Apr 3

 

 

 

Apr 3, 2021   Week: 14    Day: 93                            

Visibility: 10 miles	Ave. Sky Cover: 10%
Local: H 69 °\ L 40°	Nearest Lightning: 10mi.
Wind:  7mph/ Gusts:  15mph	High Risk of Fire:  Active fire: 61 mi
Record: 71°[1961]  Record: 8°[1990]	Apr. Averages: 60°/27° (3 days w/moisture)

 

Today’s Quote

From now on, I'll connect the dots my own way.

~Bill Watterson

Random Tidbits

Persians first began using colored eggs to celebrate spring in 3,000 B.C. 13th century Macedonians were the first Christians on record to use colored eggs in Easter celebrations. Crusaders returning from the Middle East spread the custom of coloring eggs, and Europeans began to use them to celebrate Easter and other warm weather holidays.

A Little Something to Think About

The Eiffel Tower is the most photographed object on Instagram

They discovered Cosmic Rays at the Eiffel Tower.

Today it has 8 elevators and two restaurants.

They still have a post office, near the gift shop, with its own special postmark!

Common Words: New Meanings

Abdicate  (V.), to give up all hope of ever having a flat stomach.

Esplanade  (V.), to attempt an explanation while drunk.

Willy-nilly  (Adj.), impotent.

True Things

Free-diver swims 394 feet under ice

A French free-diver plunged into a frigid lake in Finland to swim 394 feet under the ice and break a world record. Arthur Guerin-Boeri, 36, a five-time world champion free-diver, plunged into the lake while wearing a wet suit, but no gloves or flippers. Guerin-Boeri swam 394 feet under the ice, spending about three minutes submerged. The free-diver's feat came just one month after Czech free-diver David Vencl swam 265 feet under the ice of a quarry northwest of Prague while wearing only his bathing suit. Evidence from Guerin-Boeri's swim is now being submitted to Guinness World Records.

Monthly Observations

 

Fair Housing Month Link Financial Literacy Month Link Fresh Florida Tomatoes Month Frog Month Link Genocide and Human Rights Awareness Month  Link Global Astronomy Month Global Child Nutrition Month Link Grange Month Holy Humor Month Home Improvement Time (April-Sept.30) Honor Society Awareness Month (Different Sponsor Than March)

 

Weekly Observations

Lent [Christian] Passover [Jewish]	Thru 4/3 Thru 4/4
Passiontide	Thru 4/3
National Cherry Blossom Festival Link	Thru 4/10
Holy Week International Phace Syndrome Awareness Week National Cleaning Week	Thru 4/3
APAWS Pooper Scooper  Week Golden Rule Week Laugh at Work Week Medication Safety Week Testicular Cancer Awareness Week (aka Get A Grip Day!)  Link	1-7
National Robotics Week Link	3-11

 

Today’s Observations

Don't Go to Work Unless it's Fun Day - I know your decision

Every Day is Tag Day Link 
Fan Dance Day
Find a Rainbow Day Link  ("Share A Rainbow Day.")
Holy Saturday [Christian]

International Pillow Fight Day  CANCELLED
National Chocolate Mousse Day

National Film Score Day  Link
National Hand Made Day  Link  
National Love Our Children Day 
National Play Outside Day Link 
NCAA Men's Basketball Final Four Championships
Pony Express Day
Tangible Karma Day 
Tweed Day

Walk to Work Day

Weed Out Hate
World Party Day Link Sometimes-Long-Winded Thoughts

 

My Sometimes-Long-Winded Thoughts

 

Great day…I have my windows open for the first time in forever. Spring is definitely here.

Good Friday always reminds me of my youth. Until I was about 11, every Good Friday my mom would get us ‘cleaned up’ and drive to a good friend’s house where 5 more kids and a Catholic mom would drive us around to many…probably 4 or 5…Catholic Churches. We would go in, kneel, say a prayer, leave a coin in the collection plate and head out to another church. We either ended at a Catholic or Episcopal Cathedral in town. Then it was back to one of the houses for snacks. An amazing memory.

Our country is beginning to remind me of the movie Jaws…Just when you thought it was safe to back in the water… A cop is shot, another cop and the suspect are killed on the Capitol grounds. Complete coverage from the news networks with he banner CAPITOL LOCKED DOWN, showing cops and yellow tape everywhere, flags drop to half mast, prayers are offered to the families and injured, lots of ‘thank you’ comments to the Capitol police, Nat’l Guard, Metro Police. More barriers go up around a free country’s legislative buildings. Then in a couple of days the conservatives will change their babbling that we have too many barriers around the Capitol.  I also noted that the Chief of Capitol Police and the Chief of Metropolitan Police are both acting as both former Chiefs lost their jobs after the Jan. 6^th insurrection. This has to stop. I must wonder if April 3, 2021 is really a countdown…4-3-21.

On a lighter note: Gov. Kristie Noem [R-SD] is very vocal of her conservative agenda. She has sent out a tweet about Biden’s plan to fix the infrastructure. She is upset because there is $80million for AMTRAK to upgrade various tracks and there is zero dollars that go to South Dakota, Alaska, or Hawaii. SMH

 

Daily Puzzle

Answer: bottom of the page

Find a number less than 100 that is increased by one-fifth of its value when its digits are reversed.

