Travel

Sharon Wood writes:  "After a visit to Yellowstone's Old Faithful, our family stopped at a gas station outside of the park.  Our daughter leaned over a water fountain, and just as she was about to take a sip, the water shot up and sprayed her face.

The  gas station attendant smiled and said, 'That's why we call it Old Faceful!

Better get to visit Mexico City soon, because it is fast disappearing. This enormous city of over 22 million people was built on top of a lake and the city is sinking back into that lake as time goes by.

Can you imagine a city of 22 million people?  How do all those people survive?

If you want to have fun, and have the time and money, try a trip on Route 66.  This was once a major interstate thoroughfare that came upon bad times when President Eisenhauer pushed for Atomic Bomb Escape Routes.

I read where 80% of the road is still fun to drive on... if you can find it.

Back in the 1950's we followed the Route to California.  I'm told that a ride today will emulate the fun of that era,

"If you ever plan to motor west,

Travel my way, take the highway that is best.

Get your kicks on route sixty-six.

... Now you go through saint looey

Joplin, missouri,

And oklahoma city is mighty pretty.

You see amarillo,

Gallup, new mexico,

Flagstaff, arizona,

Don't forget winona,

Kingman, barstow, san bernadino.

Won't you get hip to this timely tip

When you make that california trip

Get your kicks on route sixty-six."

Source:  Musixmatch

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 More Things to think about

01.  Wordle

I thought that today's puzzle was very tough.  It took me a long time to figure it out. Hope it was easier for you than me.

02. Items from Mental Floss magazine:

a.  OPOSSUM

The average female opossum has 13 nipples.  The nipples are arranged in a circular pattern, with one in the middle.

(Reminds me of a certain Jerry Seinfeld episode.)

b.  WHALE

That rascal, Aristotle Onasis lived for years on his fancy yacht (Christina O), which boasted barstools covered with leather made from whale foreskins.

c.  SNEEZING

Sneezing in different languages:

English: Achoo!

Japanese:  Hakushon!

Hindi:  Chheenk!

Mandarin:  Penti!

Hebrew:  Apchee

Somali:  Hindis!

Malay:  Bersin!

03.  Items from Joe Vaughan's Social Security Brief Case Notes:

Pete Poetker:  "Decisions are always made by the uninvolved."

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Ed Piszek's new golden rule:  "The guy with the gold makes the rules."

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The town of Kennesaw, Georgia passed a law making gun ownership mandatory.

"Every head of household residing in the city limits is required to maintain a firearm."

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 Help!~  I'm being inundated with those little sticky-edged notes, the name of which one is banned from mentioning by law. What did we ever do without them?

01.  Infamy (bad times)

We have two main dates to remember when we think about evil in the world:

September 11, 2001

December 7, 1941

Let's hope that such days never recur.

02.  Happiness (good times)

I've been so lucky to have beautiful Elaines in my life:

Elaine Langlois - 43 years

Elaine Lottes - 21 years

What did I do to get so lucky?

03.  Maybe it was my healthy smell?

Carlotta Galeone, PhD in Milan, Italy, states that a  13-year study indicates that onions and garlic may prevent certain types of cancer.  She suggests that one consume a half-cup of onions (any type) and two crushed garlic cloves, several times weekly.

 

04.  Some random thoughts

Clones are people two.

If a man says something in the woods and there are no women there, is he still wrong?

Ever wonder what the speed of lightning would be if it didn't zigzag?

Nostalgia isn't what it used to be.

So, what's the speed of dark?

How come abbreviated is such a long word?

I'm not one to brag about my finances, but my credit-card company calls me almost every day to tell me my balance is outstanding.

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 More "Stuff"

01.  Going up!

I haven't heard much lately about the "space elevator."  This was a proposed planet-to-space transportation system.  A cable would be anchored to the surface of Earth and extended into space.

The Japanese feel that such a system could work using current technology, and have built a couple of prototypes.

It is estimated that the elevator trip from Earth to Moon would take 8 days.

02.  Phobias.

Here are some more "fears" that human's have:

Gephyrophobia - Fear of crossing bridges. (Lots of people have this fear.)

Pogonophobia - Fear of beards.

Geniophobia - Fear of Chins.  (How about Changs?)

Sesquipedalophobia - Fear of long words.

My favorite:

Arachibutyrophobia - Fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of your mouth.

