DECEMBER 5

1360 - The French Franc is created.

1792 - George Washington re-elected US pres

1879 - 1st automatic telephone switching system patented

1893 - 1st electric car (built in Toronto) could go 15 miles between charges

1932 - German physicist Albert Einstein granted a visa to enter America

2008 - OJ Simpson is sentenced to 33 years in prison for kidnapping and armed robbery

DECEMBER 4

1843 - Manila paper (made from sails, canvas & rope) patented, Mass

1920 - 1st Pro football playoff game Buffalo-7, Canton-3 at Polo Grounds

1931 - "Frankenstein" opens at Mayfair

1970 - Unemployment in US increases to 5.8%

1980 - 2 months after death of drummer John Bonham, Led Zeppelin breaks up

2006 - An adult giant squid is caught on video by Kubodera near the Ogasawara Islands, 1,000 km (620 miles) south of Tokyo.

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Today was a long day. It snowed! It snowed so much!

I took a continuing education class at the U for work (Coaching for Excellence) and got to see where my sister is learning about animals, complete with an up close look at a bucket of brains.

St Anthony Park was beautiful in the snow.

On the bus ride home I realized that no one had probably shoveled at my folks house, so I got off the bus and shoveled their walkways around the house.

My mother and I ate spaghetti, played a fierce (un-scored) game of Option and listened to This American Life, "The seven things you're not supposed to talk about". So much fun!

DECEMBER 3

1775 - 1st official US flag raising (aboard naval vessel Alfred)

1818 - Illinois becomes 21st state USA (Admission day)

1834 - 1st US dental society organized (NY)

1922 - 1st successful technicolor movie (Tall of the Sea), shown in NYC

1952 - 1st TV broadcast in Hawaii

1991 - Hulk Hogan defeats Undertaker to become 4th time WWF champion

DECEMBER 2

1816 - 1st savings bank in US opens (Philadelphia Savings Fund Society)

1927 - 1st Model A Fords sold, for $385

1941 - Largest roller skating rink (outside of NYC) opens in Peekskill NY

1952 - 1st human birth televised to public (KOA-TV Denver, Colo)

1957 - Sam Cooke's "You Send Me" reaches #1

1982 - 1st permanent artificial heart successfully implanted (U of Utah) in retired dentist Barney Clark; lived 112 days with Jarvic-7 heart

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It snowed today! It snowed today!

The snow made me want to hang some christmas lights in my apartment. So I did. 

Advent Calendar

A friend and I are making advent calendars for each other. I know that today is The first day, but we cannot meet up to exchange them until Thursday.

We both are the kind of people who love weird facts and interesting facts and factual facts. I looked up days in history and everyday has six things that have happened that day in history. I put fact lists along with trinkets, snacks and, found items in envelopes each stamped as 1/25 or whatever day it is.

I left my phone charger at my folks house, so I am not going to take pictures and document it yet. I will do that tomorrow when I get my spare charger from work.

For each day leading up to christmas I am going to document a moment or two and post the facts for the day.

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DECEMBER 1

1878 - 1st White House telephone installed

1913 - 1st drive-up gasoline station opens (Pitts)

1955 - Rosa Parks arrested for refusing to move to the back of bus

1959 - 1st color photograph of Earth from outer space

1976 - Sex Pistols using profanity on TV, gets them branded as "rotten punks"

1997 - Howard Stern Radio Show premieres in Davenport IA on KORB 93.5 FM

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Night Trains! I took my folks dog,  Moose, for a walk this evening. It was dark out and we went along the train tracks. Moosie is kind of an afraidy cat. He loves me and is happy with me, so I try to take him on walks that kind of push his idea of a calm safe time. Like walking on rocks instead of sidewalk or grass. Walking into/through shadows instead of walking around them. 

Tonight there was a nice long long slow train going by. We walked along it for awhile, then another train was coming along towards us. It was so nice to be out on the tracks. It is so dark out there and the beams from the headlights are really pretty. These pictures don't really do justice to it, but you kind of get the idea. 

Moose and I stood next to a cargo shipper that is just on the rocks/dirt, he poked around behind it while I watched the engine go by. (I just wanted you to know he was not scared or freaking out). 

Also tonight at my folks... my mother and I  played with my new slider projector I got at the Goodwill today (for $7.49!). We didn't have any slides, so we did hand puppets. This one had a great song that it sang in a funny voice (like "wamp wamp wamp wamp wamp wamp wamp"). I tried to take a video, but it didn't work out.

My dad went outside  and when he came back let us know that we were projecting onto the house next door through the curtain. HA! (nobody lives there right now, FYI)

The other week I got a new game. It is called "Option". It is not new, but new to me. It is kind of like scrabble but different. I cannot wait to play future games (ones where we actually keep score).