January 05, 2016

Jan 6

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1.6.16 Week: 01 \ Day: 6
January Averages: 43°\16°
86004 Today: H 46° \ L 31° Average Sky Cover: 95% 
Wind ave:   4mph\Gusts:  9mph
Ave. High: 42° Record High: 61°[1969] Ave. Low: 16° Record Low: -18°[1910]
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Quote of the Day 

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Observances Today:                        
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Christian-Epiphany or Twelfth Night
Christian-Three Kings Day

Statehood Day-New Mexico-47th-1912
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Observances This Week:
Celebration of Life Week: 1-7 Link
Diet Resolution Week: 1-7 
Silent Record Week: 1-7
New Year's Resolutions Week: 1-8
Someday We'll Laugh About This Week: 2-8
Home Office Safety and Security Week: 3-9
National Folic Acid Awareness Week: 3-9 Link
National Lose Weight/Feel Great Week: 3-10
Elvis' Birthday Celebration Week: 4-8 
International Consumer Electronics Show: 6-9
No Tillage Week: 6-9

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US Historical Highlights for Today
1639 - Virginia is 1st colony to order surplus crops (tobacco) destroyed
1861 - NYC mayor proposes NY become a free city, trading with N & S
1864 - To force the NAVAJOs to move to the Bosque Redondo Encampment, the Army gets Kit Carson to mount an expedition against the NAVAJOs in the Canyon de Chelly. Captain Albert Pfeiffer, and a small force, leaves Fort Canby on this date to meet Carson at the canyon. Carson is called "rope thrower" by the Indians.
1893 - The Washington National Cathedral is chartered by Congress. The charter is signed by President Benjamin Harrison.
1896 - 1st US women's 6-day bicycle race starts, Madison Square Garden
1939 - Daily newspaper comic strip "Superman" debuts
1941 - President Franklin Roosevelt's "4 Freedoms" speech (freedom from speech, worship, want and fear) during US State of Union address
1971 - Berkeley chemists announces 1st synthetic growth hormones
1973 - "Schoolhouse Rock," premieres on ABC-TV with Multiplication Rock
1975 - The last full-blooded MANDAN dies today in Twin Buttes, North Dakota. She was Mattie Grinnell, and she lived to be 108 years old.
1975 - "Wheel Of Fortune," debuts on NBC-tv
1994 - Ice skater Nancy Kerrigan is attacked by Tonya Harding's bodyguard
2005 - Mississippi Civil Rights Workers Murders: Edgar Ray Killen is arrested as a suspect for the 1964 murders of three Civil Rights workers.
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World Historical Highlights for Today
1494 - The first Mass in the New World is celebrated at La Isabela, Hispaniola.
1605 - The first edition of El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha (Book One of Don Quixote) by Miguel de Cervantes is published in Madrid.
1745 - Bonnie Prince Charlies army draws to Glasgow
1832 - New England Anti-Slavery Society organizes (Boston)
1907 - Maria Montessori opens her 1st (Montessori) school (Rome)
1912 - Alfred Wegener, geophysicist and meteorologist, presents his controversial theory of continental drift in a lecture at a the Geological Association (Geologischen Vereinigung) at the Senckenberg-Museum, Frankfurt.
1929 - Mother Teresa arrives in Calcutta to begin her work amongst India's poorest and diseased people.
1980 - The beginning of the first GPS epoch.
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Birthdays Today:
How many can you identify? Answers below in Birthdays Today 

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My Rambling Thoughts
Second storm is heading in. Cloudy with just a little snow on and off. Lots more on the agenda.
Watched Pres. Obama on Gun Control live this morning. Very good ideas that will hopefully stand. His emotions were very high. Should have made it real for lots of people. Sadly, at the end of his address the House Speaker was already saying that Obama is trying to abolish the 2nd amendment. Hey Paul, thanks for your super conservative view, I’m sure that helps the families of all the people killed by gun violence in this country and that doing nothing is the best way to stop gun violence.
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Brain Teasers
(answers at the end of post)
One Pair Out of Ten
Trick brain teasers appear difficult at first, but they have a trick that makes them really easy.
A very mean king went to a nearby village. He wanted some more slaves to serve him at his royal palace. He decided that if any family in the village had more than five children, he would take them. A cobbler and his wife had ten children. When the king came to take them, the cobbler and his wife begged and begged. Finally the king said, "I see that you have ten pairs of shoes in a box. If you can give each of your children a pair and still leave one pair out of ten in the box, you can keep your children. The cobbler and his wife began to smile at each other. How did they keep all of their children?
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Found on You Tube with some relevance to today
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…Bet You Didn’t Know…
The longest bout of hiccups recorded is 68 years. Charles Osborne of Iowa, U.S., holds that record when the hiccups that started in 1922 didn't stop until 1990.
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…Civil War Facts You May Not Know…
6. Years before Booth killed Lincoln, there was another assassination attempt on the 16th president. The bullet missed his head, however, and sailed through his signature top hat instead.
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…Grammar Craziness…
The English language includes an interesting category of words and phrases called contronyms— terms that, depending on context, can have opposite or contradictory meanings.
7. Cleave: To adhere, or to separate
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…Harper’s Index…
57-Percentage of teenagers in Utah who live with their married biological parents
32-of teenagers in Mississippi
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…Instagram Photo of the Day… 

