Jul 17

 

 

 

Jul  18, 2021 Week: 30 Day: 199

Ave. Sky Cover: 70%\Visibility: 10 miles

Local Temp:  77°\ 53° Wind: 2mph\ Gusts: 3mph

Low risk of fire Active fire: 58mi. \ Lightning: 53mi.

Jul Averages: 82°\51° (9 days w/moisture)

 

Today’s Quote

 

 

 

Random Tidbits

 

And we have gotten used to having them around. There are an estimated 400 million dogs in the world. About 89 million in the U.S. alone.

The smallest dog on record was a matchbox-size Yorkshire Terrier. It was 2.5" tall at the shoulder, 3.5" from nose tip to tail, and weighed only 4 ounces. Zorba, an English mastiff, is the biggest dog ever recorded. He weighed 343 pounds and measured 8' 3" from his nose to his tail.

 

True Things

 

Lost and Found

When a painting fell off the wall at their country home in Rome in 2016, the owners sent it to an art restorer for repairs. But during the cleaning and restoration process, it became clear that this wasn't just any painting: It was "The Adoration of the Magi" by Rembrandt, painted around 1632-1633 and long considered lost. Guido Talarico, president of the Italian Heritage Foundation, said the family that owns the painting has not expressed an interest in selling it, but that the work will eventually be made available to museums and galleries. [UPI, 6/24/21]

 

Idioms Origins

 

Running Amok

Amok, or running amok, is derived from the Malay word ‘mengamok’, which means to make a furious and desperate charge. Captain Cook is credited with making the first recorded ‘amok’ reference regarding the Malay tribesmen in 1770 while in the Malaysian/Indonesian area. In his 1772 book, he described it as “To run amock is to get drunk with opium… to sally forth from the house, kill the person or persons supposed to have injured the Amock, and any other person that attempts to impede his passage… indiscriminately killing and maiming villagers and animals in a frenzied attack.” Locals said it was evil spirits.

 

Weekly Observations

 

Tour de France Link	Thru 7/18
National Cancer Survivor Sibling Week Link	15-18
Rabbit Week	15-21
Hemp History Week Link National Moth Week Link	17-23
Captive Nations Week Everybody Deserves A Massage Week Link  National Independent Retailers Week Link   National Zoo Keeper Week Link	18-24
Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS) Education & Awareness Week	18-25

 

Today’s Observations

 

Anne Hutchinson Memorial Day Lake Superior Day Insurance Nerd Day Link National Caviar Day Link National Ice Cream Day National Sour Candy Day  Link  Nelson Mandela International Day Link Perfect Family Day Women's Dive Day World Listening Day

 

My Sometimes-Long-Winded Thoughts

 

Cloudy and more rain. It’s been a few years since Flag has had a ‘day of rain’. It is sure nice. On and off since 6am.

The internet social media is filled with pictures of ‘flooding in Flagstaff’. It should be noted that these videos are all from a very small area in East Flagstaff…probably about 6 blocks. They are scary for sure, but it looks like it is the entire town of 78,000 residents. It is not.

I never really understood why DACA seems to not be in the news, then suddenly it is headlines. I was reminded yesterday that DACA started as an Executive Order in 2012. The only way to solve the issue once and for all is for Congress to pass a law, like the DREAM Act. The DACA people had no say in their residence, it was parents who brought them illegally. Why should generations have to suffer? Get busy Congress, compromise, and fix this for the innocent.

The news is screaming about the rise in COVID across all 50 states. The rise is being blamed on the non-vaccinated who get it and spread it. The non-vaccinated say they ‘don’t trust the vaccine’ for various reasons. They leave out that it was developed under Trump. Crazy. Now some city governments are re-instating the mask mandate…much to the chagrin of the Non-vaccers. I spent some time yesterday searching the internet machine to find the percentage of people fully vaccinated in Flagstaff, or Coconino County, or the state of AZ. No matter how I worded the parameters of the search, I found nothing giving me a percentage or even the number of vaccines injected. It seems to me, if higher numbers of vaccinated population is the goal, this information should be available and updated daily or weekly. If Flagstaff is at 20%, I would continue to wear a mask everywhere, if it is 50% I would wear a mask in crowded area, especially indoors. It the rate was 75%+ I would feel safe in not wearing a mask. I wish I could find out why the local vaccination rates are such a secret.

