Sept 15

 

Flagstaff Almanac

Week37 Day258 Sky Cover 15%| Visibility|19mi.Flagstaff Today|72° \48° Wind4mph|Gusts15mph 
Nearest active fire: 16miles|Risk of fire: High Nearest Lightning:53mi
Air Quality: Moderate Moisture Days in Sept:7days Sunshine
September Averages: Temps: 74° \ 42° Moisture 5 Days  26 Sunny Days

Today’s Quote

Weekly Observations

9-15 National Neo-Natal Nurses Week  Link 9-16 INVICTUS GAMES Link  11-15 National Championship Air Races   Link National Guitar Flat-Picking Days  Link 11-16 Line Dance Week 11-17 Celebrate Community Link National NeoNatal Nurses Week  Link

13-17 National Championship Air Races National Guitar Flat-Picking Days National Guitar Flat-Picking Days Link 14-17 Hummingbird Celebration Link 15-24 National Ballroom Dance Week Link 15-17 Clean Up The World Weekend Link  Rosh Hashanah 15-21 National Medicare Education Week Link

Daily Observations

Constitution Day/Pledge Across America  Cloud Appreciation Day Link  Creme de Menthe Day Felt Hat Day Creme de Menthe Day Felt Hat Day Creme de Menthe Day Felt Hat Day Google.com Day Greenpeace Day International Day of Democracy International Day of Listening  Link International Dot Day Link  International Grenache Day  Link Linguine Day LGBT Center Awareness Day Make a Hat Day

National 8-Track Tape Day Link Link  National Cheese Toast Day   National Cheese Toast Day   National Cheese Toast Day  Link National Concussion Awareness Day Link  National Day of The Cowgirl  National Day of The Cowgirl  National Day of The Cowgirl Link National Doodle Day Link National NeoNatal Nurses Day Link   National On-line Learning Day   National On-line Learning Day   National On-line Learning Day  Link National POW/MIA Recognition Day Link National Tradesmen Day Link Online Learning Day  Tackle Kids Cancer Day Link World Lymphoma Awareness Day  Link

Today’s Thoughts

Nice weather day.

Last night had 20 minutes of thunder to bring in dark clouds. Then a nice gently rain shower. At the end of that there was a downpour for about 30 minutes. I’m still enjoying the monsoon rain.

I had lunch with the retirement group, Andy, Faith, Mary, and Mike at our favorite Italian place. Our first time all together for lunch. Good Conversation, Good Food, Good time!

Sad to see Libya suffering from with 6000+ die in flooding.

Senator Romney made some good points about age as to why he isn’t running for reelection. He is turning the reins over to the younger generation. Good for him.

After many years, Hunter Biden finally Federally charged with his gun problems. About time!

Enjoy

Unique National Treasures for the US …

If you like the Kennedy Space Center, you’ll love…McDonald Observatory.

McDonald Observatory

Florida’s Kennedy Space Center has launched humans into space since 1968, and its Visitor Complex brings that experience to life. (Check out the astronaut training simulators and Alan Shephard’s moon dust–covered spacesuit.) But Texas’ McDonald Observatory gives you an idea of what motivated people to want to fly to the stars in the first place with evening “Star Parties” in the observatory’s outdoor amphitheater. Don’t miss the observatory-produced radio show StarDate, which airs every week on more than 300 radio stations around the country.

Random Trivia…

Adolf Hitler’s nephew fought against the Nazis in World War II. During the Second World War, William Patrick Hitler (later William Patrick Stuart-Houston) was drafted into the United States Navy, where he served as a Hospital Corpsman throughout the war until 1947. He was wounded in action and was awarded the Purple Heart, and went on to gain American citizenship.

**********          ***********          **********

The fastest surgeon ever ended up causing a 300% mortality rate—shocking, right?! Surgeon Robert Liston was considered “the fastest knife in the West.” He was a pioneer in speed surgery. When performing a battlefield amputation in front of a group of spectators, Liston cut through his patient’s leg so quickly that he accidentally cut the fingers off the person who was helping him. One man who witnessed the surgery collapsed and died of a heart attack. Then Liston’s patient and his assistant died of blood poisoning from their joint amputation, making him the only surgeon in history to have a 300% mortality rate.

Historic Events

·      1830 – The first National Convention for Blacks was held in Bethel Church, Philadelphia, PA.

·      1851 – Saint Joseph’s University is founded in Philadelphia.

·      1971 – Greenpeace was founded in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

·      1982 – USA Today began publication.

