Good Morning:  It's Tuesday July 17, 2001!
NOTE:  Today is Wrong Way Corrigan Day.  In one of the biggest goofs ever, Douglas Corrigan took off in his plane from Brooklyn in 1938 intending to land at Los Angeles.  A little over 28 hours later, he arrived at Dublin, Ireland and discovered that he had been following the wrong end of his compass needle.
BIRTHDAYS:  Erle Stanley Gardner, 1889; James Cagney, 1899; Phyllis Diller, 1917; Diahann Carroll, 1935; Donald Sutherland, 1935; David Hasselhoff, 1952.
THIS DAY IN HISTORY:
On this date in 1941 Joe DiMaggio's record 56 game hitting streak to an end when he went 0-3 against the Cleveland Indians.
On this date in 1955 Arco, Idaho became the first city to have atomic-powered electrical service.
On this date in 1955 also Disneyland opened in Anaheim, California.
On this date in 1975 the SOYUZ 19 linked with APOLLO 18 in space.  The first cosmonaut to walk in space, Alexei Leonov, and his crew member Valery Kubasov not only met astronauts Thomas P. Stafford, Donald K. Slayton, and Vance D. Brand, they worked together over a period of 44 hours to conduct scientific and technical experiments that were of mutual benefit.
MEANINGLESS FACTS:  Dorothy's pet cow in "The Wizard of Oz" was named Imogene... Great Danes come from Germany, not Denmark... Albert Einstein's brain is in a mason jar in a Wichita, Kansas laboratory.
TRIVIA:  In honor of Erle Stanley Gardner's birthday, here is a Perry Mason question:  What was the major casting shake-up which took place just before the long running series debuted on CBS?
     Phyllis Diller said, "Never go to bed mad.  Stay up and fight."  I received advice similar to that before my wedding, though I am not sure it was exactly that...
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Thanks to AB for a beautiful one:  The Old Old Story
 
His last three years were lovely;
He could no more be hid.
Time and strenght would fail me.
to tell all the good He did.
He did kind things so kindly
It seemed His Heart's delight
To make poor people happy
From morning until night.
He gave away no money,
For He had none to give.
But He had the power of healing
And He made the dead to live..
He always seemed at leisure
For anyone who came
However tired or busy,
They found Him just the same.
He heard each tale of sorrow
With an attentive ear,
And took away each burden
of suffering sin and fear.
Such was the man-Christ Jesus,
The friend of sinful man.
But Hush! The tale grows sadder.
I'll tell it-if I can.
This gentle holy Jesus
Without a spot or stain
By wicked hands was taken,
Crucified,and slain.
Look! Look! If you can bear it.
Look at your dying Lord!
Stand near the cross and watch him,
Behold the Lamb of God!
His hands and feet are pierced,
He cannot hide His face,
And cruel men stand staring
In crowds about the place.
They laugh at Him and mock Him,
They tell Him to come down,
To leave the cross of suffering,
And exchange it for a crown.
Why did He bear their mocking?
Was not He the Son of God?
Couldn't He have destroyed them,
With one almighty word?
Yes, Jesus could have done this!
But, let me tell you why
He would not use His power,
But chose to stay and die.
For He had become our  surety!
And what we could not pay,
He paid instead for us
Onthat one dreadful day.
For our sins He suffered
For our sins He died;
And not for our's only,
But for all the world's beside.
And now the work is finished!
The sinner's debt is paid!
Because on Christ, the Righteous,
The sin of all was laid.
Oh! wonderful redemption!
It's God's remedy for sin.
The door of heaven is open,
And you may enter in.
For God received our surety
To show the work was done.
And Jesus resurrection
Declared the victory won.
Now He has ascended!
He sits upon the throne.
To be our Prince and Saviour,
And claim us for His own.
But, when He left His people,
He promised them to send
The "Comforter" to teach them.
And guide them to the end.
And that same Holy Spirit
Is with us to this day,
And is ready now to teach us
The New and Living Way.
This is the Old Old Story!
Say! Do you take it in?
This wonderful redemption
Is God's remedy for sin?