03.  Childhood Logic

Kitt Swanson writes for Readers Digest:

"My son was almost five when we took a trip to the Post Office...  I noticed him staring at the pictures on the wall. 

'Who are the people on the wall?' he asked. 

I explained to him they were bad people that the police were searching for.  

My son looked up at me with the sweetest face and asked, 'Then why didn't they keep them when they took their pictures?'

I was without words.

04.  You had to be around then

Famous humorist, Allan Misch coined this one-liner:

"He's as nervous as an Avon lady about to ring Tammy Faye Bakker's doorbell."

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 I didn't know that!

01.  Hairy Faces?

This Week magazine reports that "a survey of 8,500 heterosexual women found that heavily stubbled men are the most attractive to potential mates, followed by men with full beards, the lightly stubbled and, in last place, clean shaven men."

(Let that be a lesson to you.)

02.  Use your noodle.

Readers Digest gives some clues to the names of some noodles by Italian "shape" words:  

Rigatoni - has grooves.

Italian riga or "line."  

Bucatini - is hollow.

Italian buca or "hole."

Farfalla - bow-tie shaped.

Italian farfalla or "butterfly."

Penne - pointed.

Italian penne or "quill."

Fusilli - spiraled.

Italian fuso or "spindle."

Spaghetti - long, thin.

Italian spago or "string."

03.  Heller's Laws

I found this in my files.  I don't think it is related to Heller v DC, concerning handguns in DC (2008).

I just think that these are tips for politicians.

A.  Never permit the other fellow to finish a sentence, since he might know what he is talking about and thus prove that you do not.

B.  If you miss your chance to interrupt, change the subject.

(and, always remember:  DEFLECTION!)

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Some Stuff to Think About

01.  High IQ

Do you think that you could qualify for membership in ISPE, the oldest 99.9% society in the world?

If so, on receipt of an application, you will be asked to figure out some puzzles like these:

Find the word that doesn't belong in the list.

you kiss will no me

Find the number that doesn't belong.

19   5    4   25   16

I think I solved the word puzzle, but the number puzzle drives me crazy.  I give up!

I wonder what they discuss at their meetings.  

02.  Hiccups Cures (1994)

 a. Drink chicken gizzard tea or dill tea.

b.  Stand on one foot and repeat, "Hick up, stick up, lick up, hick up," three times without taking a breath. 

c.  Plug your ears and drink nine cups of rainwater, administered by someone of the opposite sex.

d.  Have someone rub a rabbit's foot on the back of your neck, unexpectedly.

Take your pick!

03.  Random thoughts.

a.  Are humans bipedal because of high grass?

b.  Lady on a Date: "Of all the men I've dated, I must say, you are the most recent. 

c.  Did Queen Victora really present Mount Kilimanjaro to Kaiser Wilhelm for his birthday?

ENOUGH!

 More Stuff

I believe that a company named Scholastics, Inc delivered educational material to those kids that subscribed.  I didn't have any money to subscribe so I never really got into its subjects.  

However, somewhere in my travels I picked up two copies of "101 Things You Need to Know," published by Scholastics.  I did know 98 of these things.

Here is what I didn't know:

01.  Toothpaste

Toothpaste is made with limestone, a sedimentary rock. 

My Colgate toothpaste container doesn't say anything about limestone.  Here are its ingredients:

Water

Sorbitol

Hydrated Silica

Glycerin

PEG-12

Tetrasodium Pyrophosphate

Flavor

Sodium Lauryl Sulfate

Zinc Phosphate

Cellulose Gum

Sodium Citrate

Microcrystalline Cellulose

Sodium Saccharin

Cocamidopropy Betaine

Xanthan Gum

Citric Acid

Sucralose

Titanium Dioxide

Just think about this when you are brushing your teeth at bedtime.

 

02.  Summer Heat Determination

I think we actually did this exercise in the old days, but I had forgotten.  It's very simple:

Count the cricket chirps in 15 seconds and add 39. The result should be the current Fahrenheit temperature.

But I have an even simpler exercise:

"Alexa, what's the temperature!"

03.  King Wolfgang

Mozart supposedly created an imaginary kingdom called "Back."  He appointed himself king and had a servant make maps of cities and villages.

Well, that may be so, but I can't find anything about it.  If someone knows about this, would you please let me know?

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