earthpix A winter road in the Ore Mountains, Germany | Photo by @bokehm0n
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2 jokes for the day
Drunk Driver?
A police officer was staking out a particularly rowdy bar for possible drunk drivers. At closing time, he saw a fellow stumble out of the bar, trip on the curb and try his keys on five different cars before he found his. Then he sat in the front seat fumbling around with his keys for several minutes. Everyone left the bar and drove off.

Finally, he started his engine and began to pull away. The police officer was waiting for him. He stopped the driver, read him his rights and administered a Breathalyzer test. The results showed a reading of 0.0. The puzzled officer demanded to know how that could be.

The driver replied, "Tonight, I'm the designated decoy."
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Diary of a Demented Snow Shoveler, written by someone who just moved to snow country.

December 8 6:00 PM
It started to snow. The first snow of the season and the wife and I took our cocktails and sat for hours by the window watching the huge soft flakes drift down from heaven. It looked like a Grandma Moses print. So romantic we felt like newlyweds again. I love snow!

December 9
We woke to a beautiful blanket of crystal white snow covering every inch of the landscape. What a fantastic sight! Can there be a more lovely place in the whole world? Moving here was the best idea I’ve ever had! Shoveled for the first time in years and felt like a boy again. I did both our driveway and the sidewalks. This afternoon the snowplow came along and covered up the sidewalks and closed in the driveway, so I got to shovel again. What a perfect life!

December 12
The sun has melted all our lovely snow. Such a disappointment! My neighbor tells me not to worry-we’ll definitely have a white Christmas. No snow on Christmas would be awful! Bob says we’ll have so much snow by the end of winter, that I’ll never want to see snow again. I don’t think that’s possible. Bob is such a nice man, I’m glad he’s our neighbor.

December 14
Snow, lovely snow! 8 inches last night. The temperature dropped to -20. The cold makes everything sparkle so. The wind took my breath away, but I warmed up by shoveling the driveway and sidewalks. This is the life! The snowplow came back this afternoon and buried everything again. I didn’t realize I would have to do quite this much shoveling, but I’ll certainly get back in shape this way. I wish I wouldn’t huff and puff so.

December 15
20 inches forecast. Sold my van and bought a 4×4 Blazer. Bought snow tires for the wife’s car and 2 extra shovels. Stocked the freezer. The wife wants a wood stove in case the electricity goes out. I think that’s silly. We aren’t in Alaska, after all.

December 16
Ice storm this morning. Fell on my butt on the ice in the driveway putting down salt. Hurt like hell. The wife laughed for an hour, which I think was very cruel.

December 17
Still way below freezing. Roads are too icy to go anywhere. Electricity was off for 5 hours. I had to pile the blankets on to stay warm. Nothing to do but stare at the wife and try not to irritate her. Guess I should’ve bought a wood stove, but won’t admit it to her. God I hate it when she’s right. I can’t believe I’m freezing to death in my own living room.

December 20
Electricity is back on, but had another 14 inches of the damn stuff last night. More shoveling! Took all day. The damn snowplough came by twice. Tried to find a neighbour kid to shovel, but they said they’re too busy playing hockey. I think they’re lying. Called the only hardware store around to see about buying a snow blower and they’re out. Might have another shipment in March. I think they’re lying. Bob says I have to shovel or the city will have it done and bill me. I think he’s lying.

December 22
Bob was right about a white Christmas because 13 more inches of the white stuff fell today, and it’s so cold, it probably won’t melt till August. Took me 45 minutes to get all dressed up to go out to shovel and then I had to piss. By the time I got undressed, pissed and dressed again. I was too tired to shovel. Tried to hire Bob who has a plow on his truck for the rest of the winter, but he says he’s too busy. I think he’s lying.

December 23
Only 2 inches of snow today. And it warmed up to 0. The wife wanted me to decorate the front of the house this morning. What is she, nuts?!! Why didn’t she tell me to do that a month ago? She says she did but I think she’s lying.

December 24
6 inches – Snow packed so hard by snowplow, I broke the shovel. Thought I was having a heart attack. If I ever catch the guy who drives that snowplow, I’ll drag him through the snow and beat him to death with my broken shovel. I know he hides around the corner and waits for me to finish shoveling and then he comes down the street at a 100 miles an hour and throws snow all over where I’ve just been! Tonight the wife wanted me to sing Christmas carols with her and open our presents, but I was too busy watching for the damn snowplow.

December 25
Merry Christmas! 20 more inches of the damn slop tonight – Snowed in. The idea of shoveling makes my blood boil. I hate the snow! Then the snowplow driver came by asking for a donation and I hit him over the head with my shovel. The wife says I have a bad attitude. I think she’s a fricking idiot. If I have to watch “It’s A Wonderful Life” one more time, I’m going to stuff her into the microwave.

