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I was a little peeved at my state representative who is up for re-election. Her campaign workers are pretty aggressive with texts and phone calls, which doesn’t bother me because I respect the effort they are putting in. But what did bother me was them placing a yard sign in the front of my house without any expressed permission. While I confirmed by both text and phone call that she had my vote, I never was asked a thing about a sign being placed in front of my house. What did I do about it? Well, let me tell you. I sighed and then sent a strongly worded tweet. The campaign replied, but they blamed it on an intern. While that may be true, it sounded cowardly.

Colt McCoy was being interviewed by Bob and Corby of The TICKET and they asked him about his injury during the National Championship game. When he answered, “I’m a firm believer” I totally expected him to say “everything happens for a reason” but instead, he said, “that life goes on.” If you’ve been reading this blog for a while you know my annoyance with “everything happens for a reason.” Whatever respect I had for him before has increased tenfold.

Random question regarding Iowa-class battleship like the U.S.S. Missouri and their 16″/50 caliber Mark 7 guns – After firing, how hot is the outside of the gun/cannon? Would it be too hot to touch or for Cher to saddle? Seriously, how hot after firing a single round would that thing be?  Those things are pretty thick so I’m not sure a lot of heat would transfer. Here’s a factoid which may help you with your answer?

They fired projectiles weighing from 1,900 to 2,700 pounds (850 to 1,200 kg) at a maximum speed of 2,690 feet per second (820 m/s) with a range of up to 24 miles (39 km). At maximum range the projectile spent almost 1½ minutes in flight. Each turret required a crew of 79 men to operate.

Another interesting USS Missouri fact – The Brits once saved the ship.

In fact, the Mighty Mo had a fairly close call on Feb. 23, 1991, when it was firing 16″ rounds in support of an amphibious landing along the Kuwaiti shore.

The Missouri’s loud 16″ guns apparently attracted enemy attention, and the Iraqis fired an HY-2 Silkworm missile at the ship. But the British frigate HMS Gloucester came to its rescue, shooting the missile down with GWS-30 Sea Dart missiles.

Russia’s Radio Sputnik, funded by the Kremlin, airing in Kansas City

Formerly known as Radio Moscow, the Kremlin-funded Radio Sputnik is airing on three local stations and is delivered by Americans from a Washington studio.

1906 photograph of veterans of the Texas Revolution – The Texas Veterans Association was an organization of those who had served prior to, during, and immediately after the Texas Revolution.

Kentucky man awarded $150K after being denied ‘IM GOD’ license plate

Meet the Sulfur Miners Risking Their Lives Inside a Volcano – Mt. Ijen, on the island of Java, is one of the most dangerous workplaces on Earth.

Deepfake Of Tom Holland And Robert Downey Jr In ‘Back To The Future’

I was a big fan of the original Amazing Stories so I’m glad to see it will be returning, just hearing the music made me smile. I think my favorite was “The Mission” which starred Kevin Costner and Kiefer Sutherland in which a belly turret gunner is trapped in the compartment of his WWII bomber and the crew scrambles trying to figure out how to land without smearing him on the runway.

I was notified mid-morning Friday that I needed to pick up BoyGeeding from school because the nurse diagnosed him with a concussion. As soon as I arrived, the nurse, who I have a great rapport with, greeted me and had the security video of his bad fall during P.E. pulled up. She told me, “He totally ate it.” While I don’t like watching a video of my son getting hurt, it was touching to watch all his classmates run to his aid immediately. BoyGeeding was laying down in the nurse’s room with the lights turned off and seemed a little out of it. As a precaution, I took him to his pediatrician. You may recall my mother died from head trauma, so this was all out of an abundance of caution. WifeGeeding was concerned if he did have a concussion if the doctor would clear him for his birthday at the trampoline park the next day.

On the way to the doctor’s office, BoyGeeding’s grogginess seemed to slowly vanish. When I asked him to recite The Microscope, a poem he recited for a grade the previous week, and he did so without error, I knew he was fine. The doctor said as much and cleared him for his birthday party at the trampoline park and said he could play on his tablet and watch TV at home. But, BoyGeeding was bummed he was going to miss his class’ Valentine’s Day party. His teacher was nice enough to save him a slice of pizza and cupcake.

