3 July

 

3 July 2023

Flagstaff Almanac

Week 27 Day 184 Ave. Sky Cover 15%\ Visibility 28mi. Flagstaff Today 85° \ 52° 
Wind 3mph \ Gusts 5mph  Nearest active fire: 21miles Nearest Lightning:  282mi
Air Quality: Fair  Moisture Days this month: 0 days
Risk of fire: Very Low Moderate High Extreme July Averages: Temps 82° \ 51° Moisture 8 Days
Sunshine 

Today’s Quote

Monthly Observations

National Anti-Boredom Month National Baked Beans Month Link National Black Family Month National Blueberries Month National Child-Centered Divorce Month Link National Cleft & Craniofacial Awareness & Prevention Month Link National Contract Sewing Month Link National Cord Blood Awareness Month Link National Culinary Arts Month National Deli Salad Month National "Doghouse Repairs" Month National Grilling Month

National HIV Awareness Month   National Horseradish Month National Hot Dog Month National Ice Cream Month National Make A Difference to Children Month National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month National Parks & Recreation Month National Picnic Month National Roadside Traffic Safety Awareness Month National Rodeo Month National Vacation Rental Month National Watermelon Month National Wheelchair Beautification Month

Weekly Observations

6/27-7/4 National Prevention of Eye Injuries Awareness 6/28-7/4 Fireworks Safety Week Eid-Al-Adha, Feast of Sacrifice 6/30-7/6 Nat’l Wildland Firefighter Week of Remembrance 6/30-7/4  National Tom Sawyer Days Link  (aka Fence Painting Days)

1-4 Tom Sawyer Days 1-7 National Independent Living Week National Unassisted Homebirth Week 1-24 Tour de France  2-8 Be Nice To New Jersey Week National Bikini Contest Week National Farriers Week

Daily Observations

American Redneck Day Compliment Your Mirror Day Disobedience Day Drop A Rock Day Link  (aka Rock Painting) Fried Clams Day  Link International Plastic Bag Free Day  Link National Chocolate Wafer Day National Compliment Your Mirror Day

National Eat Your Beans Day National Fried Clam Day National Independent Beer Run Day Plastic Bag Free Day Stay Out of the Sun Day National Deep Fried Clams Day Link  Stay Out Of The Sun Day Link Superman Day Link

Today’s Thoughts

A nice Sunday. Took a nice walk around the neighborhood. Getting warmer by the minute.

Last night there was another mass shooting…this time in Baltimore, MD. Black mayor thanked their many partners for helping. He added this is a problem that permeates the US. It will only end when it is dealt with at the national level. So true.

There is lots of tourist traffic in town. Lots of celebration activities. I hope this helps our local economy. The nearest fireworks will be at the Navajo Casino, about 20 miles from town. Our town gave up on local fireworks about 15 years ago…due to the drought.  

Enjoy

Idioms explained…

Cat Got Your Tongue
The origin of the idiom ‘cat got your tongue’ is an intriguing one. Although many believe the “cat” in question is of the feline variety, it’s actually the cat o’ nine tails, a whip commonly used to flog sailors who misbehaved.
On English sailing ships, anyone entrusted with a secret by a higher officer would be threatened with “the cat” for telling; thus, the saying ‘has the cat got your tongue?’ became slang for ‘are you afraid to tell?’
Random Trivia…
The oldest-known living land animal is a tortoise named Jonathan, who is about to turn 190 years old. He was born in 1832 and has lived on the island of St. Helena in the Atlantic Ocean since 1882. (guinnessworldrecords.com)

Historic Events

• 1608 – Quebec, Canada was founded by Samuel de Champlain. The name came from the Native American word “kebec” meaning ‘where the river narrows’
• 1775 – George Washington took command of the Continental Army
• 1819 – The Bank for Savings in the City of New-York, the first(?) savings bank in the United States, opened.
• 1852 – Congress established the United States’ 2nd mint in San Francisco.
• 1863 – The final day of the Battle of Gettysburg culminates with Pickett’s Charge (US Civil War)
• 1952 – The Constitution of Puerto Rico was approved by the United States Congress.