Historical Events

33 – Two researchers from Oxford published a paper that put the definitive date of Jesus’ crucifixion: Friday, April 3, 33 AD

1860 – Pony Express mail, traveling by horse and rider relay teams, simultaneously left St. Joseph, Missouri, and Sacramento, California. They used horses, not ponies.

1882 – A Tombstone reads, “Jesse W. James, Died April 3, 1882, Aged 34 years, 6 months, 28 days, Murdered by a traitor and a coward whose name is not worthy to appear here.” Jesse James was shot and killed by frenemy Robert Ford for the reward money. There was a $5,000 bounty on the bank-robber, but they gave Ford $500 and then arrested him.

1885 – Gottlieb Daimler was granted a German patent for his engine design.

1895 – The trial in the libel case brought by Oscar Wilde began, eventually resulting in his imprisonment on charges of homosexuality.

1936 – Bruno Richard Hauptmann was executed for the kidnapping and death of Charles Augustus Lindbergh, Jr., the baby son of pilot Charles Lindbergh.

1953 – TV Guide published its first issue

1955 – The American Civil Liberties Union announced it would defend Allen Ginsberg’s book Howl against obscenity charges.

1956 – Elvis Presley appeared on the Milton Berle Show.

1966 – The USSR’s Luna 10, the first spacecraft to orbit the moon, entered lunar orbit and completed its first orbit 3 hours later.

1968 – Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his ‘I’ve Been to the Mountaintop’ speech. in Memphis, Tennessee.

1973 – The first portable phone call was placed by inventor Martin Cooper to Joel S. Engel of Bell Labs.

1983 – Martin Cooper, Motorola project manager, demonstrated the 1st mobile phone, the DynaTAC 8000x. It was designed by Rudy Krolopp and the 2½ pound cell phone was soon made available for $3,995.

1996 – “Unabomber” Theodore Kaczynski was captured at his cabin in Montana.

2000 – Microsoft was ruled to have violated United States antitrust law by keeping “an oppressive thumb” on its competitors.

2009 Australia formally adopts the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

2012 Spanish unemployment reaches record high, youth unemployment stands at 50%

2020 US aircraft carrier captain Brett Crozier cheered off his ship after being fired for a letter demanding more help for his sailors infected with COVID-19

2020 London's Nightingale hospital opened by Prince Charles (remotely) after nine days with 4,000 beds to treat COVID-19 patients at the ExCeL Centre

 

Birthdays Today

@97 – Doris Day, actor [d. 2019]

87 – Jane Goodall, English primatologist and anthropologist

@80 – Marlon Brando, American actor (d. 2004)

79 – Marsha Mason, American actress

79 – Wayne Newton, American singer

77 – Tony Orlando, American singer

@76 – Washington Irving, American short story writer, essayist, historian (d. 1859; heart attack)

63 – Alec Baldwin, American actor and comedian

62 – David Hyde Pierce, American actor

60 – Eddie Murphy, American comedic actor

@43 – Lyle Alzado, football player, actor (d. 1992; brain cancer/steroids)

22 – Paris Jackson, American celebrity

Puzzle Answer

45 (1/5 of 45 = 9, 9 + 45 = 54)

 

Apr 2

 

 

 

Apr 2, 2021   Week: 14    Day: 92                            

Visibility: 10 miles	Ave. Sky Cover: 25%
Local: H 64°\ L 39°	Nearest Lightning: 2056mi.
Wind:  8mph/ Gusts:  15mph	EXTREME Risk of Fire:   Active fire:  209mi
Record: 72°[1966]   Record: -2°[1975]	Apr. Averages: 60°/27° (3 days w/moisture)

 

Today’s Quote

Love is supreme and unconditional; like is nice but limited.

~Duke Ellington

Random Tidbits

Easter, or Resurrection Sunday, is this weekend. The first Sunday in April. But last year it was the 12th, the second Sunday in April. And in 2019 it was the third Sunday in April. Why is Easter on a different date each year?

The holiday is set to coincide with the first Sunday after the Paschal Full Moon, the first full moon after the vernal equinox. So why does Easter come after the Paschal Full Moon? Early Christians wanted Easter to coincide with Passover, because Christ's death and resurrection happened after the Jewish holiday. Because the Jewish calendar is tied to solar and lunar cycles, the dates of Passover and Easter fluctuate each year.

A Little Something to Think About

A professor gave a balloon to every student, who had to inflate it, write their name on it and throw it in the hallway. The professor then mixed all the balloons. The students were then given 5 minutes to find their own balloon.

Despite a hectic search, no one found their balloon.

At that point, the professor told the students to take the first balloon that they found and hand it to the person whose name was written on it. Within 5 minutes, everyone had their own balloon.

The professor said to the students:

"These balloons are like happiness. We will never find it if everyone is looking for their own. But if we care about other people's happiness, we'll find ours too."

Common Words: New Meanings

Coffee  (N.), the person upon whom one coughs.

Flabbergasted  (adj.), appalled over how much weight you have gained.

