, 51, Duke of York

1817 Willem III last male King of Netherlands (1849-90)

○ SCIENCE & RELIGION

1473 Nicolaus Copernicus (Mikolaj Kopernick) Polish astronomer: the Copernican theory: the sun is the center of our universe

Today’s Obits…

1568 Miles Coverdale translator (1st complete English Bible), @ 80

1998 Grandpa Jones country comic/banjo wizard (Hee Haw), @84

1997 Deng Xiaoping head (Chinese Communist Party), @ 92

Today’s Events…

○ ARTS

1922 Ed Wynn becomes 1st talent to sign as a radio entertainer

1960 Bil Keane's "Family Circus" cartoon strip debuts

1985 Mickey Mouse was welcomed to China as part of the 30th anniversary of Disneyland.

○ ATHLETICS

1928 2nd Winter Olympics games close at St Moritz, Switzerland

1946 Giants outfielder Danny Gardella is 1st major leaguer to announce he is jumping to the "outlaw" Mexican League

1980 Eric Heiden skates Olympics record 1000 meter in 1 15.18

1983 Fernando Valenzuela wins his salary arbitration of $1 million

1984 14th winter Olympics games close at Sarajevo, Yugoslavia

○ BUSINESS & EDUCATION

1831 1st practical US coal-burning locomotive makes 1st trial run, Pennsylvania

1856 The tintype photographic process was patented by Professor Hamilton L. Smith

1906 W K Kellogg & Charles D Bolin incorporate Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flake Company, Battle Creek MI

1968 1st US Teachers strike (Florida)

1985 Cherry Coke was introduced by the Coca-Cola Company

○ INDIGENOUS PEOPLE

1725 Documents regarding the Delaware "Walking Purchase" treaty are discovered.

1778 Virginia Governor Patrick Henry is upset by the actions of several white "frontiersmen" against the Indians. They have killed Shawnee Chief Cornstalk, and four other Shawnees, who have lived in peace with their neighbors

○ POLITICS (International)

1919 Pan-African Congress, organized by W E B Du Bois (Paris)

1986 Jordanian King Hussein severs ties with PLO

○ POLITICS (US)

1674 Netherlands & England sign Peace of Westminster (NYC becomes English)

1881 Kansas becomes 1st state to prohibit all alcoholic beverages

1987 Reagan lifts trade boycott against Poland

○ SCIENCE & RELIGION

1985 Artificial heart recipient William J. Schroeder becomes the first such patient to leave hospital.

1986 The Soviet Union launches its Mir spacecraft. Remaining in orbit for 15 years, it is occupied for 10 of those years.

2002 NASA's Mars Odyssey space probe begins to map the surface of Mars using its thermal emission imaging system.

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ANSWERS

Quiz ANSWERS…

1. Astronomer Joseph-Jerome de Lalande would eat what on bread butter? Spiders

2. What's the proper name of a Texas Wedge golf club? Putter

3. A Paralian always lives near what? The Sea

4. What is the original literal meaning of the word 'bride'? To cook (ancient tutonic)

5. FT (London), Dow Jones (USA) what is Japans Share Index called? Nikkei

6. 53 is the international dialling code for what country? Cuba

7. Where did Spam get its name? Spiced Ham

8. Who invented the television? John Logie Baird

9. What was banned in US movie theatres in the 1920s? Popcorn - too noisy

10. What color is cerulean? deep blue

Close Up Picture…

Boat Motor

« AND THAT’S ALL FOR NOW »

2-18-11 Friday

TODAY’s HOLY MACKEREL: 1787 Austrian emperor Jozef II bans children under 8 from labor

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MY FREE RAMBLING THOUGHTS

Mary and I had lunch at the southside Greek restaurant. Parking has always been a problem, but there is a dirt lot that has a few spots marked with a Reserved sign. The rest of the open field is just that, an open field. We parked there, as usual. When we came out, there was a flyer on our windshields. Expecting a ‘lose weight now’ or something similar we were both surprised to find that it said TOW THIS VEHICLE, with our license numbers, time and date on it. Upon leaving the lot, there is a small sign that says private parking. There are at least four businesses in the same building, including the restaurant. I’m sure it is some kind of feud going on, but one can’t shop or eat if one can’t park.

