9/15/13


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Almanac: Flagstaff:  Week: 38/ Day: 257   
Today: H 71°…L 46°…Ave. humidity:  64%
Wind: ave:   7mph; Gusts:  14mph  
Average Low: 43°  Record Low: 29° (1988)
Average High: 74° Record High: 88° (2000)

Quote of the Day



Today’s Historical Highlights
"Bachelor Father" with John Forsythe premieres…1957
"Lone Ranger" premieres on ABC-TV…1949
"Lost in Space" premieres…1965
1st broadcast of "Columbo" on NBC-TV…1971
1st issue of "USA Today" published by Gannett Co Inc…1982
1st non-aristocratic, free public school in Europe is opened in Frascati, Italy…1616
1st person to be run over by a railroad train (William Huskisson, England)…1830
Japan announces that it will phase out nuclear energy by the 2030s…2012
Moslem fundamentalists kidnap & behead 16 citizens in Algeria…1994
US Department of Foreign Affairs, renamed Department of State…1789
XXVII Olympics Opening ceremony in Sydney, Australia…2000

♫  Today’s Birthdays: ♫   
How many can you identify?…answers in Today’s Birthdays



My Free Rambling Thoughts   
The day’s weather started out fine. Then this afternoon it all went to hell. First it clouded up, then for the first time in recent memory my place had pea sized hail for about 15 minutes, then rolling thunder, another thing I don’t hear too often. Then about 3 storms of heavy rain. Someone on FB posted picture of a funnel cloud a few miles south of Flagstaff. When I turned on the news, I watched the CO flood stories and realized that as weird as our Flag weather was, we really have nothing to complain about.
 
I’m glad to hear that there is some kind of deal about Syria. From my point of view, it doesn’t matter who brokered the deal, just that there is a deal. The Hawks are so worried that this will place the US in a weaker position and don’t seem to spout their feelings. The goal was to get rid of the poisonous gas…someone needs to tell them to keep their eye on the prize.
Game  Center (answers at the end of post)
Brain Teasers
I know a word of letters three. Add two, and fewer there will be. What is it?
Lifestyle  Substance:     
Found on You Tube with some relevance to today

Hmmmm…Fearsome Phobias
If you have an irrational fear of... Clouds
You're suffering from... Nephophobia: Greek nephos 'cloud'
If you have an irrational fear of... Cold
You're suffering from... Cheimaphobia
It is Illegal…
It is Illegal to Have Christmas Decorations Up After January 14 In Maine
Privileges granted to people in the U.S. (and many western nations) for being Christian…
Your faith can be an aspect of your identity without being a defining aspect (e.g., people won’t think of you as their “Christian” friend)
Ok, then?



