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- August 4, 2022
- US Coast Guard Birthday 2022
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My girl is retiring from the US Coast Guard this year. She has reached retirement age and a 20 year hitch and there you have it !
She has dutifuly fulfilled her drills as required and made herself available to the service of her country in her IT role in the organization.
The fourth of August is the 232nd anniversary of the United States Coast Guard which was established in 1790.
The Navy came some 8 years later.
Happy Birthday USCG. Happy rapidly approaching retirement Chiefie.
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- August 3, 2022
- National Grab Some Nuts Day 2022
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When I was in the hellish pre-fleet Navy they had a line configuration called 'nut to butt' in order to pack us all into as small a space as possible.
The profane line up had me declining all manner of nuts for many years.
Perhaps it was an over reaction; but I prefer to consider it a conscientious objection to that nastiness which was that phase of the military and it's coarse environment and the stupidity of those people who loved it.
Nowadays I have set aside my aversion to nuts and consume them when I encounter them without complaints.
Defining nuts as a food can be confusing. There are species of plants which bear fruits called "nuts" which aren't really nuts.
Legumes and seeds get thrown in the nut pile as a matter of convenience.
These edibles we consume are in reality a variety of things ...
But not always the "nuts" by which they are referred.
Nuts provide essential fats into the diet and can either improve health or contribute to disease depending on the quantity.
So on this National Grab Some Nuts Day feel free to snatch up the nearest set of nuts and have your way with them.
Happy National Grab Some Nuts Day.
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- August 2, 2022
- National Coloring Book Day 2022
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I've never been big on coloring books. I suppose when I was a sprout I did engage them periodically ... but that was then and those days departed very early in my evolution.
The veterans in long term care at the local Dorn VA hospital receive an occasional care package from me. I provide them with plastic cutlery sets by the case and playing cards by the dozen, activity books like sudoku, crosswords, word search by the stack — and of course coloring books with colored pencils, markers, and what have you because I think it's important to contribute to making the life of the infirm veteran better if I can.
National Coloring Book Day encourages us to return to the days of our youth and indulge those artistic notions available between the pages of a coloring book.
The first coloring book was released in the late 1800’s by the McLoughlin Brothers when they first published "The Little Folks Painting Book".
They produced books of this sort right up until the 1920s, when they merged with the Milton Bradley Company.
National Coloring Book Day encourages the recognition that coloring books have imparted to humanity over the years with the joy they bring to people regardless of age.
All you have to do is like to color. A lot of people I know do.
Happy National Coloring Book Day to you if you enjoy indulging artistic endeavors.
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- August 1, 2022
- Panhandling in South Carolina
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Yesterday I saw yet another group of panhandlers in West Columbia. They were approaching shoppers and generally being a nuisance with their marginal to poor hygiene and arrogant aggressive behaviors expecting money from all who passed by.
We have a high incidence for panhandling in South Carolina.
A month or so back I went to the Walmart Marketplace on Knox Abbott Drive in Cayce, SC about a mile from my place to buy groceries and attempt to save a little money.
In the parking lot a lady with a young boy child who looked to be ten or so showed me a hand written notecard hitting me up for money because she said they were having a difficult time.
Look, I like to think I'm as charitable as the next guy BUT ...
First of all, the daddy of that child should have coughed up the twenty dollar bill I handed over after I pulled it from my pocket while stating that I didn't have any money.
In my defense I didn't actually realize I had cash in my pocket. Panhandlers are cultivating a sense of avoidance I never knew before.
My mom was somewhat annoyed at the prospect of going shopping while attempting to save money only to have someone wanting me to stand on the street corner handing it out as my late daddy used to accuse me of doing.
There is an idiot attorney in Greenville SC Stephen Henry thinks that panhandling is a first ammendment right guaranteed by the Constitution and that notion has been held up by the Supreme Court of SC. Anyway, I think that the ordinance across the river in the City and Richland County making panhandling against the law is the right thing to do.
