Feb 12

 

 

Feb  12, 2021  Week: 6  Day: 43	Local:  H 51°\ L 31°\Ave. Sky Cover: 5%
Wind:   9mph\Gusts:  4mph	Low Risk of Fire:  Active fire:  168mi
Nearest lightning:  681mi.	Record: 64°[2018] Record:-16°[1965]
Visibility:  10mi	Feb. Averages: 47°/19° (5 days with moisture)

Today’s Quote

Do not trust everything you read on the internet.

~Abraham Lincoln.

Random Tidbits

MO
If you've ever described someone's mannerisms or habits by saying, "That's his MO!" without knowing what the M and the O stand for, you're not alone. It comes from the Latin modus operandi, meaning "method of operating," and was originally used to describe the behavior of criminals.

SIM
If you have a cell phone, it most likely uses a SIM card that allows you to connect to the network. But these cards also carry unique information about each cell user, which is why SIM stands for "Subscriber Identity Module." Since the SIM card holds specific information about the user, it provides a way for the network to distinguish individual subscribers.

A Little Humor

They say love is more important than money…Have you tried paying your bills with a hug? Dave Chappelle

Presidential Trivia

Millard Fillmore was a major bibliophile.

Fillmore and his wife, Abigail, were definitely book lovers. They established the first permanent White House Library>>>P. In 1851, Fillmore personally helped fight a fire that destroyed parts of the Library of Congress. He later signed a bill to fund the replacement of all the books that had been destroyed.

Franklin Pierce was a heavy drinker.

Though presidents before him had been known to have a drink now and again, Pierce was one of the heaviest drinkers to ever hold the office>>>P. As he was leaving office, he allegedly said to a friend, "There is nothing left to do but get drunk."

James Buchanan was a lifelong bachelor.

Buchanan is the only president to remain a lifelong bachelor, though he was engaged to a woman at one point. There was much speculation about his personal life, including a persistent rumor that he was in a secret relationship with Alabama Senator William Rufus King.

Weekly Observations

Solo Diners Eat Out Weekend	7-12
Burn Awareness Week  Link   Children's Authors & Illustrators Week	7-13
Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Week Link Have A Heart for A Chained Dog Week  Link National Marriage Week  Link  Link Risk Awareness Week	7-14
Freelance Writer Appreciation Week	8-13
Love Makes the World Go Round; but, Laughter       Keeps Us From Getting Dizzy Week Love A Mench Week Random Acts of Kindness Week Link	8-14
Kitchen and Bath Show Week Link  World AG Expo	9-12
Westminster Dog Show	10-11 (Moved to June 12 & 13)
Date (Fruit) Week Great Backyard Bird Count Link	12-21

 

Today’s Observations

Abraham Lincoln's Birthday

Chinese New Year  2021
Darwin Day
Hug Day

Lincoln's Birthday
Losar-14 Link
Lost Penny Day  
NAACP Day
National Biscotti Day

National Lost Penny Day

National PB&J Day

No One Eats Alone Day  Link  
Oglethorpe Day
Paul Bunyan Day (Born Feb. 12, 1834 in Bangor, ME) Link   Link  or Link or Link  
Plum Pudding Day

Safety Pup Day

My Sometimes-Long-Winded Thoughts

A nice day for a walk. So, that is what I did it.

The Senate Trial is exceedingly difficult to watch. During one part early today, they walked through the fear of other Congressional workers. They are food service, janitorial, facility crews that we hear little about. They feared for their lives too.

I am a big Olympic fan. Have been since my youth. It was just announced that the Live opening ceremonies will begin on July 23, 2021…my late father’s birthday. I was excited until I saw that the live coverage begins at 4am in Flagstaff. Thanks goodness I have a DVR.

The local Flagstaff schools will begin holding in person classes in Mid-March. I sure hope they will be ready. The parents I know are ready.

Daily Puzzle

Answer: bottom of the page

Note: Yesterday’s puzzle could have also been answered with WATER. Thanks to a loyal reader for that.

 

They fill me up and you empty me, almost every day; if you raise my arm, I work the opposite way. What am I?

Historical Events

1855 – Michigan State University was established.

1870 – Women were given the right to vote, in Utah.

1879 – The first artificial ice rink opened in Madison Square Garden in NYC.

1898 – The first car crash resulting in a fatality happened to Henry Lindfield, in England.

1914 – The first stone of Washington DC’s Lincoln Memorial is put into place.

1924 – Rhapsody In Blue, by George Gershwin, performed for the first time at the Aeolian Hall in New York City. Paul Whitman conducted the now-classic piece of American music.

1940 – Mutual Radio presented the first broadcast of The Adventures of Superman.

1963 – Construction began on the Gateway Arch in St. Louis.

1999 – President Bill Clinton was acquitted on both articles of impeachment against him: perjury and obstruction of justice.

2004 – The city and county of San Francisco began to issue a marriage license to same-sex couples.

