St. Patrick's Day

 

Week 12 Day: 76  Ave. sky cover: 25% \ Visibility: 10 miles Flagstaff Today 62° \26°  Wind: 9mph \ Gusts: 16mph
Moderate risk of fire \ Nearest active fire: 329mi \ nearest Lightning: 1367mi
Mar Averages for Flagstaff: 53° \ 23°  (6 days of moisture)

Today’s Quote

Weekly Observations

 

11-17	Pediatric Nurse Practitioner Week Turkey Vultures Return to the Living Sign
13-19	Campfire USA Birthday Week  Teen Tech Week
14-20	International Brain Awareness Week Link National Fix A Leak Week  Link
14-18	Native American Awareness Week Link

 

Daily Observations

My Sometimes-Long-Winded Thoughts

Nice day. Clouds look like rain, but weather guy sez nope. Well, why I typing away there is lots of rain. Should last about an hour. Yeah!

I spent the morning gathering tax stuff. I’ll drop it all off tomorrow and give the tax guy some time to do them until I return from Tahiti.

Ukraine is just getting more heartbreaking. A Mariupol theater was hundreds had take refuge was bombed. President Zelensky continues to tap national psyches of other countries to get help. I heard his address to Congress. It is very difficult to hear this and not have complete empathy for the horror.

The Senate passed a bill that would make Daylight time permanent. I personally enjoy just letting the sun do its business and not changing the clocks. While Daylight time gives us more light at night, the sun sets about 6:30 right now and will set around 7:00 later in summer. That is fine with me. It also rises about 6:30, just as I’m getting up. 

Favorite Memes

 

A bit of Humor

What's different between Red Lobster & Facebook?

At Red Lobster, the servers are responding.

Trivia

The original purpose of the Foreign Legion was to remove disruptive elements from society and put them to use fighting the enemies of France. Recruits included failed revolutionaries from the rest of Europe, soldiers from the disbanded Swiss and German mercenary regiments of the Bourbon Monarchy, and troublemakers in general, both foreign and French.

Historically, the American film industry portrayed the Foreign Legion as having a reputation as a haven for cut-throats and fugitives from justice. This image is largely out of date since the legion now conducts extensive background checks via Interpol.

Although it is part of the French military, it is the only unit of the military that does not swear allegiance to France, but to the Foreign Legion itself.

Some Americans disagreed with the United States' initial refusal to enter WWI and so they joined the French Foreign Legion or the British or Canadian army. A group of U.S. pilots formed the Lafayette Escadrille, which was part of the French air force and became one of the top fighting units on the Western Front.

Historical Events

Ø    461 – Saint Patrick died in Saul, Downpatrick, Ireland.

Ø    1762 – The first parade Saint Patrick (the patron saint of Ireland) was held by Irish soldiers serving in the British army in New York City.

Ø    1910 – The Camp Fire Girls organization was founded.

Ø    1941 – The National Gallery of Art was officially opened in Washington, DC.

Ø    1958 – The United States launches the first solar-powered satellite, Vanguard I.

Ø    1980 – The Supreme Court concerning whether a patent could be issued for a genetically-engineered bacterium in the case of Diamond vs. Chakrabarty. On June 16th, they decided yes, it could be patented.

Ø    1992 – A referendum to end apartheid in South Africa was passed from 68.7% to 31.2%.

Ø    2005 – Broadway Show – Spamalot (Musical) March 17, 2005

Birthdays Today

78 – John Sebastian, American singer-songwriter 1949 – Patrick Duffy, American actor

71 – Kurt Russell, American actor

67 – Gary Sinise, American actor

@60 – Shemp Howard, Stooge #4 (d. 1955; heart attack)

58 – Rob Lowe, American actor

@54 – Rudolf Nureyev, Russian-French dancer and choreographer (d. 1993; AIDS)

50 – Mia Hamm, American soccer player

@45 – Nat King Cole, American singer, pianist, television host (d. 1965; heart issues)

30 – John Boyega, English actor

25 – Katie Ledecky, swimmer

 

Mar 16

 

Week 12 Day: 76  Ave. sky cover: 5% \ Visibility: 10 miles Flagstaff Today 62° \25°  Wind: 5mph \ Gusts: 8mph
High risk of fire \ Nearest active fire: 275mi \ nearest Lightning: 1465mi
Mar Averages for Flagstaff: 53° \ 23°  (6 days of moisture)

Today’s Quote

Weekly Observations

 

11-17	Pediatric Nurse Practitioner Week Turkey Vultures Return to the Living Sign
13-19	Campfire USA Birthday Week  Teen Tech Week
14-20	International Brain Awareness Week Link National Fix A Leak Week  Link
14-18	Native American Awareness Week Link

 

Daily Observations

My Sometimes-Long-Winded Thoughts

Is it spring? Not yet, but the weather sure looks like it today. It’s been forever since we had a 60°+ day with just a little breeze.

