February 5th - Today is the 36th day of the year, with only 329 days remaining in 2006.

February Flowers - Violet, Primrose
February Birthstone - Amethyst (Sincerity)

Where Has All the Power Gone Day
Gusts around the greater Seattle-Tacoma-Everett area were generally in the 45-50 mph range, although some spots along Puget Sound reported gusts over 60 mph. Puget Sound Energy says most of the 140,000 customers who lost power should be back online by midday Sunday, but hard-hit areas could be without power for several days, and should begin making alternate plans now to watch the Super Bowl.


"Universal Time" (UT) which is sometimes referred to, now colloquially, as "Greenwich Mean Time" (GMT)
FIRST QUARTER - Feb 5   6:28 a.m.
FULL MOON - Feb 13   4:44 a.m.
LAST QUARTER - Feb 21   7:17 a.m.
NEW MOON - Feb 28   0:32 a.m.


THINGS I'VE LEARNED LIVING WITHOUT ELECTRICITY
* There are a lot of trees in the Pacific Northwest!
* Coffee and grilled cheese sandwiches can be made on a wood stove.
* No matter how many times you flick the switch, lights don't work without electricity.
* Kids can survive 4 days or longer without a video game controller in their hand.
* Devoted dogs, who follow your every move, make walking dangerous without power and lights.
* He who has the biggest generator wins first place. He who has the most batteries wins second place. He who has the most candles receives honorable mention.
* A new method of non-lethal torture - showers without hot water.
* There are a lot more stars in the sky than most people thought.
* The computer is an addiction and the withdrawal symptoms are painful. One day at a time, brother.
* A 7 lb bag of ice will chill 6-12 oz Budweiser's to a drinkable temperature in 11 minutes, and still keep a 14-pound turkey frozen for 8 more hours.
* There are a lot of trees in the Pacific Northwest!
* Contrary to most Washington natives' beliefs, speed limit on roads without traffic lights does not increase.
* People will get into a line that has already formed without having any idea what the line is for.
* Some things do keep the mailman from his appointed rounds.
* Tele-marketers function no matter what the weather is doing.
* Cell phones work when land lines are down, but only as long as the battery remains charged.
* 27 of your neighbors are fed from a different transformer than you, and they are quick to point that out!
* Laundry hampers were not made to contain such a volume.
* If I had a store that sold only ice, chainsaws, gas, and generators ... I'd be rich.
* The price of a bag of ice rises 200% after a wind storm.
* Tree service companies are under appreciated.
* Swings on playgrounds are fun. The Tacoma Narrows, with wind gusts at 60 MPH, is not!
* I learned what happens when you make fun of another state's blackouts.
* MATH 101: 30 days in month, minus 6 days without power equals 30% higher electric bill ?????
* I can walk a lot farther than I thought.
* Working at a hospital isn't so bad. You have power, heat, running water AND Internet access.
* There are a lot of trees in the Pacific Northwest!


ACTING -
1906 John Carradine, NYC, actor (Grapes of Wrath, Howling) [D: 11/27/88]
1919 Red Buttons (Aaron Chwatt), NYC, comedian/actor (Sayonara, Poseidon Adventure)
1941 David Selby, Morgantown WV, actor (Quentin Collins-Dark Shadows, Flamingo Road)
1948 Barbara Hershey (Herzstein), Hollywood CA, (The Right Stuff, The Portrait of a Lady)
1962 Jennifer Jason Leigh, LA CA, actress (Single White Female, The Hudsucker Proxy)
1969 Jeremy Sumpter, Monterey CA, actor (Peter Pan)

ARTISTIC -
1928 Rev Andrew M. Greeley, Oak Park IL, priest/sociologist/author (The Making of the Pope 2005)
1938 John Guare, NYC, writer (6 Degrees of Separation, House of Blue Leaves)

HISTORIC -
1723 John Witherspoon, Gifford Scotland, only clergyman signing Declaration of Independence [D: 11/15/1794]
1848 Belle Starr (Myra Belle Shirley), Carthage MO, female outlaw (wild west) [D: 02/03/1889]
1900 Adlai E Stevenson II, LA CA, (Governor-D-IL), presidential candidate (D) (1952, 1956) [D: 07/14/65]

MUSIC -
1942 Cory Wells (Emil Lowendowski), Buffalo NY, rock vocalist (3 Dog Night-Joy to the World)
1944 Al Kooper, Brooklyn NY, rock keyboards/vocalist (Blood Sweat & Tears-When I Die)
1964 Michael "Duff" McKagan, Seattle WA, bassist (Guns N' Roses-Sweet Child O' Mine)
1969 Bobby Brown, Boston MA, R&B singer/married Whitney Houston (Girlfriend)

SCIENCE -
1914 Sir Alan Hodgkin, Banbury England, physicist (Nobel 1963 - nerve "action potentials") [D: 12/20/98]
1915 Robert Hofstadter, NYC, physics (Nobel 1961 - structure of the nucleons) [D: 11/17/90]
1947 Mary L. Cleave, Southampton NY, PhD/astronaut (STS 61-B, STS 30)

SPORTS -
1934 Don Cherry, Ontario Canada, ice hockey coach/commentator/author
1934 Hank Aaron, Mobile AL, baseball player (755 home runs, 1957 NL MVP) HoF 1982


1644 First US livestock branding law passed, by Connecticut.
1778 South Carolina becomes the first state to ratify the Articles of Confederation.
1819 Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, and D.W. Griffith launch United Artists.
1861 First moving picture peep show machine is patented by Samuel Goodale of Cincinnati.
1922 DeWitt and Lila Wallace publish the first issue of Reader's Digest. (Some sources say February 7.)
1929 "They'll Do It Every Time", a comic strip still in syndication as of 2005, debuts in a San Francisco newspaper.
1945 General Douglas MacArthur returns to Manila.
1967 "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour" premieres on CBS (later ABC, NBC).
1969 US population reaches 200 million.
1972 Bob Douglas is first black elected to Basketball Hall of Fame.
1978 Fred Newman makes 88 consecutive basketball free throws blindfolded.
1988 First prime-time wrestling match in 30 years - Andre beats Hulk Hogan.
1998 Author Tom Clancy confirms he signed agreement to purchase Minnesota Vikings for slightly more than $200 million, an NFL franchise record.
MORE EVENTS

SOURCE: Earth Calendar
Chama Cha Mapinduzi Day - Tanzania
Día de la Constitución (Constitution Day) - Mexico
Liberation of the Republic from the Alberoni Occupation - San Marino
President's Day - Congo (Republic of)
St. Agatha's Day - San Marino
Unity Day - Burundi
Homstrom - Switzerland


Electricity can be dangerous. My nephew tried to stick a penny into a plug. Whoever said a penny doesn't go far didn't see him shoot across that floor. I told him he was grounded. - Tim Allen


ELECTRICIAN'S JOB: Ohm-work. (WordFoolery)

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