On this day in 1914, USS Nevada is launched at the Fore River Shipyard, Quincy, Massachusetts. The first "Standard Battleship" of the US Navy. Thirteen standard battleships in five classes were built, between 1912 and 1921, each an incremental improvement over their predecessors. #NavalHistory

Is this to keep us out or keep him in?

The coupler from the dishwasher to the faucet does not couple. Looks like hand washing in the sink for the forseeable future. And waiting for the plates in the drainer to dry so I can do the next batch. It's a man's job.

On this day in 1831, John Pemberton is born. He invented Coca-Cola.

Found my old flip phone-- bought around 2011. Put it on the charger and found some old pictures from a trip I took cross country back in 2013. Now all I have to do is figure out if I can download them somewhere.

Spent some time cleaning out my desk this evening. Among all of the other interesting things I found was a catnip mouse that had been sitting in there for years. I tossed it to my junior cat, who is now batting it around in the kitchen.

Tonight or tomorrow, Platner walks the plank.

I'm not sure if I'd like to work in the hospital wing where Mitch McConnell is currently "resting." Not without a wooden stake, garlic, a crucifix, holy water and roses handy at any rate. You never can tell.

Kurt Schumacher was a member of the Reichstag and the postwar leader of the Social Democrats in West Germany. He had called Nazism "a continuous appeal to the inner swine in human beings." He spent ten years in concentration camps, then helped form the German Federal Republic after the War.

On this day in 1919, the British airship R-34 completes the first east to west transatlatic flight from East Fortune, Scotland, to Mineola, New York. The flight took 108 hours and 12 minutes and the crew of 31 included the ships' mascot, a kitten named "Whopsie," two pigeons, and a stowaway.

There has been only one commissioned warship in the US Navy named United States, one of the original six frigates. A Lexington class battlecruiser to be named United States was cancelled in 1923. A large aircraft carrier was to be named United States, but was cancelled in 1949. #NavalHistory

According to the President's schedule today, he's supposed to make remarks at the Salute to America program at 9:45 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time tonight. Is anyone gonna be there to hear him?

On this day in 1901, William Howard Taft become the first US civilian Governor-General of the Phillipine Islands, replacing Major General Arthur MacArthur, the military governor. On this day in 1946, the Phillipines become independent from the United States.

On this day in 1817, construction of the Erie Canal begins in Rome, New York. When completed in 1825, the canal will run 363 miles connecting the Hudson River to the Great Lakes, leading to the rise of New York City as the country's leading financial, shipping and mercantile center.

Junior cat has decided that the top of the chest of drawers is a good place to sleep. Rather impressive jump for a 10 year old cat weighing about 20 pounds (all muscle, no fat!).

Hauled the bedding out of the dryer. Most of the stuff in the lint screen was cat hair. Evicted the senior cat to make the bed. 15 pounds of irate cat is probably plotting revenge in the kitchen.

Checked to see what Congressional District I landed in when I moved into the new place. Fortunately, I'm still in the California 21st. The last time they did the redistricting, they divided my town between the 20th and the 21st. www.govtrack.us/congress/mem...

I have a pair of middle-aged cats (mother and daughter) having a serious case of morning crazies. It all started when I stripped the bed (their bed!, they think) so I could wash the bedding.

On this day in 1940, after negotiations between the British and the French over the neutralization of the French squadron at Mers el Kibir in Algeria fail, the British attack, sinking one French battleship and damaging two. The Strasbourg escapes to France. #NavalHistory

On this day in 1898, the Spanish squadron under Admiral Pascual Cervera y Topete sorties from Santiago de Cuba to battle the US fleet commanded by Admiral William T. Sampson and Commodore Winfield Scott Schley. All six Spanish ships are either sunk or run aground, with no US losses. #NavalHistory

Just finished washing up from the first dinner I've cooked in the new place and ate at my kitchen table. More unpacking to do, but that can wait until tomorrow.

