The Daily Dose/March 31, 2026
By Gaylon Kent – America’s Funniest Guy™
Leading Off
Notes from around the human experience.
UP, UP, AND AWAY: hardly for the first time, the Artemis II mission is scheduled to take off, this time on Wednesday afternoon. It’s going to fly around the Moon – and not even orbit – before returning to Earth. The trip is scheduled to last ten days.
USA! USA! We’ve been critical of our space program recently, but we’re pretty patriotic here, and we hope the mission takes off on schedule, that everything goes according to plan, and the crew returns safely. We’re not overflowing with confidence, though. Recall the mission has already been delayed twice this year for the same liquid hydrogen leak – plus another helium issue – which isn’t cause for optimism.
Running The Numbers: There’s more, though, something we noted here recently: it took NASA 2,979 days to go from nothing to landing on the Moon. During that time, they made 16 manned missions. In 3,045 days, the Artemis program has had only one flight, an unmanned voyage four years ago. This is not the output of an organization humming on all cylinders and does nothing to make us feel NASA could fly a paper airplane, much less send people to the Moon and back.
The Bottom Line: Again, we hope this mission is 100% accomplished and sets lays the groundwork for NASA accomplishing its goals of a lunar station and a manned mission to Mars. But something tells us it will be delayed again.
Today At The Site
Writing worth reading. Usually.
The Diary of a Nobody – Sparrow (again) denies a request for after-hours pool access. Today’s Diary.
Then what happens if we do let him in and he falls and hurts himself???…Then we’re getting sued for letting him in after established pool/hot tub hours… Or, more accurately, the hotel’s getting sued and ol’ Sparrow is getting fired…Eff that noise, as we used to say in the Nav…
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On This Date
Extra, extra, read all about it.
In 1774 – King George III of Great Britain gives assent to the Boston Port Act, an act passed by Parliament to block Boston Harbor. It, along with some other acts, were passed in retaliation for the Boston Tea Party thrown by patriots in December. The act closed the port to all ships regardless of business, and was the impetus for the meeting of the First Continental Congress in September. The act was repealed on January 1, 1776.
In 1985 – The Old Dominion Monarchs win the NCAA women’s basketball title, defeating the Georgia Bulldogs 70-65 in Austin, Texas. It was the third and most recent collegiate national title for the Monarchs, who had won AIAW titles in 1979 and 1980, and was the first of two runner-up finishes for the Bulldogs. The Monarchs tied the women’s Final Four record with 57 rebounds in the game, tying the record they had set in their semifinal win over Northeast Louisiana.
In 1979 – Sister Sledge is at #1 on Billboard’s soul chart – then known as the Hot Soul Singles chart – for the only week with He’s the Greatest Dancer. It was the fifth of 16 Top 40 soul hits for the group, and their first of two #1s. The song also peaked at #9 on the Hot 100, at #1 on Billboard’s dance chart, went #1 dance in Canada, and #6 pop in Great Britain. Sister Sledge last appeared on a Billboard chart in 1993 when a remix of We Are Family peaked at #31 on the dance chart.
Some Philosophy Crap
The wisdom of the ages. Whatever.
But shortsighted men undertake policies for their immediate advantage, paying no heed to the slow poison hidden within them.
Niccolo Machiavelli
The Prince
Answer To The Last Trivia Questions
Knowledge is power.
The oldest continuously operating US embassy or consulate is the US Consulate in Ponta Delgada, Azores, which opened during the George Washington administration in 1795.
Today’s Stumper
Match wits with Gaylon. It’s not that hard.
How long was George III king of Great Britain? – Answer next time!
