Jan 27

 

2021…at last

Jan  27, 2021  Week: 4  Day: 27	Local:  H 40°\ L 13°\Ave. Sky Cover:95%
Wind:  8 mph\Gusts:  14mph	Today’s Historic Ave. Temp.: H 43°\ L 18°
Nearest lightning:  1521mi.; Active fire:  59mi	Very Low Risk of Fire      Visibility:  1.1mi
Record: 61°[2003]   Record: -13°[1979]	Jan Averages: 44°/16° (4 days with moisture)

Today’s Quote

What makes a river so restful to people is that it doesn't have any doubt

- it is sure to get where it is going, and it doesn't want to go anywhere else.

~Hal Boyle

Random Tidbits

For years, one of the odder parts of the pomp and circumstance of the inaugural festivities was that the man about to get sworn in always donned a top hat. It's not clear when or why this tradition started, but it dates back to at least James Garfield's inauguration in 1881. Why it endured long after top hats went out of style is up for debate, although some historians speculate that wearing the formal out-of-date headgear gave the inauguration another little touch of ceremony.

A Little Humor

Q Why did the garbage man outgrow his trousers? 

He accumulated too much waste!

…

English is difficult to learn. It can be taught through tough thorough thought- though

Interesting facts about AZ

Ø You can carry a loaded firearm on your person, no permit required.

Ø Arizona has one of the lowest crime rates in the U.S.A.

Ø We've reached max capacity so don't move here!

Weekly Observations

Clean Out Your Inbox Week Idiom Week  National School Choice Week  Link  Snowcare for Troops Week Ally Week Link National CRNA (Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists) Week	24-30
National Medical Group Practice Week: Texas Cowboy Poetry Gathering Cancelled	25-30
International Hoof-Care Week  Link	26-29
National Mentoring Summit Link	27-29

 

Today’s Observations

Auschwitz Liberation Day
e-Day
Holocaust Memorial Day
International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust Link
Library Shelfie Day Link 
National Chocolate Cake Day

National Geographic Day 1888
Punch the Clock Day

Thomas Crapper Day
Tu B'Shavat (sundown)
Viet Nam Peace Day

My Sometimes-Long-Winded Thoughts

Still snowing and more on the way. I know the forest and animals need it, but I’m am getting really tired of it. I will go out later this afternoon to dig out my vehicle again so I can get out when this all ends.

My doctor didn’t call back, so I called this morning. When the idiot on the phone said ‘all I can do is send the message’ I asked for her supervisor. A nice lady who listened and understood my issues. She called me back about 20 minutes later with correct information. All good, no more diuretic, labs were good. The extra pills were in case I needed them at a later date. The doctor has not been in her office this week, due to the snow. Yesterday and today, she was the on-call doc at the hospital and according to the supervisor there is a high count at the hospital. I thanked her, told her I understood how busy the Dr. was, but that was no excuse for the poor communication between the hospital and the Drs. Office. She agreed.

I am slowly returning to watching the news. I’m impressed with the professionalism of  this administration’s on-camera people. It is so refreshing to hear complete sentences strung together is clear paragraphs, patience at the podium, and no storming off. C-Span 2 is carrying the senate business on the impeachment, extremely slow process.

Daily Puzzle

Answer at the bottom of the page

How much dirt is in a hole that measures 2 feet by 3 feet by 4 feet?

Historical Events

1606 – The trial of Guy Fawkes and other conspirators began for the Gunpowder Plot, ending with their execution on January 31.

1880 – Thomas Edison received a patent (#223,898) for his incandescent lamp.

1888 – The National Geographic Society was established.

1945 – 60th Army First Ukrainian Front soldiers opened the gates of Auschwitz Concentration Camp, liberating the remaining 7,000 prisoners, mostly ill and dying. In 2005 the United Nations declared 27 January as International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

1951 – Nuclear testing at the Nevada Test Site began with Operation Ranger.

1967 – Astronauts Gus Grissom, Edward White, and Roger Chaffee were killed in a fire during a test of their Apollo 1 spacecraft at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida.

1970 – James M. Schlatter received a patent (#3492131) for ‘Peptide Sweetening Agents’ later marketed as NutraSweet.

