Nov 22

FYI: Any blue text is a link. Click to check it out!

Nov. 22, 2019 Week: 47  Day: 326

86004:   H 38° \ L 18° \ Average Sky Cover: 95%

Nearest active fire:  112mi.  Nearest lightning:  219mi

Wind:   0mph\Gusts:  0mph  Visibility: 5 mi

Record High: 68°[1903]   Record Low: -2°[1931]

Nov. Averages: 53°\23° (3 days with moisture)

Today’s Quote

The environment is in us,

not outside of us.

The trees are our lungs,

the rivers our bloodstream,

and what you do to the environment,

ultimately, you do to yourself.”

~ Ian Somerhalder

Random Tidbits

The Russian State Library in Moscow is the largest library in Europe and the 2nd largest library in the world, after the Library of Congress.

In 1917, the monarchy system of Russia was overthrown and a civil war between monarchists and communists under the rule of Vladimir Lenin ensued. In 1922, Lenin succeeded in winning the civil war and established the Soviet Union, the first communist country in the world.

Observances This Week

15-22

International Restorative Justice Week Link 
National Hunger & Homeless Awareness Week  Link 
Random Acts of Kindness Week  Link  Link

16-22

National Global Entrepreneurship Week  Link

19-26

National Farm-City Week

21-28

International Games Week
Church/State Separation Week
GERD Awareness Week Link
National Bible Week
National Family Week
National Game & Puzzle Week
World Karaoke Championships Link

Observances for Today

Buy Nothing Day

Crystal Skull World Day Link
Go For a Ride Day

Humane Society Day
National Cranberry Relish Day

National Cashew Day

Mother Goose Day  Link

Random Acts of Kindness Friday   Link 

My Rambling Thoughts

Our retirement group had a great lunch at one of our favorite places. Everybody is getting ready for Thanksgiving. Mary is off to Phx next week, Cheryl is heading to California to be with her son and his family. I’m having dinner with friends at one of my old boss’ house.

After almost 50 years, the Navajo Generating Station, in Page, AZ has closed. They used to be the main supplier of electricity for S. Cal. Times have changed and coal fired is not the way of the future. So, after years of talking and much preparation, they finally closed. Certainly the end of an era for several generations of Navajo people.

Also, in Tucson, AZ, the man accused of helping migrants by leaving water and food on their much-used paths in the desert has been found Not Guilty of all charges. The court agreed that this was a humanitarian effort. Glad to see that.

Today’s Puzzle

Answer at the bottom of this page

I can wake you in the morning but I require no electricity or winding.

I can also provide you with a meal, but only once.

What am I?

Historical Events

1809 - The (#1168) patent was issued in the U.S. for a metallic writing pen was issued to Peregrine Williamson.

1858 - Denver, Colorado was founded.

1859 - The Origin of the Species by Charles Darwin was published.

1910 - The patent (#976,267) for a steel-shafted golf club was issued to Arthur F. Knight of Schenectady, NY.

1927 - The patent (#1,650,334) for a snowmobile (motor toboggan) was issued to Carl J.E. Eliason of Saynor, Wisconsin.

1928 - Bolero by Maurice Ravel, was first performed publicly (Paris). The original title for the music was 'Fandango.'

1932 - The patent (#1,888,533) for a computer pump was issued to the inventors, Robert J. Jauch, Ivan R. Farnham and Ross H. Arnold for their "Liquid Dispensing Apparatus". The technology has led us to the modern gas pump.

1935 - First commercial crossing of Pacific Ocean by plane (China Clipper). On November 29, the airplane reached its destination, Manila, after traveling via Honolulu, Midway Island, Wake Island, and Guam, and delivered over 110,000 pieces of mail.

1941 - The US Food and Drug Administration specified the first minimum daily requirements for dietary supplements for vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin D, thiamine, riboflavin, calcium, iron, iodine, and phosphorus.

1951 - Pope Pius XII declared, at the opening meeting of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, that the Big Bang theory does not conflict with the Catholic concept of creation.

1952 - #1 Hit: Johnny Standley - It's In The Book (parts 1 & 2)

1954 - Humane Society of the United States formed.

1963 US President John F. Kennedy assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald while riding in an open-topped motorcade in Dallas, Texas

1965 - Broadway Show - Man of La Mancha (Musical)

1965 - Muhammad Ali TKO'ed Floyd Patterson in 12 rounds for the heavyweight boxing title.

1974 - The United Nations General Assembly granted the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) observer status.

1975 - #1 Hit: KC and the Sunshine Band - That's the Way (I Like It)

1977 - British Airways inaugurated a regular London to New York City supersonic Concorde service.

1986 - #1 Hit: Human League - Human

1986 - Mike Tyson became the youngest Heavyweight Champion in history today with a second-round knockout win over Trevor Berbick.