Just got the kitchen table and chairs set up and cleaned. They all still look good after a decade in storage.

All the guys behind him look like they would rather have died at the Little Big Horn.

In the San Joaquin Valley, one of our constants is dust. Drive with the window down? Dusty dashboard. Keep the windows up? Dusty windows. So I went to the $2.00 car wash and blasted the car clean. A fool's errand, perhaps, but at least for now it's shiny! Also vacuumed and cleaned the dash!

All my boxes were somewhat haphazardly unloaded from the storage unit, but I found my cookware! No all I need are my dishes: I know they're somewhere here. Somewhere.

My town is renowned for its safe and conscientious drivers.

On this day in 2003, the last Volkswagen Beetle rolls off an assembly line in Puebla, Mexico. Over 21 million Beetles were produced between December 1945 and June 2003 in rwenty places across the world.

Harry Truman would come back and kick his ass.

I'm waiting for the video of drunk Ken Paxton singing ABBA on Karaoke Night in an Icelandic Bar.

Happy birthday to Ray Harryhausen, born this day in 1920!

I'm hearing a sound I've been waiting to hear. The cats have found the litter box again, after I introduced it to them. Nimmie left me a present in my chair earlier this morning.

After sitting in storage for over two years, my grandparent's Seth Thomas mantle clock struck the hour exactly when it was supposed to.

The cats are in their new home. Curieux, my senior cat is living up to her name and exploring. Nimmie, her rather more shy daughter is underneath the bed getting acquainted with familiar smells.

After two years, five months, and thirteen days, my storage locker is completly empty, swept out and returned to the storage company. My garage is a bit full though...

On this day in 1745, the French fortress of Louisbourg surrenders to a combined force of New England soldiers commanded by William Pepperell and a small Royal Navy squadron led by Commodore Peter Warren. Louisbourg was ceded back to France under the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748 #NavalHistory

On this day in 1905, the crew of the Russian battleship Potemkin mutiny in the Black Sea, in part over rotten meat in the borsch, killing the captain and six other officers. She sails to Odessa where riots and a general strike against the Tsarist government had broken out. #NavalHistory

Just practice for the next "Great Heather Army" incursion into England.

I guess they caught RFK Jr. skinny dipping again.

The Office of Lord Protector has been vacant for a while.

Is this to keep the people out or the algae in?

On this day in 1951, the transatlantic liner United States is launched in Newport News, Virginia. She had been built in a drydock and made her maiden voyage in July 1952. #MaritimeHistory

The day after signing the Armistice with France in 1940, Adolf Hitler visits Paris for the first and last time of his life.

On this day in 1611, the crew of Henry Hudson's ship, the Discovery, set him, his son, and seven other crewman adrift in a small boat in what is not Hudson's Bay after a mutiny. Hudson and his men are never seen again, except, perhaps, by the Inuits. #MaritimeHistory

I looked up how many sausages you could get from a pig. Now wondering how many sausages you could get from a Jeff Bezos. That's all meat only folks, no fillers. One of the pictures below is described by Britannica as "Large, White, Meaty."

Translation: The Old Coot could die off at any time and I want to be there to cut Marco off at the knees.

On this day in 1857, Charles Alderton is born in Brookyn, New York. He invented Dr. Pepper while working in a pharmacy in Waco, Texas.

On June 21, 1919, ships of the German High Seas Fleet interned in Scapa Flow are scuttled. 52 of the 74 German ships in the flow are sunk by their own crews. #NavalHistory

Looks like Donald is going to Camp David this weekend. Maybe he's thinking that Catoctin Mountain is thick enough to mute the sound of all the people laughing at him. rollcall.com/factbase/tru...

Wow! I know some really neat people!

On April 30, 1940, the French Navy scored an own goal when the destroyer Maillé Brézé torpedoed itself by accident. During maintenance, one of the torpedo tubes malfunctioned and launched a torpedo which struck the forecastle. 37 crewmen were killed; 47 wounded. #NavalHistory