Birthdays with some quotes

@96 – Fay Wray, Canadian-American actress, Hollywood’s first Scream Queen (d. 2004)
@93 – Norm Crosby, American comedic actor (d. 2020)
@88 – Jackie Cooper, American actor (d. 2011)
@89 – Roy Acuff, American singer-songwriter and fiddler (d. 1992)
@87 – Nipsey Russell, American comedic actor (d. 2005)
“Pro and con are opposites, that fact is clearly seen. If progress means to move forward, then what does congress mean?”
@85 – Agatha Christie, English crime novelist, short story writer, and playwright (d. 1976)
“Nobody knows what another person is thinking. They may imagine they do, but they are nearly always wrong.”
@65 – Ettore Bugatti, Italian-French businessman, founded Bugatti (d. 1947)
77 – Tommy Lee Jones, American actor
77 – Oliver Stone, American director, screenwriter, and producer
@72 – William Howard Taft, American politician, 27th President (d. 1930; heart disease)
@66 – Edward Bouchet, American physicist, educator (d. 1918; high blood pressure)
62 – Dan Marino, American football player, and sportscaster
“The will to prepare, the guts to risk, and the desire to be the best. These are trademarks of champions.”
@56 – Robert Benchley, American humorist and newspaper columnist (d. 1945; cirrhosis)
39 – Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex

…The End for today…

 

Sept 14

 

Flagstaff Almanac

Week37 Day 257 Sky Cover 20%| Visibility|21mi.Flagstaff Today|73° \47° Wind6mph|Gusts9mph 
Nearest active fire: 13miles|Risk of fire: Moderate Nearest Lightning:13mi
Air Quality: Fair Moisture Days in Sept:7days Sunshine
September Averages: Temps: 74° \ 42° Moisture 5 Days  26 Sunny Days

Today’s Quote

Weekly Observations

8-14 Direct Support Professional Recognition Week Link International Housekeepers Week Link National Assisted Living Week National Security Officer Appreciation Week National Truck Driver Appreciation Week Link Suicide Prevention Week 9-14 Celebrate CommunityLink Line Dance Week 9-15 National Neo-Natal Nurses Week  Link

9-16 INVICTUS GAMES Link  11-15 National Championship Air Races   Link National Guitar Flat-Picking Days  Link 11-16 Line Dance Week 11-17 Celebrate Community Link National NeoNatal Nurses Week  Link 13-17 National Championship Air Races National Guitar Flat-Picking Days National Guitar Flat-Picking Days Link 14-17 Hummingbird Celebration Link

Daily Observations

Crab Fest Day Hug Your Hound Day Live Creative Day  Link National Kreme Filled Donut Day Link Link

National School Picture Day Link  National Sober Day   National Sober Day  Link Sober Day U.S. Marshals Service Day

Today’s Thoughts

Puffy clouds around the horizon, upper sky is a deep blue.

Last night there was a big monsoon here. Over 1” of rain fell yesterday.  1pm: alert for rain in 15 minutes and it was just a few tiny drops. 5pm: rain for about 15 minutes with rain bouncing one the street. 8pm: the big storm with nice rain for about 2 hours.

The escaped Pennsylvania convict was captured with the help of a police dog. No shots fired. He is in custody. Finally!

Russia and North Korean leaders are meeting. N. Korea wants money and food, Russia wants arms for the war in Ukraine. If Russia gets the arms, they will have to transport them across the 11 time zones of Russia. Using ships would be more difficult due to the many sanctions.

There is a government shutdown on 9/30 if Congress doesn’t pass a bill to keep the government working. That is not deterring the Republicans to use that time to have an impeachment inquiry. Not sure how THIS congress will be able to pull off both in this short timeframe. I hope they work on the budget real hard; we don’t need a shutdown. Time will tell.

I did some reading on School Choice and I learned a few things. Just after the Civil Rights Act was signed in 1964, many Southern school districts simply closed their schools to prevent immigration. White family students were given state ‘incentives’ to get the white children into private schools. The Black families were ineligible for these ‘incentives’.  Over time this morphed into the current school choice incentives and funding from various state governments.

Enjoy

About a week ago I put an etch-a-sketch photo by Shonto Begay. I realize some readers are not familiar with his vast work. Here is some of it.

Unique National Treasures for the US …

If you like the Grand Canyon, you’ll love…Black Canyon. 

Tourists (6 million in 2016) love the Grand Canyon. Its sheer vastness (277 river miles long, 18 miles wide, a mile deep) is beyond breathtaking.