July 18^th is Nelson Mandela International Day. I was fortunate to visit Robben Island and the prison where Mandela was held. I even go to stand in the cell he was kept in. It was an amazing experience, thanks to Focus Travel Club and HLO Tours.

 

2 New Puzzles Everyday

Answer: bottom of the page

 

E                       T                   A                 R             O          P       R   O C

JOB IN JOB

 

 

Historical Events

 

1870 – The First Vatican Council decreed the dogma of papal infallibility.

1925 – Adolf Hitler published Mein Kampf.

1968 – Intel was founded in Mountain View, California.

1969 – Off of Chappaquiddick Island, Senator Ted Kennedy from Massachusetts drove an Oldsmobile off a bridge and his passenger, Mary Jo Kopechne, died.

1976 – Nadia Comaneci became the first person in Olympic Games history to score a perfect 10 in gymnastics at the 1976 Summer Olympics.

1992 – A picture of Les Horribles Cernettes (a pop group parody) was taken, which became the first-ever photo posted on the World Wide Web.

2013 – The Government of Detroit filed for the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history, with approximately $20B in debt.

2019 Children's songs "Baby Shark" and "Raining Tacos" used by City of West Palm Beach, Florida to drive away homeless people from the waterfront

 

Birthdays Today

 

@95 – Nelson Mandela, South African politician, 1st President of South Africa (d. 2013)

@95 – John Glenn, American colonel, astronaut, politician (d. 2016)

@84 – Richard ‘Red’ Skelton, American actor, comedian (d. 1997)

80 – Martha Reeves, American singer

74 – Steve Forbes, American publisher

71 – Richard Branson, billionaire, astronaut

67 – Ricky Skaggs, American singer-songwriter

@67 – Hunter S. Thompson, American journalist, author (d. 2005; suicide)

@65 – Margaret ‘Molly’ Brown, American philanthropist, activist (died in 1932)

57 – Wendy Williams, American talk show host

54 – Vin Diesel, American actor

41 – Kristen Bell, American actress

 

Puzzles Answer

 

Corporate ladder                                                   In between jobs

 

 

Jul 17

 

 

 

Jul  17, 2021 Week: 29 Day: 198

Ave. Sky Cover: 90%\Visibility: 10 miles

Local Temp:  79°\ 53°

Wind: ph\ Gusts: 3mph

Low risk of fire

Active fire: 28mi. \ Lightning: 0mi.

Jul Averages: 82°\51° (9 days w/moisture)

 

Today’s Quote

 

 

 

Random Tidbits

 

Dogs have been with us a long time. The first dogs were self-domesticated wolves which, at least 12,000 years ago, became attracted to the first sites of permanent human habitation.

Cats, on the other hand, have lived with people for only 7,000 years.

 

True Things

 

Deja Vu

It started as a joke on April 2, 2020, but after a month of Zoom meetings during which "Jackie," a resident of Washington, D.C., wore the same Hawaiian shirt and received nary a comment from her oblivious co-workers, the prank became a social experiment with a momentum all its own. Jackie told the Daily Mail that on June 16, 2021, she celebrated her last day of work by confessing to having worn the shirt to 264 consecutive Zoom meetings during the pandemic. The reaction? "When I told my team that I had been wearing the same shirt, they didn't know what I was talking about. They hadn't noticed," she said. "The intern literally said, 'On purpose?' So, there's that." [The Huffington Post, 6/23/21]

 

Idioms Origins

 

Riot Act

The first ‘Riot Act’ was called by King George I on August 1, 1715. The long-phrase title was “An Act for preventing tumults and riotous assemblies, and for the more speedy and effectual punishing the rioters”. The earliest use of the phrase in Pop Culture, published in an American soldier’s letter, (William Bradford)  “She has just run out to read the riot act in the Nursery”, in December 1819.

We usually still use it for kids today.

It was formally repealed in the Criminal Law Act of 1967, along with the Profane Oaths Act of 1945 (for cursing) and the Blasphemy Act 1697 (for educated Christians denying The Trinity or One God).

