July 30, 2026

31 Jul

 

31 Jul

Weather Expectations         Week 31 Day 212  Flag Today  84°/62°                            

Wind 7 mph Gusts 8  mph

Risk of fire: High     Active Fire: 22 miles away

Nearest Lightning: 199 miles away Humidity:  28%

Air Quality: Fair Sunshine Partly Cloudy

July Averages: Temps: 82°\51° 9 days with rain

Today’s Observances:

National Avocado Day  Link
National Get Gnarly Day 
National Mutt Day  
Link  
National Orgasm Day
Link 
National Talk in An Elevator Day
Link
System Administrator Appreciation Day
Link  Link 
Uncommon Instruments Awareness Day
Link
World Ranger Day Link

Weekly Observances:

Quilt Odyssey Week: 30-8/1

Lollapalooza: 30-8/2 Link 

Fresh Quotation:

 

Today’s Reflection:

A little cloudy but the weather guy says no rain. I’ll wait and see.

I had a good lunch and good conversation with Faith and Andy. Good times for sure.

I have now been home from Rehab for a month. Getting better every day. I started growing body hair when I was 14, shaving daily by the time I was 15. My arms, legs and torso were covered with hair.  When I was teaching, one of my nicknames was ‘walking carpet’ as Navajo seldom have any body hair.  Since my illness, my legs and arms are without any hair. Interesting for sure.

I wonder if a new Attorney General will be appointed or if we will wait until January to get a new one. This is not how our government is supposed to work, but that is exactly what is happening. So sad.   

Historical events

31 Jul History video

Cool to know:

The longest wedding veil was longer than 63 football fields.

If you thought Meghan Markle's wedding veil was long, get this: there's a woman in Cyprus who set the Guinness World Record for the longest wedding veil. How long was it, you ask? Nearly 23,000 feet, which is the same length as about 63.5 football fields.

Today in Science:

Fires in Europe are breaking records: here’s what the future holds

Countries such as Spain and France can expect fire regimes more like those of California as climate change favours hot, dry conditions, scientists suggest. 

Fueled by an unprecedented heatwave, the powerful fires scorching France and Spain are breaking records or are on the verge of doing so — and there are still months to go in the fire season.

“We have been telling society this is going to happen, that we are going to have larger, more catastrophic, more dangerous fires,” says Cristina Santín, who studies wildfires and is at the University of Oviedo in Mieres, Spain. “And now they are here.”

Satellite data show that 91,000 hectares have burnt in France as of 29 July (see ‘Europe ablaze’), smashing the previous record of just over 66,000 hectares burned during the entire fire season, which generally lasts from March until the end of October. In Spain, more than 200,000 hectares have burnt — well above average this early in the season — and a fire close to Madrid has become the largest single fire in the country’s history.

 


Picture of the Day:

Winner of the “Urban” category – 2021 Drone Photo Awards
Title: Metaphorical Statement About City and Winter

Description: 

“A 500-year-old monastery in the Moscow region of Russia sits in the foreground, with a large power plant in the background. The steam from the cooling towers is particularly dense due to severe frost.” Sergei Poletaev

Another one of our favorite images came from Sergei Poletaev. He captured the contrast of a 500-year-old Russian monastery against the backdrop of powerplant cooling towers as they churn out steam and fill the sky with dark ominous clouds. It’s a nightmarish-looking photo that makes the landscape appear almost dystopian.

 

Tricky US Trivia:

Question: What fashion trend was born out of the Suffrage Movement in the 1850s?

 


Answer: Bloomers, aka loose trousers that gathered at the ankles

Today’s Birthdays:

J.K. Rowling Young Adult Author 61  years old

Birthplace Yate, England

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Mark Cuban Entrepreneur 68 years old

Birthplace Pittsburgh, PA

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Zac Brown Country Singer 48/ years old

Birthplace Atlanta, GA

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Dean Cain TV Actor 60 years old

Birthplace Mount Clemens, MI

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That’s All for Now



July 29, 2026

30 Jul

 


30 Jul

Weather Expectations         Week 29  Day 211  Flag Today  84°/60°                            

Wind 10 mph Gusts 13 mph

Risk of fire: Moderate     Active Fire: 22 miles away

Nearest Lightning: 35 miles away Humidity:  47%

Air Quality: Fair Sunshine Partly Cloudy Breezy

July Averages: Temps: 82°\51° 9 days with rain

Today’s Observances:

