Aug 30

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Aug. 30, 2019 Week: 35  Day: 242

86004:   H 81° \ L 53° \ Average Sky Cover: 85% 

Nearest wildfire:  27mi.  Nearest lightning:  2mi

Wind:   2mph\Gusts:  4mph  Visibility: 10 mi

Record High: 90°[1948]   Record Low: 36°[1975]

Aug Averages: 79°\50° (9 day with rain)

Today’s Quote

A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep.

Saul Bellow

Random Tidbits

The American Dietetic Association (ADA) concludes that a vegetarian or vegan diet is healthier than one that includes meat. They note that vegetarians have lower body mass indices, lower rates of death from heart disease, lower blood cholesterol levels, lower blood pressure, lower rates of hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and less prostate and colon cancer.

There are several types of vegetarians. The strictest type is vegans. Vegans avoid not only meat but also all animal products. There is a debate within the vegan community about whether honey is appropriate for a vegan diet. For example, the Vegan Society and the American Vegan Society do not consider honey appropriate because it comes from an animal.

Observances This Week

24-9/1

Chuckwagon Races: 24-9/1 

25-31

Be Kind To Humankind Week
World Water Week  Link
National Composites Week Link
National Safe at Home Week

29-9/2

National Sweet Corn Week

Observances for Today

Cow Chip Throwing days: thru31

Frankenstein Day

International Cabernet Sauvignon Day  Link

International Day of The Victims of Enforced Disappearances Link

International Whale Shark Day 

Muharram (at Sundown )  (Islamic New Year) 

National College Colors Day  Link

National Grief Awareness Day  Link

National Holistic Pet Day

National Toasted Marshmallow Day  Link

My Rambling Thoughts

Yesterday I took my friend/former boss Andy to his PT and got a free lunch for my trouble. Nice. Didn’t get home until about 3:30 and didn’t have time to write, partly because we had a huge long thunderstorm and I didn’t want my computer on.

Today it was lunch with our retirement group. Nice lunch at a Flagstaff Diner that I hadn’t been to since the mid 1970’s. New furniture, same model train running, really good home cooked food. Can’t believe I hadn’t been there in so long. Must admit it was a common stop after a Saturday night out on the town.

Another big storm is hitting right now, but not as much lightning. We need the moisture from both storms. Yesterday’s had minimal flooding around town and the Jersey barriers and sandbags did a good job. Hopefully that works today too. Just got an alert on my phone that there is a small lightning caused fire near the road to the local ski area. Fireman there have it under control.

Our guide through Ireland a few years back mentioned how easy it was to go from N. Ireland and Ireland…”you just keep driving”. He reminded us that before and during The Troubles, it was a complicated, time-consuming process. Sadly it looks like the Brexit thing is going to take Ireland/N. Ireland borders back to the former way. Sad.

Today’s Puzzle

Answer at the bottom of this page

I have cities, but no houses. I have mountains, but no trees. I have water, but no fish. What am I?

This riddle aims to confuse you and get you to focus on the things that are missing: the houses, trees, and fish. You might guess you need to think about something inanimate.

Historical Events

1835 - Melbourne, Australia was founded.

1836 - The city of Houston, named after former General Sam Houston, was founded by Augustus Chapman Allen and John Kirby Allen.

1945 - Hong Kong was liberated from Japan by British Armed Forces.

1963 - The Moscow to Washington hotline between the leaders of the U.S.A. and the Soviet Union went into operation.

1967 - Thurgood Marshall was confirmed as the first African American Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.

1975 - #1: KC and the Sunshine Band - Get Down Tonight

1980 - #1 Hit: Christopher Cross - Sailing

1983 - Lt. Col. Guion S. Bluford, JR was the first African American in space aboard the space shuttle Challenger.

1984 - The Space Shuttle Discovery took off on its maiden voyage.

1986 - #1: Steve Winwood - Higher Love

1993- David Letterman premiered his late night talk show on CBS.

1997 -#1:  Boyz II Men - 4 Seasons of Loneliness

1999- Countess Vaughn left the series Moesha for her own spinoff series The Parkers with Monique. She was the first African-American comedienne to receive a spin-off TV show.

2003 - While being towed across the Barents Sea, the de-commissioned Russian submarine K-159 sank, taking nine of her crew and 800 kg of spent nuclear fuel with her.

