The Best Job I Ever Had

    

 

 

Tucson Weather Today

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Never permit a dichotomy to rule your life, a dichotomy in which you hate what you do so you can have pleasure in your spare time. Look for a situation in which your work will give you as much happiness as your spare time.
--Pablo Picasso

I have worked a good many different jobs in my long life before reaching the age of retirement, and the one position I really felt I was meant to do was cruelly taken from me by circumstances completely beyond my control.

But that's a story for another day.

Many stories for many days.

The wind picked up yesterday afternoon and once again the mountains to the north were obscured by dust in the air. The wind blew with gustlike regularity through the night. And yes, the surface of the swimming pool again was (not covered) littered with leaves and other foliage.

And the wind is now moderate.

Writing about myself. Good God Almighty! Why do I keep this up?

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Did You Know . . .?
You would have to consume 1,500 pounds of marijuana in 15 minutes to overdose.
Note: You don't believe it... give it a try.

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HISTORICAL EVENT

On this day in 1915 at 2:12 p.m., in the waters of the Celtic Sea, the 32,000-ton ship Lusitania was hit by an exploding torpedo on its starboard side. The torpedo blast was followed by a larger explosion, probably of the ship's boilers. The Lusitania sank within 20 minutes. Germany justified the attack by stating, correctly, that the Lusitania was an enemy ship, and that it was carrying munitions.

Though the United States was officially neutral at this point in the war, Britain was one of the nation's closest trading partners. The United States formally entered World War I on April 6, 1917.

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WORD FOR TODAY

dichotomy
noun
1.  division into two parts, kinds, etc.; subdivision into halves or pairs.
2.  division into two mutually exclusive, opposed, or contradictory groups: a dichotomy between thought and action. 
3.  Botany: a mode of branching by constant forking, as in some stems, in veins of leaves, etc.
4.  Astronomy: the phase of the moon or of an inferior planet when half of its disk is visible.

Wikipedia says: A dichotomy is any splitting of a whole into exactly two non-overlapping parts, meaning it is a procedure in which a whole is divided into two parts. It is a partition of a whole (or a set) into two parts...

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CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS

 

Darren McGavin
(May 7, 1922 - Feb 25, 2006)

Darren McGavin was an American actor best known for his portrayal of the grumpy father in the film A Christmas Story, as well as for the title role in the television horror series Kolchak: The Night Stalker. He appeared as the tough-talking, funny detective in the 1950s television series Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer. From 1959-1961, McGavin starred in the NBC western series Riverboat, first with Burt Reynolds and then with Noah Beery, Jr., and in later years, he had a recurring role in the sitcom Murphy Brown, as the title character's father.

Anne Baxter
(May 7, 1923 - Dec 12, 1985)

Anne Baxter was an American actress known for her performances in films such as The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), The Razor's Edge (1946), All About Eve (1950) and The Ten Commandments (1956).

Ivan Sergei
(born May 7, 1971)

Ivan Sergei is an American actor known for his work in television. He first became well known when he starred in John Woo's 1996 film Once a Thief. His next series was starring with Amanda Peet in Jack & Jill. From 2003 to 2004, he starred on Crossing Jordan, and then in 2004 was part of the cast of the NBC series Hawaii.

Sergei has also had roles in If Someone Had Known, Dangerous Minds, Mother, May I Sleep with Danger?, The Opposite of Sex, and 10.5. He has guest starred on Touched by an Angel, Cybill and Party of Five. In 2005 and 2006, he starred in Charmed. He also had a minor role in The Break-Up. He co-starred with Jenny McCarthy in Santa Baby and guest-starred in the October 2008 CSI: Miami episode "Raging Cannibal".

Traci Elizabeth Lords
(born May 7, 1968)

Tracy Lords is an American film actress. She first achieved notoriety for her underage appearances in pornographic videos (she was 16 years old in her first movie in 1984) and Penthouse magazine, later becoming a television and B-movie actress. Lords starred in Not of This Earth. In 1990, she appeared in John Waters' Cry-Baby. Other movies on her resume include Shock 'Em Dead, Blade, Tommyknockers, Black Mask 2: City of Masks and Chump Change.

In addition to movies, Lords has also made many appearances in television series, including Wiseguy, Married... with Children, MacGyver, Highlander: The Series, Tales from the Crypt, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Gilmore Girls, and Will & Grace among others, along with recurring roles in Profiler, Melrose Place and Roseanne.

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The distinction between literary and genre fiction is stupid and pernicious. It dates back to a feud between Robert Louis Stevenson and Henry James. James won, and it split literature into two streams. But it's a totally false dichotomy.
--George R. R. Martin

NASA TV

This Is Who I Am

    

Suddenly I Have This Weird Craving For Hen's Eggs

  

Tucson Weather Today

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I was going to write about skepticism in today's entry but then realized that I needed a bit more research before diving into a subject as deep as that. Maybe I can do some digging and attempt it soon; I might be ready by tomorrow... or not.


