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Post by pegasus on Dec 4, 2013 7:54:39 GMT -7
National Handwashing Awareness Week Good morning my friends It's cloudy again with no sun in sight, BUT the temp is somewhat warmer (35ºF) and it's not snowing. If this keeps on, maybe the snow will be gone by the time the next storm arrives. Bill Beckwith, a co-host of one of my favorite HGTV programs, Curb Appeal, has been killed when his motorcycle collided with another vehicle in San Francisco's Lower Haight neighborhood,. He co-hosted the program with John Gidding, Chip Wade and Kimberly Lacy. Each episode of Curb Appeal makes over the exterior of a house along with landscaping. He will be missed.
Well, Merriam-Webster has named it's "word of the year" and it's not 'selfie' (Oxford's word). It is, fanfare please, 'science'. No trendy, internet engendered word here, but the nice and safe 'science'. It was the most often looked up word on the M-W website. However, personally, I appreciate the OED's word, because I had heard it but had no idea what it meant. Now I know - myself!! Thank you, Oxford. UPDATE: Russia is calling for 'stability and order' in Ukraine as the protests against the government and its ties to Russia continue. Thousands of demonstrators kept up the pressure on the Ukrainian government, angry about the government's U-turn away from integration with Europe.. Unfortunately, it seems that there is a split in the country - the west supports the pro-European side and the east is a more Russian oriented region. Last month, Kiev suspended talks with the EU, angering many Ukrainians, Chief among Pres. Yanukovich's reasons for backpedaling was the opposition to it by Russia. In turn, Russia threatened its neighbor with trade sanctions and steep gas bills if it forged ahead with an EU deal, but promised deep discounts on natural gas if it were to join the Moscow-led Customs Union instead. I hope this doesn't turn into another Georgia where Russia actually sent in troops to that nation. And all we can do is sit and watch.
Thought for Today: "If you really do put a small value upon yourself, rest assured that the world will not raise your price." --Anonymous
China moon bearded iris
I hope you have a worry-free Wednesday
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Post by pegasus on Dec 6, 2013 12:23:32 GMT -7
Older Driver Safety Awareness Week Good afternoon my friends It's gloomy again. It seems like I haven't seen the sun in ages and I miss it. On the other hand, we are missing the rain (and snow) that areas east of us are getting and the temp is in themed 30s (35ºF). I've been following the story of the pilot whale pod that has been stranded in Florida’s Everglades National Park. A number of the whales have died or just disappeared. They finally were able to herd them out to somewhat deeper water (10'-14'). Today when they went looking for them, the whales couldn't be found, an indication that they may have gone out to sea, officials said.. Blair Mase, NOAA Fisheries Southeast Marine Mammal Stranding Coordinator, said in a teleconference, “With a group that size there would be some members at the surface,” she said, adding that this raised the possibility that some of the whales could have made it to safer waters. I hope that the authorities are right. So far more than 10 have died.
Thought for Today: "The final forming of a person's character lies in their own hands. --Anne Frank (1929-1945) Jewish Holocaust victim famous for her Diary of Anne Frank
China peach dwarf bearded iris
TGIF
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Post by pegasus on Dec 8, 2013 9:04:20 GMT -7
Worldwide Candle Lighting Day Good afternoon my friends Another overcast and cold day. We had a light snow overnight that barely covers anything. I'm already tired of winter and it's not yet even the first official day of winter. Did you watch NBC's "The Sound of Music," starring Carrie Underwood, on Thursday? It received the network's highest Thursday night ratings (except for sports) since 2004. And deserves it. Reports say that NBC will probably retelecast sometime before Christmas. If they do, I urge you to watch it. Imagine an actually live telecast of a Broadway musical? What a novel concept!!
Prince Harry is really a different style of royal. For one, he's a real soldier with real war experience as a low level officer. Granted Prince William did actual rescue flying, a real job, but not with bullets flying. Now Harry is in Antarctica as the head of one of three teams trying to reach the south pole as a means of raising awareness of Walking with the Wounded which helps those injured in military service. It's a trek of 200 miles through some of the world's harshest terrain with temps of -30F. I wonder what he will do next?