Harper’s Index    
Portion of Americans who are unaware that Obamacare is law: 2/5
Unusual Fact of the Day
Pythagoras, the philosopher and mathematician, did not discover the Pythagorean Theorem. Many math historians now believe that the Egyptians used the same theorem in their construction projects a hundred years before Pythagoras was born.
Animals with the strongest jaws…
American Alligator 2125 psi
The American Alligator is one of only two species of Alligator left in the world, the other being the Chinese Alligator. With an estimated population of 5 million; 1.2 million live in the state of Florida. Its range includes: Florida, Texas, Louisiana, North and South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama. They share territory with the crocodile. Their diet consists mainly on fish turtles and small mammals. In a recent study by National Geographic, American Alligators tested at 2125 psi, yet they did not test the larger alligator, so this number could be higher. Yet this problem arises with the three members of the crocodilian superfamily mentioned here.
Joke-of-the-day
A kindergarten teacher handed out a coloring page to her class. On it was a picture of a duck holding an umbrella. The teacher told her class to color the duck in yellow and the umbrella green, however, Bobby, the class rebel, colored the duck in a bright fire truck red.
After seeing this, the teacher asked him: "Bobby, how many times have you see a red duck?"
Young Bobby replied with "The same number of times I've seen a duck holding an umbrella."
Rules of Thumb:   
Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess
GETTING EMOTIONALLY INVOLVED
Wait at least a year after a divorce before becoming emotionally committed to someone else. Some psychologists say that a person needs one year to resolve a divorce for every five years of marriage.    
Yeah, It Really Happened
BOULDER, Colo. - University of Colorado police said a man accused of drunken horseback riding told officers he was traveling to Utah to attend a wedding. CU police spokesman Ryan Huff said police received calls Monday about a man on a horse wandering into traffic in Boulder and some witnesses said they saw the man strike the horse, the Daily Camera, Boulder, reported Tuesday. Police stopped Patrick Neal Schumacher, 45, of Colorado Springs, who was found to be carrying a pug in a backpack. He also had beer and a black powder pistol in one of his saddlebags, police said. Schumacher, who failed field sobriety tests, told officers he was attempting a 600-mile trip to Bryce, Utah, for his brother's wedding. Schumacher was charged with a traffic infraction of riding a horse while under the influence of alcohol and misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty, prohibited use of weapons and reckless endangerment.  
Somewhat Useless Information   
  • Shakespeare’s tombstone in Stratford’s Holy Trinity Church bears this inscription, said to have been written by him: Good friend, for Jesus’ sake forbear to dig the dust enclosed here. Blest be the man that spares these stones, and curst be he that moves my bones”.
  • The Hindus of India once believed that the Earth was a huge bowl (to keep the oceans from falling off) held up by giant elephants standing on long pillars. No one back then ever thought to ask what the pillars were standing on!
  • The first black surgeon to do open heart surgery was Dr. Daniel Hale Williams. In 1893, he saved a man who was knifed by opening his chest and sewing together the wound, which was only a fraction of an inch from his heart. He was one of the first to do this. He accomplished this without any modern medical devices, such as x-rays.
  • Thomas Crapper developed the flush toilet. In 1884, he simulated the materials a toilet would normally handle, to create “a super-flush which had completely cleared away: 10 apples, 1 flat sponge, 3 air vessels, Plumbers Smudge coated over the pan, 4 pieces of paper adhering closely to the soiled surface.” A fantastic feat of flushing!
  • Vincent Van Gogh only sold 1 painting his whole life and that was to his brother!

Calendar Information        
Happening This Week:
8th-15th
International Housekeepers Week
National Assisted Living Week 
National Historically Black Colleges & Universities Week
Substitute Teacher Appreciation Week 
Suicide Prevention Week
12th-15th
Hummingbird Celebration
 15th-21st
Balance Awareness Week
Build A Better Image Week
Dating and Life Coach Recognition Week
National Clean Hands Week
National Farm & Ranch Safety and Health Week
National Indoor Plant Week
National Love Your Files Week
National Rehabilitation Awareness Week
National Singles Week
Pollution Prevention Week
Prostate Cancer Awareness Week

Today Is                                                                      
·        Felt Hat Day
·        Greenpeace Day
·        International Day of Democracy
·        International Dot Day
·        LGBT Center Awareness Day
·        Costa Rica~~Independence Day (1821 from Spain)
·        El Salvador~~Independence Day (1821 from Spain)
·        Guatemala~~Independence Day (1821 from Spain)
·        Honduras~~Independence Day (1821 from Spain)
·        Nicaragua~~Independence Day (1821 from Spain)
·        UK~~Battle of Britain Day (1940)

Today’s Events through History  
1st broadcast of "LA Law" on NBC-TV…1986
Benito Mussolini forms a rival fascist government in Italy…1943
Boers & Afrikaners win 1st general elections in Union of South-Africa…1910
Gemini XI (Conrad/Gordon) returns to Earth…1966
Lillehammer, Norway upsets Anchorage to host 1994 Winter Olympics…1988
Mayflower departs from Plymouth England with 102 pilgrims…1620
Muhammad Ali beats Leon Spinks in 15 for heavyweight boxing title…1978
US Marines march out of Vera Cruz, Mexico…1914

Today’s Birthdays                                                           
Tommy Lee Jones, actor (Men in Black, Lincoln) is 67
Oliver Stone, director (Wall St, Good Morning Vietnam, Platoon) is 67
Heidi Montag, American reality television star is 27

Remembered for being born today
James Fenimore Cooper, 1st major US novelist (Last of Mohicans) [1789-1851]
William Howard Taft, 27th pres (1909-13), chief justice [1857-1930]
Agatha Christie, Torquay, Devon, mystery writer (Murder on Orient Express) [1890-1976]
Jean Renoir, French director (Madame Bovary, Nana, Grand Illusion) [1894-1979]
Roy Acuff, country musician (Hee Haw) [1903-1992]
Penny Singleton, actress (Blondie) [1908-2003]
Fay Wray, Alberta Canada, actress-King Kong's main squeeze [1907-2004]
Merlin Olsen, NFL tackle (Rams)/sportscaster/actor (Father Murphy) [1940-2010]
Jackie Cooper, actor and director (Our Gang, Superman) [1922-2011]