The day before yesterday (Sunday) my son drove me to the newly opened Wal-Mart Grocery Market, where, among a few other items, I bought a dozen Jumbo chicken eggs. Since I rarely fry anything any more, I cook eggs either by hard boiling or poaching them. Poaching is always a hit or miss proposition with me, so I decided to stick to boiling. But then I realized that I had forgotten how to hard boil them so they come out perfectly every time.

I Googled and found the precise process I have used for several years. Here it is:

If you want hard boiled eggs that are easy to peel, make sure they are several days old. Hard boiling farm fresh eggs will usually lead to eggs that are difficult to peel. If you have boiled a batch that are difficult to peel, try putting them in the refrigerator for a few days; they should be easier to peel then.

Cooking time: 12 minutes

Put the eggs in a single layer in a saucepan, covered by at least an inch or two of cold water. Starting with cold water and gently bringing the eggs to a boil will help keep them from cracking. Adding a tablespoon of vinegar to the water will help keep the egg whites from running out of any eggs that happen to crack while cooking, but some people find that the vinegar affects the taste. I don't have a problem with it and I usually add a little vinegar. Adding a half teaspoon of salt is thought to help both with the preventing of cracking and making the eggs easier to peel. Put the burner on high and bring the eggs to a boil. As soon as the water starts to boil, remove the pan from the heat for a few seconds.

Reduce the heat to low, return the pan to the burner. Let simmer for one minute. (If you are using an electric stove with a coil element, you can just turn off the heat. There is enough residual heat in the coil to keep the eggs simmering for a minute.)

Remove the pan from the heat, cover, and let sit for 12 minutes. It is hard to overcook eggs using this method. The eggs can sit, covered, for up to 15-20 minutes without the eggs getting overcooked.

Either remove the eggs and place them into a bowl of ice water or strain out the water from the pan, fill the pan with cold water, strain again, fill again, until the eggs cool down a bit, strain the water from the eggs. Store the eggs in a covered container (eggs can release odors) in the refrigerator. They should be eaten within 5 days.


Today I hard boiled and refrigerated four of the dozen eggs. And even though I have not eaten even one of them yet, I am confident they came out perfectly, as planned.

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HISTORICAL EVENT

On the afternoon of May 7, 1915, the British ocean liner Lusitania was torpedoed without warning by a German submarine off the south coast of Ireland. Within 20 minutes, the vessel sank into the Celtic Sea. Of 1,959 passengers and crew, 1,198 people were drowned, including 128 Americans. The attack aroused considerable indignation in the United States, but Germany defended the action, noting that it had issued warnings of its intent to attack all ships, neutral or otherwise, that entered the war zone around Britain.

There has long been a theory that the Lusitania was deliberately placed in danger by the British authorities, so as to entice a U-Boat attack and thereby drag the USA into the war on the side of Britain.

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WORD FOR TODAY

skepticism
noun
-  skeptical attitude or temper; doubt.
-  doubt or unbelief with regard to a religion, especially Christianity.
-  ( initial capital letter  ) the doctrines or opinions of philosophical Skeptics; universal doubt.

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CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS


George Francis "Gabby" Hayes
(May 7, 1885 – February 9, 1969)

Gabby Hayes was an American radio, film, and television actor. He was best known for his numerous appearances in Western movies as the colorful sidekick to the leading man, especially as the cantankerous sidekick of Roy Rogers in 41 movies.

Gary Cooper
(May 7, 1901 – May 13, 1961)

Gary Cooper, born Frank James Cooper, was an American film actor. Noted for his stoic, understated style, Cooper found success in a number of film genres, including westerns (High Noon), crime (City Streets), comedy (Mr. Deeds Goes to Town) and drama (The Pride of the Yankees). Cooper received five Academy Award nominations for Best Actor, winning twice for Sergeant York and High Noon. Cooper's career spanned from 1925 until shortly before his death, and comprised more than one hundred films.

Darren McGavin
(May 7, 1922 – February 25, 2006)

Darren McGavin was an American actor best known for playing the title role in the television horror series Kolchak: The Night Stalker, and his portrayal in the film A Christmas Story of the grumpy father given to bursts of profanity that he never realizes his son overhears. He appeared as the tough-talking, funny detective in the 1950s television series Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer. From 1959-1961, McGavin starred in the NBC western series Riverboat, first with Burt Reynolds and then with Noah Beery, Jr., and in later years, he had a recurring role in the sitcom Murphy Brown, as the title character's father, for which he received an Emmy Award.

Robert Hegyes
(May 7, 1951 - Jan, 26, 2012)

Robert Hegyes (pronounced Hedges) was an American actor best known for his portrayal of high school student Juan Epstein on the 1970s American sitcom Welcome Back, Kotter.

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Skepticism is to the intellect as brushing is to teeth
--Chris Clarke