Today in history, greetings, and social banter here. (More)
Gustav I, considered “the father of his nation,” was elected King of Sweden today (1523). Also, Qing Dynasty forces captured Beijing, marking the fall of China’s Ming Dynasty (1644), Queen Christina abdicated to convert to Catholicism, leaving the Swedish throne to her cousin Charles X Gustav (1654), Shivaji Bhonsle was crowned, founding India’s Maratha Empire (1674), the Ashmolean Museum opened in Oxford, England as the world’s first university museum (1683), Sweden promulgated her new constitution, restoring the Riksdag of the Estates and electing Charles XIII as king (1809), Alexis St. Martin was accidentally shot in the stomach, leading to William Beaumont’s studies on digestion (1822), Andrew Jackson became the first U.S. President to ride a train (1833), the YMCA was founded in London (1844), Sophia of Nassau married the future Swedish King Oscar II (1857), Queensland, Australia was established as a separate colony from New South Wales (1859), 100,000 people died as a tropical cyclone swept into Bombay, now Mumbai, India (1882), the Great Fire destroyed downtown Seattle (1889), Chicago’s L-trains began operation (1892), Gov. Davis Waite ordered the Colorado National Guard to protect miners during the Cripple Creek strike (1894), Alaska’s Novarupta erupted (1912), George V and Queen Mary opened London’s Southwark Bridge (1921), President Herbert Hoover signed the Revenue Act that created the first federal gasoline tax (1932), the first drive-in theatre opened in Camden, New Jersey (1933), President Franklin Roosevelt signed the Securities Act that created the Securities and Exchange Commission (1934), Judge Joseph Crater, “the Missingest Man in New York” for nine years, was declared legally dead (1939), Allied troops landed in Normandy to begin the liberation of Northwest Europe known as Operation OVERLORD (1944), the National Basketball Association was created (1946), Robert Kennedy died of wounds received the night before at Los Angeles’ Ambassador Hotel (1968), 50 people died when Hughes Airwest Flight 706 collided with a U.S. Marine fighter jet over southern California (1971), the new-enacted Instrument of Government made Sweden a parliamentary monarchy (1974), the video game Tetris was released (1984), the body of ‘Wolfgang Gerhard,’ later proven to be Josef Mengele, was exhumed in Embu, Brazil (1985), an arsonist destroyed the Fantoft Stave Church in Bergen, Norway (1992), Mongolians voted in their nation’s first direct presidential elections (1993), a near-earth asteroid exploded over the Eastern Mediterranean with a force equal to a small nuclear bomb (2002), and President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam established Tamil as one of India’s “classical languages” (2004). And the U.S. Supreme Court upheld bans on medical marijuana in Gonzales v. Raich (2005).
+++++
Yesterday on Campus
Ask Ms. Crissie – Halperin: “It’s not racial?”
Campus Question – Is Hillary Clinton smart to ignore Bernie Sanders and focus on Donald Trump?
Our Earth – Eco News Roundup
Today on Campus
Things We Did This Week – Share your stories of political activism!
Mixed Nuts – Stubborn Sanders Still Says ‘Contested Convention’
Midday Matinee – Linda Lee with Aging and Dying
Campus Question at 6pm ET
Our Earth at 8pm ET – The Looting of a Major Native American Site
+++++
Photo Credit: British Wildlife Centre
+++++
Good morning! ::hugggggs::
Good morning BPI! It’s currently a cloudy 60 degrees here, and we’re expecting it to be “sort of cloudy” for the next two days. Yesterday was … wet. It rained most of the day, and it looks like we got about an inch and a half of rain. We’ve needed it, but it also looks like I’m going to have to open the dam gates again. On the sinus side, I’m seeing some improvement, I actually managed to sleep longer, but it’s still not all there. (sigh) On the agenda today, reports are due, and I’ve got them finished, except for our supply requests. Other than that, it looks to be a “catch up” day, after we get all the boats bailed.