Today’s Historical Obits                                                           
Jumbo, P. T. Barnum's circus elephant…hit by a train…1885…@24
Willy Messerschmitt, German aircraft builder…1978…@80
Johnny Ramone, lead guitarist punk rock band The Ramones…cancer…2004…@55  
Brett Somers, Canadian-born actress/Match Game panelist…2007…@83
Thomas Wolfe, US writer (Enigma)…TB…1938…@37

Brain Teasers
The word is "few".
Disclaimer: All opinions are mine…feel free to agree or disagree.
All ‘data’ info is from the internet sites and is usually checked with at least one other source, but I have learned that every site has mistakes and sadly once out the information is out there, many sites simply copy it and is therefore difficult to verify. Also for events occurring before the Gregorian calendar was adopted [1582] the dates may not be totally accurate.
§    And That Is All for Now  §
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9/14/13


FYI: Any blue text is a link. Click to check it out!
Almanac: Flagstaff:  Week: 37/ Day: 257   
Today: H 73°…L 46°…Ave. humidity:  64%
Wind: ave:   3mph; Gusts:  10mph  
Average Low: 43°
Average High: 74°
Record Low: 26 (1952)
Record High: 89° (1990)

Quote of the Day



Today’s Historical Highlights
1st broadcast of "60 Minutes" on CBS-TV…1968
1st lighthouse in American colonies lit (Boston Harbor)…1716
1st prefrontal lobotomy performed, Washington DC…1956
2 billion board feet of lumber destroyed in Tillamook Oregon fire…1933
Bishop Gore School, one of the oldest schools in Wales, founded…1682
Francis Scott Key inspired to write "Star-Spangled Banner"…1814
Golf's 1st recorded hole-in-one (Tom Morris at Prestwick's 8th hole)…1868
Ground breaking ceremony for UN world headquarters…1948
Ken Griffey, Sr & Jr, hit back-to-back HRs in 1st inning…1990
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) forms…1960
Soviet Union's Luna-2 is 1st spacecraft to land on the Moon…1959

♫  Today’s Birthdays: ♫   
How many can you identify?…answers in Today’s Birthdays



My Free Rambling Thoughts   
So I go to pick up my scripts at CVS at 11:45…the machine said they would be ready at 11:00. ‘Sorry, we don’t have one of your scripts.’ ‘Why didn’t you call and tell me?’ ‘We were busy’. ‘The truck will be in this afternoon and should be ready about 3pm.’ ‘Can I see the manager?’ ‘I’m not the manager but I can help you.’ ‘Why didn’t you call?’ ‘Oh, the truck just came in. We will have to go through the 12 crates but will do that right now.’  ‘I’ll come back tomorrow.’ Then at 1:45 they all my house to say they have been going through the crates and still haven’t found my script. Now my new question is how can 12 crates come in and the non-pharmacy staff can go through all the crates, including the medicine that requires a script along with all the soap, liquor, and cosmetics?...doesn’t sound like a sound business practice. Seems to me the medicine should be in one or two crates marked ‘Pharmacy ONLY’. Right now I’m picturing a big warehouse will everything that goes to the store on alphabetical shelves, with codeine right next to coffee, and valium right next to vodka. Hmmm.
 
We had a nice weather day with a few clouds, a coolish breeze, and no moisture. Nice.
 
