Oct 9

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Oct. 9, 2019 Week: 41  Day: 282

86004:   H 72° \ L 41° \ Average Sky Cover: 5% 

Nearest active fire:  119mi.  Nearest lightning:  200mi

Wind:   4mph\Gusts:  7mph  Visibility: 10 mi

Record High: 81°[1986]   Record Low: 28°[1970]

Oct. Averages: 63°\32° ( 4 days with moisture)

Today’s Quote

The earth is the mother of all people,

and

all people should have equal rights upon it.

Chief Joseph

Random Tidbits

Best Sellers…

5. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling: 107 million copies sold

The British name of this popular novel is actually Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. The U.S. editor for this book thought that "Philosopher's Stone" didn't convey magic overtly enough

6. And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie: 100 million copies sold

In this legendary mystery novel, each murder relates to a line in an old nursery rhyme.

Observances This Month

National Family Sexuality Education Month - Let's Talk! Link
National "Gain The Inside Advantage" Month
National Go On A Field Trip Month
National Kitchen & Bath Month Link
National Liver Awareness Month
National Medical Librarian Month
National Orthodontic Health Month
National Physical Therapy Month
National Pork Month Link
National Protect Your Hearing Month Link
National Pregnancy & Infant Loss Awareness Month Link
National Reading Group Month
National RSV Awareness Month Link
National Sarcastic Awareness Month
National Seafood Month Link
National Spina Bifida Awareness Month
National Stamp Collecting Month
National Toilet Tank Repair Month Link
National Window Covering Safety Month Link
National Work and Family Month
National Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Awareness Month

Observances This Week

3-10

No Salt Week

4-10

World Space Week Link

5-13

Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta Link

6-12

4-H Week
Death Penalty Focus Week
Emergency Nurses Week
Fire Prevention Week  Link
Getting The World To Beat A Path To Your Door Week
Great Books Week
International Post Card Week Link 
Mental Illness Awareness Week

Mystery Series Week
National Carry A Tune Week  Link  
National Metric Week 
National Physicians Assistant Week
Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging Week

7-11

Customer Service Week Link
Drive Safely Work Week Link 
Financial Planning Week
Kids' Goal Setting Week
National Health Care Food Service Week Link  
National Heimlich Heroes Week
National National Work From Home Week
Primary Care Physicians Week  Link

7-13

Spinning & Weaving Week Link  

Observances for Today

Bullying Prevention Day  
Curious Events Day

Fire Prevention Day

International Beer and Pizza Day  Link
International Top Spinning Day  
Leif Erikson Day

Moldy Cheese Day
National Bring Your Teddy Bear To Work & School Day 
National Chess Day   Link  
National Hoagy Day

National Moldy-Cheese Day

National Nanotechnology Day  Link
National Pro-Life Cupcake Day
Nautilus Night (Cephalopods)  Link
S.A.V.E. (Stop America's Violence Everywhere) Link  
Take Your Teddy Bear to Work Day

World Post Day

My Rambling Thoughts

A great fall day…blue sky, warm temperatures, and slight wind…a good day to be here.

I got a great picture and have updated the Focus Travel Club site to honor Martha Meyer, a great traveler, who passed a week ago. Thanks to his daughter for the great picture. Check it out.

I got a nice couch and love seat when I was living on the Rez. It is comfortable, well-made, with nice cushions with great support. The problem has been that the cushions like to slide out a little, meaning that they have to be shoved back in every so often. I finally found a simple solution: Velcro strips. I put them on all five cushions about a week ago. Haven’t slipped out since. Wish I had tried these a long time ago.

While I was out and about I found a new gadget for my new phone. It sticks to the back of the case and pops out to make the phone easier to hold, and pushes back in when no needed. A cute little gadget for only about $5.

Earlier this year our discussion group had a meeting about the Kurds, their relationship with Turkey and Syria, and how the US was assisting them in the ongoing conflict. Most are Sunni Muslim with some being Christian. They have no homeland and are spread out throughout the Middle East. The recent decision to pull out American troops from the area will probably lead to genocide to the Kurds in that area. Sad.

A standoff between the NBA the Chinese government over that infamous tweet. The Chinese people spend lots of money with the NBA in tickets and merchandise. Latest news is that the Chinese will not be broadcasting preseason NBA games. NBA is trying to fix it, but hasn’t so far.

Today’s Puzzle

Answer at the bottom of this page

I’m an argument of why my side should win,

And worn by men for privacy.

I don’t last long if I get under your skin,

And I rhyme with a kind of misery.

What am I?

Historical Events

Fire Prevention Day is part of Fire Prevention week and is observed on October 9. The observance of this day was initiated by President Calvin Coolidge in 1925. Besides being both a day and week for young people and adults to learn how to make their homes safer against accidental fires, it also is a remembrance of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.

768 - Carloman I and Charlemagne were crowned Kings of The Franks. Carloman died in 771, and Charlemagne reigned until 814.

1767 - Surveying for the Mason-Dixon line separating Maryland from Pennsylvania was completed.

1824 - Slavery was abolished in Costa Rica.