Do you at heart believe it?
Do you believe it's true?
And meant for every sinner;
And, Therefore, meant for you?
Then take this Great Salvation
Which Jesus loves to give.
Believe, obey, then receive it!
Believe, obey and live!
Now, if this simple message
Has brought peace to you,
Make known the OLD OLD STORY;
For others need it too!
Let everybody see it-
That Christ has made you free;
And it sets them longing,
Say, "Jesus died for thee!"
Someday our eyes shall see Him!
And in that home above,
We'll sing the OLD OLD STORY
Of Jesus and His love.
 
Author Unknown (edited)
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Thanks to M/M Riverrats:  A touching dog story
 Mary and her  husband Jim had a dog, Lucky. Lucky was a real character.   Whenever Mary and Jim had company come for a weekend visit they  would warn their friends to not leave their luggage open  because Lucky would help himself to whatever struck his fancy.  Inevitably someone would forget and something would come up missing. Mary or  Jim would go to Lucky's toy box in  the basement and there the treasure would be, amid all of  Lucky's favorite toys.
Lucky always  stashed his finds in his toy box and he was very particular that his toys stay in the  box.
It happened that Mary found out she  had breast cancer.
Something told her she was going to die of this disease... she was just sure it was fatal. She scheduled the double  mastectomy, fear riding her shoulders. The night before she was to go to the hospital she cuddled with Lucky. A thought struck  her...what would happen to Lucky? Although the three year old dog  liked Jim he was Mary's dog through and through. If I die Lucky  will be abandoned, Mary thought. He won't understand that I  didn't want to leave him. The thought made her sadder than  thinking of her own death.
The double mastectomy was harder on Mary than her doctors had anticipated and Mary was  hospitalized for over two weeks.
Jim took Lucky for  his evening walk faithfully but the dog just drooped, whining and miserable. But finally the day came  for Mary to leave the hospital. When she arrived home Mary was so exhausted she couldn't even make  it up the steps to her bedroom. Jim made his wife comfortable  on the couch and left her to nap.
Lucky stood watching Mary but he didn't come to her when  she called. It made  Mary sad but sleep soon overcame her and she dozed.  When Mary woke for a second she couldn't understand what was wrong. She couldn't move her head and her body  felt heavy and hot. Panic soon gave way to laughter though when Mary realized the problem....she was  covered, literally blanketed in every treasure Lucky  owned!
While she had slept the sorrowing dog  had made trip after trip to the basement and back bringing his beloved mistress his favorite things in  life. He had covered her with his love. Mary forgot about dying. Instead she  and Lucky began living again, walking further and further together every night. It's been 12 years now and Mary is  still cancer-free. Lucky? He still steals treasures and  stashes them in his toy box but Mary remains his greatest  treasure. Take care - and  God Bless!
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ANSWER:  Originally Raymond Burr was to play hapless D. A. Hamilton Burger, but when Erle Stanley Gardner saw him, he insisted Burr was the man to play Perry.
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Good Morning:  It's Wednesday July 18, 2001!
BIRTHDAYS:  S. I. Hayakawa, 1906; Clifford Odets, 1906; Hume Cronyn, 1911; Red Skelton, 1913; Nelson Mandela, 1918; John Glenn, 1921; Dick Button, 1929; Dion DiMucci, 1939; Martha Reeves, 1941; Ricky Skaggs, 1954; Elizabeth McGovern, 1961.
THIS DAY IN HISTORY:
On this date in AD 64 Rome burned and Nero fiddled, or at least that is what we are told...
On this date in 1940 President Franklin D. Roosevelt was nominated for a third term.
On this date in 1969 Edward Kennedy's car plunged off the Chappaquiddick Bridge killing passenger Mary Jo Kopechne.
MEANINGLESS FACTS:  In the 19th century, nine pins were used in bowling... U.S. presidents U.S. Grant, William Howard Taft, Herbert Hoover and Dwight D. Eisenhower never held ano other elective office... Alligator shirts have crocodiles on them.
TRIVIA:  June 21, the first day of summer, is called the longest day of the year.  What day is actually longer?