Given the fact that I am not REALLY this fountain of cash spewing out my ass and all — as far too many believe me to be.
Furthermore, were the facts known I'm likewise opposed to all the other tresspassing going on in my life as well. People think they need to come into my yard and stand under my trees like they own them or something while others view my yard as a turnaround for the use of their automobiles.
Obviously, many simply don't think they might get shot.
See Also:
I used to love to go shopping
Random Acts of Kindness Day
migration to cashless commerce
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- July 31, 2022
- Reek Sunday 2021
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Reek Sunday aka Domhnach na Cruaiche aka Garland Sunday is a yearly day of pilgrimage in Ireland which has been held some 1500 years.
On the last Sunday in July, pilgrims climb the holiest mountain in Ireland. Croagh Patrick is in County Mayo. The climb takes about two hours. The descent take about one and a half hours.
The climb is held in honour of Saint Patrick who is said to have spent forty days fasting on the mountain in the 5th century.
Some of the pilgrims hold masses in a chapel at the summit. Some climb the mountain barefoot, as an act of penance, and some carry out 'rounding rituals', which were formerly a key part of the pilgrimage.
These involve prayers while walking sunwise around features on the mountain.
It was traditionally held that pilgrims made the climb after sunset.
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- July 30, 2022
- Paperback Book Day 2022
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My mother is an avid reader. Her tastes in reading are different from mine. Whereas she reads for pleasure I read for subject matter expertise.
Over the years Mom has amassed vast collections of paperback books ... with a few hardcovers scattered here and there and this has happened every few years for as long as I can remember.
Presently she has a large box overflowing with various tomes she has read and she is known to pass these around to family and friends freely. Others she likes to revisit after a while.
Nobody seems to want my copy of Javascript in 24 Hours, Perl 5, Regular Expressions ... or even Postgresql Development. It just goes to show you we are fickle in that topical matter we consume in our reading. I find that my reading habits have diminished quite a bit since retirement.
Today is Paperback Book Day.
It is observed as the anniversary of the date that the first Penguin paperbacks were published in England back in 1935.
Back then only hardcover books were considered good literature. Many people lacked the adequate funds to buy a lot of hardcover books, however.
Suffice it to say that the paperback book has placed a lot of reading material into the hands of we who are known to read over the years.
Happy Paperback Book Day to you !
See Also:
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- July 29, 2022
- Rain Day 2022
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I like the rain. I have no qualms with stepping into a downpour toward some end. Mom doesn't like the rain. She exhibits distress when she has to be exposed to the rain. Go figure.
Rain is moisture condensed from the atmosphere which falls visibly in separate drops.
It is a large part of an essential process called "the water cycle" by which water circulates between the earth's oceans, atmosphere, and land.
It involves precipitation as rain and snow, drainage in streams and rivers, and return to the atmosphere via evaporation and transpiration of water vapor through the stomata of plants.
Today is rain day.
The observance originates in the late 1800s a pharmacist named William Allison who once remarkedf that it always seemed to rain on the 29th of July in his location of Waynesburg, Pennsylvania.
It seems that the subsequent records of rainfall on the specific date kept by others resulted in the evolution of Rain Day because people eventually started posting stories in newspapers and calling to see if it was actually raining on subsquent July 29ths.
So in conjuction the importance of rain to life and the planet I pursue it because I like to walk in and experience the rain. I think it's a persistent attraction from my childhood.
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- July 28, 2022
- Dusty Hill RIP
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Joe Michael "Dusty" Hill was a bassist with the band ZZ Top out of Texas for more than 50 years.
I was a fan for much of that time.
He was born May 19, 1949 and passed this Earth on July 28, 2021.
He was a versatile musician and also sang lead as well as backing vocals, and played keyboards.
He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of ZZ Top in 2004.
