Apr 16

 

 

 

Apr 16, 2021   Week: 16    Day: 106       

Visibility: 10 miles	Ave. Sky Cover: 5%
Local: H 56°\ L 26°	Nearest Lightning: 252mi.
Wind:  11mph/ Gusts:  21mph	High Risk of Fire:  Active fire:  281mi
Record: 91°[2012]  Record: 22°[1981]	Apr. Averages: 60°/27° (3 days w/moisture)

 

Today’s Quote

In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.

~Benjamin Franklin

Random Tidbits

The IRS sends out 8 billion pages of forms and instructions each year. Laid end to end, they would stretch 28 times around the earth.

Nearly 300,000 trees are cut down yearly to produce the paper for all the IRS forms and instructions. The total number of computers thrown out the window, or kicked with a frustrated foot is unknown.

True Things

Driving Under the Influence of Whipped Cream?

A woman was charged with driving under the influence after consuming whipped cream. Police said that 28-year-old Anna Thomas of Franklin, Tennessee, used cans of aerosol whipped cream to get high. She was charged with driving under the influence after crashing her car. When police arrived, Thomas was disoriented. Officers found 13 cans of whipped cream scattered inside the vehicle. Almost all of the bottles were empty. No pie was discovered.

Weekly Observations

 

Money Smart Week Link	10-17
Week of The Young Child Link	10-16
Animal Control Officer Appreciation Week Link  National Dog Bite Prevention Week Link   National Public Safety Telecommunicators (911 Operators) Week  National Occupational Health Nursing Week Link Pan American Week	11-17
National Student Employment Week     Link	12-18
National Youth Violence Prevention Week Link	12-16
Ramadan	Thru 5/11
Global Youth Service Days	16-18
National Dance Week Link	16-25

 

Today’s Observations

Emancipation Day (DC holiday that affects Tax Day) Link

Foursquare Day  Link
Mushroom Day

National Baked Ham with Pineapple Day
National Bean Counter Day Link
National Donate Life (Blue and Green) Day Link
National Eggs Benedict Day

National Health Care Decisions Day Link
National Librarian Day

National Stress Awareness Day 

National Wear Your Pajamas To Work Day Link
National Orchid Day Link
Save the Elephant Day

World Voice Day  Link

 

My Sometimes-Long-Winded Thoughts

A little cooler today and very windy. Not a day to be walking outside.

I talked to Mary and we are going to start our weekly lunches again soon. She went to visit her family in Portland and is back. Mary said downtown Portland is a mess with homeless people living on every street, sidewalk, and under every bridge. One of her older brothers is in the hospital with terminal cancer, but she got there before he was admitted, so they all got to spend time together. Sad for sure.

I am again counting my blessings as Biden put more sanctions on Russia. Our Focus trip from Moscow to Beijing was just in time.

The trial goes to the jury on Monday and both sides have rested their case.

As protesters continue to march over the latest killing, I have to wonder who are the protesters? While it has been peaceful until dark, then bottles and bricks are thrown. Turns out many of the after dark protesters are not from the area, or even the state. I hope this gets worked out soon.

 

Daily Puzzle

Answer: bottom of the page

64. What runs all around a backyard, yet never moves?

Historical Events

 

73 AD – Masada, a Jewish fortress, fell to the Romans after several months of siege.

1881 – In Dodge City, Kansas, gunslinger Bat Masterson fought his last gun battle. He paid an $8 fine and retired.

1908 – Natural Bridges National Monument was established in Utah.

1912 – American aviator Harriet Quimby became the first female pilot to fly across the English Channel. She was also the first US licensed female pilot.

1943 – Albert Hoffmann accidentally discovered the psychedelic effects of Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD)

1947 – Bernard Baruch, in a speech given during the unveiling of his portrait in the South Carolina House of Representatives, coined the term ‘Cold War to describe relations between the United States and the Soviet Union.

1990 – ‘Doctor Death’, Jack Kevorkian, participated in his first assisted suicide. Janet Adkins was the patient, in Detroit, Michigan.

1995 – Governor George W. Bush named April 16 as Selena Day in Texas, after the singer was killed two weeks earlier.

2007 – Virginia Tech massacre: Seung-Hui Cho killed 32 people and injured 17 before committing suicide.

2012 – The Pulitzer Prize winners were announced, and it was the first time since 1977 that no book won the Fiction Prize.

2020 New study claims a multi-decade megadrought is already under way in the western US, published in journal "Science"

2020 Nationwide State of Emergency declared in Japan till 6 May due to the worsening COVID-19 outbreak

 

Birthdays Today

94 – Pope Benedict XIV

@89 – Barry Nelson, American character actor (d. 2007)

@88 – Charlie Chaplin, English actor, director, producer, screenwriter, composer (d. 1977)

86 – Bobby Vinton, American singer

@82 – Peter Ustinov, English actor (d. 2004)

@70 – Henry Mancini, composer, conductor (d. 1994; pancreatic cancer)

74 – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, American basketball player

67 – Ellen Barkin, American actress

@63 – Gerry Rafferty, Scottish singer-songwriter (d. 2011; liver failure)

@59 – Dusty Springfield, English singer (d. 1999; breast cancer)

56 – Jon Cryer, American actor

Puzzle Answer

A fence

 

Apr 15

 

 

 

Apr 15, 2021   Week: 16    Day: 105       

Visibility: 10 miles	Ave. Sky Cover: 5%
Local: H 64°\ L 35°	Nearest Lightning: 293mi.
Wind:  8mph/ Gusts:  25mph	EXTREME Risk of Fire:  Active fire:  254mi
Record: 86°[2003]  Record: 21°[1940]	Apr. Averages: 60°/27° (3 days w/moisture)

 

Today’s Quote

Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.