     Dave Edison said, "I'm desperately trying to figure out why kamikaze pilots wore helmets."  As we ponder that great issue, let's read these...
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Thanks to D.A. who has opened up his archives to share with the list!  Why Are We Here?
So we were lying on our backs on the grass in the park next to our hamburger wrappers, my 14-year-old son and I, watching the clouds loiter overhead, when he asked me, "Dad, why are we here?"
And this is what I said.
"I've thought a lot about it, son, and I don't think it's all that complicated. I think maybe we're here just to teach a kid how to bunt, turn two and eat sunflower seeds without using his hands.
"We're here to pound the steering wheel and scream as we listen to the game on the radio, 20 minutes after we pulled into the garage. We're here to look all over, give up and then find the ball in the hole.
"We're here to watch, at least once, as the pocket collapses around John Elway, and it's fourth-and-never. Or as the count goes to 3 and 1 on Mark McGwire with bases loaded, and the pitcher begins wishing he'd gone on to med school. Or as a little hole you couldn't get a skateboard through suddenly opens in front of Jeff Gordon with a lap to go.
"We're here to wear our favorite sweat-soaked Boston Red Sox cap, torn Slippery Rock sweatshirt and the Converses we lettered in, on a Saturday morning with nowhere we have to go and no one special we have to be.
"We're here to rake on a jack-high nothin' hand and have nobody know it but us. Or get in at least one really good brawl, get a nice shiner and end up throwing an arm around the guy who gave it to us.
"We're here to shoot a six-point elk and finally get the f-stop right, or to tie the perfect fly, make the perfect cast, catch absolutely nothing and still call it a perfect morning.
"We're here to nail a yield sign with an apple core from half a block away. We're here to make our dog bite on the same lame fake throw for the gazillionth time. We're here to win the stuffed bear or go broke trying.
"I don't think the meaning of life is gnashing our bicuspids over what comes after death but tasting all the tiny moments that come before it. We're here to be the coach when Wendell, the one whose glasses always fog up, finally makes the only perfect backdoor pass all season. We're here to be there when our kid has three goals and an assist. And especially when he  doesn't.
"We're here to see the Great One setting up behind the net, tying some poor goaltender's neck into a Windsor knot. We're here to watch the Rocket peer in for the sign, two out, bases loaded, bottom of the career.
We're here to witness Tiger's lining up the 22-foot double breaker to win and not need his autograph afterward to prove it.
"We're here to be able to do a one-and-a-half for our grandkids. Or to stand at the top of our favorite double-black on a double-blue morning and overhear those five wonderful words: 'Highway's closed. Too much snow.'
"We're here to get the Frisbee to do things that would have caused medieval clergymen to burn us at the stake.
"I don't think we're here to make SportsCenter. The really good stuff never does. Like leaving Wrigley at 4:15 on a perfect summer afternoon and walking straight into Murphy's with half of section 503. Or finding ourselves with a free afternoon, a little red 327 fuel-injected 1962 Corvette convertible and an unopened map of Vermont's backroads.
"We're here to get the triple-Dagwood sandwich made and the football kicked off at the very second your sister begins tying up the phone until Tuesday.
"None of us are going to find ourselves on our deathbeds saying, 'I wish I'd spent more time on the Hibbings account.' We're going to say, 'That scar? I got that scar stealing a home run from Consolidated
Plumbers!'
"See, grown-ups spend so much time doggedly slaving toward the better car, the perfect house, the big day that will finally make them happy when happy just walked by wearing a bicycle helmet two sizes too big for him. We're not here to find a way to heaven. The way is heaven. Does that answer your question, son?"
And he said, "Not really, Dad."
And I said, "No?"
And he said, "No, what I meant is, why are we here when Mom said to pick her up 40 minutes ago?"
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Thanks to AB:  An actual article from Housekeeping Monthly May 13, 1955 (They HAD to be kidding, right?)
Have dinner ready. Plan ahead, even the night before, to have a delicious meal ready on time for his return. This is a way of letting him know that you have be thinking about him and are concerned about his needs. Most men are hungry when they get home and the prospect of a good meal is part of the warm welcome needed.