Dusty Hill passed in his sleep at his home in Houston, Texas July 28, 2021 at the age of 72. He was interred during a private service on August 7, 2021. Phil Robertson from Duck Dynasty gave the eulogy.
After his death, he was replaced by the band's longtime guitar tech Elwood Francis, in accordance with his wishes.Give Elwood the bottom end, and take it to the Top.
Dusty Hill
So quite a career came to an end that day. I still have my recordings to enjoy though the thought of Dusty Hill's departure gives me pause to consider his impact on me and music itself.
Some of my favorite ZZ Top recordings include:La Grange Tres Hombres 1973 Sharp Dressed Man Eliminator 1983
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- July 28, 2022
- Air Conditioning Appreciation Days 2022
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When I was in the 5th grade I recall daddy getting our first air conditioner. It was a window unit he installed into the rental property in which we resided at Hanahan, SC.
The cooling and dehumidification was luxurious to me personally.
Over the years we lived in several Navy housing units and these had central air which we pretty much maxed out during the summer months. I don't recall them ever failing.
When Dad retired we moved to his homestead in Salley SC and there too we had air conditioning. There was a window unit in the first shotgun style house in which we resided. A year or so later we had central air in the new home daddy built out there in the boonies. By and large I recall spates of suffering at those places nearby where there was no air conditioning and I have been a proponent of air conditioning since childhood.
Something about South Carolina, the heat, humditity, gnats, and yellowflies brought it all about.
As an adult I have been one to include air conditioning in my list of priorities. A few years back we replaced my old 3 ton unit with a new 3 ton Armstrong split unit. I need more air conditioner due to all the electronics operating in my house.
I maintain a locked down multihomed network featuring a server cluster, several workstations, as well as several routers with range extended wireless all over the place.
My outside compressor unit has a decidedly "Lennox" appearance to it — and looking over various brands sold as well as the literature included I suspect that this particular model is sold under a number of trade names. The other two pieces in the attic are not items I readily recognize in my decidedly HVAC challenged mindset.
Air Conditioning Appreciation Days are here. Corresponding to the dog days by and large this is an observance held from July 3 through August 15 every year.
The days mark the invention and role of air conditioning in modern existence. I for one could not live comfortably without air conditioning in the white hot humid summers of South Carolina.
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- July 27, 2022
- Bagpipe Appreciation Day 2022
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I have experienced quite a few bagpipe performances in my life. This is likely due to the Scot in my family heritage.
Fifty percent on Mom's side with the other half from my Dad being of Brit extraction. I don't know how the genetics would play out. This would make my information qualitative, not quantitative.
My last performance experience was at my late Aunt Glenda Idella Johnston Jolly's funeral, complete with Clan Johnston regalia.
Talk tae iz in Scots.
Today is Bagpipe Appreciation Day.
It is an annual observance celebrated on July 27. The day celebrates an ancient musical instrument known as the bagpipe. This instrument dates back thousands of years and has become a part of the Scottish tradition and is beloved by many.
Bagpipes have been used during battle, funerals, parades, weddings, and various ceremonial occasions by royalty.
Though I'm not really a fan of the music I find the bagpipe an interesting example of cultural curiosa.
Thank ye and guidbye.
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- July 26, 2022
- National All or Nothing Day 2022
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I've never really done my utmost in any endeavor.
While the road to Hell may be paved with 'good intentions' I find that those efforts I put forth were never all I was capable of and I attribute this to those various environments into which I found myself immersed.
My career, though successful by any standard wasn't really what I wanted for myself — and those people in charge of me in the workplace certainly would not be present in a perfect world.
Perfect world? AND JUST WHAT IS THAT? Chalk it all up to a lack of ambition? Perhaps, but I have always thought myself to be somewhat of an ambitious sort.
That "E" for effort was typically an F and the leadership of the workplace largely uninspiring — with exceptions here and there, of course. My sorry streak surfaced early ... and I didn't really know much about who I was and what I was about until very late in my journey.
