Feb 2

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

Feb. 2, 2020 Week: 1  Day: 33

86004:   H 54° \ L 29° \ Average Sky Cover: 5%

Nearest lightning:  1556mi.; Nearest active fire:  264mi.  

Wind:   8mph\Gusts:  15mph  Visibility: 10 mi

Record High: 62°[1976]   Record Low: -14°[1922]

Jan. Averages: 47°\19° (5 days with moisture)

Today’s LOVE Quote

To love deeply in one direction 

makes us more loving in all others.

Anne-Sophie Swetchine

Random Tidbits

Blue fin tuna populations have dropped more than 96 percent, primarily due to increasing sushi demands. Most of the blue fin tuna fishing occurs off the coast of Japan, which has very few limits on tuna fishing.

The most expensive price ever for a sushi-grade blue fin tuna was $1.8 million for a 222-kilogram fish in Japan. Over 80 percent of the world's declining tuna stock are eaten by the Japanese.

Observations this Month

Adopt A Rescued Rabbit Month Link
AMD/Low Vision Awareness Month
American Heart Month
An Affair To Remember Month  Link
Bake for Family Fun Month Link
Barley Month Link
Beat The Heat Month
Cricket World Cup (2/13-3/29)
Declutter For A Cause Month
Dog Training Education Month Link  Link
Fasting February  Link

Observations This Week

Women's Heart Week: 1-7
National Stationery Week: 2-5 Link 
Publicity for Profit Week: 2-8
African Heritage & Health Week: 2-8 
Dump Your Significant Jerk Week: 2-8 
Burn Awareness Week: 2-8 Link 
Children's Authors & Illustrators Week: 2-8 

Observations for Today

Ayn Rand Day  Link
Candelmas
Crepe Day
Crepe Day or La Chandeleur  Link
Dump Your Significant Jerk Day 
Groundhog Day
Groundhog Job Shadow Day
Hedgehog Day
Imbolc
Marmot Day Link
National Tater Tot Day

Play Your Ukulele Day

Popcorn Day  Link 
Sled Dog Day
Super Bowl LIV (54)
"The Record of a Sneeze" Day
World Wetlands Day Link

My Rambling Thoughts

I finally found a workaround for my problems with my Office program. The computer rescue service I use is not being helpful. I found a free program that does what I need since I can’t use office. A small learning curve, but better than no word processing program.

I had lunch with Mary on Thursday and Cheryl on Friday. Mary was headed to Phoenix early Friday, and Cheryl had a dog grooming appointment on Friday. Mary and I went to IHOP, my first visit to their new place. It was a good meal, and good conversation. Cheryl and I ate at one of our favorite places and I tried the fish fry. It was amazing. Cheryl is doing well, but hates driving to Flag from Williams so she spends her time in Williams.

I had another phlebotomy on Thursday after lunch. It took two nurses and four sticks to find a vein but than it went quickly. I may have to go to the phlebotomy area of the hospital so they can do an ultrasound to find the vein. Dr. said I should be good for at least 6 months.

The Senate voted for no witnesses. Not a happy camper. This democracy was not founded to make me a happy camper, so I will be fine with their decision. History will figure it all out.

Getting lots of emails about my adventure to Tahiti with Focus Travel in March. Guess it’s time to book my flight and shuttle to Denver. Starting to get very excited.

Today’s Puzzle

Answer at the bottom of the page

Two mothers and two daughters were fishing. They managed to catch one big fish, one small fish, one fat fish. Since only three fish were caught, how is it that they each took home a fish?

Historical Events

046 - The "Little Ice Age" began in Europe.

1653 - New Amsterdam (now the City of New York) was incorporated.

1709 British sailor Alexander Selkirk is rescued by William Dampier after being marooned on a desert island for 5 years, his story inspires "Robinson Crusoe

1876 - National League (now Major League Baseball) of baseball was founded

1887 - The first Groundhog Day was observed in Punxsutawney, PA

1892 - The bottle cap with cork seal was patented (#468,226) by William Painter, from Baltimore.

1893 - The Record of a Sneeze was filmed by Thomas Edison. It was the first filmed 'close up.'

1913 NY football Giants sign Jim Thorpe

1913 American poet Joyce Kilmer writes his famous poem "Trees" in Mahwah, New Jersey

1914 - Charlie Chaplin's first film appearance, Making a Living premiered in early theaters.

1922 - Ulysses by James Joyce was published.

1925 - Dog sleds, led by Gunnar Kasson, reached Nome, Alaska with diphtheria serum, inspiring the Iditarod Race.

1925 - Sears & Roebuck opened their first retail store, in Chicago.

1928 - Great Fall River Fire, Massachusetts

1936 - The record 24-hour snowfall for Hawaii was 6.5 inches that fell on the Haleakala volcano.

1950 - What's My Line debuted on CBS.

1961 -Nearly 600 passengers aboard the hijacked Santa Maria liner were finally landed and released in Brazil.

1964 - G.I. Joe action figures (they are not 'dolls'!) went on sale for the first time, featuring the four branches of the US military.