 

Weekly Observations

 

Tour de France Link	Thru 7/18
Family Golf Week Link National Farriers Week National Vodka Week Link National Therapeutic Recreation Week Link Operation Safe Driver Week Link	11-17
National Ventriloquism Week Link	14-17
National Cancer Survivor Sibling Week Link	15-18
Rabbit Week	15-21
National Sweet Corn Week	16-17
Hemp History Week Link National Moth Week Link	17-23

 

Today’s Observations

 

Disneyland Day Emoji Day National Bridal Sale Day  National Hot Dog Day Link National Peach Ice Cream Day National Tatoo Day Record Store Day Link  Strawberry Rhubarb Wine Day   Link Tisha B'Av Toss Away the "Could Haves" and "Should Haves" Day  Woodie Wagon Day  Women's Dive Day  Victims of Baton Rouge, Louisianna Attack Day  Link World Day for International Criminal Justice  Link World Emoji Day  Link Wrong Way Corrigan Day Yellow Pig Day Link

 

My Sometimes-Long-Winded Thoughts

 

Another day of Monsoon rain. It has been raining on and off since 10a. No complaints, the forest needs this moisture. I went out to Andy’s to water his trees but only needed to do it for about 30 minutes as they too are getting the same rain I am. So nice to have the monsoon returning after its long absence. As I was out buying necessities this morning, city crews were busy cleaning up the roadways from yesterday’s downpours.

My mom used to say “If it isn’t one thing, then it’s another”. That sure fits in much of Europe right now. They have been dealing with covid and all the deaths, the lack of tourism, and now rains are causing 100-year floods. I hope things settle down quickly for them.

One of our tour guides from South Africa just posted ‘Pray for Us’ regarding the situation in South Africa. He is talking about the demonstrations and turmoil in that country.

During the pandemic, many were getting unemployment. Most states were issuing ATM cards rather than checks or direct deposit. No state used cards with a chip. This has led to a lot of fraud. Cards stolen, cards info was copied with a pocket scanner then a new card used by the crook, and many more stories. Many people only learned this as they were standing in the grocery line and found their card had no money left. Cards without a chip are cheap to make, pocket scanners are cheap, cards with a chip are much more expensive for the bank. Now the banks and states are trying to figure out how to refund customers who can show money was stolen and ways to prevent this in the future that doesn’t cost too much.

 

2 New Puzzles Everyday

Answer: bottom of the page

 

dnuorg check

va ders

 

 

Historical Events

 

1856 – The Great Train Wreck of 1856 in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania, injured over 100, and killed over 60 people.

1867 – Harvard School of Dental Medicine was established in Boston

1899 – NEC Corporation is organized as the first Japanese joint venture with foreign capital. Today, NEC has structured its organization around three principal segments: IT solutions, network solutions, and electronic devices.

1918 – Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and his immediate family were murdered by Bolshevik Chekists at the Ipatiev House in Yekaterinburg, Russia.

1938 – Douglas Corrigan took off from Brooklyn to fly the “wrong way” to Ireland and becomes known as “Wrong Way” Corrigan.

1955 – Disneyland was dedicated and opened by Walt Disney in Anaheim, California.

1984 – The national drinking age in the United States was changed from 18 to 21.

2014 – Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, a Boeing 777, was shot down near the border of Ukraine and Russia. All 298 people on board were killed.

2015 Scientists solve mystery of sleeping sickness in two villages in northern Kazakhstan - uranium mining had caused increase in carbon monoxide

2018 Barack Obama gives speech honoring Nelson Mandela and warning of "strongman politics" in Johannesburg, South Africa

2019 Mexican drug cartel head Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán sentenced to life in prison plus 30 years in New York

2020 India becomes the third country to record 1 million cases of COVID-1, 56% concentrated in Maharashtra, Delhi and Tamil Nadu

 

Birthdays Today

 

@97 – Art Linkletter [Gordon Arthur Kelly], Canadian-American radio, TV host (d. 2010)

@95 – Phyllis Diller, American actress, comedian (d. 2012)

@86 – James Cagney, American actor (died in 1986)

86 – Donald Sutherland, Canadian actor

@84 – Diahann Carroll, American actress and singer (d. 2019)

@81 – Spencer Davis, Welsh singer-songwriter (d. 2020)

@77 – John Cooper, English car designer, co-founded the Cooper Car Company (d. 2000)

74 – Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall

70 – Lucie Arnaz, American actress

69 – David Hasselhoff, American actor, singer, and producer

67 – Angela Merkel, German chemist politician, 8th Chancellor of Germany

@60 – Phoebe Snow, American singer-songwriter (d. 2011; stroke)

45 – Luke Bryan, American singer-songwriter

 

Puzzles Answer

 

Background Check                                                Space Invaders