I just read an interesting article about a black market in the buying and selling of the so-called craft beers - "Craze for coveted craft brews creates black market. " If you're interested, here's the link: www.nbcnews.com/business/craze-coveted-craft-brews-creates-black-market-2D11702890 I just turned on the NFL Redzone channel and they showed the Detroit Lions vs Phil. Eagles game and you can hardly see what's happening because of the snow falling!! And I look out my window and see the sun shining. I prefer my view. ;D ;D ;D Thought for Today: "We know what we are, but know not what we may be." --William Shakespeare (1564-1616),English playwright
Chinook wind bearded iris
I hope your Sunday is sunnier than mine!!
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Post by pegasus on Dec 10, 2013 8:42:28 GMT -7
Nobel Prize Day Good afternoon my friends It's still gloomy and the storm passed us by. Oh, where, oh, where has my little sun gone? It took the funeral of Mandela to produce a hopeful sign of the thawing of relations between the US and Cuba. Pres. Obama shook hands and chatted briefly with Cuba's Raul Castro at the Mandela memorial before all the world leaders there to see. It happened in the process of Obama greeting personally all the other world dignitaries there, but still it's a friendly gesture. We can all hope for a thaw in relations with Cuba. After all, they are no threat to us and we have had relations with other governments that we don't particularly like.
And you thought you were cold? Be glad your're not in East Antarctica where it's c-c-c-c-cold. Down there, they have set a new soul-crushing low record temperature of -135.8ºF. That's so cold scientists say it hurts to breathe. Ice scientist Ted Scambos at the National Snow and Ice Data Center said the new record is "50 degrees colder than anything that has ever been seen in Alaska or Siberia or certainly North Dakota."
Mary Barra has broken through Detroit's glass ceiling by becoming GM's CEO, the first female to lead one of the major auto companies. Barra is currently executive vice president of global product development and has worked at GM for three decades. She will be not only the automaker's first female CEO but the first woman to serve as the chief executive officer of any major auto company in the world. You go girl!!!
Some local pictures:
Red Shouldered Hawk This red shouldered hawk was spotted on Lower Lake Road in Seneca Falls on Monday morning. Photo by Howard Lainhart
Forgotten But Not Gone These barns may not be useful anymore but still interesting and you wonder how much longer they will be standing before they succumb to the elements. Taken just South of Willard on Sunday afternoon. Photo by Rachel Burkholder
Reflections The holiday lights along the pier in Geneva reflect in Seneca Lake on Friday evening. Photo by Rachel Burkholder
Stroll through Sonnenberg A morning stroll at Sonnenberg Gardens & Mansion in Canandaigua, where the Sonnenberg Mansion can be seen through the pine trees. Photo by Pamela E. Gangloff Thought for Today: "How much easier it is to be critical than to be correct." --Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881), English Conservative prime minister and writer
Chubby cheeks dwarf bearded iris
I hope you're having a tasty little Tuesday
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Post by pegasus on Dec 12, 2013 13:49:29 GMT -7
Dewey Decimal System Day Good afternoon my friends Finally the sun appeared and, if you didn't have to go outside, it has been a nice day but COLD. It's been a "be careful what you ask for" day!! This has not been one of my better days. Hopefully, I'll be back to normal tomorrow. Thought for Today: "All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them." --Galileo Galilei[.i] (1564-1642) Italian scientist, inventor, and astronomer, considered to be the father of scientific reason
Chuck wagon bearded iris I hope your Thursday has been tantalizing
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Post by pegasus on Dec 14, 2013 9:10:26 GMT -7
International Shareware Day Good morning my friends It's been lightly snowing off and on for hours with hardly any wind. The forecast is for 3-5" of snow by tomorrow. If this weather keeps up, it's not just going to be a white Christmas but a looooong winter. Some are saying that Nelson Mandela's radical past has been airbrushed from his 'saintly' image. I don't know what articles they have been reading, but I read about his radicalism that led to his imprisonment in several articles at the time of his death. That is why I said that yesterday's terrorist is today's founding father. Unless he committed acts of terrorism after being released from prison, which I don't believe to be so. It's possible that in the memorial people have concentrated on his activities since being released from president. I see nothing wrong with that because that is what has made him the revered leader of post-apartheid South Africa.