1987 - WGN-TV Channel 9 and PBS affiliate WTTW-TV Channel 11 broadcast signals were hijacked by an unknown person wearing a Max Headroom mask. The hijacker was never caught.

1995 - Pixar's Toy Story was released. It was the first feature-length film created completely using computer generated animation.

2005 - Angela Merkel became the first female Chancellor of Germany.

2016 US President Barack Obama posthumously awards the Presidential Medal of Freedom to pioneering computer scientist and Navy Admiral Grace Hopper

2018 Leaning Tower of Pisa's tilt reduced by 4 cm in 20- year project to stabilize it

Birthdays Today

@83 – Thomas Cook, English businessman,

founded Thomas Cook Group, (died in 1892)

@82 – Hoagy Carmichael, American Singer/Songwriter,

pianist and actor (died in 1981)

@82 – Rodney Dangerfield, American comedian, actor,

and screenwriter (died in 2004)

@79 – Charles de Gaulle, 18th President of France,

(died in 1970; ruptured blood vessel)

76 – Billie Jean King, American tennis player and sportscaster

61 – Jamie Lee Curtis, American actress

58 – Mariel Hemingway, American actress

53 - Mads Mikkelson, Demark actor

52 – Mark Ruffalo, American actor and activist

35 – Scarlett Johansson, American actress

(Black Widow, Avengers)

Puzzle answer:

A rooster. If you did use electricity on your rooster, you would no longer be woken up, but it could provide a finger lickin’ last meal.

Nov 21

FYI: Any blue text is a link. Click to check it out!

Nov. 21, 2019 Week: 47  Day: 325

86004:   H 45° \ L 26° \ Average Sky Cover: 90%

Nearest active fire:  117mi.  Nearest lightning:  219mi

Wind:   3mph\Gusts:  6mph  Visibility: 7 mi

Record High: 70°[1950]   Record Low: -5°[1979]

Nov. Averages: 53°\23° (3 days with moisture)

Today’s Quote

“The suppression of uncomfortable ideas

may be common in religion and politics,

but it is not the path to knowledge;

it has no place in the endeavor of science.”

~ Carl Sagan

Random Tidbits

Russia is the largest country by land mass in the world. At 6.5 million square miles (17 million square km), Russia is 1.8 times larger than the United States and is slightly larger than Pluto.

The Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia, is comprised of 6 buildings with 3 million exhibits. If you spent 2 minutes at each exhibit, it would take 6 years to see everything. The museum is also home to about 70 cats as part of a decree first instated in 1745 by Empress Elizabeth, daughter of Peter the Great, to protect the priceless displays from rodents.

Observances This Week

15-21

International Fraud Awareness Week Link   

15-22

International Restorative Justice Week Link 
National Hunger & Homeless Awareness Week  Link 
Random Acts of Kindness Week  Link  Link

16-22

National Global Entrepreneurship Week  Link

19-26

National Farm-City Week

21-28

International Games Week
Church/State Separation Week
GERD Awareness Week Link
National Bible Week
National Family Week
National Game & Puzzle Week
World Karaoke Championships Link

Observances for Today

Alascattalo Day (About Alaska & humor)
Children's Grief Awareness Day Link
False Confession Day

Family Volunteer Day
Great American Smokeout

Guinness World Record Day Link 
International Games Day (Libraries) Link 
National Adoption Day  Link
National Cranberry Day

 National Gingerbread Cookie Day

National Red Mitten Day (Canada) Link
Playmobil's National Day of Play Link 
Use Less Stuff Day

World Hello Day  Link
World Television Day

My Rambling Thoughts

A day of clouds and rain, with expected snow tonight. Maybe 5”, maybe more, maybe less. That’s the forecast.

I headed to Sam’s to fill up with gas, just in case and to pick up some items. I’m enjoying this cool rainy weather.

I’m having a losing battle with my cable company…Suddenlink. I’m on autopay but in their ‘system migration’ they took my old credit card expiration date. Very long story. Here’s the short version: 4 calls to customer service, one visit to the local store. Finally got the card thing fixed. Each call took over 45 minutes…mostly waiting for the ‘next available agent’. This company has no customer service email address or will give out a physical address for customer service. A decade ago, I had a problem with the previous company, before Suddenlink bought them out. Back then that cable company had a contract with the city of Flagstaff so they could be the sole cable provider to our city. I had to use the city contract person to correct the problem. No such contract now exists. So, the only way to complain is over the phone and they can say a manager will call back, but they never do. Since I have too many trees for a satellite connection, I’m stuck with this crappy system. Some neighbors have roof top dishes, but I talked to a few and when we have snow piled up, there is no TV. Frustrated.

I listened to some of the hearings yesterday and today while I’m on my computer. Interesting if you’re are a student of political science. I’m not that person. I am a voter and understand that a democracy can be messy. I wonder how some of the witnesses ever got government positions, others have been true bureaucrats with lots of notes. This has to be the messiest side of democracy I have ever seen. I hope it ends soon. When and if there is a Senate trial, I’ll get interested again. Until then, it’s all background noise.