2004 – Mattel officially announced the split of Barbie and Ken.

2014 Former New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin is found guilty on corruption charges and sentenced to ten years in prison. Due to Covid, he was put on house arrest in Apr. 2020 to complete his sentence.

2016 Pope Francis begins his visit to Mexico, arriving at “Benito Juarez” International Airport in Mexico City

2016 Pope Francis meets Patriarch Kirill in Havana - first meeting between Catholic and Russian Orthodox church heads for nearly 1,000 years.

2018 Portait paintings of Barack Obama by Kehinde Wiley and Michelle Obama by Amy Sherald are unveiled at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery

2019 Mexican drug lord Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán found guilty of all 10 federal crimes against him in New York after 200 hours of testimony.

2019 US national debt tops 22 trillion for the first time according to US Treasury

Birthdays Today

87 – Bill Russell, basketball star

83 – Judy Blume, American author

@73 – Charles Darwin, English geologist and theorist (died in 1882)

@72 – Lorne Greene, Canadian-American actor (d. 1987; pneumonia)

@65 – Cotton Mather, North American Puritan minister (d. 1728)

65 – Arsenio Hall, American comedic actor and talk show host

@56 – Abraham Lincoln, 16th President (assassinated in 1865)

53 – Josh Brolin, American actor

Puzzle Answer

A mailbox

 

Feb 11

 

 

Feb  11, 2021  Week: 6  Day: 42	Local:  H 47°\ L 21°\Ave. Sky Cover: 70%
Wind:   6mph\Gusts:  11mph	Low Risk of Fire:  Active fire:  267mi
Nearest lightning:  1198mi.	Record: 62°[1971]  Record: -12°[1908]
Visibility:  10mi	Feb. Averages: 47°/19° (5 days with moisture)

Today’s Quote

We're born alone, we live alone, we die alone. Only through our love and friendship can we create the illusion for the moment that we're not alone.

Orson Welles

Random Tidbits

No. Why is "No." the abbreviation for "number," since there is no "O" in the word? Well, there may not be an "O" in number, but there is one in the Latin word numero, which is where the English word comes from.

 

Lb How did the letters "L" and "B" get to be the abbreviation for "pound"? It has to do with the origins of the word. The English word "pound" originates from an ancient Roman unit of measurement called a Libra pondo, meaning "a pound by weight." "Pondo" became the English word "pound," while the "Libra" provided the origin for the "lb" abbreviation.

A Little Humor

Q What do a baker and investment banker have in common?

They both want to make bread and they both wait for their dough to rise.

.....

My Rooster Was Attacking The Hens. We Bought Him A Vest With Bells and A Lock To Give The Hens A Warning. He Got Out Of The Vest So Fast He Won Two Awards   A “No Bell Prize” and A “Pullet Surprise”

True Things

No Hysteria Here

A Texas high school student arrived to take his final exams in a hazmat suit after his family said the district isn't doing enough to protect students and families from COVID-19. Houston teenager Mason Kalkofen showed up to Spring Woods High School's campus in a full suit of personal protective gear after the school district mandated that virtual learners take their final exams on the school's campus. "I'm having to go in a hazmat suit," Kalkofen said. "That way I can protect my family." The family said they asked the school to allow the teenager to take his exams virtually, but the request was refused. They said multiple letters have been sent home informing families of positive coronavirus cases at the school. Spring Branch Independent School District said officials "offered the family multiple testing options, including the option of the student testing alone in a room with only one proctor present wearing PPE. The family refused all options."

Presidential Trivia

John Tyler was very, very unpopular.

To say John Tyler was not particularly well-liked is an understatement. When he died in 1862, his obituary in The New York Times called him,"the most unpopular public man that had ever held any office in the United States." Yikes. It probably didn't help that he was considered a traitor to the United States when he died, having recently been elected to the Congress of the Confederacy.

James K. Polk wasn't what you'd call the life of the party.

Polk's devout Presbyterian wife, Sarah, banned dancing, drinking, and card games in the White House during her time as first lady, making for a very dull presidency.

Zachary Taylor was nominated without knowing it.

In 1848, Taylor had no idea the the Wig Party chose him as their nomination for president. Apparently, the party sent him a letter without postage>>>P, and when he refused to pay for it, he ended up going weeks without knowing the good news.

