28 Dec

 

28 December 2022

Daily Almanac for Flagstaff
Week 53 Day 362 \ Ave. Sky Cover 40% \ Visibility 25miles Flagstaff Today 50° \30° 
Wind 7mph \ Gusts 13mph  Air Quality: Excellent \Very Low Risk of fire \ Nearest active fire 467mi \ Nearest Lightning 1929mi
Dec Averages for Flagstaff: 43° \ 17° `
Sunshine with high clouds

Today’s Quote

Weekly Observations

Christmas Bird Count Week: 14-1/5 Link 
Halcyon Days: 14-28 
Halcyon Days: 14-28 
Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over: 15 - 1/1/23  Link 
It's About Time Week: 25-31
Kwanzaa: 26-1/1

Daily Observations

Call a Friend Day
Holy Innocent’s Day
Endangered Species Act Day
National Card Playing Day
National Chocolate Day Link
Pledge of Allegiance Day

My Sometimes-Long-Winded Thoughts

The only snow left is that in shaded areas. Time for another storm. Weather guy says 4-8” due this week. Only time will tell if he is right.  I did to out and fill the vehicle with gas, just in case.

Broncos owners finally made a call to fix this horrific season…they fired the head coach. I seriously doubt this season can be all blamed on the head coach.

I have been reading about the vulnerability of the power grid since 9-11. Now there are 4 substations in Washington state that were vandalized and caused 35,000 to be without power. Those substations, like most in the US were in isolated areas with only a padlock for protection and no video cameras. Hmmm

I have flown Southwest Airlines many times over the years. I always enjoyed the flights and the cost. Now, Southwest is in turmoil as they continue to cancel flights and strand thousands of travelers for many days. The earliest flights for those cancelled today is the 31^st. Stranded travelers are reaching a breaking point. One guy was interviewed, and he had rebooked 9 times since just before Christmas and still can’t get a flight until the 31^st. Southwest will have a lot of work to rebuild their name when this finally ends.

I am baffled by newly elected Santos to the House. He has admitted his resume was embellished, that his resume had incorrect facts about his heritage, and that he didn’t work for some major companies he claimed or ever received any degrees. Yet, the Republican leadership seems to be ambivalent to his problems. How can he ever be seated?    

Favorite Memes...winter wonderland part 2

Facts…

Although there is no way to know the Earth’s exact age, scientists have calculated it to be roughly 4.54 billion years old, give or take 50 million years.

In everyday vernacular, the words “ocean” and “sea” are often used interchangeably. But in geographical terms, the two are quite distinct. While oceans are referred to as the large bodies of water that take up much of the globe, seas are much smaller entities, a term geographers use to describe the location where the land meets the ocean. For example, the Bering Sea is part of the Pacific Ocean, but since it is located between the landmasses of Alaska and Russia, it is classified as a sea. 

Slang Origins

1948: Oddball

Meaning: someone who is strange, weird, or eccentric

First used as an adjective in aviation circles, “oddball” came to describe a person who doesn’t quite fit, a meaning it retains today. There are words like it—think “screwball” and “cheeseball”—that show sometimes you can just add a few letters to the end of a common word to create a brand-new category of slang.

Mysteries…

IS THERE A MONEY PIT ON OAK ISLAND?

For more than two centuries, stories have circulated that Oak Island, located off Nova Scotia, Canada, held a money pit of buried treasure — supposedly left by the pirate Capt. William Kidd (1645-1701). Over that time, numerous expeditions costing millions of dollars have traveled to the island searching for the lost treasure, to no avail.

Despite centuries of searching no treasure has been found on Oak Island. Nevertheless, that doesn't stop people from trying to find it. A History Channel show called the "Curse of Oak Island" follows a modern-day expedition.

Historical Events

1895 – Louis and Auguste Lumiere screened a series of short movie scenes from everyday French life (and charged admission for the viewing) at the Grand Cafe in Paris.
1958 – Baltimore Colts defeated the New York Giants in the first (ever) National Football League sudden-death overtime game at New York’s Yankee Stadium.
1973 – The United States Endangered Species Act was signed into law by US President Richard Milhous Nixon.

Birthdays Today

@95 – Stan Lee, comic book author (d. 2018)
@89 – Nichelle Nichols, American actress (d. 2022)
“Science is not a boy’s game, it’s not a girl’s game. It’s everyone’s game. It’s about where we are and where we’re going. Space travel benefits us here on Earth. And we ain’t stopped yet. There’s more exploration to come.”– Nichelle Nichols
88 – Maggie Smith, English actress
“We can’t escape the shadow, so the best thing we can do is notice the light and be open to it.”– Maggie Smith
@83 – Martin Milner, American actor (d. 2015)
“I was never a celebrity – just a working actor.”– Martin Milner
76 – Edgar Winter, American singer-songwriter
69 – Martha Wash, American singer, America’s Most Famous Unknown Singer
68 – Gayle King, American television journalist
68 – Denzel Washington, American actor
“Why do we close our eyes when we pray, cry, kiss, or dream? Because the most beautiful things in life are not seen but felt by the heart.”– Denzel Washington
@67 – Woodrow Wilson, 28th President (d. 1924)
“No nation is fit to sit in judgment upon any other nation.”– Woodrow Wilson
52 – Elaine Hendrix, American actress
49 – Seth Meyers, American actor
44 – John Legend, American singer-songwriter
41 – Sienna Miller, American-born British actress
32 – David Archuleta, American singer-songwriter