Birthdays with some quotes

@88 – Johnny Palmer, American golfer (d. 2006)
82 – Gloria Allred, American lawyer and activist
@80 – Judith Durham, Australian folk-pop singer-songwriter, musician (d. 2020)
78 – Annette Beard, American soul/R&B singer, Vandella
76 – Dave Barry, American comedic journalist and author
“You can only be young once but you can be immature forever.”– Dave Barry
@69 – William Henry Davies, Welsh poet, writer (d.1940)
@65 – George Sanders, Russian-born British actor (d. 1972; suicide)
65 – Aaron Tippin, American singer-songwriter
@64 – George M. Cohan, American songwriter, actor, singer, and dancer (d. 1942; bladder cancer)
“Don’t tell ’em – SHOW ’em!”– George M. Cohan
“I don’t care what you say about me, as long as you say something about me, and as long as you spell my name right”– George M. Cohan
61 – Tom Cruise, American actor
57 – Moisés Alou, American baseball player
@52 – Laura Branigan, American singer-songwriter (d. 2004; aneurysm)
52 – Julian Assange, Australian journalist, publisher, and activist, founded WikiLeaks
“What are the differences between Mark Zuckerberg and me? I give private information on corporations to you for free, and I’m a villain. Zuckerberg gives your private information to corporations for money and he’s Man of the Year.”– Julian Assange
@40 – Franz Kafka, Czech-Austrian author (d. 1924; TB)
“Youth is happy because it has the ability to see beauty. Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old.”– Franz Kafka
28 – Ben Winchell, American actor

…The End for today…

 

2 July

2 July 2023

Flagstaff Almanac

Week 27 Day 183 Ave. Sky Cover 5%\ Visibility  33mi. Flagstaff Today  85° \ 46° 
Wind  2mph \ Gusts  3mph  Nearest active fire: 21miles Nearest Lightning:  461mi
Air Quality: Moderate   Moisture Days this month: 0 days
Risk of fire: Extreme July Averages: Temps 82° \ 51° Moisture 8 Days
Sunshine 

Today’s Quote

 

Monthly Observations

Family Golf Month Fireworks Safety Month Fragile X Awareness Month Link Fuel Safety Month  Link Get Ready For Kindergarten Month Grange Month Link Hemochromatosis Screening Awareness Month Link

Herbal/Prescription Interaction Awareness Month Independent Retailer Month Link International Blondie and Deborah Harry Month International Group B Strep Awareness Month Link International Women with Alopecia Month International Zine Month Juvenille Arthritis Awareness Month Link

Weekly Observations

6/26-7/2   National Tire Safety Week  Link 6/27-7/4 National Prevention of Eye Injuries Awareness 6/28-7/4 Fireworks Safety Week Eid-Al-Adha, Feast of Sacrifice 6/30-7/6 Nat’l Wildland Firefighter Week of Remembrance 6/30-7/2  Roswell UFO Days Link  6/30-7/4  National Tom Sawyer Days Link  (aka Fence Painting Days)

1-4 Tom Sawyer Days 1-7 National Independent Living Week National Unassisted Homebirth Week 1-24 Tour de France  2-8 Be Nice To New Jersey Week National Bikini Contest Week National Farriers Week

Daily Observations

Freedom From Fear of Speaking Day I Forgot Day International Joke Day Made in the USA Day National Financial Freedom Day National Television Heritage Day

National Wildland Firefighter Day Link Second Half of The Year Day Link  Special Recreation for the Disabled Day World Sports Journalists Day World UFO Day Link Zip Code Day

Today’s Thoughts

Another very warm, but much cooler than Phx.

As I mentioned before, our local semi-daily paper has been around since the late 1890’s. The price for the print edition has risen exponentially. The e-edition is also very expensive. Recently they redesigned the e-edition. The upside is that the e-mail already has me signed in most days, so I don’t have to log in to see the e-edition.  The downside is that there is less local news than before. The other downside is that on the 4 days there is no print edition, the e-edition is simply repeats news already seen. Then today, the first Saturday of the new version had the Sunday Comics. It is hard to watch the death of local news here.

A few thoughts on Student Loan Forgiveness. I did 4 years for my BS, and 5 summers for my MA. I never had to take out a loan. I worked from my sophomore year of high school to do that. Students today couldn’t do that. University costs are outrageous and much higher than simply COLA. Many students signed up for ‘University’ classes by a business that was not a 4-year University and promising great jobs after graduation with good salaries. Neither the ‘degree’ nor the high salary ever happened. Those students were scammed, and most have gotten their debt forgiven, and those paper-mills were shut down. At many of those type of schools, the student owed the entire amount even if they didn’t finish the program.

Then there are the ones the SCOTUS dealt with yesterday. These are students who took out loans to go to a 4-year institution that was accredited. The payback program was never fully explained and varied from university and from time to time. Interest rates on these loans vary from 4.9 to 7.9 and can change from year to year. The college loan issue is very complicated and not clearly explained to either parents or students, whichever is paying. While I understand the recent court decision, what really needs to happen is for Congress to investigate the whole loan process and fix it. When you take out a car loan your are told the interest rate, the monthly payment, and the number of payments. A similar system should work for students.

Enjoy…

 

Idioms explained…

Beat Around the Bush

This from gingersoftware.com > The origin of the idiom ‘beating around the bush’ is associated with hunting. In medieval times, hunters hired men to beat the area around bushes with sticks in order to flush out game taking cover underneath. They avoided hitting the bushes directly because this could sometimes prove dangerous; whacking a bees nest, for example, would put a swift and unwelcome end to the hunt.

