You Don't Say

 Are you one of the many who talk out loud to themselves, and if so do you admit to talking to yourself? Even though we've been told people will think you're crazy or strange for talking to yourself there are actually several benefits. Not only does it keep people who live alone engaged it is also helpful in times of stress when you can talk yourself through a situation or when you feel anxious, plus it helps to solve problems when you talk it out. Children talk to themselves both for the company and to learn social skills and it's perfectly normal in adults too. It has been discussed that talking to yourself may even indicate a high IQ, so go ahead and have a nice talk! 

Pizza Wine

 For the holidays Pizza Hut is offering tomato wine, they describe the flavor as "capturing the essence of your favorite slice in every sip." The ingredients are ripe, juicy tomatoes infused with basil an aromatic blend of herbs and spices with a hint of toasted oak, reminiscent of a perfectly baked pizza crust. They certainly can't be accused of giving it away as they are selling it for $25 per bottle with a minimum purchase of two bottles or a gift set containing one wine, two glasses, and a bottle opener for $60. 

Don't Be Alarmed

Nothing beats a good night's sleep in fact sleep pretty much makes everything else better which is why it's important. One thing that is often overlooked is how a person wakes up. It's best to establish your sleep routine with a consistent bedtime and wake up time so an alarm clock or needing someone else to wake you isn't necessary as using either of those methods can interrupt your REM patterns which fluctuate during the night through four stages and if the deep REM is when an alarm goes off it causes a person to feel drowsy all day. Of course there are other factors to good sleep but they're pretty much common sense like no caffeine before bed and several others but the most important is keeping to a schedule. 

Freeze Frame

 A spa in Whitehorse in Canada's Yukon territory has been holding a hair freezing contest since 2012, though last year they canceled the event since it didn't get cold enough. The temperature needs to get to at least -4 degrees F for an extended period and with global warming the temps have risen over 5.4 F in the last 30 years, so if you are counting on winning the $2,000 prize money for the best frozen do, your time may be limited. A list of the rules follo

1. Dip your head in the hot springs and wet your hair completely. Don’t worry- freezing your hair won’t damage it.
2. Allow the cold air to slowly freeze your hair. Keep your ears warm by periodically dipping them into the hot water. Be patient–all wet hair will eventually freeze, this includes eyebrows and even eyelashes.
3. Once your hair has become pure white with lots of frost and ice buildup, ring the bell near the pool entrance and have our staff come out to take your photo!

Better or Worse

 This seems like an extremely creepy development in robotics but maybe that's just me?  A study in Japan is making robots more lifelike so they can smile and have expressions. It is literally a layered process where they have to build up lab produced skin to allow for wrinkles and other natural "lifelike" details. Oh, did I mention that they can also heal themselves?? It sounds like the plot of a movie, " The Day the Bots Ruled." The good news is the lab produced skin may be used in the future in reconstructive plastic surgery.

Teasers

 Time to engage your brain again and see how observant you are not to mention testing your eyes. This first image is difficult. There is a cat hidden for you to find, hints will be found at the bottom of the post. The second image is one where you need to spot  10 differences. Good luck! 

The cat in the first picture can be found between the woman's head and arm holding the mop, it is somewhat outlined by the bottom of the curtains.

Flying High

 We're nearly there! Where you ask? Flying cars are already taking flight in China on a testing basis. A company called Xpeng has been fine tuning the Land Aircraft Carrier which comprises two modules, the ground module, aka the "Mothership", and the air module. The Mothership is a six wheel, three axle hybrid that accommodates the air module in its trunk. The modules separate with the push of a button allowing the dronelike aircraft with  room for two occupants to take to the sky. Not exactly like the flying car in the J.D. Robb novels but it's a start! 

T-Day Facts

 This is just a top five list but the longer list gets pretty tedious so I'll spare you the long form. 

5 Thanksgiving Facts for 2024:

• $321 - Average person’s spending over the five-day Thanksgiving period.
• 10 Hrs. - Length of time the average American male would need to spend on the treadmill to burn the 4,500 calories consumed at the average Thanksgiving meal.
• $1.2B - Estimated amount Americans spend on Thanksgiving turkeys each year, with 46 million turkeys killed for the holiday.
• $26 Million - Amount of property loss caused by residential building fires each Thanksgiving.
• 61% - Share of people celebrating Thanksgiving who try to avoid having to talk politics at the dinner table.
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The Winners

 The inductees into this year's Toy Hall of Fame have been announced and after being on the finalist list seven times My Little Pony finally crossed the finish line. The other winners this year included: Phase 10, a card game similar to rummy, and Transformers. Maybe the stick horse will come in first or at least place next year. 

