Thoughts For Thursday...

Yes friends, we are rapidly approaching our beloved weekend once again, so don't fret yourselves.
And, thankfully, this will be the last of the really HOT days this week.
Starting tomorrow, we get back to more moderate conditions...hallelujah!
Our Hoosierland weather for today brings us partly sunny skies, a high of around 85 degrees and a lot less wind than we had yesterday. I suppose we can make it through that.
So, what say we get our refreshing drinks poured and parked close by, as we take a look at what else is going on in this crazy-ass world, hmm?
*** First out of the rabbit hole is the answer to yesterday's WHO SAID THAT? quote:
"There is no greater impediment to progress in the sciences than the desire to see it take place too quickly. "

This was spoken by another "newbie" here, one Georg Cristoph Lichtenberg (1 July 1742 – 24 February 1799) who was a German scientist, satirist, and Anglophile. That's certainly a curious mix, isn't it? And here is his WIKI:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georg_Christoph_Lichtenberg

Georg is one of those people we SHOULD have heard about, but unless we took up specified disciplines in the realm of science, we have not (until today...right here, right now).
For many, he is best remembered for his "scrapbooks" which were posthumously published.
Lichtenberg was the youngest of 17 children of pastor Johann Conrad Lichtenberg. Now THAT must have been a crowded household. Leave it to those preachers...lol.
Lichtenberg became a hunchback owing to a malformation of his spine. This left him unusually short, even by 18th-century standards. Over time, this malformation grew worse, ultimately affecting his breathing.
Without a normal body, I suppose it only natural to develop a better than normal mind,...which Georg did.

Lichtenberg figure aka fractal

((One of the first scientists to introduce experiments with apparatus in their lectures, Lichtenberg was a popular and respected figure in contemporary European intellectual circles. He maintained relations with most of the great figures of that era, including Goethe and Kant. In 1784, Alessandro Volta visited Göttingen especially to see him and his experiments. Mathematician Karl Friedrich Gauss sat in on his lectures. In 1793, he was elected a member of the Royal Society.))
That's some pretty "heavy" company.
((He was one of the first to introduce Benjamin Franklin's lightning rod to Germany by installing such devices to his house and garden sheds. He proposed the standardized paper size system used globally today (except in Canada and the US) defined by ISO 216, which has A4 as the most commonly used size.))
This WIKI is a good read, and you will find that this is someone worth your time to find out who he was and what influences he has had in science, ways of thinking, and yes, even satire.
Moving on...
*** Next up, time for our "What the hell happens today, Bob?" feature:
MAY 18 -
---It's National Cheese Souffle Day

(A souffle isn’t a souffle. A souffle is the recipe. - Clara Oswald)
---it's National HIV Vaccine Awareness Day

(I'm sure we're all aware by now)
---It's National No Dirty Dishes Day

(Best dishwasher on Earth right at the ends of your wrists)
---It's National Visit Your Relatives Day

(not much into hanging out at cemeteries these days)
*** Next, it looks like our trash and recycling will be going up $2 a month. Here's the story:
http://www.journalgazette.net/news/local/20170506/city-garbage-fees-to-rise-2-a-month-in-18

Yeah, that's probably the LOWEST hike we've seen lately, and God knows we HAVE seen a lot of hikes all over the place, right? There is a new company from Texas who has won the bid to pick up our trash (isn't that a LONG drive to here?), so Republic (based in AZ, btw) will not be coming around next year (oh, well).
Now, I wonder how much our solid waste department will be ENFORCING such things like WHEN to put the bins OUT and WHERE to place them the rest of the week?
Be nice to see that being done, like we manage to do easily enough.
And, I certainly hope they are expedient in serving us...don't want my damn bin to stay out all day because of a missed pickup, or have damage to the bin due to carelessness by the trash-men.
*** Next up, and while we're on the subject of INCREASES, there's THIS:
http://www.journalgazette.net/news/local/20170517/coalition-protests-proposed-tax-increase
Now, how about that...we got us a "coalition" (of politicians no less) who are going to protest a tax increase.

State reps Chris Judy, Bob Morris and councilman Jason Arp

Well, this IS that personal income tax hike, after all.
Maybe this group will get some traction on this...we could use a break, because, as we ALL know (by now)...a tax, when created, NEVER seems to go away, or get repealed...does it?
*** Next, let's take a minute to drop by "Kitten Corner"...

Tuckered out from unhanging the drapes

The kids were a bit helpful yesterday, as evidenced by the curtain rod I found on the dining room floor...with said drapery sheer still attached. now, they had a reason for doing that.
Seems we had a yellow-jacket on the window sill there (that was promptly dispatched by me) and that had to have caught their attention.

Chasing a laser is more fun.

How the damn thing got INTO our house< I haven't a clue, but the windows are all secure enough.
Got us some good "bug-hunters"...and neither of them has ever seen Starship Troopers...LOL!
*** Next up, time to view the next page of our "Tales of Midnight"...

Just waiting for breakfast.

Our ebony-furred buddy was right nearby all day, but wanders next door behind the fence a couple times.
I did notice he had an abrasion near where his ear meets his head. I think it might be when they scratch with their hind legs.

Being homeless is hungry work.

He could have scratched himself. Lord know OUR cats scratch me plenty as it is.
Other than that, he did okay in the heat, and had plenty of food and COOL water to drink all day.
*** Last back to the bird nest...I always get to thinking about a lot of the people I "feature" here with their quotes.

A perfect example, right?

It's amazing to read about who they were, and what ALL they're noted for. I swear it would take a modern day person a couple LIFETIMES to do what people USED to do in one "abbreviated" life back then (because not many lived to old age).
I guess I always need to ask "Where are such people TODAY"?

The magic today seems to be missing.

Are there no more "renaissance" men or women?
Hell, many of us can barely get by following ONE  vocation in life, let alone SEVERAL (or more).

Perhaps such greatness begins here?

And yet, we have so much more at our disposal in the way of technologies to make our lives far surpass those of centuries before. We're just not utilizing it in a way that is effective AND efficient.
We'd much more spend time "at play" to some degree. That was fine when we were children, but life dictates that we (sooner or later) grow the hell up and take responsibility for our lives.
Not even seeing as much of that as when I was a child, either.
I would really enjoy seeing more people made of the stuff of those who founded our nation...or people who pioneered aspects of our sciences...people who were not afraid to teach themselves when they outgrew whatever system had been in place.
I still believe that many of us have the potential to achieve more, but as usual, it must be by CHOICE.

Be well, make a difference to someone, and...
Stay SAFE out there, America.