Cheesecake Day Link 
Earth Overshoot Day 
Link
Father-In-Law Day
Friendship Day 
Link Link Link Link Link Link
Health Care Now!  Medicare's Birthday  
Link
International Day of Friendship Link  Link  Link
National Chicken and Waffles Day
National Chili Dog Day 
Link  
National Intern Day
 Link 
National Share A Hug Day
National Whistleblowers Appreciation Day  
Link
Paperback Book Day
World Day Against Trafficking in Persons

Weekly Observances:

International Congress of Mathematics: 23-30

National Tequila Week: 24-30  Link
Quilt Odyssey Week: 30-8/1

Lollapalooza: 30-8/2 Link 

Fresh Quotation:

 

Today’s Reflection:

I’m still not sure why I couldn’t log in to my blog…it is working today.

The cheapest gas in Flag is $4.29 @ Sam’s.

Yesterday was a day of gentle rain. I enjoyed it a lot.

The young children in our neighborhood…under 10 years old…have at least one kick scooter each where they chase each other them in our street and on our sidewalks. The parents of the youngest are always outside watching their broods. The kids seem to enjoy it a lot. It’s fine with me.

Today was a big day…I went to Sam’s Club for the first time since my episode. I needed AA batteries and they have the best price. My handicapped placard was used. I got the batteries and some peanut brittle. It was a lot of walking, but I did well. I’m not  plus member at Sam’s and their delivery charge is outrageous so an in-store visit was necessary.

I was scheduled for a dental cleaning tomorrow. I got the 2nd reminder and they changed the time from 10am to noon. I called, they apologized but couldn’t do anything but change the appointment.  I was not happy as they couldn’t get me in until near the end of August. I accepted the appointment, but they knew I was not a happy camper.

Dr. Fauci was interrogated at the Congressional hearing this morning.  Knowing this was a Republican set-up he used the 5th amendment over 100 times today. Good for him.

Last night I watched Chris Cumo’s Town Hall ‘The Future is Now’. It was all about AI and was very informative. It will replay I’m sure. I hope lots of people spend the 2 hours to learn from it.

Historical events

30 Jul History video

Cool to know:

The 100 folds in a chef's hat represent 100 ways to cook an egg.

Yes, that tall, pleated white hat that chefs wear — technically called a toque — has 100 folds for a reason! According to Reclutant Gourmet, the pleats used to signify a chef's level of experience, like the number of ways he or she knew how to prepare eggs.

Today in Science:

It’s 35°C in the shade, amid Europe’s June heatwave, and Alexander Janas has just emerged from Hohle Fels Cave in southwestern Germany, where the mercury reads 9 or 10°C. Its wonderful to be inside, says Janas, an archaeologist at the Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment in Tübingen, Germany.

It isn’t just the cool cave air that draws Janas and other archaeologists into Hohle Fels each summer. Over the past three decades, they have dug up one jaw-dropping find after another. These include expertly crafted objects such as the world’s oldest human figurine — the 40,000-year-old ‘Venus of Hohle Fels’ — and the earliest known musical instruments.

The artworks provide a window into the minds of some of Europe’s earliest Homo sapiens. Associated with a period called the Aurignacian, they are among the first humans known to leave behind depictions of their world. “We can almost look through the eyes of the Aurignacian people and see how they viewed the environment around them,” says Amy Clark, a palaeolithic archaeologist at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

 

Picture of the Day:

Runner up from the “Series” category – 2021 Drone Photo Awards
Title: Abstract nature
Description: “This canvas is actually a pond of toxic waste from a copper mine, located in the province of Huelva, Spain. These ephemeral formations will disappear with the next torrential rains and new waste inputs. After an initial human intervention, it never ceases to amaze me how nature molds and paints, with different minerals and colors, combine to create these abstractions worthy of the best abstract painters.” Manuel Enrique González Carmona

 

Tricky US Trivia:

Question: Which state is Juan Ponce de León credited with discovering?