Monthly Observations

 

Cancer Control Month Car Care Month Celebrate Diversity Month Child Abuse Prevention Month (International) Cesarean Awareness Month Link Community Spirit Days (1-30) Confederate History Month Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia Awareness Month  Link Couple Appreciation Month Defeat Diabetes Month Distracted Driving Awareness Month Link Emotional Overeating Awareness Month

 

Weekly Observations

 

Lent [Christian] Passover [Jewish]	Thru 4/3 Thru 4/4
Passiontide	Thru 4/3
National Cherry Blossom Festival Link	Thru 4/10
Holy Week International Phace Syndrome Awareness Week National Cleaning Week	Thru 4/3
APAWS Pooper Scooper Week Golden Rule Week Laugh at Work Week Medication Safety Week Testicular Cancer Awareness Week (aka Get A Grip Day!)  Link	1-7

 

Today’s Observations

Burrito Day

Children's Book Day

Ferret Day

Good Friday 

Hospital Admitting Clerks Day 
International Kids Yoga Day  
National Ferret Day Link
National Love Your Produce Manager Day
National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day Link
National Walk to Work Day 

Nickelodeon Day
Reconciliation Day

Walk to Work Day

World Autism Day Link
World Autism Acceptance Day Link
World Marbles Day  

 

My Sometimes-Long-Winded Thoughts

A nice day with a few too many clouds. No moisture expected.

I found this interesting: The world’s oceans and landfills have way too much plastic that harms living things. Now the producers of plastic are having a hard time getting the raw materials. This means the price of anything containing plastic will be increased. The reason for the shortage of raw material? It is the power grid in Texas that basically shut down meaning oil producers were not producing and that shut down the manufacturers who take the oil and turn it into the material needed for plastic. Covid had already slowed the production of plastic.

Watching the trial: It appears that the defense is trying to set up the scenario that the crowd played a role in the death as they were unruly. If that is true, why didn’t one of the officers sitting on Floyd call for backup?

In Nepal, the Sherpas kept busy during Covid. They have removed 2.2 tons of garbage from Mount Everest.

Several Republican elected officials have stated that Biden’s Infrastructure Bill is more about Democrat wishes than building infrastructure. It helps to know the definition of INFRASTRUCTURE. That is …the basic facilities, services, and installations needed for the functioning of a community or society, such as transportation and communications systems, water and power lines, and public institutions including schools, post offices, and prisons. Understanding the entire definition might assist those against the bill understand it is helping infrastructure.

Daily Puzzle

Answer: bottom of the page

The number 8,549,176,320 is a unique number. What is so special about it?

Historical Events

1513 – Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon landed near what is now called St. Augustine, Florida and declared the land for Spain.

1792 – The Coinage Act was passed, establishing the United States Mint.

1827 – Lead pencils were began being manufactured by Joseph Dixon, who built his factory in Salem, Massachusetts

1902 – “Electric Theatre”, the first full-time movie theater in the United States, opened in Los Angeles.

1917 – The first woman ever elected to the U.S. Congress, Jeannette Rankin, takes her seat as a representative from Montana.

1953 – The journal Nature published a paper with this date from Francis Crick and James Watson, titled Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids: A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid, in which they described a double helix structure for DNA.

1956 – Elvis Presley sang Heartbreak Hotel on the Milton Berle Show, with an estimated 25% of the United States population viewing.

1972 – Charlie Chaplin returned to the United States for the first time since being labeled a communist during the Red Scare in the early 1950s.

1973 – The first portable cell phone call was placed in New York City.

1978 – Velcro, the hook-and-loop fastener patent, expired. Velcro comes from “vel” or velvet and “cro” from the French word crochet which means hook.

1992 – Pope John Paul II died.

1996 – Suspected ‘Unabomber’ Theodore Kaczynski was arrested at his Montana cabin.

2019 Canada is warming at twice the speed of the rest of the world, according to a federal report, increasing 2.3% in northern Canada.

2020 Number of COVID-19 cases worldwide passes 1 million, with 1,002,159 cases and 51,485 deaths reported, according to Johns Hopkins University

2020 New study shows western Antarctica once swampy with temperate forests 93-83 million years ago during Cretaceous period, according to Alfred Wegener Institute

Birthdays Today

@95 – Buddy Ebsen [Christian Ludolf Ebsen Jr.], American actor, dancer (d. 2003)

@86 – Sir Alec Guinness, English actor (d. 2000)

76 – Linda Hunt, American actress

@74 – Leon Russell, American singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 2016; in sleep)

74 – Emmylou Harris, American singer-songwriter

@73 – Casanova Giovaani Giacomo Girolama, Italian adventurer (died in 1798)

@70 – Hans Christian Andersen, Danish novelist, short story writer, poet (died in 1875)

@late 60’s – Charlemagne, Frankish king (d. 814; pleurisy)

@62 – Jack Webb, American actor, director, producer, screenwriter (d. 1982; heart attack)

60 – Christopher Meloni, American actor

@44 – Marvin Gaye, American singer-songwriter (d. 1984; gunshot)

Puzzle Answer

This is the only number that includes all the digits arranged in alphabetical order.