How do you bail the boats? Have you seen those crank-type pumps? Lightweight, portable as can be, quick too!
bilge pump for one, buckets for the others.
Next trip to a big box hardware store, look for a hand cranked bilge pump, the water company uses them here, to pump out the water meter holes, looks quick and easy. I’m a bailer when I have to read the meter…
We do have a portable bilge pump, but it’s often just easier to bucket bail.
How busy are you with campers? More or less than average? I am below average. I’m curious if it is my weather or a broader trend.
About average. Busier last weekend than usual.
I’m glad to hear your sinus infection is improving. That’s a good sign at least. Maybe it won’t last much longer.
Bailing boats, opening dam gates… I’m beginning to think you’d enjoy seeing some drier weather.
I’m glad to hear that you’re starting to feel better, Norbrook. Please get well soon! 🙂
Good morning! ::hugggggs::
I’m glad to hear you are doing better.
Good morning!
We’ve sunshine and 64 degrees. It’s gorgeous out on the back porch where Callie is snoozing… We had a decent Sunday yesterday, lots of visitors in church, we recognized our most recent graduates, I guess there were a few extra grandparents? A family who’ve been friends of ours for a very long time came and sat with me. It was PW’s day to go to church with HMG, she alternates between us and the Methodistas, as I call them… Anyway, the grandparents sat next to me, the younger generation one pew forward, with their almost-4 year-old boy who SO makes me miss Ady… Little Drake is a dandy, let me tell you… They made my day, although PW and I did visit with Ady et al in the early afternoon.
Kenny is coming over this morning. We are gonna try to put the flue pipe through the porch roof today. He acts like it’s no big deal, but roofing is kinda mysterious to me. I haven’t done much of it… For one thing though, it’s the porch roof, not the house roof. In a worst case scenario, we can just get a new roof put on, the old one is elderly and won’t make it but a few more years anyway. Of course I try to remember a favorite saying of mine too… “If you want it (goof)ed up, do it yourself. If you want it (goof)ed up RIGHT, hire a professional.”
Have a decent day!
Best, G
“Methodistas” Love it. And love that saying, G. We’re still waiting for the “professional” who re-did our porch to come back and fix one little thing that he screwed up — that was 2 summers ago. Either he’s disappeared off the face of the earth, or he’s just good at ignoring us. Our email message is: “We’ll be happy to give you the last payment for the project if you just come fix this one little problem.”
Ms LI Mike and I have de-churched until we’re comfortable that the Pope has done the right thing regarding wayward priests and bishops….still waiting Pope Francis – and your latest effort (besides backtracking on a promise) is not good en
I once had an electrician that I owed but couldn’t get to send me a bill. I kept copies of my monthly letter requesting an itemized bill. Finally I got a call from a collection agency. Started out confrontational as if I was avoiding paying. After I faxed copies of all my send me a bill letters, the tone changed. It took them 3 months to get him to produce a bill which I paid. Nice guy, good electrician but totally paperwork averse.
The shameful, sinful way they’ve handled the abuser-priest situation is awful… That said, it looks to me like on average, Pope Francis is a gem of a human being and a breath of fresh air in a very stale room.
Good way to put it, Gardener!
Pope Francis has inspired me to reconnect after a long while. I think he is an amazing man.
Good luck with the flue. Be careful on the roof. I hope that Kenny’s take turns out to be right. Your spot on the porch with coffee and Callie sounds perfect.
PW tells me I’m not 30 years old anymore… 🙂
I wondered when somebody would remind you. 😉
It doesn’t take too long these days…
My knee is a real tell-tale…
Great saying, G: If you want it goofed up do it yourself, if you want it goofed up right, hire a professional. Hah! I’ve had a few of those experiences.
Good luck with the hole in the roof. I’m glad Kenny is confident. 🙂 Is Callie done with her heartworm treatments now?