1967 - The American Basketball Association (ABA) was established. It only had four teams (New York Nets, Denver Nuggets, Indiana Pacers, and San Antonio Spurs) and later merged with its competition, the National Basketball Association (NBA).

1974 - # 1 Hit : Barbra Streisand - The Way We Were

1979 - Sid Vicious died of a heroin overdose in New York City.

1980 - An FBI operation called ABSCAM, an undercover operation regarding US congressional corruption was made known to the public.

1985 - # 1 Hit : Foreigner - I Want to Know What Love Is

1989 - Sky Television began broadcasting in the UK.

1990 - President De Klerk of South Africa lifted the 30-year ban on leading anti-apartheid group the African National Congress (ANC).

1992 - # 1 Hit : George Michael & Elton John - Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me

2000 - Oxygen debuted on cable.

2013 Shinzō Abe, Japan’s Prime Minister vows to defend the Senkaku Islands "at all costs"

2019 More than 40 mummies from 323-30 BC found at a burial site at Tuna el-Gebel archaeological site south of Cairo, Egypt

Birthdays Today

@89-Gale Gordon, actor (d.1995)

83-Tom Smothers, comedian

77-Graham Nash, singer, songwriter 

66-Christie Brinkley, model (1954)

@64-Stan Getz, saxaphonist (d.1991; liver cancer)

62-Farrah Fawcett, model, actor (d. 2009; cancer)

42-Shakira 'Shakira Mebarak', Pop singer

Puzzle Answer:

It was a granddaughter, mother and grandmother that went fishing. The mother is both a mother and a daughter thus is counted twice in the opening sentence.

Jan 30

I am going crazy. My Word program suddenly stopped working. My repair company isn't answering the phone. I can't access any of my word documents, including the blog format and the addresses I send this blog to. 
I'll try another way. Typing directly into the blog. Boring but will work.

NOTE: THIS TOOK WAY TOO LONG, SO UNTIL MY COMPUTER IS WORKING AGAIN I'M TAKING A BREAK. SORRY.

My thoughts:

The questions and answer part of the this impeachment thing are a great teaching tool for all Americans. Precise language is needed. Good orators are present. There are many views in this trial. I am also getting very tired of the 'in an election year, one can't...' We lived through the idiocy of that idea with Obama's attempt to appoint an Supreme Court Justice. Now the President's side is using it in the trial. Elections are very important. When anyone is elected to an office, they do not take an oath to work hard until one year before an election, then I will simply get paid, fill space, spend my time trying to get re-elected to this office. Nor do elected representatives take an oath that says: Now that I'm in office, I will begin fund raising today and promise to spend at least 50% of my work day raising funds. Sadly, that is where we are.

Puzzle:

I'm were yesterday follows today, and tomorrow is in the middle?

Historical Stuff for today

Janury 29, 1979 Texas Shooting: Teenager Brenda Spencer is considered the first modern day school shooter. In the midst of her shooting spree she actually answered a call from a journalist and said her reasoning was "[I] don't like Mondays. This livens up the day." She then resumed, killing 2 and injuring 9.

1790 - The first boat designed as a lifeboat was tested on the River Tyne.

1815 Burned US Library of Congress re-established with Thomas Jefferson's 6,500 volumes

1868 - Charles Darwin's book, Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication, was published.

1873 "Around the World in 80 Days" by Jules Verne is published in France by Pierre-Jules Hetzel

1948 - Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated by Nathuram Godse.

1958 - The first two-way, moving sidewalk (1,425 feet long) was put in service at Love Field Air Terminal in Dallas, TX.

1961 JFK asks for an Alliance for Progress & Peace Corps

1961 - #1 Hit : The Shirelles - Will You Love Me Tomorrow

1968 - The North Vietnamese Army and the Viet Cong began the Tet Offensive

1972 - British Paratroopers open fire on and kill fourteen unarmed civil rights/anti-internment marchers in Derry, Northern Ireland. It was commemorated by US with 1983's Sunday Bloody Sunday.

1973 - KISS played their 1st show at the Coventry Club in Queens New York.

1982 - #1 Hit: Daryl Hall and John Oates - I Can't Go for That (No Can Do)

2007 - Microsoft released Windows Vista.

2017 Scientists in central China reveal oldest known human ancestor - 540-million-year-old Saccorhytus in a fossil

2019 Peter Paul Rubens’s 1608 drawing "Nude Study of Young Man with Raised Arms" sells for $8.2 million at auction in New York

2019 Scientists reveal discovery of cavity six miles long, 1,000 feet deep under Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica, leading to fears it might collapse and raise sea levels by two feet

Puzzle Answer: The Dictionary

Jan 29

My computer has an issue with Microsoft Word. It won't open any of my files. Called my computer guy and he said Microsoft was having problems. It should be fixed by tomorrow. Crazy news for sure.
Have a good day.

Jan 28

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

Jan. 28, 2020 Week: 1  Day: 28

86004:   H 45° \ L 20° \ Average Sky Cover: 5%

Nearest lightning:  3539mi.; Nearest active fire:  345mi.  