Random Trivia…

Experiments in universities have actually been carried out to figure out how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop, both with machine and human lickers (because this is important scientific knowledge!). The results ranged from 252 to 411. (tootsie.com)

The Four Corners is the only spot in the US where you can stand in four states at once: Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico.

Canada is south of Detroit (just look at a map).

The original name for the search engine Google was Backrub. It was renamed Google after the googol, which is the number one followed by 100 zeros. (about.google)

Historic Events

• 1788 – The US Constitution went into effect
• 1937 – Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan disappeared over the South Pacific Ocean
• 1964 – The US Civil Right Act was signed into law
• 2002 – Steve Fossett traveled around the world in a balloon, 19,400 miles between June 18 and July 2nd.

Birthdays with some quotes

@98 – Pierre Cardin, Italian-French fashion designer (d. 2020)
93 – Imelda Marcos, Filipino politician; 10th First Lady of the Philippines, shoe collector
@92 – René Lacoste, French tennis player, businessman, invented the polo shirt (d. 1996)
86 – Polly Holliday, American actress
86 – Richard Petty, American race car driver and sportscaster
“The good Lord doesn’t tell you what His plan is, so all you can do is get up in the morning and see what happens next.”– Richard Petty
@85 – Hermann Hesse, German-born Swiss poet, novelist, painter, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1962)
“Wisdom is not communicable. The wisdom which a wise man tries to communicate always sounds foolish… Knowledge can be communicated, but not wisdom.”– Hermann Hesse
@84 – Thurgood Marshall, American lawyer and jurist, US Supreme Court 1967-1991 (d. 1993)
@78 – Brock Peters, American actor (d. 2005; cancer)
@74 – Ken Curtis, American actor (d. 1991; heart attack)
76 – Larry David, American actor, comedian, producer, and screenwriter
” Sometimes you have to wander a bit, and do what you don’t want to in order to figure out what it is you’re supposed to do.”– Larry David
@69 – Dave Thomas, American businessman, philanthropist, founded Wendy’s (d. 2002; tumor)
“What’s the secret to success? It’s no secret. You need a winning attitude, honesty and integrity, and a burning desire to succeed.”– Dave Thomas
@62 – Ron Silver, American actor, director, and political activist (d. 2009; cancer)
59 – Jose Canseco, Cuban-American baseball player
40 – Michelle Branch, American singer-songwriter
38 – Ashley Tisdale, American actress and singer
“Don’t let anyone, or any rejection, keep you from what you want.”– Ashley Tisdale
37 – Lindsay Lohan, American actress
“No one is perfect. It’s not interesting to be perfect.”– Lindsay Lohan
33 – Margot Robbie, Australian actress
“Everyone’s like, ‘overnight sensation.’ It’s not overnight. It’s years of hard work.”– Margot Robbie
28 – Ryan Murphy, American swimmer

…The End for today…

 

1 July

 

1 July 2023

Flagstaff Almanac

Week 26 Day 181 Ave. Sky Cover 10%\ Visibility  14mi. Flagstaff Today  83° \ 42° 
Wind  4mph \ Gusts  8mph  Nearest active fire: 21miles Nearest Lightning:  378mi
Air Quality: Moderate   Moisture Days this month: 0 days
Risk of fire: Extreme July Averages: Temps 82° \ 51° Moisture 8 Days
Sunshine 

Today’s Quote

Monthly Observations

Air-Conditioning Appreciation Days (7/3 to 7/15) Link Alopecia Month for Women Bereaved Parents Awareness Month Bikini Month  Link

Bioterrorism/Disaster Education & Awareness Month Cell Phone Courtesy Month  Link Dog Days (7/3 to 8/11)   Link Dry Eye Awareness Month Eye Injury Prevention Month Link

Weekly Observations

6/25-7/1   Carpenter Ant Awareness Week Fish Are Friends, Not Food! Week Link  Windjammer Days  Windjammer Days Link 6/26-7/2   National Tire Safety Week  Link 6/27-7/4 National Prevention of Eye Injuries Awareness 6/28-7/4 Fireworks Safety Week Eid-Al-Adha, Feast of Sacrifice 6/30-7/6 Nat’l Wildland Firefighter Week of Remembrance 6/30-7/2  Roswell UFO Days Link  6/30-7/4  National Tom Sawyer Days Link  (aka Fence Painting Days)

1-4 Tom Sawyer Days   1-7 National Independent Living Week National Unassisted Homebirth Week 1-24 Tour de France

Daily Observations

American Zoo Day Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms Day Canada Day Devotion to Duty Day Estee Lauder Day Drug Enforcement Administration Day Early Bird Day Hop A Park Day International Day of Cooperatives International Cherry Pit Spitting Day Link  International Chicken Wing Day International Tartan Day Link  National Corn Hole Day Link