Prepare yourself. Take 15 minutes to rest so you'll be refreshed when he arrives. Touch up your make-up, put a ribbon in your hair and be fresh-looking. He has just been with a lot of work-weary people.
Be a little gay and a little more interesting for him. His boring day may need a lift and one of your duties is to provide it.
Clear away the clutter. Make one last trip through the main part of the house just before your husband arrives. Run a dustcloth over the tables.
During the cooler months of the year you should prepare and light a fire for him to unwind by. Your husband will feel he has reached a haven of rest and order, and it will give you a lift too. After all, catering to his comfort will provide you with immense personal satisfaction.
Minimize all noise. At the time of his arrival, eliminate all noise of the washer, dryer or vacuum. Encourage the children to be quiet.
Be happy to see him.
Greet him with a warm smile and show sincerity in your desire to please him.
Listen to him. You may have a dozen important things to tell him, but the moment of his arrival is not the time. Let him talk first - remember, his topics of conversation are more important than yours.
Don't greet him with complaints and problems.
Don't complain if he's late for dinner or even if he stays out all night. Count this as minor compared to what he might have gone through at work.
Make him comfortable. Have him lean back in a comfortable chair or lie him down in the bedroom. Have a cool or warm drink ready for him.
Arrange his pillow and offer to take off his shoes. Speak in a low, soothing and pleasant voice.
Don't ask him questions about his actions or question his judgment or integrity. Remember, he is the master of the house and as such will always exercise his will with fairness and truthfulness. You have no right to question him.
A good wife always knows her place.
Tomorrow we'll look at an updated version...
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ANSWER:  The day the clocks are turned back to end Daylight Savings Time, which is 35 hours as we mark time.
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Good Morning:  It's Thursday July 19, 2001!
BIRTHDAYS:  George McGovern, 1922; Rosey Grier, 1932; Vicki Carr, 1941; Illie Nastase, 1946.
THIS DAY IN HISTORY:
On this date in 1813 the Sisters of Charity was founded.
On this date in 1848 the first women's rights convention convened.
On this date in 1860 Lizzie Borden was born.
On this date in 1941 the "V" for victory theme was introduced by Winston Churchill.
On this date in 1990 baseball great Pete Rose was sentenced to 5 months in a halfway house, plus 1,000 hours community service and a $50,000 fine for cheating on his taxes.
MEANINGLESS FACTS:  If you think you eat like a bird, think again.  Birds eat from one quarter to one half their body weight every day... The Roman Colosseum was formerly called the Flavian Amphitheater... Every single hamster in the U.S. today comes from a single litter captured in Syria in 1930.
TRIVIA:  Can you name the TV character who was so popular when she died of a stroke in 1980, "Newsweek" ran a half-page obituary?
     Mark Twain said, "Never run after your hat -- others will be delighted to do it; why spoil their fun?" On with the real stuff!
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Thanks to D.A. for one from his archives:  THE COLON AND THE SEMICOLON
I have a friend who just bought a computer and was instructed to load a program by typing "A:" and then the name of the program. My friend told me it would not work because his keyboard was no good. He said he couldn't type the "dot over dot thingie" and that every time he tried to type the "dot over dot thingie" he got the "dot over comma thingie" no matter how careful he was to press only the very top of the key.
When I told him about the shift key he thought I was a genius.
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Thanks again to AB:  From yesterday --
An updated version of "The Good Wife's Guide"... for the Women of the 21st Century
Have dinner ready. Make reservations ahead of time.
If your day becomes too hectic just leave him a voice mail message regarding where you'd like to eat and at what time. This lets him know that your day has been a bad one and gives him an opportunity to change your mood.
Prepare yourself. Stopping at the "Chanel" counter on your way home will do wonders for your outlook and will keep you from becoming irritated every time he opens his mouth. (Don't forget to use his credit card.)
Clear away the clutter. Call the housekeeper and tell her that any miscellaneous items left on the floor by the children can be placed in the Goodwill box in the garage.
Prepare the children. Send the children to their rooms to watch television or play Nintendo. After all, both of them are from his previous marriages.