 

27 Dec

 

27 December 2022

Daily Almanac for Flagstaff
Week 53 Day 361 \ Ave. Sky Cover 30% \ Visibility 23 miles Flagstaff Today 54° \24° 
Wind 6mph \ Gusts 12mph  Air Quality: Moderate3\ Moderate Risk of fire \ Nearest active fire 556mi \ Nearest Lightning 1870mi
Dec Averages for Flagstaff: 43° \ 17° `
Sunshine with high clouds

Today’s Quote

Weekly Observations

Christmas Bird Count Week: 14-1/5 Link 
Halcyon Days: 14-28 
Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over: 15 - 1/1/23  Link 
It's About Time Week: 25-31
Kwanzaa: 26-1/1

Daily Observations

Howdy Doody Day
International Day for Epidemic Preparedness
Make Cut Out Snowflakes Day
National Fruitcake Day
Radio City Music Hall Day
Visit The Zoo Day Link

My Sometimes-Long-Winded Thoughts

I hope everyone had a great Christmas holiday. I had a great day. Talked to my brother, had a meal with friends with great conversation. Now is the time to look forward to begin planning what 2023 will bring.

A nice memory: As I was growing up, my mother would always head very early to the Denver Dry Goods on the day after Christmas. She would buy her Christmas cards for the next year, wrapping paper, and a few ‘new’ decorations as everything was ½ price. After I was grown, I always took her out to that until she decided she was ‘too old’ to hit the crowds. Then for a few more years, I still did it and brought the stuff to her. It is a great memory.

Last week Lisa Ling did a great piece on Interracial marriage.   She showed how such marriages still bring violence from those opposed. She also talked to Bahai followers believe that interracial marriage will bring peace as more and more people realize we are all the same.

It was not a good week for my football teams. Broncos were blown away by the Rams. The Cards also lost, due to bad plays. I did get to watch both debacles on my TV.

China had decided that during this season of peace, the best they can do is have military exercises very near Taiwan. They are just reminding the Taiwanese that China has the control over their lives. I feel sorry for the Taiwanese, as my visit a few years ago found the country to be beautiful with very caring people.

Favorite Memes…Winter Wonderland!

Facts…

Abraham Lincoln Was the Only President to Receive a Patent

Lincoln Was the First President to Have a Beard

Lincoln Was the First U.S. President to Appear on a Coin

Lincoln Helped Establish Thanksgiving as a National Holiday

The Gettysburg Address Was Less Than 275 Words Long

Lincoln’s Views on Slavery Were Complicated and Evolving 

Slang Origins

1947: Party pooper

Meaning: someone who refuses to join in during a fun event

A creation of college students, the origins of “party pooper” are unclear. While it could have something to do with the bathroom, “to poop” also can mean “to tire or exhaust.” The verb “to pooh-pooh,” which is a way to disagree with something, might also be connected to the “party pooper.” No matter where it comes from, it’s not a trait most people want to have.

Mysteries…

WAS CAESARION TRULY CAESAR'S SON?

In 47 B.C., Cleopatra VII gave birth to a son named Caesarion whom she claimed was the son of Julius Caesar. Cleopatra named Caesarion as co-ruler of Egypt in 44 B.C., and surviving art depicts mother and son as co-rulers.

However, whether the child was truly Caesar’s son is uncertain. Caesar never acknowledged the child as his own. One of Caesar’s friends, Gaius Oppius, even wrote a pamphlet denying that Caesarion was Caesar’s son. Cleopatra VII killed herself after she and Mark Antony were defeated by Octavian in 30 B.C. and Caesarion was killed not long after that.

With no remains of Julius Caesar or Caesarion surviving, it is unlikely that scholars will ever be able to determine, with certainty, whether Caesar was truly Caesarion’s father.

Historical Events

1927 – Kern and Hammerstein’s musical play Show Boat, considered to be the first true American musical play, opened at the Ziegfeld Theatre on Broadway.
1945 – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) was founded with an agreement by 29 nations.
1947 – The Howdy Doody TV show premiered on NBC. It was the first popular children’s television show.

Birthdays Today

@90 – Marlene Dietrich, German-American actress (d. 1992)
“There is a gigantic difference between earning a great deal of money and being rich.”
– Marlene Dietrich
83 – John Amos, American actor
“It was an ongoing struggle to say no, I don’t want to be a part of the perpetuation of this stereotype.”– John Amos
@72 – Louis Pasteur, French chemist, invented Pasteurization (d. 1895, stroke)
“I am on the edge of mysteries and the veil is getting thinner and thinner.”– Louis Pasteur 

@75 – Cokie Roberts [Mary Martha Corinne Morrison Claiborne "Cokie" Roberts], journalist (d.2019; breast cancer)
78 – Mick Jones, English guitarist, and songwriter
@58 – Johannes Kepler, German mathematician, and astronomer (d. 1630)
51 – Savannah Guthrie, American television journalist
@46 – Chyna [Joan Marie Laurer], American professional wrestler, actress (d. 2016; OD)
34 – Hayley Williams, American singer-songwriter
29 – Olivia Cooke, English actress