I have been trying to follow the events in Bahrain, and those events are not nearly as peaceful as Egypt. With Egypt, I could recognize many of the places; I knew people still living there; and I felt somehow connected. With Bahrain, I don’t have any of those connections, but the events there do show how this movement is moving across the area. From what I can tell, Bahrain has been seen as a ‘meeting place’ in that area for making oil deals, bank deals, and other business deals. No one has seen it as a hot bed of Sunni / Shiite protests or even Sunni / Shiite tension. The big concern for all Americans is the Strait where oil moves toward the US. The Bahrain monarchy has been our ‘friend’ and our government has paid little attention to how the people are treated, how the economy works, or wheat Draconian methods are used inside the country. Our concern seems to have been that the oil moves through the Strait. Our decades of short sighted views are starting to catch up with us.

All weather signs for a foot of snow over the next few days. Flag is very dry and looks like things will be changing. I have to fill up with gas tomorrow morning and then I’m set, if it gets really bad. I would have gotten gas today, but by the time I realized I needed gas, I was way past Sam’s and didn’t want to turn around. Sam’s gas is about 10 cents cheaper than anywhere else in Flag. Since most of the stations are at $3.20, it is worth going to Sam’s. Mary is heading for Phoenix, so she is watchin the sky, Martha is headed for Sedona and to Winslow, so she is watchin’ the sky. Sure hope they both have safe travels.

I got an email for World Market today. I like shopping there and signed up for their emails. The last email coupon was for 25% off my entire purchase. This one was a $10 Happy Birthday coupon. This is really good advertising.

What comes to mind when you think of Wisconsin? For me, first is cold, then cheese, then that cheese commercial with the cows moving to California, then the accent, and finally a couple of Indian tribes—Wyandot and Winnebago as I know a few people from each tribe. What has never come to mind is protest. However today the Democrats in the legislature left Wisconsin so they wouldn’t be forced to go to a vote on the Republican governor’s bill to basically shut down all state employee union’s bargaining power. The governor seems to believe that fire fighters, teachers, police, and other state workers are paid too much, do to little work, and need to take a 10% pay cut. He took office in January on the Republican sweep and sure sounds like a Tea Party guy. Schools in the Madison area had to be closed as too many teachers were at the capital with protest signs. It was in the 50’s today and only down to 30° last night, so my first impression of Wisconsin isn’t accurate. I guess the rest of my impressions are probably wrong too. This is the first governor to really attack budget, although his figures don’t seem to match the WI OMB figures. I have to wonder what other countries think when they see these large protests.

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DID YOU KNOW THAT…

Bait a mouse or rat trap with Jif Peanut Butter. Mice actually prefer peanut butter over cheese.

Used cooking water from boiling vegetables or seafood ? Take the pot with the water in it directly outside to water your flowers or lawn instead of pouring it down the drain.

SOMEWHAT USELESS INFORMATION… Super Bowl

The official cost of tickets for the Super Bowl game cost $200 to watch it outside on huge video screens up to $1,200 for club seats inside Cowboys Stadium in Arlington. You could buy a ticket for just $6 for the very first Super Bowl back in 1967.

Each team in the game receives 17.5 percent of the money, the host team gets five percent, the other teams in the league split up 34.8 percent and the league keeps 25.2 percent of it.

Between 2001 and 2010, the Super Bowl has sold a total of seven hours of television advertising time. This represents 850 adverts that cost a total of $1.62 billion.

PUZZLE: Trivia Quiz […answers at bottom…]

1. Playing card, Raymond Shaw trance and the Manchurian Candidate what do these things have in common?

2. Which county has the largest army in the world?

3. What type of acid is used in car batteries?

4. What new domestic device was launched by Hoover in 1963?

5. What animal can sleep for 3 years but only mates once?

6. What weapon was invented by Ernest Swinton, in 1916?

7. What is the fastest swimming ocean fish, at over 60 mph?

8. Tracey and Hepburn's first film in 1942 was what?

9. Which children's character was created by Mary Tourtel?

10. In which war did the charge of the Light Brigade occur?

UNUSUAL NEWS ITEM… ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.

— The good news about a giant fiberglass cactus reported stolen in New Mexico is that it wasn't the target of thieves.

The bad news is that the $50,000 cactus is in a landfill and won't be returning to the park where it once stood.

Albuquerque city officials reported the statue stolen this week. But two city employees quickly came forward, saying they removed the bright-green cactus from the park and mistakenly had it sent to the dump.