Colorado’s Black Canyon, less than a fifth as long and half as deep, is impressive in a whole different way. “No other canyon in North America combines the depth, narrowness, sheerness, and somber countenance of the Black Canyon,” Wallace R. Hansen wrote in a 1965 U.S. Geological Survey publication. The river at its base cuts through rock that is almost 2 billion years old, some of the oldest rock in North America. Don’t miss the 2,250-foot high (almost twice the size of the Empire State Building) “Painted Wall.”

Random Trivia…

During World War II, Americans called hamburgers “liberty steaks.” This was because “hamburger” sounded a little too German. Also, during World War II, sauerkraut was re-dubbed “liberty cabbage.”

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The Dutch-Scilly War lasted 335 years and had no battles or deaths. Spanning between 1651–1986, the war was a by-product of the English Civil War and the decision of the Dutch to side with the Parliamentarians over the Royalists. The Royalists had raided a few Dutch shipping vessels in revenge before fleeing to the Isles of Scilly. The Dutch turned up, demanding reparations from the Royalists, and when they didn’t pay up, declared war. But they decided to call it a day and go home pretty sharpish as they realized the Royalists didn’t have a penny to their names. The only thing is they never declared peace with the Isles and just completely forgot they were at war.

Historic Events

·      1752 – The British Empire adopted the Gregorian (modern) calendar, skipping eleven days (the previous day was September 2).

·      1901 – US President William McKinley died after being shot on September 6 by anarchist Leon Czolgosz.

·      1969 – September 14 was the First Draft Lottery date for the US Selective Service.

·      1975 – Elizabeth Ann Seton became the first native-born American to be canonized as a Catholic saint.

·      1994 – The Major League Baseball season was canceled because of a players’ strike.

·      2000 – Microsoft released Windows Me. Support for Windows Me ended on July 11, 2006.

Birthdays with some quotes

@86 – Margaret Sanger, American nurse, and activist, founder of Planned Parenthood (d, 1966)
@85 – Clayton Moore, American actor, The Lone Ranger (d, 1999)
“I will continue wearing the white hat and black mask until I ride up into the big ranch in the sky.”
86 – Walter Koenig, American actor (Chekov on original Star Trek)
79 – Joey Heatherton, American actress, and dancer
76 – Sam Neill, Northern Irish-New Zealand actor
“Failure is never quite so frightening as regret .”
50 – Nas, American rapper
“For my hustlers, here’s some motivation: He who has begun is half done.”
45 – Ron DeSantis, Fl. Governor, Presidential candidate
@27 – Amy Winehouse, English singer-songwriter (d, 2011; misadventure/BAC=0.416) #27club

…The End for today…

 

Sept 13

Flagstaff Almanac

Week37 Day256 Sky Cover 80%| Visibility|16mi.Flagstaff Today|71° \49° Wind3mph|Gusts4mph 
Nearest active fire: 16miles|Risk of fire: Very Low Nearest Lightning:84mi
Air Quality: Fair Moisture Days in Sept:6days Mostly Cloudy
September Averages: Temps: 74° \ 42° Moisture 5 Days  26 Sunny Days

Today’s Quote

Weekly Observations

8-14 Direct Support Professional Recognition Week Link International Housekeepers Week Link National Assisted Living Week National Security Officer Appreciation Week National Truck Driver Appreciation Week Link Suicide Prevention Week 9-14 Celebrate CommunityLink Line Dance Week

9-15 National Neo-Natal Nurses Week  Link 9-16 INVICTUS GAMES Link  11-15 National Championship Air Races   Link National Guitar Flat-Picking Days  Link 11-16 Line Dance Week 11-17 Celebrate Community Link National NeoNatal Nurses Week  Link 13-17 National Championship Air Races National Guitar Flat-Picking Days National Guitar Flat-Picking Days Link

Daily Observations

9x13 Day Bald Is Beautiful Day Link Link Celiac Disease Awareness Day International Chocolate Day Link International Programmers Day Link   Defy Superstition Day Fortune Cookie Day Kids Take Over The Kitchen Day  Link

National Celiac Awareness Day National Peanut Day Link Peanut Day Positive Thinking Day Roald Dahl Day Scooby-Doo Day Uncle Sam Day  Link

Today’s Thoughts

It looks like the monsoon has returned. Cloudy with many dark clouds.

McCarthy has begun an impeachment inquiry. I thought ‘eye for an eye’ was wrong. He is pandering to the far right. So tired of this.