Minimize the noise: If you happen to be home when he arrives, be in the bathroom with the door locked.
Some DON'TS:
Don't greet him with problems and complaints. Let him speak first, and then your complaints will get more attention and remain fresh in his mind throughout dinner. Don't complain if he's late for dinner, simply remind him that the leftovers are in the fridge and you left the dishes for him to do.
Make him comfortable: Tell him where he can find a blanket if he's cold. This will really show you care.
Listen to him: But don't ever let him get the last word.
Make the evening his: Never complain if he does not take you out to dinner or other places of entertainment; go with a friend or go shopping (use his credit card). Familiarize him with the phrase "Girls' Night Out!"
The Goal: Try to keep things amicable without reminding him that he only thinks the world revolves around him. Obviously he's wrong. The world revolves around you.
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A favorite from D.A.:  NO EXCUSE SUNDAY: DEDICATED TO MISSING CHURCH ATTENDERS!
To make it possible for everyone to attend church this Sunday, we are going to have a special "No Excuse Sunday":
Cots will be placed in the foyer for those who say, "Sunday is my only day to sleep in."
There will be a special section with lounge chairs for those who feel that our pews are too hard.
Eye drops will be available for those with tired eyes from watching TV late Saturday night.
We will have steel helmets for those who say, "The roof would cave in if I ever came to church."
Blankets will be furnished for those who think the church is too cold, and fans for those who say it is too hot.
Scorecards will be available for those who wish to list the hypocrites present.
Relatives and friends will be in attendance for those who can't go to church and cook dinner, too.
We will distribute "Stamp Out Stewardship" buttons for those that feel the church is always asking for money.
One section will be devoted to trees and grass for those who like to seek God in nature.
Doctors and nurses will be in attendance for those who plan to be sick on Sunday.
The sanctuary will be decorated with both Christmas poinsettias and Easter lilies for those who never have seen the church without them.
We will provide hearing aids for those who can't hear the preacher and cotton wool for those who think he's too loud!
Hope to see you there!
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Here is another one from D.A.'s archives:
A panda walks into a diner, sits down, and orders a sandwich. He eats the sandwich, pulls out a gun, and shoots out the restaurant's windows.
As the panda stands up to go, the owner shouts, "Hey! Where are you going? You just shot my waiter and you didn't pay for your sandwich!"
The panda yells back at the owner, "Hey man, I'm a PANDA! Look it up!"
The owner opens his dictionary and sees the following definition for "panda":
"A tree dwelling marsupial of Asian origin, characterized by distinct black and white coloring. Eats shoots and leaves."
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Thanks to D.A.:  MEDICAL DAFFYNITIONS
 
~ Artery: The study of painting
~ Bacteria: The back door of the cafeteria
~ Barium: What doctors do when their patients die
~ Bowel: A letter like A, E, I, O or U
~ Caesarean Section: A neighborhood in Rome
~ CAT Scan: Searching for a kitty
~ Cauterize: To make eye contact with a girl
~ Coma: A punctuation mark
~ Enema: Someone who is not your friend
~ Fester: Quicker
~ Fibula: A small lie
~ Labor Pain: When you get hurt at work
~ Nitrates: Cheaper than day rates
~ Node: Was aware of
~ Outpatient: A patient who fainted
~ Pelvis: An Elvis impersonator
~ Recovery Room: A place to do upholstery
~ Secretion: Something you don't want anyone to know
~ Seizure: A Roman emperor
~ Tablet: A small table
~ Terminal: Where the planes land
~ Urine: Opposite of "you're out"
~ Varicose: Nearby
~ Vein: To be conceited
 
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Another good one from D.A.:
There was a lady who was visiting a church one Sunday.
The sermon seemed to go on forever, and many in the
congregation fell asleep.
After the service, to be social, she walked up to a very sleepy looking gentleman, extended her hand in greeting, and said, "Hello, I'm Gladys Dunn."
And the gentleman yawned, "I'm glad it's done too!"
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ANSWER:  Edith Bunker of TV's "All in the Family."
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