 


Answer: Florida

Today’s Birthdays:

Terry Crews TV Actor 58 years old

Birthplace FlintMI

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Arnold Schwarzenegger Movie Actor Governor 79 years old

Birthplace Thal, Austria

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Christopher Nolan Director 56 years old

Birthplace LondonEngland

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Lisa Kudrow TV Actress 63 years old

Birthplace Los AngelesCA

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Hilary Swank Movie Actress 52 years old

Birthplace LincolnNE

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Laurence Fishburne Movie Actor  65 years old

Birthplace AugustaGA

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Henry Ford Entrepreneur [1863-1947] @ 83 years old

Birthplace Greenfield, MI

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Vivica A. Fox Movie Actress 62 years old

Birthplace South BendIN

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

That’s All for Now


July 27, 2026

28 Jul



 28Jul

Weather Expectations         Week 29  Day 209    Flag Today  86°/60°                            

Wind 3 mph Gusts 4 mph

Risk of fire: Moderate   Active Fire: 22 miles away

Nearest Lightning: 215 miles away Humidity:  40%

Air Quality: Fair Sunshine Partly Cloudy

July Averages: Temps: 82°\51° 9 days with rain

Today’s Observances:

Buffalo Soldiers Day  Link
National Milk Chocolate Day  
Link
National Waterpark Day  
Link
World Hepatitis Day
Link

Weekly Observances:

International Congress of Mathematics: 23-30

National Tequila Week: 24-30  Link

Fresh Quotation:

 

 

Today’s Reflection:

A nice summer day. Monsoon is taking a break. Just a nice summer day.

While I was in the hospital, my brother found several firearms I had used when I was hunting, along with a German pistol my father had bought for protection. He took them, with my permission, to a local gun shop. They put them up for consignment sale. Today I picked up the check. All 3 firearms sold and I got a little over $500. Not bad. And now there are 3 gun onwers happy with their purchase.

I bought a couple of end tables for near my bed to hold ‘nigh time things like my CPAP machine, phone, etc. The two end tables must have over 50 screws and bolts I must put in the right place. I got the basic frame done before I quit.   I’ll either find someone to finish it, or I will do a little each day. It is not hard work, it is just time consuming and my ‘position in space’ has never been good making the transfer from the picture to the actual table difficult. I’m not giving up, but I’m not rushing it either.

Historical events

28 July History video

Cool to know about language:

SPILL 

Oddly, to spill first meant to kill or destroy, and it has been suggested that this somewhat bloody original meaning might relate to other similar words for bloodied animal fur or even flayed skin; it was in the sense of putting something to waste that it later came to be used of messily dropping the contents of something.

The more contemporary sense of "spilling" gossip or a secret, though, is still over 200 years old: in early 19th-century slang, to spill meant to betray a fellow criminal or confidante to the authorities, and then by the turn of the 20th century, the word had likewise come to mean to reveal or disclose something secret or personal.

Today in Science:

Can commercial funding fill a hole of £42 million (US$56 million) a year in the finances of some of the United Kingdom’s flagship science laboratories and facilities?

That is the challenge facing sites run by the UK Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), which funds the Diamond Light Source — the national synchrotron facility in Harwell — as well as other scientific instruments and labs.

The UK government has said that all STFC-funded sites must raise money to cover more of their own running costs, or risk closure.

The remodelling comes amid an overhaul to UK public research funding in line with the government’s strategic priorities, and during a rocky period for UK science. The country’s new prime minister, Andy Burnham, has merged the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology into a larger Department of Business, Innovation, Science and Trade. Patrick Vallance, a clinical scientist popular among research leaders, resigned as science minister on 20 July. Chemical engineer Chris McDonald, a member of the UK parliament who had a prior career in industry research, was appointed to the role on 24 July.

Picture of the Day:

Runner up from the "People" category - 2021 Drone Photo Awards
Title: Beach Season

Description: "I took this picture in February 2021, on ice hummocks at the Kapchagay reservoir in the Almaty region of Kazakstan. The air temperature on that day was -10 degrees Celsius; for our region and season it could be said warm, and so, without waiting for summer, we decided to open the beach season!". Alexandr Vlassyuk

Tricky US Trivia:

Question: What was the name of the Native American tribe the Pilgrims celebrated the first Thanksgiving with?