The workers were sent to the park to fix things after the statue was reported vandalized. But then things went awry.

City spokesman Chris Ramirez said Wednesday that the employees didn't realize the cactus was part of a public art project.

High school students spent a summer building the art piece shaped like a prickly pear cactus. They were part of a nonprofit group that provides art education for at-risk kids.

“After talking extensively with the employees involved is that they just didn't know and that it was an honest mistake,” Ramirez said.

“The solid waste truck took it took it to the landfill, where's it's since been compacted and buried,” Ramirez said, according to KOAT.com.

“It’s incredibly tragic and inexcusable that city employees made that decision by themselves,” said Nan Elsasser, who runs Working Classroom, the nonprofit organization whose students created the sculpture for the city with $50,000 in state funds, KOAT.com reported.

A LITTLE LAUGH…

My two daughters were discussing the less than desirable physical attributes they had inherited from their father.

The older one said: "I hate my freckles from Dad."

Her unsympathetic younger sister replied: "At least you got his freckles. I got his eyebrow."

Top 10 In The World; Countries with the most billionaires

CLOSEUP PICTURE…

Can you identify this close up picture?

FOUND ON ‘YOU TUBE’…

Beautiful Photos of Sahara Desert

♫ 60’s Rock ♫

Click on Song Title to see and hear

♪… I'm A Believer The Monkees

♪… Dancing In The Street Martha & The Vandellas

♪… The Wanderer Dion

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DAYBOOK INFORMATION

¤…THIS WEEK…¤

13-19 ► International Flirting Week ♥ National Secondhand Wardrobe Week ♥ PTA Take Your Family To School Week

14-21 ► Alzheimer’s and Dementia Awareness Week ♥ Love a Mench Week ♥ National Condom Week: ♥ National Nest box Week ♥ NCCDP Alzheimer's & Dementia Staff Education Week ♥ International Friendship Week ♥ National Conference on Education

¤…TODAY IS…¤

National Battery Day

Perigean Spring Tides

Pluto Day (Discovered today through Flagstaff telescope)

Great Backyard Bird Count

Snow Moon

Gambia: Independence Day (1965 from UK)

Iceland: National Bun Day

Iran: Mohammed's Death

Israel: Mother's Day

Nepál: Constitutional Day (1951)

Today’s Births...

○ AUTHORS/COMPOSERS

Helen Gurley Brown, 89, author (Sex and the Single Girl), magazine editor (Cosmopolitan)

Toni Morrison, 80, Nobel Prize–winning novelist (Beloved, Jazz, Tar Baby, Sula)

1890 Boris L Pasternak Russian poet/writer (Dr Zhivago)

○ ATHLETES

1853 August Belmont Jr breeder (Man 'O War)/founder (New York Jockey Club)

○ BUSINESS & EDUCATION

1795 George Peabody merchant/philanthropist

○ ENTERTAINERS (ACTORS/SINGERS/…)

1920 Bill Cullen TV host: I’ve Got a Secret, The Price is Right

1907 Billy De Wolfe (William Andrew Jones) actor: The Perils of Pauline, Lullaby of Broadway

Matt Dillon, 47, actor (Crash, There’s Something About Mary, Drugstore Cowboy)

George Kennedy, 84, actor (Oscar for Cool Hand Luke; “The Blue Knight”)

Jillian Michaels, 37, personal trainer, television personality (“The Biggest Loser”)

Juice Newton, 59, singer, born Judy Cohen

Yoko Ono, 78, artist, musician

1919 Jack Palance (Vladimir Palahnuik) Academy Award-winning actor: City Slickers [1991]

Molly Ringwald, 43, actress (Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink)

Cybill Shepherd, 61, actress (The Last Picture Show, “Moonlighting,” “Cybill”)

John Travolta, 56, actor (Pulp Fiction, Urban Cowboy, Saturday Night Fever, “Welcome Back, Kotter”)

Vanna White, 54, television personality (“Wheel of Fortune”)

