12 Mar

 

12 March 2023

Daily Almanac for Flagstaff
Week 11 Day 70 \ Ave. Sky Cover 80% \ Visibility 11 miles Flagstaff Today 57° \32°  Wind 8mph \ Gusts 12mph 
Air Quality: Fair \Very Low Risk of fire \ Nearest active fire 251mi \ Nearest Lightning 147mi
Mar. Averages for Flagstaff: 51° \ 23° \6 Days of moisture
Mostly cloudy with light showers

Today’s Quote

Weekly Observations

  22-4/8
  Lent
  5-12
  Women in Construction Week:   Link 
  Women of Aviation Worldwide Week
  Words Matter Week
10-12
  Women of Aviation Worldwide Week
  Words Matter Week
10-12
  World Rattlesnake Roundup
  10-16
  Pediatric Nurse Practitioner Week
11-17
  Turkey Vultures Return to the Living Sign
12-18
  Campfire USA Birthday Week
  Girl Scout Week Link  Link
  Teen Tech Week

Daily Observations

Academy Awards
Alfred Hitchcock Day
Baked Scallops Day
Check Your Batteries Day
Daylight Saving Time Begins  (Turn Ahead 1 Hour)  @2:00 am)
Girl Scout Birthday Day Link
National "I AM" Day
Plant a Flower Day
Working Moms Day Link

My Sometimes-Long-Winded Thoughts

The rain is a nice change. Snow piles are still slowly disappearing.

Tonight is the Academy Awards. For those watching…enjoy. I guess it is one way to honor great performances.

For many, don’t forget to move your clocks forward. My part of AZ will just keep on keeping on and leave our clocks alone.  I am reminded how artificial the keeping of time has become. In Ethiopia, they start a new day at 6am (sunrise) and that is when their day changes. Neat idea.

One Cartel in Mexico has apologized for the murder of 2 Americans and turned over those who were responsible for the kidnapping and killing. If you believe either part of that, I have a bridge I would like to sell you. In the past decades, Cartels have kidnapped over 100,000 Mexican citizens. Most have never been found.

I have been hearing a new term to me: atmospheric river. It is a narrow corridor or filament of concentrated moisture in the atmosphere. It seems the AR is giving our little town its rain.

Republican lawmakers want to put Arizona teachers behind bars if they so much as recommend a book to students that is considered too “sexually explicit.”  On Thursday, AZ Senate Republicans advanced a measure punishing teachers who “refer students to or use sexually explicit” materials with a class 5 felony, which carries with it a prison sentence as long as two years. The only exception included in the bill is if the school has first obtained written parental consent, and the material has serious educational value for minors or possesses serious “literary, artistic, political or scientific value.” Gov Hobbs will probably veto the bill.

Enjoy…

Facts…

"From a botanical standpoint, strawberries and raspberries aren't berries, but bananas and avocados are." 

More Slang origins…

Ankle-biter

If it's small, crawls near your feet, and has teeth, it's an ankle-biter. That includes everything from pets to children. Which begs the question, did all Baby Boomers grow up gnawing on their parents' ankles?

Beauty in our 50 states…

37. New Jersey

Look, even if New Jersey hadn't gone and covered the bulk of the state with jug handles and suburban sprawl, it still wouldn't be a stunner. That said, if you can manage to escape the sprawl, many parts of the state are lovely, with rolling hills and glacial lakes, nice beaches, and the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area—a truly beautiful and underappreciated stretch of earth that NJ shares with Pennsylvania. And don't forget the Palisades.

Historical Events

1609 – Bermuda was colonized by England
1933 – President Roosevelt gave his first ‘Fireside Speech’
1938 – Austria was invaded by Germany
1998 – The Church of England ordained its first female priests.

Birthdays Today

90 – Barbara Feldon, American actress
@87 – Harry Harrison, American author, illustrator (d. 2012)
@76 – Al Jarreau, American singer (d. 2017; respiratory failure)
77 – Liza Minnelli, American actress, singer and dancer
76 – Mitt Romney, American businessman and politician
“Free enterprise has done more to lift people out of poverty, to help build a strong middle class, to help educate our kids, and to make our lives better than all the programs of government combined.”– Mitt Romney
75 – James Taylor, American singer-songwriter
“You have to choose whether to love yourself or not.”– James Taylor
66 – Marlon Jackson, American singer-songwriter, Jackson 5
@64 – Gordon MacRae, American actor and singer (d. 1986; pneumonia)
63 – Courtney B. Vance, American actor
61 – Darryl Strawberry, American baseball player
@58 – W.H.R. Rivers, English anthropologist, neurologist, ethnologist, psychiatrist (d. 1922; strangulated hernia)
55 – Aaron Eckhart, American actor
“The day you stop caring what other people think of you is the day your life begins.”– Aaron Eckhart 54 – Jake Tapper, American journalist
@47 – Jack Kerouac, American author and poet (d. 1969; hemorrhage)
“Because in the end, you won’t remember the time you spent working in the office or mowing your lawn. Climb that g*dd*mn mountain.”– Jack Kerouac
39 – Jaimie Alexander, American actress
@22 – Christina Grimmie, American singer-songwriter (d. 2016; murdered)
“Be stupid, be dumb, be funny, if that’s who you are. Don’t try to be someone that society wants you to be, that’s stupid. So be yourself.”– Christina Grimmie 