I finally got a call from the tour operator for my trip to Cuba. For some unknown reason to me, it is cheaper to fly from Phoenix to Denver to Miami than it is to fly from Phoenix to Miami. The airlines give a good deal to tours…with the cost from Denver to Miami is about $300 whereas they won’t give me a break so the Phoenix to Miami flight is $480. Whatever! I checked the flights from Phoenix to Miami and the cheapest one I could find was $625, so it is a better deal for the tour people. No way to avoid an overnight stay both ways somewhere. Either in Denver to make the Miami flight, or leaving Phoenix at 5:30a…on the trip back same thing…arrive in Phoenix at 8:45p and wait for the earliest shuttle at 6:30a.
Game  Center (answers at the end of post)
Brain Teasers
Find an anagram for the words in Group A. The anagram will answer one of the clues in Group B.
Group A 1. Dover 2. Quale 3. Harpo 4. Shore 5. Canoe 6. Rebut
Group B
A. Took the wheel B. Pacific or Indian C. Root veggie D. Fifty-fifty E. Thoroughbred F. Book Club personality

Lifestyle  Substance:     
Found on You Tube with some relevance to today

Hmmmm…Fearsome Phobias
If you have an irrational fear of... Closed spacesYou're suffering from... Claustrophobia: Latin claustrum "a shut in place," from claudere "to close"
If you have an irrational fear of... Clothing
You're suffering from... Vestiophobia: Latin vestimenta meaning covering the body or clothes
It is Illegal…
It is Illegal to walk across a street on your hands in Connecticut
Privileges granted to people in the U.S. (and many western nations) for being Christian…
You can travel to any part of the country and know your religion will be accepted, safe, and you will have access to religious spaces to practice your faith.
Ok, then?



Harper’s Index    
Chances that a Russian supports changing St. Petersburg’s name back to Leningrad: 1 in 3
Unusual Fact of the Day
Olympus Mons on Mars is the tallest known volcanic mountain in our solar system. 14 miles in height!
Animals with the strongest jaws…
Jaguar 2000 psi
The jaguar has the strongest bite force of any cat, and by my findings, the strongest bite of any mammal. The real king of the jungle, the jaguar is found from Mexico to Argentina. The jaguar kills by biting the head of its prey. Like most other big cats (except the lion) the jaguar is a solitary killer. The jaguar is renowned to for its ability to successfully kill anacondas and caimans. Its bite is so strong it can easily pierce through the shell of animals, like turtles. The jaguar comes from the Amerindian word Yaguar which means “he who kills with one leap.” Despite being smaller than its cousins in Africa and Asia, it is still the biggest cat in the Americas. Believed to have been eliminated from the southern United States over 100 years ago, there are rumors of a breeding population in Arizona. Jaguars are believed to be most numerous in Belize, specifically the jaguar sanctuary in Cockscomb Basin.
Joke-of-the-day
A man and an ostrich walk into a restaurant. The waitress asks, "What will it be?"
The man replied "a burger and a coke." "And you?" "I'll have the same," the ostrich replies. They finish their meal and pay. "That will be $4.50," The man reached into his pocket and pulled out the exact amount. They do this every day till Fri.
"The usual?" she asked. "No, today is Friday. I'll have steak and a coke."
"Me too." says the ostrich. They finish and pay. "That will be $10.95"
The man reached in and pulls out the exact amount again just like all week.
The waitress was dumb-founded. "How is it that you always have the exact amount?"
"Well," says the man. "I was cleaning my attic and I found a dusty lamp. I rubbed it and a genie appeared."
“Wow!" said the waitress. "What did you wish for?"
"I asked that when I needed to pay for something, the exact amount would appear in my pocket." "Amazing! Most people would ask for a million dollars. But what's with the ostrich?"
"Well," said the man. "I also asked for a chick with long legs."
Rules of Thumb:   
Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess
ESTIMATING THE CONSTRUCTION COSTS
In construction, you'll spend one dollar on labor for every one dollar you spend on materials.   
Yeah, It Really Happened
HANOVER, N.H. - U.S. researchers say they've linked a cosmic impact in Canada 12,900 years ago to a global climate shift that wiped out many of the planet's large mammals. Scientists at Dartmouth College said the cataclysmic event may have prompted humans to start gathering and growing some of their food rather than solely hunting big game. The impact of an asteroid or comet at the beginning of the Younger Dryas period marks an abrupt global change to a colder, dryer climate with far-reaching effects on both animals and humans, they said. In North America large animals including mastodons, camels, giant ground sloths and saber-toothed cats vanished, the researchers said, and their human hunters, the Clovis people, set aside their hunting spears and turned to a hunter-gatherer subsistence diet of roots, berries and smaller game. "The Younger Dryas cooling impacted human history in a profound manner," researcher Mukul Sharma said. The assumption of a cosmic impact goes against the prevailing view that the Younger Dryas cooling period was due to a change in ocean currents that kept warm tropical waters from moving northward. Sharma and his colleagues argue analysis of spherules -- droplets of solidified molten rock expelled by the impact of a comet or meteor -- at Younger Dryas boundary later sites in Pennsylvania and New Jersey are identical to rock found in southern Quebec, where Sharma and his colleagues say they believe the impact took place. "We have for the first time narrowed down the region where a Younger Dryas impact did take place," Sharma says, "even though we have not yet found its crater." "It may well have taken multiple concurrent impacts to bring about the extensive environmental changes of the Younger Dryas," he said. "However, to date no impact craters have been found and our research will help track one of them down."
Somewhat Useless Information   
  • September is the ninth month and the only month with the same number of letters in its name in English as the number of the month.
  • In 1752 in Britain, September had only 19 days as we changed from Julian to Gregorian calendar.
  • The only US president to have had a September birthday was William Taft (president 1909-13).
  • In America, the first Sunday after the first Monday in September is celebrated as National Grandparents' Day.
  • The last day of September in any year always falls on a different day of the week from the last day of any other month.
  • At least six films have had the title 'September', which is more than any other month.