1873 - The US Naval Institute was established.

1888 - The Washington Monument officially opened to the public.

1919 - The Cincinnati Reds won the World Series, and eight White Sox players were later accused of intentionally losing games in exchange for money from gamblers.

1961 - #1 Hit: Ray Charles - Hit the Road Jack

1965 - #1 Hit: The Beatles - Yesterday

1967 - Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara was executed in Bolivia .

1976 - #1 Hit: Walter Murphy and the Big Apple Band - A Fifth of Beethoven

1980 - Pope John Paul II met and shook hands with the Dalai Lama in Vatican City.

1999 - #1 Hit: Mariah Carey featuring Jay-Z - Heartbreaker

2006 - North Korea may have tested its first nuclear device.

2012 - Pakistani Taliban made a failed attempt to assassinate 15 year-old Malala Yousafzai on her way home from school.

2014 Patrick Modiano wins the 2014 Nobel Prize in Literature

2014 Gatwick, Heathrow and JFK airports enhance screening for the Ebola virus

2018 President Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley says she is resigning at the end of the year

Birthdays Today

Robert Wuhl, actor, comedian, writer (67)

Sharon Osbourne, reality star, talk show host (67)

Tony Shalhoub, TV actor (Monk) (66)

Scott Bakula, TV actor (65)

Guillermo del Toro, director (55)

David Cameron, UK politician (53)

Sean Lennon, composer, John’s son (44)

John Lennon, musician

 (d. 1980 @40; assassinated)

Brandon Routh, actor (Superman Returns) (40)

Puzzle answer:

Brief (or briefs).

A legal brief is a short outline of the arguments in a court case, briefs are worn by men to cover their privates. Brief also means to not last long and brief rhymes with grief, a kind of misery.

Oct 8

FYI: Any blue text is a link. Click to check it out!

Oct. 8, 2019 Week: 41  Day: 281

86004:   H 70° \ L 38° \ Average Sky Cover: 5% 

Nearest active fire:  28mi.  Nearest lightning:  1054mi

Wind:   7mph\Gusts:  13mph  Visibility: 10 mi

Record High: 80°[1980]   Record Low: 21°[1900]

Oct. Averages: 63°\32° ( 4 days with moisture)

Today’s Quote

The soul that is within me

no man can degrade.

Frederick Douglass

Random Tidbits

Best sellers

3. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien:

150 million copies sold

Although we know The Lord of the Rings as a trilogy, it originally was published as one massive book.

4. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery:

142 million copies sold

Astronomers named an actual asteroid after the one the little prince lives on in this novel.

Observances This Month

National Chiropractic Health Month
National Crime Prevention Month
National Critical Illness Awareness Month
National Cyber Security Awareness Month Link
National Disability Employment Awareness Month Link
National Depression Education & Awareness Month
National Disability Employment Awareness Month
National Domestic Violence Awareness Month
National Down Syndrome Month
National Dwarfism Awareness Month  Link
National Ergonomics Month Link

Observances This Week

3-10

No Salt Week

4-10

World Space Week Link

5-13

Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta Link

6-12

4-H Week
Death Penalty Focus Week
Emergency Nurses Week
Fire Prevention Week  Link
Getting The World To Beat A Path To Your Door Week
Great Books Week
International Post Card Week Link 
Mental Illness Awareness Week

Mystery Series Week
National Carry A Tune Week  Link  
National Metric Week 
National Physicians Assistant Week
Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging Week

7-11

Customer Service Week Link
Drive Safely Work Week Link 
Financial Planning Week
Kids' Goal Setting Week
National Health Care Food Service Week Link  
National Heimlich Heroes Week
National National Work From Home Week
Primary Care Physicians Week  Link

7-13

Spinning & Weaving Week Link  

Observances for Today

Ada Lovelace Day 
Alvin C. York Day
American Touch Tag Day

National Face Your Fears Day 
National Fluffernutter Day

National Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Day
National Pierogi Day
National Salmon Day
World Child Development Day  
World Octopus Day Link
Yom Kippur

My Rambling Thoughts

I took a break yesterday. Cardinal’s football, Bronco’s football took up my time. Both teams were on my TV and both teams won. Wins are always nice. The CU game didn’t give a win, but was a good game Saturday.

While watching the game I did do a couple of loads of laundry and cleaned the kitchen counters. All done during commercials and half-time babbling.

I needed to do some grocery shopping early this morning. Haven’t shopped on a Monday morning in a while. At 8:30a the parking lot was almost full. Got in and got out as quickly as possible. Guess lots of people didn’t shop yesterday.

For the record: I am not a Trump supporter. I don’t like his policies that hurt Americans, especially environmental, the wall, and his lack of international policy. I also don’t like his attitude and his demeaning speech to anyone who doesn’t agree with him. The above doesn’t mean I’m for impeachment. I have lived through 3 impeachment procedures: Nixon, Clinton, and now Trump. As the Nixon Impeachment progressed he was convinced he was going to lose so he resigned. As the Clinton impeachment progressed he decided to just keep doing his job. The Senate let him keep his job. Now we are in another impeachment. It is hard to separate Trump’s rhetoric from his action. The Dems have had a hard time separating the two, like most of the American citizens. I believe this should be allowed to play itself out. No matter the outcome, this country must, at some point, unite for the good of the American values and beliefs. I will support the decisions of Congress and work to reunite Americans. I won’t gloat if I like the outcome; I won’t decry the verdict if I don’t like the outcome. This is a real test of our democracy. Americans have always disagreed on various ideals and we have always eventually found a way to agree to keep our democracy strong.