Weekly Observations

Solo Diners Eat Out Weekend	7-12
Burn Awareness Week  Link   Children's Authors & Illustrators Week	7-13
Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Week Link Have A Heart for A Chained Dog Week  Link National Marriage Week  Link  Link Risk Awareness Week	7-14
American Association For The Advancement of Science Week  Link	8-11
Freelance Writer Appreciation Week	8-13
Love Makes the World Go Round; but, Laughter       Keeps Us From Getting Dizzy Week Love A Mench Week Random Acts of Kindness Week Link	8-14
Kitchen and Bath Show Week Link  World AG Expo	9-12
Westminster Dog Show	10-11 (Moved to June 12 & 13)

 

Today’s Observations

Be Electrific Day

Don't Cry Over Spilled Milk Day
International Day of Women and Girls in Science
Get Out Your Guitar Day
Pro Sports Wives Day
Make a Friend Day
National Giving Hearts Day 
National Inventors Day  Link
National Peppermint Patty Day

National Shut-in Visitation Day
Paczki Day in Poland

Read in a Bathtub Day

Satisfied Staying Single Day
White Shirt Day or White T-Shirt Day Link
World Day of The Sick Link

My Sometimes-Long-Winded Thoughts

Watching the Impeachment can be a learning experience, for sure. I have a hard time concentrating. When there is a break, I watch Fox or CNN commentary. I’m sure, barring something stunning, that this is an exercise in futility. It has been reported on 24 hour news networks that some Senators, on both sides, spend their time sitting quietly, doodling, or starting at papers in their laps. They have been told that any outburst will end in jail, but nothing about paying attention.

I must apologize to my readers for yesterday’s a little too graphic experience at the hospital. I won’t be so graphic in the future.

Second language learners always have unique phrases that many others don’t fully understand. One of my favorites from Navajoland is ‘Sko-den’. Any guesses? It might be used after one states: Do you want to go with me to town? It roughly means: Let’s go then. Linguistically the Navajo language do not have either ‘th’ sound (thin/then) and is usually substituted with ‘d’ or ‘t’. After all these years, I still don’t know what happened to ‘let us go’ to become ‘sko’.

Daily Puzzle

Answer: bottom of the page

What can be swallowed, but can also swallow you?

Historical Events

660 BC – Traditional date for the foundation of Japan by Emperor Jimmu.

1534 – Henry VIII of England was recognized as supreme head of the Church of England.

1752 – The first hospital in the United States, Pennsylvania Hospital, opened.

1808 – As an experiment, anthracite coal was burned as fuel by Judge Jesse Fell in Pennsylvania.

1812 – Massachusetts governor Elbridge Gerry ‘gerrymandered’ for the first time.

1858 – Marie-Bernarde Soubirous, a 14-year-old French peasant girl, first claimed to see a vision of the Virgin Mary near Lourdes, France. In 1933, she was canonized as St. Bernadette by the Roman Catholic Church.

1928 – The La-Z-Boy reclining chair was invented by Ed Shoemaker.

1929 – The Vatican was officially independent of Italy with the Lateran Treaty.

1963 – The French Chef, starring Julia Child debuted on WGBH in Boston, MA.

1971 – 87 countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union, signed the Seabed Arms Control Treaty, outlawing nuclear weapons on the ocean floor in international waters.

1989 – Rev. Barbara Harris became the first woman to be consecrated as a bishop in the Episcopal Church.

1990 – Nelson Mandela, leader of the movement to end South African apartheid, was released from prison after 27 years

1994 – The ‘rBGH’ genetically engineered growth hormone for cows goes on sale to dairy farmers under the name Posilac, made by Monsanto. It was the first-time altered genes were allowed into live animals.

1997- The Simpsons made television history with their episode “The Itchy, Scratchy and Poochie Show” which they then surpassed the Flintstones as the longest-running prime-time cartoon series in terms of episodes aired.

1998 Lyrics to "Candle in the Wind 1997" auctioned for $442,500.

2006 – Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shot his friend Harry Whittington while the two were hunting together.

2009 Uri Geller purchases Lamb Island, Scotland, previously known for its witch trials

2012 – Singer Whitney Houston died in a hotel bathtub, the result of accidental drowning. Heart disease and cocaine, which was found in her system, were determined to be contributing factors.

2011 Egyptian Revolution culminates in the resignation of Hosni Mubarak and the transfer of power to the Supreme Military Council after 18 days of protests (Arab Spring)

2013 Pope Benedict XVI announces his resignation from February 28, the first pope to resign since 1415

2018 MOMA opens a major solo exhibition for Brazilian artist Tarsila do Amaral in New York

2020 Largest wave ever surfed by a woman by Brazilian Maya Ganeira riding a 73.5ft (22.4m) wave at Nazaré, Portugal

Birthdays Today

@89 – Sidney Sheldon, American television producer and novel writer (d.2007)

@88 – Virginia E. Johnson, American psychologist, academic (d. 2013)

87 – Tina Louise, American actress

@84 – Thomas Edison, American engineer, businessman (d. 1931)

@82 – Burt Reynolds, American actor (d. 2018)

80 – Sérgio Mendes, Brazilian pianist, composer

68 – Jeb Bush, American politician

59 – Sheryl Crow, American singer-songwriter

57 – Sarah Palin, American politician

52 – Jennifer Aniston, American actress

42 – Brandy (Norwood), American singer

29 – Taylor Lautner, American actor

 

Puzzle Answer

Pride