Calendar Information        
Happening This Week:
8th-15th
International Housekeepers Week
National Assisted Living Week 
National Historically Black Colleges & Universities Week
Substitute Teacher Appreciation Week 
Suicide Prevention Week
9th-14th
Line Dance Week
12th-15th
Hummingbird Celebration

Today Is                                                                      
·        Farmers' Consumer Awareness Day
·        National Cream Filled Donut Day
~~~~
·        Nicaragua~~Battle of San Jacinto Day (1856)

Today’s Events through History  
"Waltons" TV program premieres…1972
Britain (and American colonies) adopt Gregorian calendar…1752
Chubby Checker's "Twist" hits #1…1960
First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill visits Scapa Flow, Orkney…1939
George K Anderson patents typewriter ribbon…1886
Mother Elizabeth Seton canonized as 1st US-born saint by Pope Paul VI…1975
Rembrandts "Nightwatch" slashed & damaged in Amsterdam…1975
Spanish Governor Galvez issues an act, in New Orleans. He orders the military, 
     and Spanish subjects to "respect the rights of these Indians in the lands they 
     occupy and to protect them in the possession thereof."…1777

Today’s Birthdays                                                            
Walter Koenig, actor (Checkov-Star Trek) is 77
Jon "Bowser" Bauman, singer (Sha Na Na) is 67
Sam Neill, Northern Ireland, actor (Jurassic Park, Dead Calm, Piano) is 66
Faith Ford, actress (Another World, Corky-Murphy Brown) is 49

Remembered for being born today
Margaret Sanger, feminist/nurse/birth control proponent [1879-1966]
Albert Shanker, American labor leader (Amer Fed of Teachers) [1928-1997]
Clayton Moore, actor Lone Ranger [1914-1999]
Amy Winehouse, London, singer ("Stronger Than Me, Rehab) [1983-2011]

Today’s Historical Obits                                                           
James Fenimore Cooper, prolific author…dropsy…1851…@61
Isadora Duncan..her scarf entangled in her car's wheel…1927…@50
Janet Gaynor, actress (Sunrise)…a traffic accident…1984…@77
Henry Gibson, actor (Laugh-In]/songwriter…cancer…2009…@73
Grace Kelly, princess of Monaco…car crash…1982…@52
William McKinley, 25th US President…gunshot wounds…1901…@58
Jody Powell, press secretary to Jimmy Carter…heart attack…2009...@65
Beah Richards, actress (Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner)…2000…@80
Patrick Swayze, actor, dancer, and songwriter…cancer…2009…@57

Brain Teasers
1. Drove (a) 2. Equal (d) 3. Oprah (f) 4. Horse (e) 5. Ocean (b) 6. Tuber (c)
Disclaimer: All opinions are mine…feel free to agree or disagree.
All ‘data’ info is from the internet sites and is usually checked with at least one other source, but I have learned that every site has mistakes and sadly once out the information is out there, many sites simply copy it and is therefore difficult to verify. Also for events occurring before the Gregorian calendar was adopted [1582] the dates may not be totally accurate.
§    And That Is All for Now  §
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Flagstaff, Arizona, United States
I retired in '06--at the ripe old age of 57. I enjoy blogging, photography, traveling, and living life to it's fullest.