At home, BoyGeeding wanted to spend some time with me but I still had to work. I know I’m no JFK, but he pulled a bit of a modern-day John-John which made me smile.

BoyGeeding’s mother has been tossing around the idea of getting him a guinea pig for his birthday. I wasn’t sold on it, we already have a rabbit and two dogs, but it just happened the local animal shelter had a female guinea pig available. And now for the handful of you who have seen Fleabag . . . Yes, I did suggest the name “Hilary” to him and we are planning on opening up a guinea pig-themed cafe with Chatty Wednesdays.

WifeGeeding brought home a note to BoyGeeding from a girl in his class. She has an interesting sense of humor which may have won me over.

The trampoline park did a cool thing. At the start of the party, they had all the kids gather for a group photo, which they printed out, placed in a cardstock frame, and gave it to us free of charge.

That image above is from Theodore Roosevelt’s diary, he had a tough day.

On Valentine’s Day of 1884, just 36 hours after the birth of their only daughter, Alice, 25-year-old future U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt held his young wife in his arms as she passed away from undiagnosed Bright’s disease. Incredibly, just hours before, in the same house, he had already said a final goodbye to his mother, Martha. She had succumbed to Typhoid, aged just 48.

Yesterday, DaughterGeeding printed and distributed the third edition of her class newspaper. Her classmates like it so much they are now giving her random sums of money. How much? I didn’t ask. Another classmate asked if she would put something in the paper about his upcoming birthday party and would pay her to do it. The kid is an entrepreneur.

Seeing the shockwave reverberate back and forth is cool, but I bet it felt neat as it rushed through the air.

Too bad Harold Taft isn’t around, he coudl tell us stories about how he got around using that word. – Until 1950, U.S. Weathermen Were Forbidden From Talking About Tornados

• From 1887 up until 1950, American weather forecasters were forbidden from attempting to predict tornados. Mentioning them was, in the words of one historian, “career suicide.”
• Less than confident in their own predictive powers, and fearful of the responses of a panicky public, “the use of the word ‘tornado’ in forecasts was at times strongly discouraged and at other times forbidden” by the Weather Bureau, Edwards writes, replaced by euphemisms like “severe local storms.”

I think President Trump, from a political standpoint, has positioned himself well. I’m not sure it was all planned, but he’s in a good spot. If he breaks the law egregiously, the Democrats wouldn’t dare try to impeach him again. Doing so would further the Republican message that Democrats are unwilling to accept the results of the 2016 election and make them look like obstructionists. The country has already been down that road and doesn’t want another ride.

I also read that Hope Hicks will be returning to the White House. I’ve been reading the book A Very Stable Genious and she comes off well. While she’s young and extremely attractive, she’s a lot smarter and calculating than anyone would expect and she’s got the respect of all the Trump family. Don’t underestimate her. She may not be in the spotlight, but she’s really the only person capable of “handling” the president.

Armchair Political Consultant Thought – Mike Bloomberg should hire writers from The Daily Show to come up with funny and snarky tweets about current events. The current president has mastered the art of attention-getting tweets, Bloomberg should tread on that turf. 

Right after I wrote that I found the following articles

– Bloomberg campaign pays social media accounts for memes

– Michael Bloomberg’s Campaign Suddenly Drops Memes Everywhere – A campaign of sponsored content for the candidate flourished suddenly on Instagram. A new outfit, called Meme 2020, is behind it.

Since I recently mentioned something about taxes and cyber currency – IRS quietly deletes guideline that Fortnite virtual currency must be reported on tax returns

Meet the Investor Who Bet Early on Warby Parker, Glossier, and Dollar Shave Club – While most VCs were focused on software, Kirsten Green at Forerunner Ventures saw the potential of the direct-to-consumer revolution

While pushing some large and heavy furniture yesterday, I heard my bottom left rib pop really loud. It was odd, nothing was pressed against it, it just popped as I was straining. I never had anything like this happen. It was one of those pains that you know something is really wrong but you can’t yet feel the pain and the gravity of the situation hasn’t registered. I laid flat down on my back and didn’t feel a sharp pain but a really dull and deep kind of pain, similar to a pulled muscle. The rib area is still sore and my mobility is only slightly compensated. It was just weird experiencing something I never felt before physically, I thought I was passed that point in life.