11 Mar

11 March 2023

Daily Almanac for Flagstaff
Week 10 Day 70 \ Ave. Sky Cover 40% \ Visibility 17 miles Flagstaff Today 56° \32°  Wind 10mph \ Gusts 21mph 
Air Quality: Moderate \Very Low Risk of fire \ Nearest active fire 70mi \ Nearest Lightning 515mi
Mar. Averages for Flagstaff: 51° \ 23° \6 Days of moisture
Sunshine

Today’s Quote

Weekly Observations

  22-4/8
  Lent
5-11
   National Consumer Protection Week  Link 
Celebrate Your Name Week
National Procrastination Week  
National Schools Social Work Week   
Celebrate Your Name Week
National Procrastination Week  
National Schools Social Work Week   Link 
National Words Matter Week
No More Week 
National Words Matter Week
No More Week  Link
Read an E-Book Week  Link  
Save Your Vision Week  
Save Your Vision Week  Link  
Termite Awareness Week
Termite Awareness Week
  5-12
  Women in Construction Week:   Link 
Women of Aviation Worldwide
Women of Aviation Worldwide Week
Words Matter Week
6-10
  National School Breakfast Week
10-12
  World Rattlesnake Roundup
  10-16
  Pediatric Nurse Practitioner Week
11-17
  Turkey Vultures Return to the Living Sign

Daily Observations

Dream 2023 Day
COVID-19 Global Pandemic Day
Genealogy Day  Link 
International Fanny Pack Day 
International Fanny Pack Day Link  
National Urban Ballroom Dancing Day
Johnny Appleseed Day
Key Deer Awareness Day
National 311 Day Link
National Find Common Ground Day
National Funeral Director and Mortician Recognition Day Link 
National Promposal Day 
National Promposal Day Link (Ask to prom)
Oatmeal-Nut Waffle Day
World Plumbing Day Link

My Sometimes-Long-Winded Thoughts

Light RAIN in the forecast. That will speed up the melting.

In AZ our state ranks 49^th in school funding. Our new head of Education promised to fix the education here. One of his first acts is the ‘Empowerment Hotline’, open during weekday business hours. Concerned citizens can call the hotline to report any teacher, school, or district that “teaches lessons that distract from teaching academic standards such as those that focus on race or ethnicity, rather than on individuals and merit, promoting an gender ideology, social emotional learning or inappropriate sexual content”. This is his way to ‘declare war’ on conversations about emotions or identity. Again, so glad I am retired.  

Enjoy…

Facts…

"A second is called a second because it is the second division of the hour by 60, the first division being a minute." 

More Slang origins…

Burn rubber

No point in having a hot rod if you're not going to show off its speed. And when you press that pedal to the metal, your tires are going to burn some rubber. Which is a good thing… if you like buying new tires every year.

Pad

People in the '50s possibly thought they were frogs. Or they envied the amphibious lifestyle. We can't think of a better explanation for why they'd call their homes or apartments their "pad."

Beauty in our 50 states…

38. Louisiana

Though New Orleans (deservedly!) gets most of the love, there’s plenty to do in Louisiana outside of its cities: the fishing's great, the duck hunting is world-class, and the airboat rides amid alligator-infested cypress trees are not to be missed. But its position at the bottom of the Mississippi doesn't do its beaches or wetlands any favors, and when the highest natural point in the state is only twice as high as the Superdome, you're going to be stuck with a lot of scenery that ducks are in the best position to appreciate.

Historical Events

1888 – The Great Blizzard of 1888 begins along the eastern seaboard of the United States.
1918 – The ‘Spanish Flu’ pandemic struck the United States.
2011 – Apple iPad 2 was released.
2020 – The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the COVID-19 virus a pandemic.

Birthdays Today

92 – Rupert Murdoch, Australian-American businessman and media magnate
@89 – Lawrence Welk, American accordion player, bandleader (d. 1992)
“There are good days and there are bad days, and this is one of them.”– Lawrence Welk
@79 – Antonin Scalia, American lawyer, jurist,(d. 2016)
73 – Jerry Zucker, American director, producer, screenwriter
@64 – Ralph Abernathy, American minister and activist (d. 1990; blood clots)
56 – John Barrowman, Scottish-American actor, singer
“Honestly, the world can be a dark enough place. Light it up.”– John Barrowman
54 – Terrence Howard, American actor
“My future’s about trying to be a better man.”– Terrence Howard
44 – Benji Madden, American singer-songwriter, guitarist
“Don’t let anyone make you feel like you’re not good enough, smart enough or cool enough. Do your own thing.”– Benji Madden
44 – Joel Madden, American singer-songwriter, producer
“Today is a new day. A new opportunity to get better stronger faster smarter and closer to your goals and dreams. Take it.”– Joel Madden
30 – Jodie Comer, British actress  