Biden is President, but I have seen things that bother me…not to the level of impeachment. 1. He is the first President since 9-11 not to speak at DC, PA, or NY. Not a good look. 2. His Vietnam speech was not great. When I was there our tour guide told us that Vietnam had dropped an A-bomb on the US, that McCain fell out of the sky and was cared for at the Hanoi Hilton to recover and that they were simply waiting for US to come and pick him up…that is what they are taught in school. A formal apology is needed. 3. The Saudi’s were given millions in trade and he welcomed them into the club. Another bad look.

The AG of NM has informed the NM Governor that his office will not assist the state in any lawsuit regarding her Order to stop concealed weapons ban. Hmmm

Enjoy

Unique National Treasures for the US …

If you like the Hearst Castle, you’ll love…Iolani Palace. 

Iolani Palace

More than 750,000 people a year visit California’s Hearst Castle, with its 115-room Casa Grande, Tiffany lamps, gilded ceilings and that 345,000-gallon Neptune Pool. But Hawaii’s Iolani Palace is the only castle in the U.S. that housed actual royalty, in this case King Kalakaua, who began constructing the palace in 1879 and finished in 1882.

King Kalakaua lived at Iolani (meaning "bird of heaven") palace for nine years; his sister, Queen Liliuokalani, lived there after his death until a coup (led by U.S.-backed businessmen and sugar planters) overthrew the monarchy in 1893. You can see the impressive crimson and gold throne room, two kahili (the Hawaiian version of a scepter) topped with 22,000 albatross feathers, and the Grand Hall with its staircase of richly grained koa wood. Zita Cup Choy, palace historian, says visitors are often most impressed by “how modern the palace was,” including hot and cold running water, electric lights, and telephones. (Iolani Palace had electric lights four years before the White House.) Along with the modern technology are artifacts with centuries of tradition, including a puloulou (a traditional symbol of royalty) made from a seven-foot narwhal tusk, topped with a sphere covered in gold leaf. Monarchies in Hawaii go back for centuries; when King Kalakaua visited London for Queen Victoria’s jubilee in 1887, he “sometimes outranked other royalties in terms of royal genealogy and how far back it goes,” Cup Choy says.

Random Trivia…

The Ancient Egyptians used slabs of stone as pillows. In Ancient Egypt, the head was considered to be the seat of spiritual life and had to be cared for. Therefore, when getting into bed, the Egyptians would place their heads on a stone with a curve in it.

The first known artworks date back roughly 100,000 years ago. It is believed to have begun with the Homo Sapiens during the Upper Paleolithic era. The oldest known artworks were found in a cave in what is now France.

Historic Events

• 1790 – The US Capitol was moved to New York City from Philadelphia.
• 1899 – Henry Bliss was the first person in the United States to be killed in an automobile accident. Arthur Smith, the driver of the taxicab who struck Bliss, was charged but acquitted.
• 1814 – Francis Scott Key composed his poem “Defence of Fort McHenry”- which later became The Star-Spangled Banner.
• 1956 – The IBM 305 RAMAC, the first commercial computer to use disk storage, was introduced.

Birthdays with some quotes

@92 – Claudette Colbert, French-American actress (d. 1996)

@88 – Milton S. Hershey, American businessman, founded The Hershey Company (d. 1945)

@82 – Lucy Goode Brooks, Former American slave and a founder of Friends’ Asylum for Colored Orphans (d. 1900)

79 – Jacqueline Bisset, English actress

@74 – Richard Kiel, American actor and voice artist (d. 2014; heart disease)

@74 – Roald Dahl, British novelist, poet, and screenwriter (d. 1990; rare cancer)

“I think probably kindness is my number one attribute in a human being. I’ll put it before any of the things like courage or bravery or generosity or anything else,”

@73 – Ray Charles, American singer-songwriter and conductor (d. 2015; liver failure)

“I never wanted to be famous. I only wanted to be great.”

@73 – Mel Tormé, American singer-songwriter, and actor (d. 1999; stroke)

72 – Jean Smart, American actress

62 – Dave Mustaine, American singer-songwriter

“It’s not how big your pencil is; it’s how you write your name.”

59 – Tavis Smiley, American talk show host

“I don’t think I’d live anything over, even though I’ve made a lot of mistakes. I have learned how to see failure as a friend. So, I’m not one to live a life of regrets. I try to learn from my mistakes, but I’ll take my life the way it is.”

@54 – Nell Carter, American actress, and singer (d. 2003; heart failure)

54 – Tyler Perry, Producer, comedian

@51 – Walter Reed, American physician, and biologist (d. 1902; ruptured appendix)

45 – Swizz Beatz (Kasseem Daoud Dean), American rapper

30 – Niall Horan, Irish singer

…The End for today…