Nov 13

 

 

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

Nov 13, 2020  Week: 46 Day: 318	Local:  H 55°\ L 25°\Average Sky Cover: 15%
Wind:   7mph\Gusts:  11mph	Nearest lightning:  1610mi.; active fire:  59mi
Moderate Risk of Fire	Visibility:  10mi
Record: 72°[1967]   Record: -3°[2000]	Nov Averages: 53°\23° (3 days with moisture)

 

Today’s  Quote

Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today,

and creates a vision for tomorrow.

Melody Beattie

 

Random Tidbits

 Did anyone tell you when you were a kid that too many carrot sticks would turn your skin orange? It's true! (Sort of). Hypercarotenemia, or carotenosis, is a yellowy orange discoloration of the skin caused by high levels of carotene in the blood, the result of eating a LOT of vitamin A.

 

A little humor

Seen during a conference:

FOR ANYONE WHO HAS CHILDREN AND DOESN'T KNOW IT,

THERE IS DAY CARE ON THE 1ST FLOOR.

 

True Things

A British TV channel said it achieved a Guinness World Record when more than 9,000 people tuned in to watch the "world's largest live streamed séance."
The attempt, organized by digital TV channel Really, featured Penny West "The Wiccan Witch," podcaster Nick Stoppani and paranormal investigators Alex Duggan and Miki York of U.K.-Haunted attempting to contact the spirits of the deceased at Guy's Cliffe House in Warwick, England.
The séance was live streamed on Facebook, and Really announced more than 9,000 people watched along, surpassing the channel's goal and earning the Guinness record for world's largest live streamed séance.
"We have reached out to the spiritual world many times before but we have never been more excited than this time in which we set a Guinness World Records title," Duggan told local news.

 

Observations This Week

Nat’l Nurse Practioner's Week: 8-14 Link Link	Nat’l Book Awards Week: 8-14
Nat’l Radiologic Technology Week: 8-14 Link	Children’s' Book Week: 9-15 Link Nat’l Seat Belt Reinforcement Week: 9-29 Link
Perioperative Nurse Week: 8-14 Link	Nat’l Split Pea Soup Week: 9-15 Link
Snowcare For Troops Awareness Week: 8-14 World Kindness Week: 8-14 Link	Nat’l Young Readers Week: 9-15 Link Nat’l Donor Sabbath: 13-15  World Antibiotic Awareness Week: 13-19

 

Observations for Today

Caregiver Appreciation Day

Domino Day

Feast of St. Diego Alacala

Friday the 13th

National Indian Pudding Day

World Kindness Day

 

My Rambling Thoughts

It’s a nice day that started out cold, but the sun warmed nicely.

Our local school district announced that in-person classes will not begin until January 2021 at the earliest.

The HOA guy came back today to cut my overhanging branches and even apologized for not doing it the last time they were here. I can now get in and out of my door without having to bend over or knock snow off the overhanging branches so I can bend over. Bonus: I have more sunlight through my front window. Nice.

My CPAP machine also has an Oxygen concentrator…not a tank, but a machine that ‘makes’ oxygen somehow. He replaced the filter, cleaned the machine, so now I am set. Nice.

Doctors without Borders announced that they are sending medical personnel to the United States to assist in the Covid outbreak. Thank you and wear a mask.

The current administration is not releasing funds or allowing the incoming administration to get top secret briefings. We all remember 9/11. What many have forgotten in the in November of 2000 there was a long, drawn out count to determine if it was going to Bush or Gore. This caused Bush to also get a late start on briefings. After that horrific day in September 2001, the 9/11 commission was formed to determine how to avoid another attack…listing what the US did correctly and what needed lots of improvement. One of their conclusions was that the delay in naming a winner led to a much shorter time for Bush to be brought up to speed in many areas. I certainly hope the our government learned a valuable, yet costly, lesson and doesn’t let it happen again. Trump’s last National Security in-person briefing was Oct. 2, 2020. Very frightening.

 

Today’s Puzzle

Answer at the bottom of the page

What makes this number unique: 8,549,176,320?

 

Historical Events

1789 – Ben Franklin wrote “nothing is certain, but death and taxes” in a letter to Jean Baptiste Le Roy.

1839 Last bull run in Britain as the Stamford bull run ends after 700 years

1841 – James Braid first saw a demonstration of animal magnetism, which leads to his study of the subject he eventually calls hypnotism.

