March is Women's History Month

In honor of Women's History Month I went on the web and found an interesting article on Women's History web site telling of the inventions of women. I have posted it here. I think you will find it interesting and uplifting.

10 things invented by women

1. Clothes wringer/mangle In 1880, an African-American woman named Ellen Elgin invented the clothes wringer. Sadly, she never made a fortune, selling her patent rights for a pittance because she believed if white women knew the wringer was invented by a black woman they wouldn’t want it.

2. Suspension bridge supports. Invented in 1811 by Sarah Guppy, 41, from Birmingham, UK.

3. Windscreen Wipers Invented in 1903 by 37-year-old Mary Anderson, 37, from Alabama, USA.

4. Hydrometer This instrument, which calculates the relative density of liquids, was invented in around 400AD by Hypatia of Alexandria, Egypt and is still in use today.

5. Solar powered fridge Invented in 2006 by Emily Cummins, 19, from Leeds, UK.

6. Paper bags Invented in 1871 by Margaret E Night, 32, from Maine, USA.

7. Computer programming In 1843 aged 32, Ada Lovelace from London, UK, wrote the world’s first computer programmes for the Analytical Engine – an early mechanical computer invented by Charles Babbage.

8. Feeding device for amputees Bessie Blount, 37, an African-American physiotherapist who worked with soldiers injured in World War II, invented an electrical device that allowed amputees to feed themselves in 1951.

9. Disposable nappy Invented in 1950 by Marion Donovan, 33, from Indiana, USA.

10. Dipped headlights Invented in 1908 by Emily Canham from London, UK after being dazzled by the headlights of the newly invented automobile.

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Since I am a Maine girl I was very impressed to see that Margaret E. Knight, the inventor of the paper bag was born in York, Maine. I have posted a link to her biography beow:

Biography of Margaret E. Knight

The World's First Licensed African American

In honor of Black History Month I thought it would be interesting to see who the first black American pilot was. After Googling it I discovered a couple of, what I considered, amazing facts. The first black American pilot was licensed in 1920. I was thinking it would be later than that. Very cool. But, the most amazing fact I discovered was that the world's first licensed African American was a woman! Her name was Bessie Coleman. Below I have cut and pasted the short biography I found on Bessie Coleman at the website http://infoplease.com/

Bessie Coleman, Aviator
Born: 26 January 1892
Died: 30 April 1926 (internal injuries)
Birthplace: Atlanta, Texas
Best known as: The world's first licensed African-American pilot

Bessie Coleman was an early aviation pioneer for both African-Americans and women. Bessie Coleman grew up in Texas, moved to Chicago, and got interested in flying after her brothers returned from World War I. Failing to find anyone in Chicago who would teach flying to a black woman, Coleman determined to go abroad to get training -- a daring idea for that era. She moved to Paris, was accepted to aviation school, and on 15 June 1921 she received her pilot's license from the Federation Aeronautique Internationale. The certificate made her the world's first licensed black aviator. Coleman returned to the United States and began a barnstorming career, appearing at airshows across the country. She died in 1926 while flight-testing an open-cockpit plane; her co-pilot lost control of the aircraft and in the ensuing dive Coleman was tossed from the plane and plunged to her death.
Extra credit:
The U.S. Postal Service issued a stamp honoring Bessie Coleman in 1995... Bessie Coleman's family line included some American Indian blood: her father George was part African-American and part Cherokee.
Copyright © 1998-2006 by Who2?, LLC. All rights reserved.Read more: Bessie Coleman Biography (Aviator) — Infoplease.com http://www.infoplease.com/biography/var/bessiecoleman.html#ixzz1nDw5pkaP

Bessie Coleman Biography (Aviator) — Infoplease.com

Sit back and relax: Learn to fly witout fear

I read a great little article in this past weekend's edition of USA Weekend. It was about how to deal with fear of flying. If you want to know more just go to http://www.usaweekend.com/ and click on the Life & Style tab. The February 9th article is called "Sit back and relax: Learn to fly with out fear. It's just a short article but worth reading.

My son, Vinny, pictured here, was afraid of flying but his job required him to fly frequently and, somehow, he overcame it.

Baby Girl, The Astromoner

My granddaughter, Teagan, visited with me today. Teagan is 5 years old. She will be 6 on the first day of spring, my favorite day of the year. Teagan is my oldest grandchild and my only granddaughter. I always tell her she's my favorite granddaughter. And she is!

I recently had my kitchen redone and one of the walls is painted with black chalk board paint and set up as a message center. But, it has really turned out to be my grandchildren's art center. I like it better than a message center. Whenever my grandchildren visit they always draw some amazing picture or write their name or doodle something that I find amazing and admire it long after they have gone home.

Teagan has a wonderful imagination. I just love to see what she will come up with next. One time she drew directions from her house to my house on the chalk board. I didn't erase it for a long time. Teagan also likes to sing and dance and tell stories. She has give me untold pleasure since the day she was born. My nick name for her is "Baby Girl". Sometimes she gets mad when I call her Baby Girl and will demand that I call her Teagan. Lately she seems to have grown used to it.

