A Bob's Life: Monday Musings

Monday, June 16, 2025

Monday Musings - June 16, 2025

1. It is the third Monday of June. It is later than you think! There are but 28 Mondays remaining in the year. Summer officially begins on Friday at 10:42 EDT! Are you ready?

2. Regarding the protests on Flag Day. I was appalled by the comments of some elected leaders who do not support Americans right to peaceful protests. These leaders are not supporting The Constitution which specifically protects the rights of the people to peaceably protest. Amendment 1:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. (US Constitution)

Birthday Celebration for Julie
Ellicott City, MD
June 12, 2025

3. Before departing Maryland we were honored to celebrate a big birthday. I won't say how many years, but the number did end with a zero. Happy Birthday Julie--and many more. The celebration occurred at a Japanese Steak House and we were treated to the usual excitement surrounding a hibachi meal. I missed my small piece of pork on all three occasions when the chef flipped it to me.

4. An amazing thing is happening. Last week the inflation rate was reported at 2.4% over May 2024 and everyone was happy. The president promised that he would reduce prices, a 2.4% inflation rate is still an increase. It is counter-intuitive. BTW, the inflation rate for May 2024 over May 2023 was just 3.3% and it was an outrage. Weird. The inflation rate for September 2024 over 2023 was 2.4% and inflation became a huge issue in the campaign.

5. Today in History. On June 16, 1884, the first roller coaster in America opens at Coney Island, in Brooklyn, New York. Known as a switchback railway, it was the brainchild of LaMarcus Thompson, traveled approximately six miles per hour and cost a nickel to ride. The new entertainment was an instant success and by the turn of the century there were hundreds of roller coasters around the country.

Coney Island, a name believed to have come from the Dutch Konijn Eilandt, or Rabbit Island, is a tract of land along the Atlantic Ocean discovered by explorer Henry Hudson in 1609. The first hotel opened at Coney Island in 1829 and by the post-Civil War years, the area was an established resort with theaters, restaurants and a race track. Between 1897 and 1904, three amusement parks sprang up at Coney Island–Dreamland, Luna Park and Steeplechase. By the 1920s, Coney Island was reachable by subway and summer crowds of a million people a day flocked there for rides, games, sideshows, the beach and the two-and-a-half-mile boardwalk, completed in 1923.