My fourth-grader, DaughterGeeding, and her class were given the assignment of memorizing Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s Paul Revere’s Ride. It’s a long poem, about 971 words (according to WordCounter.net), and the class was assigned to do this in six weeks. Recitation is a big thing at her school, she takes it seriously, and she likes to start on big projects early. She ended up memorizing it in five days and recited it to her teacher, who awarded her a single Skittle, though she didn’t get to choose the color. However, the teacher has a policy that there is no early grading, so she will have to recite it again on the due date. I don’t have a problem with it and neither does she. DaughterGeeding explained to me that she wanted first to memorize it, now she has an opportunity to “perform with inflection and volume”.

I got a kick out of using WordCounter.net because it breaks things down in numerous categories. For instance, for the above-referenced poem:

Both DaughterGeeding and BoyGeeding have been studying a lot about the American Revolution. If the weather is somewhat cooperative and I can find a decent price for airline tickets, I think it would be fun to take them to Boston during spring break and walk the Freedom Trail to experience the realness of what they are learning in class. Schools love to send kids to Washington D.C. during spring break, and I’m thinking nobody really plans on going to Boston for spring break, so maybe we’ll avoid any crowds. Part of me wants to buy tickets early, but I definitely don’t want to visit if a nor’easter decides to make an appearance.

Here’s a bit of American history I’ve been sitting on. Watch this very monotone yet concise and compelling piece about the Battle of Yorktown (at least watch the last 90-seconds of it). If you heard of Yorktown and know it’s part of American history but can’t quite recall why just know it’s where the British surrendered to Washington.

Now, watch this wonderfully detailed reenactment of the surrender from the former AMC television series Turn: Washington’s Spies which hits it out of the park. If you don’t want to watch the whole thing, then at least watch the last half of it, which I qued up for you here.

I love how the first video details things I’ve forgotten:

• The single redcoat waving a white flag on a parapet.
• British General Conrwallis being so mortified by his defeat dispatched his second in command, Brigadier General Charles O’Hara, to surrender his forces.
• The British trying to throw some shade by singing the pub song “The World Turns Upside Down” and looking away from the American troops as a final insult as they surrender, but then Lafayette commanding his troops to play “Yankee Doodle” to drown out the British and force them to look at the Americans.
• When O’Hara offered Cornwallis’s sword to George Washington, Washington, in keeping with the rigid hierarchies of military protocol, asked his second in command, Major General Benjamin Lincoln, to accept it.

Bonus – Here’s Hamilton‘s “The World Turned Upside Down”, which artistically reenacts the British surrender and gives you a chance to catch all the references and detail from the first two videos. If you are pressed for time, then just watch the last half of it.

Beaumont, TX restaurant opens early for 3-year-old customer with leukemia

The Guardian – A 101-year-old Italian man who has been in London since 1966 was asked to get his parents to confirm his identity by the Home Office after he applied to stay in the country post-Brexit.

Beer Waste Helps Montana Town Save Money On Water Treatment

In Bozeman, Mont., the Water Reclamation Facility treats more than 6 million gallons of water every day from sinks, showers, toilets — really anything that goes down a drain. That includes liquid waste from more than 10 breweries in this city of nearly 50,000. Because it’s rich in yeast, hops and sugar, brewery waste can throw off the microbes that wastewater treatment plants rely on to remove nitrogen and phosphorus.  “But if we can use [brewery waste] correctly and put it in the right spot, it’s very beneficial to the process,” engineering consultant Coralynn Revis says. Bozeman worked with a local brewery to feed its beer waste to the treatment plant’s bacteria at just the right time in just the right dosage.

Jeff Bezos bought the most expensive property in LA with an eighth of a percent of his net worth – If you make $60,000 a year, that’s like spending $75 on a house

The making of a rotary cellphone.