1977 – Roots mini-series began on ABC.

2010 – Steve Jobs unveiled Apple’s latest product, a tablet PC called the iPad, at a press conference in San Francisco.

2017 Donald Trump issues executive order banning travel to the US for 7 mostly Muslim countries and suspending admission for refugees.

Birthdays Today

73 – Mikhail Baryshnikov, Russian-American dancer, choreographer, and actor

66 – John Roberts, American jurist, Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court

@65 – Troy Donahue [ Merle Johnson Jr.], American actor (d. 2001; heart attack)

@65 – Lewis Carroll (Charles Dodgson), English novelist, poet, and mathematician (d. 1898; influenza)

@64 – Donna Reed [Donna Belle Mullenger], American actress (d. 1986; cancer)

62 – Keith Olbermann, American journalist, and author

@60 – Jerome Kern, American composer, and songwriter (d.1945; stroke)

@36 – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Austrian pianist, and composer (d. 1791)

Puzzle Answer

None, a hole is empty.

 

Jan 26

 

2021…at last

Jan  26, 2021  Week: 4  Day: 26	Local:  H 28°\ L 16°\Ave. Sky Cover: 99%
Wind:   5mph\Gusts:  9mph	Today’s Historic Ave. Temp.: H 43°\ L 18°
Nearest lightning:  101mi.; Active fire:  59mi	Very Low Risk of Fire           Visibility:  10mi
Record: 60°[1987]   Record: -15°[1937]	Jan Averages: 44°/16° (4 days with moisture)

Today’s Quote

I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station,

through which God speaks to us every hour, if we will only tune in.

~George Washington Carver

Random Tidbits

John Adams was the first president to skip his successor's inauguration. For many years, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson had been close friends, but as their political careers diverged, the two became rivals. When Jefferson was inaugurated on March 4, 1801, Adams was nowhere to be found. Eight hours before the big event, he'd left Washington and started making his way back to his family farm in Braintree, Massachusetts. This made Adams the first president who chose to skip his successor's swearing-in ceremony.

A Little Humor

Q Where do you learn about a spider? On his website

My doctor told me I'm suffering from a Superman complex. But I couldn't stay for long- so I had to fly.

Interesting facts about AZ

Ø The negotiations for Geronimo's final surrender took place in Skeleton Canyon, near present day Douglas, Arizona, in 1886.

Ø Prescott, Arizona is home to the world's oldest rodeo, and Payson, Arizona is home to the world's oldest continuous rodeo, both of which date back to the 1880's.

Ø Kartchner Caverns, near Benson, Arizona, is a massive limestone cave with 13,000 feet of passages, two rooms as long as football fields, and one of the world's longest soda straw stalactites: measuring 21 feet 3 inches.

Weekly Observations

Clean Out Your Inbox Week Idiom Week  National School Choice Week  Link  Snowcare for Troops Week Ally Week Link National CRNA (Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists) Week	24-30
National Medical Group Practice Week: Texas Cowboy Poetry Gathering Cancelled	25-30
International Hoof-Care Week  Link	26-29

 

Today’s Observations

Australia Day

Dental Drill Appreciation Day
International Customs Day

Lotus 1-2-3 Day
National Green Juice Day Link
National Peanut Brittle Day  Link
National Plan For A Vacation Day  Link  
Peanut Brittle Day

Spouse's Day

Toad Hollow Day of Encouragement

My Sometimes-Long-Winded Thoughts

Snow, then more snow, and later even more. My place has a little over a foot, and more is coming.

I had to dig out and get a blood draw. I like my kidney doc, but her office staff is less than competent. The staff said I need a draw today, after an unexpected high potassium count last week. I dig out my vehicle, drive to the hospital, to find that the staff never sent the request. Then they forgot to request the ultra-sound draw.  I sat at the hospital for almost 2 hours….waiting. The draw was extremely easy. I have a call in to my doctor. Probably good if she calls tomorrow after I’ve calmed down.

Happy to read that Biden reinstated the Tubman $20 bill back. So sad it has taken this long.