10 Mar

March 2023

Daily Almanac for Flagstaff
Week 10 Day 69 \ Ave. Sky Cover 80% \ Visibility 18 miles Flagstaff Today 52° \22°  Wind 8mph \ Gusts 4mph 
Air Quality: Fair \ Low Risk of fire \ Nearest active fire 251mi \ Nearest Lightning 966mi
Mar. Averages for Flagstaff: 51° \ 23° \6 Days of moisture
Cloudy; no precipitation

Today’s Quote

Weekly Observations

  22-4/8

  Lent

5-11

   National Consumer Protection Week  Link 
Celebrate Your Name Week
National Procrastination Week  
National Schools Social Work Week   Link 
National Words Matter Week
No More Week  Link

Read an E-Book Week  Link  
Save Your Vision Week  
Save Your Vision Week  Link  
Termite Awareness Week
Termite Awareness Week
  5-12
  Women in Construction Week:   Link 
Women of Aviation Worldwide Week
Words Matter Week
6-10
Women of Aviation Worldwide Week
Words Matter Week
6-10
  National School Breakfast Week
10-12
  World Rattlesnake Roundup
  10-16
  Pediatric Nurse Practitioner Week

Daily Observations

  Blueberry Popover Day
International Bagpipe Day
International Day of Awesomeness Link
International Day of Women Judges
Land Line Telephone Day
Mario Day
Middle Name Pride Day Link 
National Women & Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day
Ranch Dressing Day
Salvation Army Day
US Paper Money Day
Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day
National Women & Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day
Ranch Dressing Day
Salvation Army Day
US Paper Money Day
Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day 

My Sometimes-Long-Winded Thoughts

It’s an overcast day, with no precipitation in the forecast.

CNN did a piece on AI yesterday. They had the AI fake the voices of several CNN employees. Even the parent of one thought they were talking to their son. Congress better wake up very quickly and figure out a way to notify the public when AI was used to produce a voice and/or video. I admit it sounds very cool, but the ramifications are too great to allow it to be out there un-regulated.

Mary and Mike are still in Phoenix, enjoying the sun and heat. No group lunch with them this week.  

A trio of GOP gun measures won approval from lawmakers Wednesday, including a measure that would allow people with concealed weapon permits to bring firearms onto Arizona school campuses. Not a good idea.

Enjoy…

Facts…

"Penguins have glands under their eyes to extract and secrete excess salt. These are powerful enough that they allow them to drink seawater as their primary water source." 

More Slang origins…

Made in the shade

Today, being in the shade means you're avoiding sun damage to your skin. But in the '50s, being made in the shade meant things are going well for you and you don't have a care in the world. Remember: Shade is a good thing.

Beauty in our 50 states…

 

Want to surprise someone? Send them a postcard from Delaware. "I never knew Delaware was that pretty," they'll say, looking at a silhouette of dune grasses framed by an ocean sunset. Actually, no one does, because Delaware's not large enough to hold more than three cars at a time. But if you're lucky enough to be in one of those three cars, you, too, can take in the rolling rural countrysides and the not-half-bad beach views and say, "Delaware. Hi. I'm in Delaware."

Historical Events

1862 – The United States began using paper currency.
1876 – Alexander Graham Bell spoke into his just-completed invention, the telephone.
“Mr. Watson, come here. I want to see you.”
1880 – The US Salvation Army began serving.
1977 – Astronomers discovered the rings of Uranus.

Birthdays Today

@93 – Judith Jones, American literary and cookbook editor (d. 2017)
83 – Chuck Norris, American actor, producer, and martial artist
“Always remember that your success begins inside you: If you can’t see it first, no one else ever will.”– Chuck Norris
@70 – James Earl Ray, assassin of Martin Luther King Jr. (d. 1998; liver failure)
66 – Shannon Tweed, American model
65 – Sharon Stone, American actress
61 – Jasmine Guy, American actress
“There is a child in all of us, a person who believes in a glorious future.”– Jasmine Guy
@54 – Osama bin Laden, Saudi Arabian terrorist, founded al-Qaeda (d. 2011; killed)
52 – Jon Hamm, American actor
“I’ve gotten away with a lot in my life. The older you get the more you realize you’re not getting away with it, it’s taking its toll somewhere. So you try not to put yourself in those situations. Part of the mysterious process called growing up. Some people do that better than others.”– Jon Hamm
51 – Timbaland, American rapper and producer
“Everyone wants to work with the big new producer or the hot new singer. The key is to find them before they’re hot.”– Timbaland
40 – Carrie Underwood, American singer-songwriter
29 – Bad Bunny [Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio], rapper