No one has won the latest Mega Millions jackpot worth $425 million. So we all still have a chance to become the latest multi-millionaire. The line for the $550 million lottery ticket to be drawn Tuesday forms at the right!! The odds for getting all 6 numbers correct are 1 in 259 million, but someone has to win sometime, right?
The world's most corrupt nation - there's a tie between Afghanistan, North Korea, or Somalia, each with 8 points, according to Transparency International's latest survey.More than two thirds of the 177 countries included in the 2013 Corruption Perceptions Index scored below 50, where 0 indicates the country's public sector is seen as highly corrupt and 100 as very clean. Libya, Yemen, Spain, Australia, Guatemala and Madagascar were among the other countries whose scores declined significantly. Greece's score rose four points this year to 40, but remained the lowest ranking country in the European Union in 80th place on the index. Denmark and New Zealand performed best with scores of 91. The UK jumped from 17th to 14th place with a score of 76, two points up from last year. The U.S. did not change from last year, ranking 19th with a score of 73.
Thought for Today: "We all have strength enough to endure the misfortunes of others." --Francois, duc de La Rochefoucauld, Prince de Marcillac (1613-1680) French author of maxims and memoirs
Company red bearded iris
Have a sensational Saturday
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Post by pegasus on Dec 16, 2013 11:15:59 GMT -7
National Chocolate Covered Anything Day Good afternoon my friends IT IS COLD and snowed some more overnight. Tonight they are forecasting the possibility of a record low temp of 8ºF. Brrrrrrr. I can't remember a December this cold. Usually, we con't have this kind of cold spell until January. And lately, we haven't had this much snow either. The FDA has decided to examine antibacterial soap and body wash claims that they are more effective than plain soap and water in preventing illness and the spread of infection. The also will be required to prove that the soaps and washes are safe for long-term use ."Our goal is, if a company is making a claim that something is antibacterial and in this case promoting the concept that consumers who use these products can prevent the spread of germs, then there ought to be data behind that," said Dr. Sandra Kweder, deputy director of the Office of New Drugs in FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. Unless the companies can back up their claims, old-fashioned soap and water are a better choice.
Donations to Wreaths Across America flow to Arlington National Cemetery to cover more than half the gravestones there. Two weeks ago the group only had enough for 96,000 wreaths, far short of its goal of 135,000 wreaths at Arlington, but a surge in donations ended in 143,000 wreaths at Arlington. Last year, more than 400,000 wreaths were donated -- 100,000 to Arlington alone -- and placed at cemeteries in all 50 states. This year about 540,000 wreaths were placed nationwide, The ultimate goal is to cover every gravestone in Arlington next year when it is the cemetery's 150th anniversary. A certainly worthy Christmas goal for next year.
NSA's phone surveillance program is ruled unconstitutional by a federal court. www.cnn.com/2013/12/16/justice/nsa-surveillance-court-ruling/index.html Thought for Today: "Just remember - when you think all is lost, the future remains." --Dr. Robert H. Goddard (1882-1945) American rocket engineer
Cinque terre bearded iris
I hope your are having a mostly warm Monday
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Post by pegasus on Dec 18, 2013 10:15:55 GMT -7
Bake Cookies Day Good afternoon my friends When I woke up today, it was to bright sunshine and blue skies. I could hardly believe my eyes!! But things have gone back to what has become normal - overcast with snow forecasted. At least the temp is in the 20s. Now if it would just keep climbing a little more into the 30s. There are at least two winning tickets (8, 14, 17, 20, 39 and Mega Ball 7) for the $636 million Mega Millions lottery and neither of them is me! The store owners where the tickets were bought will also share in the wealth to a tune of $1 million each. One is the 4-month owner of a gift shop in California and the other a newsstand at a high-rise office complex in an upscale section of Atlanta, raising the possibility that that ticket was from an office pool. Neither winner has yet to come forward. They are probably still in shock!!