The HOA was here about 7:30 to do our sidewalks, which was great. When I got back from the blood draw, there was 2 more inches of snow on the sidewalk. The main roads were wet and snowplows were busy. Side streets and parking lots, not so much. I had to use 4-wheel low it get in and out of my parking space, which is much simpler than shoveling a path for my vehicle.

I’m not complaining about the snow. This drought is so severe I gladly accept all that falls from the sky. While it makes leaving the house more difficult, it is helping the trees and forest animals that live very nearby.

Daily Puzzle

Answer at the bottom of the page

I have keys, but no locks.

I have space, but no room.

You can enter, but you can’t go outside.

What am I?

Historical Events

1564 – The Council of Trent issued its conclusions in the Tridentinum, establishing a distinction between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism.

1837 – Michigan was admitted as the 26th U.S. state.

1838 – Tennessee became the 1st state to prohibit alcohol.

1858 – The Wedding March by Felix Mendelssohn was played at the marriage of Queen Victoria’s daughter, Victoria, and Friedrich of Prussia.

1906 – The world’s steam car land speed record was set at 127.7 mph (205.5 km/h) by Fred Marriot, racing at Daytona Beach, Florida, U.S.A. in his canoe-shaped Stanley Steamer Rocket. The record stood until 2009.

1912 – Jim Thorpe relinquished his 1912 Olympic medals for being a professional athlete. He was paid for playing two seasons of semi-professional baseball before competing in the Olympics, thus violating the amateur rules at that time. His Olympic medals were reinstated posthumously by an act of Congress in 1983.

1915 – The Rocky Mountain National Park was established.

1918 Herbert Hoover, US Food Administrator, calls for "wheatless" & "meatless" days for war effort.

1961 1st woman personal physician to a US President - Janet G. Travell (to John F. Kennedy)

1998 President Bill Clinton says "I want to say one thing to the American people; I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky".

2005 Condoleezza Rice is sworn in as U.S. Secretary of State, the first African American woman to hold the post.

 

Birthdays Today

@84 – Douglas MacArthur, American general (died in 1964)

@83 – Paul Newman, American actor, race car driver and businessman, co-founded Newman’s Own (d. 2008)

@82 – Maria von Trapp, Austrian-American singer (d. 1987)

@65 – Eddie Van Halen, guitarist (d. 2020; stroke)

63 – Ellen DeGeneres, American comedian and talk show host

60 – Wayne Gretzky, hockey super star

Puzzle Answer

A computer keyboard.

 

Jan 25

 

2021…at last

Jan  25, 2021  Week: 4  Day: 25	Local:  H 45°\ L 21°\Ave. Sky Cover: 40%
Wind:   4mph\Gusts:  8mph	Today’s Historic Ave. Temp.: H 43°\ L 18°
Nearest lightning: 725 mi.; Active fire:  59mi	Very Low Risk of Fire           Visibility:  10mi
Record: 61°[1975]   Record: -17°[1937]	Jan Averages: 44°/16° (4 days with moisture)

Today’s Quote

The moon looks upon many night flowers; the night flowers see but one moon.

Jean Ingelow

Random Tidbits

In 1964, the Civil Rights Act was signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson. This act outlawed segregation and the Jim Crow laws of the south. It also outlawed discrimination based on race, national background, and gender. Although there were still many issues, this law gave the NAACP and other organizations a strong base on which to fight discrimination in the courts.

"Abraham, Martin and John" is a 1968 song written by Dick Holler and first recorded by Dion. It is a tribute to the memory of four assassinated Americans, all icons of social change, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Jr., John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy. It was written in response to the assassination of King and that of Robert Kennedy in April and June 1968, respectively.

A Little Humor

Q Why did the lion lose at poker? He was playing with a cheetah.

Fifty years ago it was about standing in line all night to see a band, now it’s waiting in line for the vaccine.

Interesting facts about AZ

Ø The two largest man-made lakes in the U.S. are Lake Mead and Lake Powell, both located in Arizona.

Ø The longest remaining intact section of Route 66 can be found in Arizona and runs from Seligman to Topock, a total of 157 unbroken miles.

Ø The 13 stripes on the Arizona flag represent the 13 original colonies of the United States.