○ POLITICIANS

1516 Mary I Tudor [Bloody Mary] 1st reigning queen of Great Britain

1892 Wendell Wilkie Presidential candidate (R-1940)/author (One World)

○ SCIENCE & RELIGION

1677 Jacques Cassini French astronomer (rings of Saturn)

1836 Ramakrishna (Bengali: রামকৃষ্ণ পরমহংস Ramkṛiṣṇo Pôromôhongśo), Hindu saint (preached unity of all religions)

Today’s Obits…

1217 Alexander Neckum de Sancto Albano English encyclopedist, @ 59

1564 Michelangelo Buonarroti Italian sculptor/painter/architect/poet (David), @ 88

1998 Harry Christopher Carabina, (Harry Caray) sportscaster (Chicago Cubs), brain damage from fall @ 83

1933 James Corbett (Gentleman Jim), heavyweight box champion (1892-97), @ 66

2001 [Ralph] Dale Earnhardt NASCAR driver/"The Intimidator", crash during Daytona 500 @ 49

1546 Martin Luther biblical scholar/religious reformer, stroke after years of poor health @ 62

1998 Robert Merrill songwriter (Funny Girl), commits suicide @ 76

1967 Robert J Oppenheimer creator of atomic bomb, throat cancer @ 62

Today’s Events…

○ ARTS

1678 John Bunyan's "The Pilgrim's Progress" is published

1885 Mark Twain's "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" published

1953 Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz signed a contract worth $8,000,000 [2010USD-$64.5million]to continue the I Love Lucy TV show through 1955.

○ ATHLETICS

1839 Detroit Boat Club forms (still exists today)

1932 Sonja Henie wins her 6th straight World Women's figure skating title

1960 8th Winter Olympics games open in Squaw Valley CA

1968 10th Winter Olympics games close at Grenoble, France

○ BUSINESS & EDUCATION

1804 1st US land-grant college, Ohio University, Athens OH, chartered

○ INDIGENOUS PEOPLE

1833 The Ottawa sign a treaty (7 stat. 420) at Maumee.

1867 The Sac and Fox sign a treaty (15 stat.495). They sell much of what remains of their reservation.

1876 Twenty-Fifth Infantry soldiers fight some Indians in the Carrizo Mountains in Texas. According to army documents, no casualties are recorded.

○ POLITICS (International)

1857 Insurrection of Chinese in Sarawak, Borneo

1921 British troops occupy Dublin

1927 US & Canada begin diplomatic relations

○ POLITICS (US)

1841 1st continuous filibuster in US Senate began, lasting until March 11

1861 Confederate President Jefferson Davis inaugurated at Montgomery AL

1908 1st US postage stamps in coils issued

1970 Chicago 7 defendants found innocent of inciting to riot

○ SCIENCE & RELIGION

1688 Quakers conduct 1st formal protest of slavery in Germantown PA

1901 H Cecil Booth patented a dust removing suction cleaner

1930 US astronomer Clyde Tombaugh discovers Pluto in Flagstaff, AZ

1979 Snow falls in the Sahara Desert

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ANSWERS

Quiz ANSWERS…

1. Playing card, Raymond Shaw trance and the Manchurian Candidate what do these things have in common? The Queen of Diamonds

2. Which county has the largest army in the world? China

3. What type of acid is used in car batteries? Sulphuric

4. What new domestic device was launched by Hoover in 1963? Steam Iron

5. What animal can sleep for 3 years but only mates once? Snails

6. What weapon was invented by Ernest Swinton, in 1916? Tank

7. What is the fastest swimming ocean fish, at over 60 mph? Sailfish, Marlin

8. Tracey and Hepburn's first film in 1942 was what? Woman of the Year

9. Which children's character was created by Mary Tourtel? Rupert the Bear

10. In which war did the charge of the Light Brigade occur? Crimean

Close Up Picture…

Escalator

« AND THAT’S ALL FOR NOW »

2-17-11 Thursday

TODAY’s HOLY MACKEREL: 2000 Windows 2000 Professional Edition was released cost over $1 billion to develop

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MY FREE RAMBLING THOUGHTS

My trip to Hadrian’s Wall is getting very confusing. We still don’t have any dates, other than May 2011. I talked to Bob and he is awaiting some information from a couple of places that offer either walking/bike tours or walking/bus tours of the area. According to him, the walking part is where it is most interesting, the bike or bus part where it isn’t so interesting. Hmmm. I told him I thought that it was time for some decisions in order to get all the tickets. If it happens, I’ll be excited, if not I won’t be devastated.