The US delegation to the Russian Sochi Olympics will include gay athletes but won't include a member of the president's family or a cabinet secretary in a clear disapproval of Russia's recent anti-gay laws. Tennis legend Billie Jean King, who came out in the 1980s, as well as gay figure skating Olympic champion Brian Boitano, will be part of the delegation headed by former Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. White House aide Rob Nabors and the US ambassador to Russia will round out the group. The absence of high-ranking US officials amounts to a snub to Russia, whose relations with the US have become somewhat broken over the past months - granting asylum to Eric Snowden and using Russia's veto power in the UN to block action vs. Syria, in particular. I think this is essentially a quiet way to show our support for gay rights internationally. I have strong doubts about Russia. This is a country that has almost no experience with anything but some form of dictatorship for most of it's existence. It went from the absolutism of the tsar to the dictatorship of Lenin, Stalin, etc. For a few years after Gorbachev, they tried democracy and, for all intents and purposes, with the election of Putin, voted to return to dictatorship.
Thought for Today: "To know what you prefer instead of humbly saying Amen to what the world tells you you ought to prefer, is to have kept your soul alive." --Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894) English author (Treasure Island)
Circus circus bearded iris
Have a wow of a Wednesday
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Post by pegasus on Dec 20, 2013 9:32:34 GMT -7
Go Caroling Day Good afternoon my friends It's gloomy but warmer. The temp was 44ºF when I got up and overcast. Some kind of precipitation was going on a little before I got up. I couldn't decide from my bedroom if it was rain or light snow. I still don't know. I'm sorry gut I can't find anything of interest in the news today. I absolutely refuse to comment on the Duck Dynasty brouhaha which seems to have captured the news. Who cares? Why this should be a news item of such wide interest is beyond me. There are 48 days remaining till the beginning of the 2014 Winter Olympics on Feb 7th in Sochi, Russia (wherever that is). Thought for Today: "Is there anything better than to be longing for something, when you know it is within reach?" --Greta Garbo (1905-1990) Swedish-born actress and Hollywood star,
Circus dragon dwarf bearded iris
TGIF everyone
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Post by pegasus on Dec 22, 2013 9:24:56 GMT -7
Operation Santa Paws Good afternoon my friends It's finally stopped raining and almost all the snow has gone, but it's sill overcast and more ran is in the forecast. As long as it doesn't freeze, I'm cool with that. I don't even care about a white Christmas. So far I've developed hardly any Christmas spirit. Pope Francis — the infallible leader of the world's 1 billion Roman Catholics — said five words ("Who am I to judge?") and may shift the course of Catholic history. The pope refused to sit in judgment of gay priests ((who were banned by his predecessor)) this year, a stance hailed as remarkable, even revolutionary. The comment marked just one of the many ways the pontiff appears to be reimagining the church. It's an approach he has taken on any number of subjects — atheists, unwed mothers, divorcees. Scolding is out in Rome; hand-holding is in. In other words, he is dragging the Roman Catholic Church into the 20th, if not the 21st, century. Good for him. I remember how enthused I was when he was elected. And I'm not a Catholic, or a member of any church for that matter. But there was something about this man that I found interesting and even appealing.
Will people ever learn that they cannot treat twitter like a phone conversation or e-mail/snail mail? The latest example is a PR exec who tweeted racially slanted comments about her trip to Africa while on the plane.“Going to Africa. Hope I don’t get AIDS. Just kidding. I’m white!” By the time she arrived in Africa she had been fired by her company. In one aspect, I'm glad she made that tweet and was fired. She is definitely not the right person to do business in Africa for anyone. But from the individual's point of view - don't put your thoughts on twitter and hit send before thinking long and carefully about how they may be perceived by others.