1855 – A proposal for a tunnel under the English Channel was announced by French engineer M. Loèpold Favre, to connect Boulogne to Dover.

1902 "Heart of Darkness" by Joseph Conrad is first published in one volume (previously serialized) by William Blackwood in Edinburgh

1940 – Walt Disney released Fantasia, an film experience mixing animation and classical music, at New York’s Broadway Theatre.

1942 – US President Franklin D. Roosevelt lowered the minimum draft age from 21 to 18.

1947 – The Soviet Union completed the development of the AK-47.

1956 – The US Supreme Court of the United States declared Alabama laws requiring segregated buses illegal, thus ending the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

1971 – Mariner 9 was the first spacecraft to orbit another planet, reaching Mars.

1980 – US spacecraft Voyager 1 sent back first close-up pictures of Saturn.

1982 – The Vietnam Veterans Memorial, a monument consisting of two black granite walls engraved with the names of 58,272 US soldiers that did not return from Vietnam, was dedicated in Washington D.C.

1994 – Sweden agreed to join the European Union

2001 War on Terrorism: In the first such act since World War II, US President George W. Bush signs an executive order allowing military tribunals against foreigners suspected of connections to terrorist acts or planned acts on the United States.

2015 – Terrorist attacks in Paris killed 130 people and injured hundreds

2018 Trial of Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán begins in New York

2019 First day of public testimony in Donald Trump's impeachment inquiry held in Washington, D.C.

2019 Rediscovered painting "Lucretia" by female baroque artist Artemisia Gentileschi sells for $4.1 million at auction in Paris.

 

Birthdays Today

@84 – Louis Brandeis, American lawyer, jurist ‘right to privacy’ (d. 1941)

@81 – Garry Marshall, American actor, director, and producer (d. 2016)

73 – Joe Mantegna, American actor, and voice artist

67 -- Andrés Manuel López Obrador, President of Mexico

65 – Whoopi Goldberg, American actress, comedian, and talk show host

53 – Jimmy Kimmel, American comedian, actor, and talk show host

51 – Gerard Butler, Scottish actor

@44 – Robert Louis Stevenson, Scottish novelist, poet, essayist (d. 1894; stroke)

 

Puzzle Answer

It contains each number, zero through nine, in alphabetical order.

 

Nov 12

 

 

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

Nov 12, 2020  Week: 46 Day: 317	Local:  H 50°\ L 20°\Average Sky Cover: 5%
Wind:   4mph\Gusts:  8mph	Nearest lightning:  1612mi.; active fire:  59mi
Moderate Risk of Fire	Visibility:  10mi
Record: 72°[1996]   Record: 3°[1898]	Nov Averages: 53°\23° (3 days with moisture)

 

Today’s  Quote

Whatever life throws at me I'll take it and be grateful for it as well.

Tom Felton

 

A little humor

Spotted in a safari park:

ELEPHANTS, PLEASE STAY IN YOUR CAR.

 

True Things

Dad builds pirate ship in front yard

A New York state father took what has become a family tradition to a new level when he built a 50-foot-long pirate ship in his front yard for Halloween. Tony DeMatteo said one of his three children initially requested a Pirates of the Caribbean themed Halloween a few years ago, leading him to build a small pirate ship in front of the house in Churchville. DeMatteo said he has since been building ships every year for Halloween, and this year's is the biggest yet at 50 feet long and 20 feet tall. "I'm a big fan of Halloween," DeMatteo said. "It's been growing bigger and bigger each year. I always try to outdo myself." DeMatteo said this year's ship cost about $3,000 to build and took about a week to assemble. It features a skeleton hanging from the bowsprit, six light-up cannons, a fog machine and fire blasters. "I have no background in this, I just do it for fun for my kids, and that's what makes it so great," DeMatteo said.

 

Observations This Week

Nat’l Nurse Practioner's Week: 8-14 Link Link	World Kindness Week: 8-14 Link Nat’l Book Awards Week: 8-14
Nat’l Radiologic Technology Week: 8-14 Link	Childrens' Book Week: 9-15 Link Nat’l Seat Belt Reinforcement Week: 9-29 Link
Perioperative Nurse Week: 8-14 Link	Nat’l Split Pea Soup Week: 9-15 Link
Snowcare For Troops Awareness Week: 8-14	Nat’l Young Readers Week: 9-15 Link

 

Observations for Today

Chicken Soup For The Soul Day

Happy Hour Day

International Tempranillo Day

Fancy Rat & Mouse Day

National French Dip Day

National Pizza with the Works Except Anchovies Day

World Pneumonia Day

 

My Rambling Thoughts

It the middle of another week. Checked on Andy’s place…no workers…no problems. Snow is slowly melting in our blistering 50 degrees.