The NBA is having a controversy over the China/Hong Kong situation. One tweet has sparked the controversy. Now many more tweets are out there trying to fix things. The NBA is really just a business. Its main objective is to make money. In the past few years the NBA found a real market for basketball in China. Players have been recruited, games have been played in China, merchandise is made in China & sold to the Chinese people, and lots of NBA shareholders are making big bucks. The NBA, a business, has not been interested in commenting on the social conditions, the human rights situation, or any other political issues. That has been changed by one tweet. WOW!

Interesting: Our little horseshoe shaped drive currently has a UPS truck, a FedEx truck, and a USPS truck delivering packages…all arriving and leaving in about 3 minutes. Getting a little crowded.  

It’s National Emergency Nurse’s Day. Brings back many memories of my mom. She had always wanted to be a nurse, but got married and made her family. In the mid-1960’s she volunteered one afternoon a week at Lutheran Hospital in Wheat Ridge. She didn’t want to do the ‘gift-shop’ stuff, and asked if she could volunteer to help nurses and doctors. She was assigned the ER. She did this every week for several decades. She really enjoyed it, told some amazing stories of her four hours a week in ER. She helped clean up patients, talked to family members, and received several volunteer awards during her time there. She was still volunteering when my dad had a major heart attack. She stayed at the hospital most of that night, waiting to see if my Dad would live or die. He survived. Many of her nurse friends, and our good friend Bob, helped her though the trauma that night. She was back at volunteering the next week.

Today’s Puzzle

Answer at the bottom of this page

Left alone, I’m a word with five letters.

I’m honest and fair, I’ll admit.

Rearranged, I’m of use to trains.

Again, and I’m an overt place, warm & well lit.

What am I?

Historical Events

Emergency Nurses day was established on October 8, 1989 in order to honor the nurses who specifically work in hospital emergency rooms. These nurses play an intrinsic part of a community’s life. Responding quickly to life endangering circumstances but also having to have a compassionate heart towards patients who are seriously ill and towards families who will find out in the emergency room of the loss of a loved one. Thank an ER nurse today!

1860 - Telegraph line between Los Angeles and San Francisco began operating.

1881 - Haighong Typhoon, Vietnam

1871 - Peshtigo Fire, Wisconsin (2000 estimated dead)

1871 - Great Michigan Fire (500? killed)

1871 - Great Chicago Fire (300 estimated dead)

1967 - Che Guevara and his men were captured in Bolivia.

1979 - Broadway Show - Sugar Babies (Review) opened

1982 - Cats, based on Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot, opened on Broadway and ran for nearly 18 years before closing on September 10, 2000.

1984 - The Burning Bed starring Farrah Fawcett, aired on NBC

1985 - East End Show - Les Miserable (Musical) October 8, 1985

1986 - The Fox Broadcasting Company became the US' fourth commercial broadcast television network, with The Late Show, hosted by Joan Rivers.

1988 - #1 Hit: Def Leppard - Love Bites

2001 - US President George W. Bush announced the establishment of the Office of Homeland Security.

2004 Kenyan Wangari Maathai is the first African woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for "her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace"

2005 (Earthquake) Kashmir, Pakistan

2012 Hugo Chávez is re-elected as president of Venezuela for a fourth term

2014 Eric Betzig, Stefan Hell and William Moerner win the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the development of super-resolved fluorescence microscopy

2015 Nobel Prize for Literature awarded to Belarusian journalist and author Svetlana Alexievich

2017 Wildfires ignite in Northern Californian wine country, killing at least 41 over the next week, with 20,000 evacuated

2018 Major climate report by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change for the UN says planet will warm 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit (1.5 degrees Celsius) by 2040 with dire results

2018 Nobel Prize for Economics awarded to William Nordhaus for climate change and Paul Romer for endogenous growth theory

Birthdays Today

Jesse Jackson, civil rights leader (78)

Cornelius Crane "Chevy" Chase, actor, comedian (76)

R. L. Stine, Young Adult author (76)

Susan Alexandra "Sigourney" Weaver, actor (70)

Frank Herbert, science fiction author (Dune)

 (d. 1986 @65)

CeCe Winans,

[Priscilla Marie Winans Love] Gospel singer (55)

Matt Damon, actor (49)

Nick Cannon, TV Actor (39)

Bruno Mars,

[Peter Gene Hernandez] singer (34)

Puzzle answer:

The answer is LIAR. After rearranging the letters, you can get RAIL – important for trains, or LAIR – a dark, hidden place. Since the riddler is a liar, the resulting words are exactly the opposite of his descriptions.