Birthdays Today

Warren Buffett, billionaire entrepreneur (89)

Ted Williams, baseball Hall of Fame

(d. 2002 @ 83)

Fred MacMurray, actor

(d. 1991 @83)

Robert Crumb, cartoonist (76)

Lewis Black, social critic, comedian (71)

Mary Shelly, Novelist [Frankenstein]

(d. 1851 @53; brain tumor)

Frederique Van Der Wal, Victoria Secret Model (52)

Michael Michele, actor [TV series: ER] (52)

Cameron Diaz, actor, writer (47)

Lisa Ling, journalist, TV personality (46)

Puzzle answer:

A map

Aug 28

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Aug. 28, 2019 Week: 35  Day: 240

86004:   H 89° \ L 55° \ Average Sky Cover: 20% 

Nearest wildfire:  27mi.  Nearest lightning:  126mi

Wind:   6mph\Gusts:  6mph  Visibility: 10 mi

Record High: 89°[1948]   Record Low: 33°[1920]

Aug Averages: 79°\50° (9 day with rain)

Today’s Quote

We are not permitted to choose the frame of our destiny. But what we put into it is ours.

Dag Hammarskjold

Random Tidbits

Several studies show that a plant-based diet increases the body's metabolism, causing the body to burn calories up to 16 percent faster than the body would on a meat-based diet for at least the first 3 hours after meals.

Some research suggests that if a man avoids red meats, it improves the sex appeal of his body odor.

Observances This Week

24-9/1

Chuckwagon Races: 24-9/1 

25-31

Be Kind To Humankind Week
World Water Week  Link
National Composites Week Link
National Safe at Home Week

Observances for Today

Bow Tie Day

Crackers Over The Keyboard Day

National Cherry Turnovers Day

National Power Rangers Day Link

Race Your Mouse Around the Icons Day

Radio Commercials Day

Rainbow Bridge Remembrance Day (lost pets) Link

Tug-of-War Day Link 

My Rambling Thoughts

Another very warm day, but the slight breeze is helping. Nice walk before it got so warm. Started about 7a. Finished in time to do laundry, have the monthly check-up on my computer, and read the paper all before 11a. Now have to put all the clothes away.

It took 2 years, but the Hollywood Fla. Nursing Home employees finally got charged with manslaughter after letting 4 elderly patients die from the heat when Hurricane Irma knocked out power. About time.

Various stories about G7, not surprised and a little alarmed, just wish it would stop. What happened to truth?

Today’s Puzzle

Answer at the bottom of this page

You measure my life in hours and I serve you by expiring.

I’m quick when I’m thin and slow when I’m fat.

The wind is my enemy. What am I?

Historical Events

1609 - Henry Hudson discovered the Delaware Bay.

1789 - William Herschel discovered another Saturn moon, Enceladus.

1830 - The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's (B&O) new 'Tom Thumb' steam locomotive races a horse-drawn car, presaging steam's role in US railroads.

1833 - The Slavery Abolition Act 1833 received Royal Assent, abolishing slavery through most the British Empire.

1845 - The first issue of Scientific American magazine was published.

1898 - Caleb Bradham invented the carbonated soft drink that would later be called "Pepsi-Cola".

1955 - Black 14-year-old Emmett Till was brutally murdered in Mississippi, for 'flirting' with a white woman, galvanizing the nascent American Civil Rights Movement.

1961 - #1 Hit: Joe Dowell - Wooden Heart (Muss I Denn)

1963 - At the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his “I Have a Dream” speech.

1996 - Charles, Prince of Wales and Diana, Princess of Wales got divorced.

Birthdays Today

Jack Kirby, comic book artist [DC Comics…]

 (d. 1994 @ 76; heart failure)

David Soul, actor, singer (76)

Luis Guzman, Puerto Rican actor (Boogie Nights) (63)

Shania Twain, country singer (54)

Billy Boyd, movie actor (51)

Jason Priestley, TV actor (50)

Jack Black, movie actor (50)

LeAnn Rimes, country singer (37)

Puzzle answer:

A candle

Aug 27

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Aug. 27, 2019 Week: 35  Day: 239

86004:   H 86° \ L 56° \ Average Sky Cover: 20% 

Nearest wildfire:  27mi.  Nearest lightning:  814mi

Wind:   3mph\Gusts:  5mph  Visibility: 10 mi

Record High: 88°[1994]   Record Low: 36°[1978]

Aug Averages: 79°\50° (9 day with rain)

Today’s Quote

If you aren't fired with enthusiasm,

you will be fired with enthusiasm.

Vince Lombardi

Random Tidbits

The U.S. government borrows approximately $5 billion every business day.