Yup, but still on “light duty,” – leash-walk only the vet said… We let her roam as she is used to, but no running. If I want to ride the dirt bike I tie her up. Another couple of weeks she might be 100%
That reminds me of the IT saying: “To err is human. To really screw up, you need a computer.”
Good morning! ::hugggggs::
Makes sense to me!
I like that saying!
Good morning! ::hugggggs::
It’s a sunny 69 degrees today with a high of 87 expected. Half an inch of rain yesterday. Next rain a week away. Time to mow the grass.
Have fun with your clippers. Okay, I’m kidding. I hope there’s not a whole lot there to mow.
Annual southern rye is a high yield crop.
Have fun with the mowing, Jim! After all that rain, it ought to be … sticky….
Good morning! ::hugggggs::
Good Morning. Weather the same. No comment. One of my avoiding the news pastimes is to listen to Twins baseball on the radio. Their record is 16-40. They are having a horrible year. I know some comments on political stories can get heated. The comments on yesterday’s Twins loss are really funny. They were giving out free jerseys to kids and kids were saying, “no thanks.” Big pile of free jerseys unclaimed. That and lots of advice on who to trade. One suggestion that the teams astrology charts were totally incompatible. Okay then.
If there is a break in the rain, I plan to plant my tomatoes in their hanging containers. That and a trip to the library are on the agenda. I do have some nice campers that are fun to visit with.
Hope everyone has a good day 🙂
Listening to baseball games on the radio is a great way to enjoy a game. If the announcer is good, he can fire the imagine… Will that “Loooonnnnggg Flyyyy BAlllll” reach the stands or be caught at the warning track. “The throw, the slide, did he make it? I think the tag was applied late. NOOO! The Ump called him out.” Great stuff.
Sorry about the Twins record.
The Cubs look unstoppable…
Their fans are, uh, unbearable…
(Couldn’t stop myself).
Hahahaha! “No thanks!” That’s too funny!
Nice that you have campers that are fun to visit with. That must help a little with the rain.
But really, I find it hard to believe they couldn’t find takers for free Twins shirts. They won’t always have a bad season!
When kids won’t take a free jersey … you know the team’s in trouble….
My favorite Local Team Lament was, I believe, offered by the legendary Mike Royko. I can’t find the exact quote, but the gist was: “Every child should grow up a Chicago Cubs fan. By age 18, the child will have experienced every possible form of disappointment.”
Good morning! ::hugggggs::
Well, the themed b’day party for our, now, 10-yr-old granddtr was a smashing success. I cannot believe all the work that went into it — big kudos for Ms LI Mike and my daughter.
The party theme was “The Amazing Race” and is based on the eponymous TV show. The Amazing Race is a show about solving challenges in any and all parts of the world. The challenges are based on particular aspects of that country. So, for example,a challenge in Ireland might be to capture a leprechaun, or sky dive off the Cliffs of Moher. Ms LI Mike and my dtr identified 9 countries – but where to put them? All the neighbors on the block agreed to let their properties be one of the countries, and we identified the country spot with reflector posts. At each post was a box and inside was the challenge. Well, it gets even more complicated, but I’ll leave it there. But it was fun watching the kids (3 teams of 5) running up and down the street making their challenge. My daughter is swearing off an elaborate 11th yr party.
That both sounds like a huge amount of fun and a huge amount of work. Very nice of your neighbors to participate in that way. 🙂 I doubt anyone who attended will soon forget this party.
OTOH, I certainly understand why your daughter is saying she won’t do it again next year!
Wow! I bet that one gets talked about for a long time!
What a memorable 10th birthday. It sounds fantastic! Your daughter has great neighbors to help by being a country. I can sure understand why your daughter is saying that 11 might be less elaborate.
Yeah, the neighbors were great. Some stopped by afterward for a well-deserved glass of wine.
Wow … what a party! So good of your neighbors to share the fun. I’m sure your granddaughter (I’ll always remember her as “a princess costume, with helmet!”) will cherish that memory.
Good morning! ::hugggggs::