Weekly Observations

Clean Out Your Inbox Week Idiom Week  National School Choice Week  Link  Snowcare for Troops Week Ally Week Link National CRNA (Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists) Week	24-30
National Medical Group Practice Week: Texas Cowboy Poetry Gathering Cancelled	25-30

 

Today’s Observations

A Room of One's Own Day
Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day Link
Fluoride Day [1945]

Macintosh Computer Day Link
 (Note: On Jan. 22, 1984 in a Super Bowl ad the Macintosh got introduced. Steve Jobs then presented it to the world on Jan. 24, 1984 and it went on sale to the public the next day on Jan. 25, 1984.  There is a big 30th Anniversary event on Jan. 25, 2014. Apple considers  Jan. 25 the anniversary day for celebration.)
National Irish Coffee Day 
Opposite Day Link
Robert Burns Day Link  Link

My Sometimes-Long-Winded Thoughts

Another couple of inches added last night. Not as much as forecast, but more still on the way. HOA crew arrived about 8a to clear sidewalks. Nice.

Larry King was a icon that will be missed. I was able to see many great interviews during his time on CNN. He had a nice long life.

The Republican Party of AZ has voted to censure the Republican AZ Governor and Cindy McCain, wife of the late John. It is because the party is upset that they helped Biden/Harris. Mrs. McCain put it best when she said, ‘it is a badge of courage.’

Hank Aaron was one of the greatest baseball players. After breaking the record for homeruns, he got a bunch of hate mail and had to hire private security to protect him at and away from the stadium. Now there is talk of changing the name of the Atlanta Braves to the Atlanta Hammers. It is a good tribute and will help repair the damage of a Native American symbol and the Tomahawk Chop used by fans.

Daily Puzzle

Answer at the bottom of the page

Two boxers are in a match scheduled for 12 rounds. One of the boxers gets knocked out after only six rounds, yet no man throws a punch. How is this possible?

Historical Events

1533 – Henry VIII of England married his second wife Anne Boleyn.

1554 – São Paulo, Brazil, was founded by Jesuit priests.

1858 – The Wedding March by Felix Mendelssohn was played at the marriage of Queen Victoria’s daughter, Victoria, and Friedrich of Prussia.

1881 – Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell formed the Oriental Telephone Company.

1915 – Alexander Graham Bell began the first U.S. transcontinental telephone service, speaking from New York to his assistant, Thomas Watson, in San Francisco.

1937 – The Guiding Light debuted on NBC radio from Chicago.

1939 – Joe Louis KO’d John Henry Lewis in one round for the World Heavyweight boxing title.

1945 – Grand Rapids, Michigan, became the first US city to begin fluoridating the drinking water.

1955 – Columbia University scientists developed an atomic clock accurate to within one second in 300 years.

1959 – American Airlines held the first commercial intercontinental flight, from Los Angeles, California to Idlewild, New York.

1961 – 101 Dalmatians premiered in theaters.

2002 Wikipedia switches to the new version of its software ("Phase II") aka Magnus Manske Day.

2004 – Opportunity rover (MER-B) landed on the surface of Mars.

2011 Egyptian Revolution of 2011 begins with a series of street demonstrations, rallies, acts of civil disobedience, labor strikes and violent clashes in Cairo, Alexandria and other major cities

2019 Longest-ever US government shutdown ends after 35 days when President Donald Trump agrees to three week of negotiations on border security by a House-Senate conference committee

2019 Roger Stone, political lobbyist for Donald Trump is arrested as part of Mueller investigation for obstruction of justice, witness tampering and making false statements

Birthdays Today

@91 – William Somerset Maugham, English playwright (d. 1965)

@84 – Dean Jones, American actor (d.2015)

@74 – William Colgate, English-American businessman and philanthropist, founded Colgate-Palmolive (d. 1857)

@73 – Etta James, Blues Singer (d. 2012; )

@59 – Virginia Woolf, novelist, essayist, short story writer, critic (d.1941; suicide)

40 – Alicia Keys, American singer-songwriter

@37 – Robert Burns, poet (d. 1796; )

Puzzle Answer

The boxers are women.