The U.S. government pays more than $1 billion each day just on interest on its debt

In 2008, U.S. households lost an estimated 18% of their net worth, equaling approximately an $11.2 trillion loss. This collapse was the largest since the Federal Reserve began tracking household wealth after WWII.

Observances This Week

24-9/1

Chuckwagon Races: 24-9/1 

25-31 Be Kind To Humankind Week  World Water Week  Link

National Composites Week Link

 National Safe at Home Week

Observances for Today

Just Because Day

Global Forgiveness Day

National Burger Day

National Pots de Creme Day

The Duchess Who Wasn't Day

My Rambling Thoughts

I headed out early to do some needed shopping. Got it done and home in record time. It’s another warm day with 20% humidity, making it feel a lot warmer in this dry climate.

Maricopa County (think Phoenix) made Nat’l news again. Joe Arpaio, the 87-year-old former sheriff who was pardoned by the President for being unfair to Brown people and who started a tent city for inmates that were forced to wear pink underwear, has now decided he will run again in 2020. He lost last time after a 34 year reign. Only in AZ. That county is very conservative and Ol’ Joe may have a chance.

I wrote about Cyber technology yesterday and said it was scary. Then, last night on 60 Minutes, they had a piece on Cyber-crime. They were reporting on the number of cities in the US that have had their computer servers infected and then encrypted. The only way to get their data back is to pay the hackers around $80,000. The good guys say they keep the amount that low, because they figure every city will pay that much to get their data back. Other victims include hospitals where they can’t access patient records. Their fear is that computer machines that keep patients alive could be hacked also. One hospital waited 2 weeks to pay, after they had to create 10,000 sheets of paper records on their current patients.

G-7 is over and no major gaffes. Nice. He skipped the climate change session. And our leader didn’t even mention nuking hurricanes that are off shore. Probably good he skipped the climate change stuff.

Today’s Puzzle

Answer at the bottom of this page

A woman was in court for killing her husband. She said she wasn’t guilty and that she dearly missed him. In the closing statement, the woman’s lawyer stands up and says, “Her husband was just missing. Everyone look at the doors. He’s going to walk through them in about 30 seconds.”

The entire jury stares at the doors waiting for waiting for this woman’s husband to walk through the doors. The lawyer and the woman stare at the jury.

The lawyer concludes by saying, “See! If you were so sure she killed her husband, you wouldn’t be watching that door!”

The jury immediately gave a guilty verdict. Why?

Historical Events

410 - The sacking of Rome by the Visigoths ended after three days.

1813 - French Emperor Napoleon I defeated a larger force of Austrians, Russians, and Prussians at the Battle of Dresden.

1859 - Petroleum was discovered in Titusville, Pennsylvania leading to the world's first commercially successful oil well.

1893 - Sea Islands Hurricane, Georgia, South Carolina.

1939 - First flight of the turbojet-powered Heinkel He 178, the world's first jet aircraft, in Germany.

1955 - The first copy of the Guinness Book of Records was issued.

1962 - The Mariner 2 unmanned space mission was launched to Venus by NASA.

1967 - Beatles manager Brian Epstein died of an accidental Carbitral overdose.

1988 - #1 Hit: George Michael - Monkey

1994 - #1 Hit: Boyz II Men - I'll Make Love To You

2003 - The first 6-party talks, involving South and North Korea, the United States, China, Japan and Russia, convened to find a resolution to the security concerns as a result of the North Korean nuclear weapons program.

2003 - Mars made its closest approach to Earth in nearly 60,000 years, passing just 34,646,418 miles away.

2011 - #1 Hit: Katy Perry - Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)

2011 - (Hurricane) Irene struck the United States east coast, killing 47 people.

Birthdays Today

Martha Raye, comic actor, singer  

(d. 1994 @78 pneumonia)

GW Bailey, character actor (M*A*S*H movie, Police Academy) (75)

Barbara Bach, actor [Bond girl] (71)

Pee Wee Herman [Paul Rubens], actor (67)

Lyndon Baines Johnson, 36^th US President

(d. 1973 @ 64; heart attack)

Tom Ford, fashion designer (58)

Chandra Wilson, actor (Grey’s Anatomy] (50)

Ma$e [Mason Durell Betha], rapper (44)

Puzzle answer:

The woman was watching the jury and not the doors because she knew that her husband wouldn’t walk through them because she had killed him. If she has really missed him like she said, she would have been watching the doors.