~Steve Jobs

Random Tidbits

Outside of New England o.k. really didn't become famous until the presidential candidacy of Martin Van Buren in 1840 and the invention of the telegraph. The first was important because Van Buren acquired the nickname "Old Kinderhook" after his hometown in Upstate New York: "OK now could have a double meaning: Old Kinderhook was all correct."

Then, the invention of the telegraph made the use of OK as shorthand for "all correct" commonplace.

True Things

His diapers fit like a glove

Doctors say a child in Iraq is the first to be born with three penises. The unidentified child, from Duhok city, Iraq, has a rare condition called triphallia and it was only diagnosed after three months when his parents discovered swelling in his scrotum and "two skin projections". Stunned doctors later realized that those skin projections were actually penises – 2cm and 1cm in length – with only one of the extra two having a head. Doctors first diagnosed supernumerary penises over 400 years ago after a baby was born with two. The condition is said to affect one in every five to six million births, with both penises working in some cases. But experts say this boy's rare condition is the first case ever reported in the world.

Weekly Observations

 

Money Smart Week Link	10-17
Week of The Young Child Link	10-16
Animal Control Officer Appreciation Week Link  National Dog Bite Prevention Week Link   National Public Safety Telecommunicators (911 Operators) Week  National Occupational Health Nursing Week Link Pan American Week	11-17
National Student Employment Week     Link	12-18
National Youth Violence Prevention Week Link	12-16
Ramadan	Thru 5/11

 

Today’s Observations

 

Get to Know Your Customers Day 
High Five Day Link 
Income Taxes Due (again, not this year)

Jackie Robinson Day Link
Laundry Day

McDonald's Day

National Ask An Atheist Day Link 

National ASL Day (American Sign Language)  Link
National D.A.R.E. Day Link 
National Glazed Ham Day

National High Five Day 

One Boston Day Link
Purple Up! Day Link
Rubber Eraser Day  Link
Take a Wild Guess Day

That Sucks Day

Titanic Remembrance Day

World Art Day (DaVinci's Birthday)  Link

 

My Sometimes-Long-Winded Thoughts

Clear sky but a bit too windy for my enjoyment. It is spring and no surprise.

Our local paper has been around since the 1890’s. It has gone through many changes in that time. The latest change is that the paper will no longer be printed in Flagstaff. It will be printed in Phoenix and brought by truck to Flagstaff. I quit having the paper delivered over a year ago due to the very high cost. I’ve been getting the paper on the internet machine. I miss the actual paper, but things are always changing, and I must adjust.

The one-dose J&J vaccine has been put on hold, due to a few who got the vaccine also developed blood clots. Many are downplaying this. The one-shot v two-shots was so promising, I hope they figure this out quickly. I was vaccinated with the two-shot Moderna, so I am not personally involved.

In my local travels for items I want or need…I am so happy to see that all the schools are open and functioning. It is nice to see school busses dropping off and picking up children on a daily basis. It will be quite a while before I get frustrated by the 15mph speed limit or the waiting behind a bus as it loads and unloads.

AZ has passed a bill that will allow gambling for professional and intercollegiate sports. It includes allowing Native Casinos to do the same. I’m not a big gambler and only bet on sports occasionally. I don’t plan on changing my habit. The state believes this will add $100million to the general fund annually. WOW

 

Daily Puzzle

Answer: bottom of the page

Brothers and sisters I have none but this man’s father is my father’s son. Who is the man?

Historical Events

1755 – Samuel Johnson’s A Dictionary of the English Language was published in London.

1817 – The Erie Canal was authorized, to link between Buffalo on Lake Erie and the Hudson River at Albany New York,

1892 – The Edison General Electric Company (General Electric Company) was formed.

1912 – Titanic sank in the North Atlantic Ocean, near Newfoundland & Nova Scotia, Canada, after hitting an iceberg the night before.

1912 – The fourth dimension was referred to ‘as Time’ by Albert Einstein.

1923 – Insulin became available for use by people with diabetes.

1924 – Rand McNally published its first road atlas.

1952 – First flight of the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress.

1955 – McDonald’s opened its first franchised restaurant, owned by Ray Kroc, in Des Plaines, Illinois.

1983 – Tokyo Disneyland opened to the public.

1984 – The inaugural World Youth Day was held in Saint Peter’s Square, Vatican City.

2013 – At approximately 2:50 PM (EDT), in a terrorist attack, two explosions around Copley Square were caught live on camera during the telecast of the Boston Marathon, killing three and injuring 260.

2019 – The cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris in France was seriously damaged by a large fire

2020 US's deadliest day during COVID-19 pandemic with 2,752 deaths reported

 

Birthdays Today

@82 – Kim Il-sung, North Korean general and politician, 1st Supreme Leader of North Korea (d. 1994)

74 – Linda Bloodworth-Thomason, American screenwriter, producer

@67 -- Leonardo da Vinci, painter…

63 – Emma Thompson, English actress

@64 – Hans Conried, American voice actor (d. 1982; heart attack)

@62 – Elizabeth Montgomery, American actress (d. 1995; colon cancer)

@43 – Bessie Smith, African-American singer, actress (d.1937; auto crash)

39 – Seth Rogen, Canadian-American actor, director, producer, screenwriter

31 – Emma Watson, English actress

Puzzle Answer

The man is my son