I think that the Thyroid meds are ‘kicking in’. It may be psychological, but when I got up today, I had more energy than I have had recently. I felt good all, ran errands, and climbed my stairs numerous times with laundry. I did take an afternoon nap but was back to my 20 minutes, rather than the hour I had been doing. When I got up, I was rested and ready to go again.

Well Watson cleaned up on Jeopardy today. It won $1million for charity. It was a scientific marvel, but will be glad to see three human contestants again.

Cheryl is heading for California on a quick trip to see her grandkids this weekend. I’m sure part of it is to take her new pick-um-truck out on the road. I don’t blame her. So Mary and I will be going out to lunch tomorrow at a Greek Restaurant. Hopefully we will only have the dusting of snow the weatherman predicts. The foot is due Friday/Saturday.

I am more than a little disappointed with my BCBS insurance. As the insurance company pays the bills for my two surgeries, I am now getting ‘adjusted’ bills that I do have to pay. When I had my gall bladder surgery a couple of years ago, I paid about $50 total. With these two surgeries I have already paid about $450 with more coming. I haven’t figured out why, and will wait until all the bills are paid before I call BCBS help line again. I have had my BCBS since 1971. In 1985 I got a new card—stating I had the insurance since 1974. I called and they said that the new date was because of changes in BCBS agreements with the government. OK, fine. I got a new card today, stating I had the insurance since 1986. Obviously, lots has changed with insurance over the years. Coverage has changed, new procedures have been developed, costs have certainly changed. On top of that I have ‘used’ my insurance more than I did in the past. What I have to watch for now, is, in a three years I turn 65 and become eligible for Medicare. I have been forced to pay into Medicare for many years. I can keep BCBS as a secondary. I wonder what it will cover then. When I picked up my thyroid meds there was another pharmacist at CVS. My Thai pharmacist finally had a day off. This guy said he had been a pharmacist for 26 years. He said when he started, the doctor wrote a script, the insurance kicked in, the pharmacist filled the script, and the insurance company and the patient both paid the pharmacy. He says that in today’s world, he spends about 60% of his time talking to insurance companies to figure out why the script isn’t covered, or the coverage is so small, if there is another similar script that they will cover. One insurance company wouldn’t cover a patient’s script and the patient was to be charged $250. After talking to the insurance company he found that ‘a computer error’ had rejected the script that should have been covered and the patient should be charged $25. I have to wonder how many Pharmacy schools have classes on dealing with insurance companies. I want a pharmacist who knows about medications, knows about interactions, about potential interactions with other meds. I didn’t realize that half or more of their time today is spent dealing with insurance companies to cover medications that heal the patient. This seems so wrong. I wonder if half their education is classes on dealing with insurance. On a side note, I got a final bill from the anesthesiologist for my thyroid surgery. I called the number on the bill because I needed a copy of her report that led to my ID necklace for ‘difficult intubation’. The lady I talked to in Phoenix only deals with bills. She said I needed to call the doctor. I expected that. She does not have the phone number of the doctor, nor does she have the address, nor does she have the name of the doctor’s practice. All she knew was that she was part of a ‘group’. I got on the web and found the office number in Flagstaff. I called. They don’t have the doctor’s report either. I have to call medical records at the hospital. She was able to transfer me, since the office in directly connected to the hospital somehow. The records lady said that I had to come into the hospital and go to medical records on the third floor using Elevator B. I was told to bring a picture ID and I would be given a form to request the records. Then they would mail me the records. It is not possible to pick them up the same day. I could have them mail me the form, I could send it back with a copy of my photo ID and they would mail the records back to me. Lots of people sure have jobs in the medical profession periphery that seem redundant. I can’t wait to see the form…and am wondering what I will actually write on the line that I expect will ask—Why do you need these records?

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DID YOU KNOW THAT…

Pour old baking soda from the refrigerator down your drain to freshen.

Dry out used tea leaves and sprinkle them into cat litter. The leaves will absorb odors, and the catechins in the tea will kill germs.

SOMEWHAT USELESS INFORMATION… Ground Hogs

The name “woodchuck” comes from an Algonquian (possibly Narragansett) name for the animal, wuchak.

The average animal weighs between four to nine pounds but some (in places where there is alfalfa farming, for example) have been known to reach 30 pounds.

Groundhogs are champion diggers. On average, an animal will remove about 700 pounds of soil to make a burrow. The burrow is designed with several rooms and extends for 25 to 35 feet. One to three entrances are included.