One never knows what you will see in our little mountain town. Yesterday I was driving home and had to stop at a busy intersection. Standing on the corner were about 6 men with huge signs. These men were protesting circumcision. They had a red cloth taped to their pants. I didn’t know this was something protest for or against.

Ukraine invasion is horrific. The EU sent the Prime Ministers of Poland, Slovenia, and the Czech Republic to Kyiv to meet with Ukraine’s President. More than a little dangerous. Then Biden and other NATO leaders are meeting in Brussels to meet about the Ukraine invasion. It is good that all these meetings are happening. It is disappointing that there can’t be a ceasefire.

Dolly Parton was nominated to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. She turned down the nomination because she didn’t consider herself ‘Rock and Roll’. She said she may record a rock and roll album in the future. WOW!

It has been way too long since I traveled internationally with Focus. It is finally happening next week. I have never had so many ‘what if…moments’ before a trip. It is almost like a very slight case of PTSD from standing in the Denver Airport a few years ago when our trip was cancelled. I know everything will work itself out. I know it is just ‘another Focus Adventure’. I just wish it would get here faster.

Favorite Memes

 

A bit of Humor

What do call a man with seagulls on his head?

"Cliff"

Trivia

Question: What kind of animal is a Komodo dragon?

 

Question: What does a snake shed a few times a year?

 

Question: Which animal can move its eyes independently?

 

Question: What animal breathes out of its butt?

 

 

 

 

ANSWERS:

Answer 1: A Lizard

Answer 2: Its skin

Answer 3:  A chameleon

Answer 4: Turtles

Historical Events

Ø    1802 – The Army Corps of Engineers was established to found and operate the United States Military Academy at West Point.

Ø    1850 – Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter was published.

Ø    1865 – The Thirteenth Amendment was officially ratified in.

Ø    1926 – Robert Goddard launched the first liquid-fueled rocket in Auburn, MA.

Ø    1958 – The Ford Motor Company produced its 50 millionth automobile, a Thunderbird.

Ø    1968 – The My Lai Massacre involved the killing of 3000 noncombatant Vietnam citizens.

Ø    1968 – General Motors produces its 100 millionth automobile, an Oldsmobile Toronado.

Ø    1978 – The Amoco Cadiz wrecked off the coast of Portsall, France, spilling 68 million gallons of oil.

Ø    1984 – 1984 – William Buckley, the CIA station chief in Lebanon, is kidnapped by Hezbollah. (He later died in captivity)

Ø    1985 – Associated Press newsman Terry Anderson was taken hostage in Beirut. He was released on December 4, 1991.

Ø    1995 – Mississippi formally ratified the Thirteenth Amendment, becoming the last state to approve the abolition of slavery.

Ø  2020 – The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 2,997.10, the single largest point drop in history and the second-largest percentage drop ever, at 12.93%.

Ø    2005 – Robert Blake, star of the 1970s television detective show Baretta, was acquitted of the murder of his 44-year-old wife, Bonny Lee Blakley.

Birthdays Today

@91 – Jerry Lewis, American actor and comedian (d. 2017)

@91 – Henny Youngman, English-American violinist, comedian (d. 1998)

@85 – James Madison, 4^th President (d. 1836)

81 – Chuck Woolery, American game show host and television personality

73 – Erik Estrada, American actor

72 – Victor Garberm actor

@67 – Josef Mengele, evil German physician (d. 1979; strokes)

@65 – Georg Ohm, German physicist, mathematician (d. 1854)

63 – Flavor Flav, American rapper, personality

51 – Alan Tudyk, American actor

46 – Blu Cantrell, American singer-songwriter

36 – Alexandra Daddario, American actress