When it came to "All" or "Nothing" I typically found myself on the nothing side of the equation by and large. When Mrs Robinson at Horace O'Bryant Jr High School dragged me into the hall and roundly chastised me for making Fs while scoring highest on their pitiful 'standardized' tests there is an indication of some disparate circumstance somewhere.
However, be all this as it may — I got through it all and continue to pay my bills in retirement. I see my former cohorts now and observe some of their lifestyles compared to my own. I feel I have a favorable outcome as far as existence goes ... even if I was a late bloomer and under achiever.
National All or Nothing Day is celebrated every July 26 to encourage people to give their all to every task or dream they embark on.
So if you engage in risks there are rewards ... the safety of living "risk free" is likely to be less than that for which you might have hoped.
Happy National All or Nothing Day to you.
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- July 25, 2022
- Health and Happiness with Hypnosis Day 2022
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Though I'm not the total skeptic, I remain skeptical regarding the efficacy of certain treatment modalities others promote as supposedly main stream.
One of these is hypnosis.
I say this because I am one who cannot be hypnotized. The various failed attempts have all reinforced my disdain for hypnotherapy as it is called; which I view as a subterfuge to be used upon the weak by various shysters here and there to gain some end result.
Though it is not mine to demonstrate or rant regarding those things I view as the purview of the charletain ... I'm afraid hypnosis resides in this realm as far as I am concerned.
Hypnosis may be defined as inducing a state of consciousness in which a person apparently loses the power of voluntary action and is highly responsive to suggestion or direction.
Supposedly, this allows it's use in therapy, typically to recover suppressed memories or to allow modification of behavior by suggestion. Though in use and touted by some, it remains controversial.
Far be it from me to run from a controversial opinion myself.
Health and Happiness with Hypnosis Day is observed annually each July 25th allegedly to increase the supposed awareness some benefit from hypnotherapy on health and happiness.
Sorry, but if you believe this you are a mental weakling in my humble opinion.
I will admit that I could be wrong. I just don't think so. Perhaps the "action" of hypnosis is subject specific and cannot be applied universally. In any case I'm not much of a believer in the abilities of hypnotists.
Health and Happiness with Hypnosis Day anyway.
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- July 24, 2022
- Amelia Earhart Day 2022
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Amelia Earhart was a lady who worked as a pioneering aviator.
She was born on this day in 1897 and became a symbol of that 'can do' spirit in America that the democrats are presently attempting to quash at every opportunity.
Today is National Amelia Earhart Day.
Observed each July 24th we remember her life and achievements.
While many remember her primarily for the tragedy of her mysterious disappearance during an attempt to fly around the world; hers was a life filled with achievements and trailblazing.
In 1932, she became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic—as a pilot.
Her awards include The American Distinguished Flying Cross and The Cross of the French Legion of Honor.
In 1929, Earhart helped found the Ninety-Nines, an organization of female aviators.
So on this day we recognize who she was and what she did as a citizen aviator and woman in the United States.
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- July 23, 2022
- Hot Enough For Ya Day 2022
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Today is Hot Enough For Ya Day.
It is observed on July 23 and represents a vehicle to see humor in the midst of that oppressive humid heat associated with the dog days (July 3 - August 11) which is a climate hallmark in the deep south of the United States.
Summer days and nights here are usually filled with hot and humid atmospheres and extremely high temperatures.
Lately the national weather has been a steady stream of heat waves working from the West to the East.
That's where an oversized cooling unit comes into play ... particularly in the presence of a house filled with electronic networking, servers, workstations, and the like.
If you are a resident of the Northern Hemisphere and the deep south of the United States in particular it's likely pretty doggone warm outside today as it has been of late since (and before) Summer began.
So perhaps you'll hear "Is it hot enough for ya?" in your travels today.
See Also:
Dog Days 2021
Dog Days here, but not there ...
Dog Days 2018
Dog Days
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