PUZZLE: Trivia Quiz […answers at bottom…]

1. In which city is the world's largest carpet manufacturer?

2. If you suffer from epistaxis what is wrong?

3. What's the only written number, in English, where the letters are in alphabetical order?

4. Where does the American flag fly 24 / 7 and is never taken down?

5. Sanskrit is an old language word. What does the word mean?

6. Why was Fred Lorz disqualified from the 1904 Olympic marathon?

7. Where did Jim Morrison die?

8. By law in Boston, what is banned from being in the back seat of a car?

9. Who is the Patron Saint of Artists?

10. 53 is the international dialling code for what country?

UNUSUAL NEWS ITEM… MORO, OR

— A sheriff's deputy didn't need a drug dog to point out a stash during a recent traffic stop. The driver's dog did it for him.

KGW-TV reports Sherman County sheriff's Sgt. John Terrel was pulling over a pickup truck Feb. 9 when he saw a sock fly out the window. It turned out to be stuffed with marijuana and hashish.

The driver told Terrel he was trying to hide the sock, but his pit bull mix grabbed it and wouldn't let go, enjoying a tug-of-war game.

The dog won the tussle and tossed the sock out the window, and the 32-year-old driver was indicted on drug possession charges.

Sheriff Brad Lohrey says he wished everyone traveled with their own personal drug dog.

A LITTLE LAUGH…

I took four tires to a friend’s garage sale and was asking $30 apiece. I needed to leave for a few minutes, so I asked him to watch them for me.

"Sure," he said, "but if someone offers less, how low are you willing to go?"

"Try for more, but I will accept $15," I said, and left.

When I returned, my tires were gone. "How much did you get for them?" I asked excitedly.

"Fifteen dollars each."

"Who bought them?"

“I did.”

Top 10 In The World…Largest Countries in the World by area

CLOSEUP PICTURE…

Can you identify this close up picture

FOUND ON ‘YOU TUBE’…Chinese Lantern Festival

♫ 60’s Rock ♫

Click on Song Title to see and hear

♪… Time of the Season The Zombies

♪…Touch Me The Doors

♪… Under The Boardwalk The Drifters

«« « « » » » »

DAYBOOK INFORMATION

¤…THIS WEEK…¤

13-19 ► International Flirting Week ♥ National Secondhand Wardrobe Week ♥ PTA Take Your Family To School Week

14-21 ► Alzheimer’s and Dementia Awareness Week ♥ Love a Mench Week ♥ National Condom Week: ♥ National Nestbox Week ♥ NCCDP Alzheimer's & Dementia Staff Education Week ♥ International Friendship Week ♥ National Conference on Education

¤…TODAY IS…¤

Champion Crab Races Day

My Way Day

National PTA Founders Day (1887)

World Human Spirit Day

China: Lantern Festival (元宵节)--(Chap Goh Meh(Chinese: 十五暝; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: cha̍p-gō-mê; literally "the fifteen night") Festival in Malaysia and Singapore or Yuen Siu Festival in Hong Kong, or "Tết Thượng Nguyên" or "Tết Nguyên Tiêu"(Vietnamese: Tết Nguyên tiêu) in Vietnam; is a festival celebrated on the fifteenth day of the first month in the lunisolar year in the Chinese calendar, the last day of the lunisolar Chinese New Year celebration.) See video above

Kosovo: Independence Day, (2008)

Sri Lanka: Maha Shivaratree (Mahashivaratri marks the night when Lord Shiva performed the 'Tandava'. It is also believed that on this day Lord Shiva was married to Parvati Ma.)

Today’s Births...

○ AUTHORS/COMPOSERS

1766 Thomas Malthus economist, demographer: The Malthusian Theory: population growth exceed production growth

1758 John Pinkerton Scottish historian

○ ATHLETES

1908 Walter L "Red" Barber sports announcer (Brooklyn Dodgers, New York Yankees)

James Nathaniel (Jim) Brown, 75, Hall of Fame football player, activist, actor

Michael Jordan, 48, former basketball player, sports executive

○ BUSINESS & EDUCATION

1867 William Cadbury English chocolate manufacturer (Cadbury)

1844 Aaron Montgomery Ward founded mail-order business (Montgomery Ward)

○ ENTERTAINERS (ACTORS/SINGERS/…)