Wind:   8mph\Gusts:  12mph  Visibility: 10 mi

Record High: °[]   Record Low: °[]

Jan. Averages: 43°\16° (22” days with snow)

Today’s Einstein Quote

One thing I have learned in my long-life; that all our science, measured against reality is primitive and childlike—at yet it the most precious thing we have.

Random Tidbits

A sushi chef traditionally could work in a restaurant only after training for 10 years. However, modern sushi chiefs can start working after just 2 years of training.

Sushi is commonly thought of as an aphrodisiac because two common sushi fish, salmon and mackerel, are high in omega-3s, which are fatty acids that aid in sex-hormone production. Additionally, tuna is a source of selenium, which helps increase a male's sperm count.

Observations This Week

Sundance Film Festival: 23-2/2

US Nationals Snow Sculpting Days: 25-2/2

Catholic Schools Week: 26-2/1

Clean Out Your Inbox Week: 26-31

Meat Week: 26-2/1

National School Choice Week:  26-2/1 

Tax Identity Theft Week: 26-30

National Medical Group Practice Week: 27-2/1

Observations for Today

Data Privacy Day Link  Link
Fun at Work Day

National Blueberry Pancake Day

National Kazoo Day Link
National Pediatrician Day
National Plan For A Vacation Day  Link 
Rubber Ducky Day  Link  Link 
Thank A Plugin Developer Day Link

My Rambling Thoughts

Another day of lawyers on all the major news stations, talking about how this mess is a waste of everyone’s time. It’s all part of the process, so I’m watching.

I’m thankful that I took the Trans-Siberian Rail trip before the virus was known. Focus Travel Club went to the Winter Palace and the Great Wall. Tourists there today can’t do that. I sure hope that the World’s scientists find a way to stop this virus very soon.

President Trump did another first. He stood and spoke at the ‘March for Life” in DC recently. Other Presidents have spoken by satellite or telephone to the crowds. This is a hot-button issue as the reason for the March is to stop all abortions in the US. Over the years, crowds as large as 400K have been at the March. As a happily adopted male who was born before Roe v Wade, I have some feelings about abortion.  I am ecstatic that my birth-mother did not attempt an illegal abortion when she discovered her pregnancy. Some outdated laws did not allow me to talk to my birth-mother about her decision to have me and then give me up for adoption.  When the laws changed, I did not do any searching. During my teaching career I met many students who were raised by great parents. I also met parents who did not want their child(ren) and made that clear to the child(ren). I met single mothers who refused to talk about the father of the child to the child. I met more than enough grandparents who were raising their daughter’s children because she couldn’t. Sometimes that was because of drugs, sometimes it was about finding a job, sometimes it was just to continue partying until she got pregnant again. Children were very damaged by the above behaviors. Many were able to overcome these distractions and have happy lives and families of their own. Others were not able to overcome these distractions and became alcoholics or committed suicide before 25. A very few followed in their mother’s behavior. Every woman today should have a choice when a pregnancy occurs. If she cannot care for a child, she can always ‘pawn it off’ to a relative or put it in the adoption system…now that system allows for legal open and closed adoptions. She should also have the choice of abortion. It should not be a scarlet letter on the woman for life. I hope that the anti-abortion advocates will work to change the laws of adoption to make it easier. I hope the anti-abortion advocates will walk their talk and adopt children already in the system. I do want a vocal minority, with a mission they are not part of, to set US law. If a woman has an unexpected pregnancy, no one and no law should tell her she has to abort the fetus. Nor should anyone or any law prevent her from getting a legal abortion.

Today’s Puzzle

Answer at the bottom of the page

How many times can you subtract the number 5 from 25?

Historical Events

1807 - London's Pall Mall became the first street of any city to be illuminated by gaslight.

1813 - Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice was first published.

1915 - An act of the US Congress created the United States Coast Guard as a branch of the United States Armed Forces.

1934 - The first ski tow rope in the US, built by Robert Royce, was used for the first time in Woodstock, Vermont

1953 - J. Fred Muggs (a chimp) joined NBC's Today Show

1958 - The Lego Company patented the design of its Lego bricks.

1979 - CBS News Sunday Morning debuts with original host Charles Kuralt.

1986 - Space Shuttle Challenger 10 exploded 73 seconds after liftoff, killing astronauts Michael J. Smith, Dick Scobee, Ronald McNair, Ellison Onizuka, Gregory Jarvis, Judith Resnik and schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe.

1988 Canada's Supreme court declares anti-abortion law unconstitutional

1998 Michelangelo's "Christ & the Woman of Samaria" sold for $7.4 million

2011 Hundreds of thousands of protesters fill the Egyptian's streets against the Hosni Mubarak's regime in demonstrations referred to as the "Friday of Anger"

2017 US President Donald Trump and Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull have a contentious phone call over deal for US to take 1,250 refugees

2019 US Justice Department charges Chinese firm Huawei with bank and wire fraud

Birthdays Today

84- Alan Alda, actor

80- Carlos Slim, Mexican entrepreneur, philanthropist

@66- Robert McClure, Irish explorer (NW Passage) (d. 1873)

@44- Jackson Pollock, artist (d. 1956; auto accident)

39- Elijah Wood, actor

Puzzle Answer:

Once. After you subtract 5 from 25 you are left with 20.