REAL TIME COUPON FEATURES ON TRI-CITIES ON A DIME

Wednesday, January 27, 2016

LITTLE KNOWN TIDBIT OF NAVAL HISTORY...


 
The U. S. S.. Constitution (Old Ironsides), as a combat vessel, carried 48,600 gallons of fresh water for her crew of 475 officers and men. This was sufficient to last six months of sustained operations at sea. She carried no evaporators (i.e. fresh water distillers).

However, let it be noted that according to her ship's log, "On July 27, 1798, the U.S.S. Constitution sailed from Boston with a full complement of 475 officers and men, 48,600 gallons of fresh water, 7,400 cannon shot, 11,600 pounds of black powder and 79,400 gallons of rum."

Her mission: "To destroy and harass English shipping."

Making Jamaica on 6 October, she took on 826 pounds of flour and 68,300 gallons of rum.

Then she headed for the Azores, arriving there 12 November.  She provisioned with 550 pounds of beef and 64,300 gallons of Portuguese wine.

On 18 November, she set sail for England.  In the ensuing days she defeated five British men-of-war and captured and scuttled 12 English merchant ships, salvaging only the rum aboard each.

By 26 January, her powder and shot were exhausted.  Nevertheless, although unarmed she made a night raid up the Firth of Clyde in Scotland.  Her landing party captured a whiskey distillery and transferred 40,000 gallons of single malt Scotch aboard by dawn. Then she headed home.

The U. S. S. Constitution arrived in Boston on 20 February 1799, with no cannon shot, no food, no powder, no rum, no wine, no whiskey, and 38,600 gallons of water.

GO NAVY!

LAUGH FOR THE DAY - MAXINE'S POLITICAL COMMENT ABOUT THE ECONOMY

Sunday, January 24, 2016

LAUGH FOR THE DAY - YOU, YOUR DOG, AND WINTER WEATHER

Since we have a foot of snow around the house, I thought this was appropriate.

Saturday, January 9, 2016

SMILE FOR THE DAY - HERE'S TO MY GIRLFRIENDS


5 OLD-TIME DISEASES THAT ARE MAKING A COME BACK

Dear Readers:

I remember when I was a kid that all of your friends missed time from school because they came down with chicken pox, measles, or mumps.  Also, the big scare was polio.  I remember my mom telling me "don't get in crowds, don't drink out of someone else's cup", don't do this, don't do that.  The concern at that time was very real.  Pictures of children in "iron lungs".  News of a neighbor's kid dying from the disease.  Scary times.

Then the polio vaccine came out and the doctors and nurses descended on the schools with long lines of students lined up to get the shot.  Everyone hoping that this vaccine would work...and it did. 

Today we have more vaccines to help prevent those childhood diseases.  However, vaccines don't work unless you take them.  As a result in this lapse of getting vaccines, plus the surge of immigrants into our country from counties where these diseases still exist, some of these childhood diseases are making a comeback.  

This article talks about 5 of those diseases.  Here is an excerpt from the article:
Measles, tuberculosis… bubonic plague?! If headlines about old-time diseases on the comeback have you worried, you’re not alone. Here’s what you need to know to stay safe (and sane) amid recent outbreaks.

Plague

Think this notorious killer died with the Middle Ages? The disease actually persists in parts of Africa, Asia, and South America. And there have been 16 reported cases of plague, with four deaths, in the United States this past year. Most recently, a 16-year-old girl from Oregon was sickened and hospitalized after apparently being bitten by a flea on a hunting trip.

You can get plague from fleas that have carried the Yersinia pestis bacteria from an infected rodent, or by handling an infected animal, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Bubonic plague is the most common form in the U.S., while pneumonic plague (affecting the lungs) and septicemic plague (affecting the blood) are less prevalent but more serious. Symptoms of bubonic plague include fever, chills, headache, and swollen lymph glands.

To read complete the article - click on this link - http://news.health.com/2015/12/31/5-old-diseases-that-are-making-a-comeback/