December 26
Still snowed in. Why the hell did I ever move here? It was all HER idea. She’s really getting on my nerves.

December 27
Temperature dropped to -30 and the pipes froze; plumber came after 14 hours of waiting for him, he only charged me $1,400 to replace all my pipes.

December 28
Warmed up to above -20. Still snowed in. My wife is driving me crazy!!!

December 29
10 more inches. Bob says I have to shovel the roof or it could cave in. That’s the silliest thing I ever heard. How dumb does he think I am?

December 30
Roof caved in. I beat up the snowplow driver, and now he is suing me for a million dollars, not only for the beating I gave him, but also for trying to shove the broken snow shovel up his... The wife went home to her mother. Nine more inches predicted.

December 31
I set fire to what’s left of the house. No more shoveling.

January 8
Feel so good. I just love those little white pills they keep giving me. Why am I tied to the bed?
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Yep, It Really Happened
The Independent (London), In December, Canada's supportive organization The Transgender Project released a biographical video of the former Paul Wolscht, 46 and the father of seven children with his ex-wife, Marie, describing his new life as not only a female but a 6-year-old female, Stephoknee Wolscht. She told the Daily Xtra (gay and lesbian news site) that not acting her real age (even while doing "adult" things like working a job and driving a car) enables her to escape "depression and suicidal thoughts." Among the trans-age's favorite activities are (coloring-book) coloring, creating a play-like "kingdom," and wearing "really pretty clothes." Stephoknee now lives with the couple who adopted her.  
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Somewhat Useless Information
The real Downton Abbey is Highclere Castle which served as the exterior and most of the interiors (except the servants' quarters which were constructed in a studio).

Elizabeth McGovern (Cora, Countess of Grantham) is in the band Sadie and the Hotheads with Michelle Dockery (Lady Mary Crawley) as an occasional contributor.

Jim Carter (Mr. Carson) does charity bike rides all over the world.

Famous neighbor Andrew Lloyd Webber tried to purchase Highclere Castle to hold his art collection. 

Jessica Brown-Findley (Lady Sybil Crawley) decided to try acting after ankle problems caused her to give up ballet dancing.

Masterpiece was the second most popular program on TV the night of the Super Bowl.

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Birthdays Today
“()” indicates age at death
(92) - Sun Myung Moon, evangelist (Unification Church-Moonies), (d. 2012)
(88) - Earl Scruggs, NC, bluegrass musician (& Flat-Ballad of Jed Clampett), (d. 2012)
(79) - Danny Thomas, Deerfield Mich, comedian (Danny Thomas Show) (d.1991)
(69) - Bonnie Franklin, Santa Monica Cal, TV actress (Ann-1 Day at a Time), (d. 2013)
(63) - Charles Sumner, leading Reconstruction senator, (d. 1874)
61 - Rowan Atkinson, England, comedian/actor (Mr Bean, Blackadder)
(60) - Vic Tayback, American actor (Mel-Alice, Khan, Portrait of a Stripper), born in Brooklyn, (d.1990)
59 - Nancy Lopez Knight, Torrance California, pro golfer (1981 Dinah Shore)
(51) - (baptised) John Smith, English explorer (Jamestown) (d.1631)
(48) - Khalil Gibran, Lebanon, mystic poet (The Prophet, Broken Wings) (d.1931)
46 - Julie Chen, American television presenter
(19) - Joan of Arc, Domrémy, Roman Catholic Saint and national heroine of France (legendary date) (d. 1431)
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Historical Obits Today
@87-1989 - Hirohito, Japan`s emperor (1922-89), after 62-year reign
@84-1981 - A. J. Cronin, Scottish writer
@81-1994 - Tip O'Neill, speaker of the house
@75-1993 - John B "Dizzy" Gillespe, blues trumpeter, cancer
@72-2006 - Lou Rawls, American singer, cancer
@61-1884 - Gregor Mendel, Austrian Augustine monk/heredity pioneer
@60-1919 - Theodore Roosevelt, 26th Pres (1901-09), blood clot
@59-1949 - Victor Fleming, American film director ("Wizard of Oz", "Gone With Wind"), heart attack
@54-1993 - Rudolph Nureyev, Russian ballet dancer (Kirov), AIDS
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Brain Teasers Answers
The cobbler and his wife gave each of his nine children a pair of shoes. That left one pair in the box. They then gave this tenth child the box with the shoes in it.
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Disclaimer: All opinions are mine…feel free to agree or disagree.
All ‘data’ info is from the internet sites and is usually checked with at least one other source, but I have learned that every site contains mistakes and sadly once the information is out there, many sites simply copy it and is therefore difficult to verify. Also for events occurring before the Gregorian calendar was adopted [1582] the dates may not be totally accurate.

╫╫╫╫And That Is All for Now ╫╫╫╫

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