Good thing, because I think it's a nick name that is going to stick.

Today, as usual, Teagan drew a very large picture on the chalk board. She told me it was the Earth. It looked like the Earth! She had even drawn several continents on the earth. The biggest continent she drew was North America and she explained to me that she lived there. I was blown away! Mind you, Teagan is only 5 years old. Teagan also drew the moon and a pink planet that she called the Pink Bunny planet. She told me that the pink bunnies ate pink grass on the Pink Planet. I found that extremely imaginative and amazing all at once. (Can you tell she's my favorite granddaughter? :)

Finally, Teagan said she wanted to draw stars but she told me she had trouble doing it. So, of course, Grammie came to the rescue. I drew a 5 point star and showed her how to do it. She was intrigued and ran to get the step stool so she could practice drawing stars above the Earth. She caught on very quickly and was very pleased with herself. She drew lots of stars in the universe.

To date this is my favorite drawing on the chalk board. I will not erase it for a while. I think someday Baby Girl will make a perfect Air Companion. Don't you?

November is National Diabetes Month

Did you know that November is National Diabetes Month? The slogan for this year is "Stop Diabetes". To find out how you can help click on the link below.

Also, November is National Family Caregivers Month. To find out more about family caregivers or if you are a family caregiver and want to know more click on the link below.

The pretty lady in the photo on your right was the caregiver to the gentleman in the picture. Both are gone now. Both were ear friends.

http://www.diabetes.org/

http://www.nfcacares.org/

"Do You Know The Way To San Jose?"

The title of this blog is kind of corny but when I last flew to San Jose, California several people on the plane were singing that old tune. I'm sure that song put San Jose on the map for a lot of people. Now, I believe it's called "Silicon Valley". What a beautiful valley it is! When you are flying into San Jose, California you see a city with huge gorgeous mountains surrounding it. I never grow tired of seeing it from the air. Unfortunately I've never taken a picture of it. I must try to remember to do that on my trip out there next week.

On your right is a photo of a random airport. After a while all the big airports start to look the same.

I have flown into San Jose, California several times. The first time was when my husband and I flew out to see my late son graduate from language school in Monterrey. Vinny was in the Army then and attended the school in Monterrey for a couple of years. I took a whole slew of pictures of his graduation but my luggage was forever lost on the flight home and the undeveloped films were in my checked bag. I've always been very bummed out by that. Especially now that Vinny is no longer with us. I have posted a photo of Vinny sitting on a bench in one of Saddam Husein's palaces in Iraq. That's where he went after he graduated from language school. He learned Arabic and went to work for a company called SOSi.

Back to my story..... the second time I flew to San Jose, California was last August. Air Companions was hired to accompany a developmentally disabled woman from San Jose to Virginia to visit her brother for a week. When the week was over Air Companions accompanied her back home. It was great fun and she was a wonderful to travel with. I feel like I made some new friends. Her family was wonderful, too.

Next week I will travel back to San Jose, California to once again accompany the developmentally disabled woman to Virginia to spend Thanksgiving with her brother and his family. I will be able to be home for Thanksgiving with my family and will fly back to Virginia on Saturday, November 26 in order to accompany my new friend home to San Jose on Sunday. I'm really looking forward to it.

More to come after my trip. Meantime I hope you all have a very wonderful Thanksgiving.

Day of Wellness Fair

On a beautiful fall morning, the last Saturday of October, Spectrum Generations hosted the 2nd annual "Day of Wellness" fair. The theme of this year's fair was "Learning and Making Connections". The fair was held in the Rockland High School gymnasium from 9am to 12 noon. All the exhibitors represented, in some way, a business or service that encouraged good health and promoted increased independence for the elderly and disabled. One of the big draws this year was the offer of a free flu shot to the first 200 hundred people who showed up on a first come first serve basis.

Some of the vendors represented were ASK for Home Care, Kno-Wa-Lin, The Knox County Triad, Maine Division for the Blind, New Hope For Women, Sentegration, Inc., Rockland Library, Coastal Medical Clinic, and the Knox County Health Clinic. As you can see it was quite a diverse group and I have only named about have of the vendors.

There were also several work shops offered throughout the event. In fact, there were 5 in all. The subjects ranged from helping seniors stay in their homes to fall prevention to scam artists. And, it was all free! What a wonderful community service the Wellness Fair has turned out to be for the community and for the businesses represented to network with each other.

Air Companions has been pleased to be a vendor for the past 2 years. Air Companions held a drawing for an overnight bag filled with goodies. Many people stopped by the table to sign up for the drawing which took place. At the end of the fair one of the neighboring vendors drew off a winner. And the winner was Gloria Whitehouse of Rockland! She is pictured here on the right holding her prize. When I delivered the overnight bag to her I asked if I could snap a photo of her and she agreed.

All in all it was a great day for Air Companions and I suspect for Gloria Whitehouse!