National Creative Ice Cream Flavor Day National Gingersnap Day National Postal Workers Day /U.S. Postage National Independent Beer Run Day  Link  National Play Outside Day Link  Medicare's Birthday National GSA Employee Day National Postal Workers Day  Link Resolution Renewal Day Second Half of the New Year Day Slurpee Days or 7-11's Birthday-11 Link  U.S. Postage Stamp Day Zip Code Day

Today’s Thoughts

Ready for a new month. Looking forward to monsoons. Flag and most of AZ is in a heat wave…our mountain town will be in the 80’s for the next week, South in Phoenix, 110°-120°.

The US Government has a sad history of keeping track of the taxpayer’s money. In my day the story was about a $300 toilet seat bought by the government. Nowadays it is fraudsters applying for grants. It seems that the government figured out that about 17% of the government COVID grants were given to fraudsters. Shameful.

I really like my new evaporative cooler. Just figured out that the ‘swing’ feature has the air coming out by rotating the inside fan about 140° sending a nice cool breeze right to left, then back right throughout the room. Much better than a straight on blast of cool air.

Enjoy

 

Idioms explained…

Kick the Bucket

We already know that when someone or something kicks the bucket, they’re dead, but what poor soul died for this to become an idiom, and what’s the story behind it? The following is from wiktionary.org:

An archaic use of a bucket was a beam from which a pig is hung by its feet prior to being slaughtered, and to kick the bucket originally signified the pig’s death throes.

Random Trivia…

Sliced bread was first manufactured by machine and sold in the 1920s by the Chillicothe Baking Company in Missouri. It was the greatest thing since…unsliced bread? (chllicothenews.com)

The Earl of Sandwich, John Montagu, who lived in the 1700s, reportedly invented the sandwich so he wouldn’t have to leave his gambling table to eat. (pbs.org)

The first college football game was played on November 6, 1869, between Rutgers and Princeton (then known as the College of New Jersey) in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Rutgers won. (ncaa.com)

Historic Events

• 1847 – The first US postage stamps were issued (Ben Franklin 5 cents & George Washington 10 cents)
• 1848 – The first publication of a photograph in a newspaper, in L’illustraion Journel Universel
• 1862 – The Internal Revenue Service was established
• 1874 – The Philadelphia ‘America’s Oldest’ Zoo opened
• 1899 Birthday (fictional) Indiana Jones, Movies
• 1941 – NBC became broadcasting from the Empire State Building, NYC
• 1941 - The first TV commercial aired :  Bulova Watches paid for the 10-second spot, shown before a baseball game between the Brooklyn Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies at Ebbets Field.
• 1916  – WWI: The Battle of Somme began, lasting until November 13
• 1963 – The US Zip (Zone Improvement Plan) Codes were inaugurated.

·         1968 – Medicare went to effect (USA)

Birthdays with some quotes

@104 – Olivia de Havilland, British-American actress (d. 2020)
“It’s hard to keep on being civil when they ask you such annoying questions.” Olivia de Havilland
89 – Jamie Farr, American actor
87 – Wally Amos, American entrepreneur, founder of Famous Amos
“You can make your life whatever you want it to be”– Wally Amos
@85 – Estée Lauder, American businesswoman, co-founded the Estée Lauder Companies (d,2004)
“Give credit where credit is due: simply said, if you want loyalty and best effort, you must be thoughtful.”– Estée Lauder
@85 – David Prowse, English actor (d. 2020)
82 – Twyla Tharp, American dancer, choreographer
78 – Debbie Harry, American singer-songwriter, actress
@74 – Karen Black, American actress (d. 2013; cancer)
73 – David Duke, American white supremacist
72 – Fred Schneider, American singer-songwriter, keyboard player (B-52s)
72 – Dan Aykroyd, Canadian actor, screenwriter
“We’re on a mission from God.– Elwood J. Blues (Dan Akroyd), in The Blues Brothers
@71 – George Sand, French novelist (d.1876)
“One is happy as a result of one’s own efforts, once one knows the necessary ingredients of happiness — simple tastes, a certain degree of courage, self-denial to a point, love of work, and, above all, a clear conscience.”– George Sand
63 – Evelyn “Champagne” King, American soul/disco singer
56 – Pamela Anderson, Canadian-American model, actress
“Eventually you just have to realize that you’re living for an audience of one. I’m not here for anyone else’s approval.”– Pamela Anderson
41 – Hilarie Burton, American actress
@36 – Diana, Princess of Wales (d. 1997; car crash)
“Family is the most important thing in the world.”– Diana, Princess of Wales
28 – Savvy Shields, Miss America 2017
22 – Chosen Jacobs, American actor

…The End for today…