Truckless Trucking

 Japan has managed to nearly take the truck out of trucking. Their latest innovation is a 320 mile conveyer belt like road linking Osaka and Tokyo, this autoflow road is an effort to make up for their delivery capacity shortage. The road will facilitate continuous movement of an army of robotic pallets that will do the work of 25,000 truckers per day. The pallets will be unloaded and reloaded by automatic forklifts with humans only making the final to the door deliveries. Sounds good if they can get it up and running without too many glitches. 

Useful Old Words

Considering the very real possibility that in a few months the people of the US will be once again dealing with a great evil I've found some rare old words that all relate to evil to allow you to express yourself in a kind of code should the need arise. Mixship may become a favorite since it means villainous deed with "mix" referring to a pile of crap, most of the others are various levels of evil, feel free to look them up and choose your favorites.  

1. Facinorous
2. Mixship
3. Repudious
4. Skelm
5. Derf
6. Gallows
7. Nineted
8. Flagitious
9. Nitheful
10. Mislived and Unperfect
11. 

    
    
    

Made Up Memories

 Have you ever heard of the Mandela Effect? It is when false memories are shared by a large group of people. Rich Uncle Pennybags of Monopoly fame for instance, most people mentally picture him with a monocle but he doesn't actually wear one. Then there's Curious George who most people remember as sporting a tail when he is actually tailless. Last on today's list of misrememberings is the Fruit of the Loom logo which many people remember as having a cornucopia when in reality there is no cornucopia. 

Candy Ranking

This wasn't exactly a scientific rating system, it consisted of 5 people voting yes or no on 15 different flavors of Kit Kat candy bars. Did anyone even know there were that many flavors of Kit Kats? Now's time to list the choices and you can mentally choose which one you think would be best: pink lemonade, birthday cake, raspberry creme, ghost toast (cinnamon), white chocolate, lemon crisp, milk chocolate, dark chocolate, mint and dark chocolate, chocolate frosted donut, strawberry and dark chocolate, mocha and chocolate, strawberry creme, marshmallow creme, and blueberry muffin. Did you make your choice? does it match the one selected by the panel? Their selection for the win was dark chocolate and mint. 

Michelangelo's Easter Eggs

 Most people assume that those fun hidden details/references in movies known as Easter Eggs are a recent development but they actually go way back. Several have been found in Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel and experts are still discovering more hidden symbolism in the massive work. The latest depicts a woman with breast cancer from a panel known as "The Flood", the woman has her hand under her right breast which show her nipple puckered which is a sign of breast cancer and her hand on her thigh shows her index finger pointing down which symbolizes her knowing of her upcoming death. Not exactly the same as modern day "fun" Easter Eggs but proof that they've been around a long time. 

Which Came First?

No, not the old chicken or egg debate, it's the Turkey the country or turkey the fowl which was named first? The answer is neither. The turkey was in Central and North American when Spanish explorers mistakenly thought it was an African guinea fowl which is odd since turkeys look nothing like guinea fowl and are considerably bigger, but I digress, Europeans called the guinea fowl a turkey cock or hen and when the turkey was introduced it was also called a turkey because the Ottoman empire controlled most trade routes so there really isn't a connection between the bird and the country. Make sense? or is it all Greek to you? and to muddy the waters further the turkey is known by other names in other languages that all translate to India rooster or bird because they thought turkeys came from the West Indies. 

 

Magic Mud

 What do the Delaware River and major league baseball have in common? Mud is the answer, a very special mud that is just the right combination of clay and sand with a consistency similar to cold cream or pudding. For the last 80 years said mud has been rubbed on the baseballs before every game, it helps take the shine of the slick leather on the ball and give fielders a better grip. Recently scientists tried to figure out why it worked and if they could make something better and so far they've came up empty. Good, why look to make something when a simple organic solution already exists? 

The Chicken Coop

 A new Guinness record has been awarded for a hotel in the Philippines that has 15 air conditioned rooms, stands 114 feet and 7 inches high and did I mention it looks like a rooster? So does the rooster's 2 feet add to the 114 feet or are they included in that measurement? and how do the guests get to their rooms? are there windows? These are questions I didn't find answers to though the reasoning makes sense, the rooster is a nod to the local culture of cockfighting which employs millions of people and reflects the attitude of the people.