Today’s Puzzle

Answer at the bottom of this page

If you carried my burden, you would be crushed.

Though not rich, I leave a trail of silver.

What am I?

Historical Events

164 BC - Judas Maccabeus, son of Mattathias of the Hasmonean family, restored the Temple in Jerusalem. This event is commemorated each year by the festival of Hanukkah.

1783 - Jean Francois Pilatre de Rozier and the Marquis Francois Laurant d'Arlandes became the first men to make a free flight. Their hot-air balloon lifted off from La Muettte, a royal palace in the Bois de Boulogne, Paris. Ben Franklin was among the witnesses.

1832 - Wabash College was founded in Crawfordsville, Indiana.

1846 - The word 'anesthesia' was used by Oliver Wendell Holmes in a letter to William Thomas Green Morton, the surgeon who gave the first public demonstration of the pain-killing effects of ether.

1871 - The patent (#121,049) for a cigar lighter was issued to Moses F. Gale of New York City as an "Improvement in Cigar-Lighters."

1877 - Thomas Edison announced his "talking machine" invention. His phonograph originally recorded sound onto a tinfoil sheet phonograph cylinder. (Patent #200,521, granted in 1878)

1905 - Albert Einstein's paper, Does the Inertia of a Body Depend Upon Its Energy Content?, is published in the journal Annalen der Physik.

1920 - In Dublin, Ireland, 31 people are killed in what became known as Bloody Sunday. This included fourteen British informants, fourteen Irish civilians and three Irish Republican Army prisoners. U2's Sunday Bloody Sunday references the event

1942 - Tweety Bird, aka Tweety Pie, debuted in Tale of Two Kitties. Bob Clampett created the character. Tweety is a boy.

1952 - First US postage stamp (The Red Cross 3 cent) in 2 colors (with the rotary printing process) was introduced.

1953 - #1 Hit: Tony Bennett - Rags To Riches

1953 - Authorities at the British Natural History Museum announced the "Piltdown Man" skull, one of the most famous fossil skulls in the world, was a hoax.

1959 - Jack Benny (violin) & Richard Nixon (piano) play their famed duet.

1959 - DJ Alan Freed, who had popularized the term rock and roll and music of that style, was fired from New York's WABC-AM radio for refusing to deny allegations that he had participated in the payola scandal.

1960 - #1 Hit: Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs - Stay

1964 - World's longest suspension bridge Verrazano Narrows opened (New York City - 4,260 feet). It is still the longest in the western hemisphere.

1967 Vietnam War: American General William Westmoreland tells news reporters: "I am absolutely certain that whereas in 1965 the enemy was winning, today he is certainly losing."

1969 - The first permanent ARPANET (multi computer connection) link was established between UCLA and SRI.

1970 - #1 Hit: The Partridge Family - I Think I Love You

1973 US President Richard Nixon's attorney, J Fred Buzhardt, reveals presence of 18½ minute gap in a White House tape recording related to Watergate

1980 - Everyone asked "Who Shot J.R.?" in last year's Dallas season finale. The season opener of Dallas answered the question people were asking all summer, and well into the fall. Sue Ellen's sister Kristin (played by Mary Crosby) shot J.R..

1980 - A deadly fire brokeout at the MGM Grand Hotel in Paradise, Nevada (now Bally's Las Vegas). Eighty-seven people were killed and more than 650 were injured.

1981 - #1 Hit: Olivia Newton-John - Physical

1987 - #1 Hit: Billy Idol - Mony Mony

1989 - Law banning smoking on most US domestic flights was signed by President George H. W. Bush.

1999 Elian Gonzalez, Cuban boy at the center of a heated 2000 controversy involving the governments of Cuba and the United States, departs from Cuba with his mother

2017 Robert Mugabe's resignation after 37 years in power is read out in Zimbabwe's parliaments during impeachment proceedings

Birthdays Today

@83 – Voltaire, French historian, playwright, and philosopher

(died in 1778)

82 – Marlo Thomas, American actress, producer and activist

@81 – Hetty Green, American businesswoman and financier

('richest miser' died in 1916)

74 – Goldie Hawn, American actress, singer and producer

71 – George Zimmer, American businessman,

founded Men's Wearhouse

68 – René Magritte, Belgian painter (died in 1967)

56 – Nicollette Sheridan, TV actress

54 – Björk, Icelandic Singer/Songwriter

50 – Ken Griffey Jr., American baseball player and actor

48 – Michael Strahan, football player, TV host

34 – Carly Rae Jepsen, Canadian Singer/Songwriter; actress

Puzzle answer:

A snail. They carry their homes on their back, and a house would crush a person (even the tiny houses). And the trail of silver is a bit of a stretch, but it’s the slimy, gooey substance snails leave behind them.