They - Have - Got - To Be - Kidding!! "Gilliagan's Island" made into a movie?? Is Hollywood so bereft of writing talent that it can't do better than revive this mediocre sitcom? I admit it - I watched it, but I would never have paid to do so. And they want to make of movie of it? Geeeesh!!
Thought for Today: "Every man serves a useful purpose: A miser, for example, makes a wonderful ancestor." Laurence J. Peter (1919-1988) US educator & writer
Circus world bearded iris
Have a safe and sane Sunday
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Post by pegasus on Dec 24, 2013 12:58:06 GMT -7
Christmas Eve Good afternoon my friends It's been lightly but steadily snowing so all the ground is white again. So it's going to be a white Christmas. BUT COLD!! Tonight's temp is forecasted as having a low of 9ºF. Merry Christmas everyone
Thought for Today: "Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars... Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that. --Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.[.i] (1929-1968) Nobel Peace Prize-winning preacher and civil rights activist
Citizen's band bearded iris
I hope you have a marvelous Christmas Eve
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Post by pegasus on Dec 26, 2013 10:38:53 GMT -7
Boxing Day Good afternoon my friends When I got up I could see the sun in a cloudy sky but now the usual overcasting clouds have taken over. So I'm expecting the forecasted snow to start at any minute. It's going to be a loooong and coooold winter, me boys and girls. On this day: 1898, French scientists Pierre and Marie Curie discovered the element radium. 1908, Jack Johnson became the first black man to win the heavyweight boxing championship when he knocked out Tommy Burns at Sydney, Australia. 2004. The ninth anniversary of the Sumatran-Andaman earthquake and tsunamis in which an estimated 250,000 people died and millions were displaced. It was second-strongest earthquake of all time. The earth spun faster and the day was fractionally shortened as a result.
Thought for Today:: "One machine can do the work of fifty ordinary men. No machine can do the work of one extraordinary man." --Elbert Hubbard (1856-1915) American writer, publisher, artist, and philosopher.
City lights bearded iris
Hope a truly restful Thursday
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Post by pegasus on Dec 28, 2013 8:34:33 GMT -7
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Post by pegasus on Dec 28, 2013 8:56:49 GMT -7
OK
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Post by pegasus on Dec 28, 2013 9:36:27 GMT -7
Card Playing Day Good afternoon my friends Another overcast day but the warmer temps have seriously melted away the snow. We aren't supposed to get seriously cold for a few days, which is OK by me.. 1.3 million long-term jobless are facing 2014 without unemployment benefits. Those benefits end with the end of 2013 and Congress hasn't seen fit to deal with it. They had to hurry home on Christmas vacation. How do those people live with themselves, knowing that their inaction will cause those people who have been desperately looking for work unsuccessfully will not have food to eat or a place to sleep. $300 per week per person = $1,200 per month. How many of us could live on that? It's subsistence living. Sens. Jack Reed, a Rhode Island Democrat, and Dean Heller, a Nevada Republican, are proposing a three-month extension of the benefits program that would also retroactively pay the missed checks to the long-term unemployed. Sen. Reed said that he expects the first vote on that proposal to be held Jan. 6. “Because Congress didn't act, more than 1 million of their constituents will lose a vital economic lifeline at Christmastime, leaving a lot of job-seekers without any source of income at all,” Pres. Obama said during a year-end press conference. “I think we're a better country than that. We don't abandon each other when times are tough.”
Flu season is here again as states report its spread with flu activity jumping from four states to ten (Alabama, Alaska, Kansas, Louisiana, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia and Wyoming), according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The season usually begins in the winter months and peaks in January or February. The only atypical thing seen this year is that the most common strain has been H1N1, which became known as swine flu during a 2009 outbreak. HiN1 is so 1ommon now among humans that it's regularly in the flu vaccine, including this year's. So, if you haven't had your flu shot, I'd advised any child or elderly person get it. I had mine last fall.
Thought for Today:: "All mortals tend to turn into the things they are pretending to be." --C.S. Lewis (1898-1963) BritishChristian scholar and novelist.
Clara Goula Louisiana iris
Have a successful Saturday
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