At least 4 of my previous travel destinations are suffering with internal strife…Ethiopia is on the brink of civil war, Peru congress ousted their leader, and China is really cracking down on Hong Kong and causing problems for Mongolia. I hope the people of these areas are able to find a workable peace. My only advice to those I know is to ‘hang in and hang on. It is always darkest before the dawn.’ So many citizens in these countries depend on the tourist industry and while Covid has almost destroyed all travel, any violence will only lengthen the rebuilding process.

Politics never changes…really. While Trump claims, without facts, that there was fraud during the last election, I find it interesting that Trump lost the popular vote and the electoral college…at this point, yet is not demanding a recount where he lost and Republican down ticket candidates won. It seems strange to me that only the Presidential votes were fraudulent, while down ticket votes were good.   

 

Today’s Puzzle

Answer at the bottom of the page

A coin is in an empty bottle but a cork is in the neck. How can you remove the coin without removing the cork or breaking the bottle?

 

Historical Events

 

1799 – Andrew Ellicott wrote the about first known record of a meteor shower observed in the US. We now know they were the Leonids.

1847 – Sir James Young Simpson, the father of modern anesthetics, used chloroform (“perchloride of formyle”) for the first time as an anesthetic in an operation.

1892 – William “Pudge” Walter Heffelfinger was the first professional (paid) US Football player. He got $25 and a $500 bonus for a single game.

1922 (Volcano Eruption & Tsunami) Chile/Argentina – over 1,000 people were killed.

1927 – The Holland Tunnel connecting NY and NY – the world’s first underwater vehicular tunnel – officially opened.

1929 – Commander Richard E. Byrd made the first flight over the South Pole.

1933 – First known photo of the so-called Loch Ness Monster was taken by Hugh Gray.

1936 – The San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge opened to traffic.

1946 – The Exchange National Bank of Chicago, Illinois, instituted the first drive-in banking service in America.

1954 – Ellis Island in New York closed after providing entrance to the US for 12 million immigrants between 1892 and 1924.

1956 – The largest iceberg on record was sighted by the USS Glacier, a U. S. Navy icebreaker, about 150 miles west of Scott Island in the Southern Hemisphere. It had broken from the Ross Ice Shelf in the Antarctic. It was about 208 miles long and 60 miles wide.

1966 – The first photograph was taken from Earth’s atmosphere by the satellite Gemini XII.

1981 – First balloon crossing of the Pacific was completed. The Double Eagle V launched from Nagashima, Japan on November 10, 1981.

1993 – The first Ultimate Fighting Championship event, UFC 1, was held in Denver, Colorado.

1997 – Ramzi Yousef is found guilty of masterminding the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

2014 European Space Agency's Rosetta lands the Philae probe on the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

2015 Out Magazine names Barack Obama 'Ally of the Year', Obama becomes 1st sitting US President to pose for cover of a gay magazine

2017 For the first time Prince Charles lays the wreath to Great Britain's war dead, replacing Queen Elizabeth

2018 Former US First lady Michelle Obama publishes her memoir "Becoming"

 

Birthdays Today

@91 – DeWitt Wallace, American publisher, and philanthropist (co-founded Reader’s Digest), (d. 1981)

@83 – Charles Manson, American cult leader (d.2017)

@77 – Auguste Rodin, French sculptor, illustrator, created The Thinker (d. 1917)

76 – Al Michaels, American sportscaster

75 – Neil Young, Canadian Singer/Songwriter, guitarist, and producer

62 – Megan Mullaly, American actress, and singer

59 – Nadia Comaneci, Romanian Olympic Gymnast

@52 – Grace Kelly, American actress, later Princess Grace of Monaco (d. 1982; stroke/auto accident)

52 – Sammy Sosa, Dominican-American baseball player

50 – Tonya Harding, American figure skater

41 – Cote de Pable, actor

40 – Ryan Gosling, Canadian actor, producer, and singer

 

Puzzle Answer

Push the cork down into the bottle and shake the coin out.

Note: a faithful reader added some more to the list of words from yesterday’s puzzle that moved the first letter to the end of the word to have the same word read backwards: add, bee, belle, egg, gala, it, logo, mama, manna, lotto, ox, pa, polo, solo, too. Very cool!