1934 Alan (Arthur) Bates actor: An Unmarried Woman, Women in Love, Zorba

Brenda Fricker, 66, actress (Oscar for My Left Foot; The Field), born Dublin, Ireland

Joseph Gordon-Levitt, 30, actor (Inception, (500) Days of Summer, The Lookout, “3rd Rock from the Sun”)

Paris Hilton, 30, socialite, television personality

Hal Holbrook (Harold Rowe, Jr), 86, actor (Magnum Force, All the President’s Men)

Dame Edna Everidge (Barry Humphries), 77, actor, comedian,

Richard Karn, 52, actor (“Home Improvement”), game show host (“Family Feud”)

1914 Arthur Kennedy actor

1919 Jock Mahoney actor (Dallas, Yancy Derringer, Day of Fury)

1941 Gene Pitney singer: Town Without Pity, The Man Who Shot Liberty

Lou Diamond Phillips, 49, actor (La Bamba, Stand and Deliver)

Denise Richards, 40, actress (Wild Things, The World Is Not Enough)

○ POLITICIANS

1942 Huey P. Newton, American political activist

○ SCIENCE & RELIGION

1781 René-Théophile-Hyacinthe Laënnec French inventor (stethoscope)

Today’s Obits…

1908 Geronimo (Goyaałé, "one who yawns") Chiricahua Apache chief, pneumonia @ 79

1989 Lefty Gomez Yankee pitching great, @ 80

1954 Evert Gorter Dutch pediatrician and children's artist (Kindergeneeskunde), @ 72

1793 Creek Chief Alexander McGillivray killed in battle @ 43

1673 Molière [Jean Baptiste Poquelin] French playwright (Learned Lady), TB @51

1982 Lee [Israel] Strasberg father of method acting/actor (And Justice for All), heart attack @ 80

Today’s Events…

○ ARTS

1776 1st volume of Gibbon's "Decline & Fall of the Roman Empire" published

1933 Blondie Boopadoop, the title role and flapper in the comic strip, Blondie, married Dagwood Bumstead. The marriage took place three years after Chic Young’s popular strip first debuted

1955 KTVF TV channel 11 in Fairbanks AK (CBS/ABC) begins broadcasting

1958 Comic strip "BC" 1st appears

1962 The Beach Boys started making waves with their first Southern California hit, Surfin’ the start of the Surf music style

○ ATHLETICS

1924 Johnny Weissmuller sets 100-yard freestyle record (52.4 seconds)

1953 Baseball star/pilot Ted Williams uninjured as plane shot down in Korea

○ BUSINESS & EDUCATION

1817 1st US city lit by gas (Baltimore)

1876 Sardines 1st canned (Julius Wolff-Eastport ME)

1933 1st issue of "Newsweek" magazine published

1934 The first high school automobile driver’s education course was introduced in State College, PA

○ INDIGENOUS PEOPLE

1690 While traveling through the area, French explorer Henri de Tonti visits the Natchitoches Confederation near what is now called Natchitoches, Louisiana.

○ POLITICS (International)

1854 British recognize independence of Orange Free State (South Africa)

1867 1st ship passes through Suez Canal

1947 Voice of America begins broadcasting to USSR

1969 Golda Meir sworn in as Israel's 1st female prime minister

○ POLITICS (US)

1621 Miles Standish appointed 1st commander of Plymouth colony

1870 Mississippi becomes 9th state re-admitted to US after Civil War

○ SCIENCE & RELIGION

1931 1st telecast of a sporting event in Japan (baseball)

1997 Carl Sagan Public Memorial at Pasadena CA

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ANSWERS

Quiz ANSWERS…

1. In which city is the world's largest carpet manufacturer? Kashmir

2. If you suffer from epistaxis what is wrong? Nose bleeds

3. What's the only written number, in English, where the letters are in alphabetical order? Forty

4. Where does the American flag fly 24 / 7 and is never taken down? Moon

5. Sanskrit is an old language word. What does the word mean? Put together or Perfected

6. Why was Fred Lorz disqualified from the 1904 Olympic marathon? Hitched a lift passing car

7. Where did Jim Morrison die? Bath - in Paris hotel

8. By law in Boston, what is banned from being in the back seat of a car? Gorillas

9. Who is the Patron Saint of Artists? St. Luke

10. 53 is the international dialing code for what country? Cuba

Close Up Picture…

Burnt Wood

« AND THAT’S ALL FOR NOW »