 


Answer: The Wampanoag tribe

Today’s Birthdays:

Harry Kane Soccer Player [England captain] 33 years old

Birthplace Chingford, England

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Lori Loughlin TV Actress 62 years old

Birthplace New York City, NY

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Terry Fox Runner [1958-1981] @22 osteosarcoma

Birthplace Winnipeg, Canada

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis First Lady @64, cancer

Birthplace Long Island, NY

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

That’s All for Now

28Jul

Weather Expectations         Week 29  Day 209    Flag Today  86°/60°                            

Wind 3 mph Gusts 4 mph

Risk of fire: Moderate   Active Fire: 22 miles away

Nearest Lightning: 215 miles away Humidity:  40%

Air Quality: Fair Sunshine Partly Cloudy

July Averages: Temps: 82°\51° 9 days with rain

Today’s Observances:

Buffalo Soldiers Day  Link
National Milk Chocolate Day  
Link
National Waterpark Day  
Link
World Hepatitis Day 
Link

Weekly Observances:

International Congress of Mathematics: 23-30

National Tequila Week: 24-30  Link

Fresh Quotation:

 

 

Today’s Reflection:

A nice summer day. Monsoon is taking a break. Just a nice summer day.

While I was in the hospital, my brother found several firearms I had used when I was hunting, along with a German pistol my father had bought for protection. He took them, with my permission, to a local gun shop. They put them up for consignment sale. Today I picked up the check. All 3 firearms sold and I got a little over $500. Not bad. And now there are 3 gun onwers happy with their purchase.

I bought a couple of end tables for near my bed to hold ‘nigh time things like my CPAP machine, phone, etc. The two end tables must have over 50 screws and bolts I must put in the right place. I got the basic frame done before I quit.   I’ll either find someone to finish it, or I will do a little each day. It is not hard work, it is just time consuming and my ‘position in space’ has never been good making the transfer from the picture to the actual table difficult. I’m not giving up, but I’m not rushing it either.

Historical events

28 July History video

Cool to know about language:

SPILL 

Oddly, to spill first meant to kill or destroy, and it has been suggested that this somewhat bloody original meaning might relate to other similar words for bloodied animal fur or even flayed skin; it was in the sense of putting something to waste that it later came to be used of messily dropping the contents of something.

The more contemporary sense of "spilling" gossip or a secret, though, is still over 200 years old: in early 19th-century slang, to spill meant to betray a fellow criminal or confidante to the authorities, and then by the turn of the 20th century, the word had likewise come to mean to reveal or disclose something secret or personal.

Today in Science:

Can commercial funding fill a hole of £42 million (US$56 million) a year in the finances of some of the United Kingdom’s flagship science laboratories and facilities?

That is the challenge facing sites run by the UK Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), which funds the Diamond Light Source — the national synchrotron facility in Harwell — as well as other scientific instruments and labs.

The UK government has said that all STFC-funded sites must raise money to cover more of their own running costs, or risk closure.

The remodelling comes amid an overhaul to UK public research funding in line with the government’s strategic priorities, and during a rocky period for UK science. The country’s new prime minister, Andy Burnham, has merged the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology into a larger Department of Business, Innovation, Science and Trade. Patrick Vallance, a clinical scientist popular among research leaders, resigned as science minister on 20 July. Chemical engineer Chris McDonald, a member of the UK parliament who had a prior career in industry research, was appointed to the role on 24 July.

Picture of the Day:

Runner up from the "People" category - 2021 Drone Photo Awards
Title: Beach Season

Description: "I took this picture in February 2021, on ice hummocks at the Kapchagay reservoir in the Almaty region of Kazakstan. The air temperature on that day was -10 degrees Celsius; for our region and season it could be said warm, and so, without waiting for summer, we decided to open the beach season!". Alexandr Vlassyuk

Tricky US Trivia:

Question: What was the name of the Native American tribe the Pilgrims celebrated the first Thanksgiving with?

 


Answer: The Wampanoag tribe

Today’s Birthdays:

Harry Kane Soccer Player [England captain] 33 years old

Birthplace Chingford, England

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Lori Loughlin TV Actress 62 years old

Birthplace New York CityNY

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Terry Fox Runner [1958-1981] @22 osteosarcoma

Birthplace WinnipegCanada

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis First Lady @64, cancer

Birthplace Long IslandNY

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

That’s All for Now