Canceled

I received notice from Google earlier today that they are canceling their blog department, but for now on with the show! Make sure to read today's post to the end. 

4/1 St. Stupid Day  

4/2 National Walking Day 

4/3 Fan Dance Day 

4/4 Vitamin C Day 

4/5 Sorry Charlie Day 

4/6 Hostess Twinkie Day 

4/7 National Beer Day 

4/8 National Library Day 

4/9 National Unicorn Day 

4/10 National Farm Animals Day 

4/11 Submarine Day 

4/12 National Licorice Day 

4/13 Scrabble Day 

4/14 National Dolphin Day 

4/15 That Sucks Day 

4/16 Banana Day 

4/17 Ford Mustang Day 

4/18 Pinata Day 

4/19 National Garlic Day 

4/20 National Cheddar Fries Day 

4/21 Bulldogs Are Beautiful Day 

4/22 National Jelly Bean Day 

4/23 Spanish Language Day 

4/24 Sauvignon Blanc Day 

4/25 DNA Day 

4/26 Alien Day 

4/27 World Tapir Day 

4/28 Save the Frogs Day 

4/29 World Wish Day 

4/30 Adopt a Shelter Pet Day 

April Fools! Google didn't really cancel the blog...yet! 

Rhino Air

 Critically endangered rhinoceroses are on the rise again, from their count of 2,500 in 1990 to present day their population is around 6,500. In the early days of the conservation the rhinos were drugged then put into crates to be relocated by truck and many were injured in the process. Then it was decided to incorporate the old Vietnam helicopters into the rescue effort and after a few tweaks they have it down to a science. In the early days they were transporting them in nets below the helicopters but there were several problems with that method so they started flying them upside down which has allowed about 270 successful airlifts and works well with the rhinos body structure allowing them to breath easier. In case anyone's wondering the reason they have to be relocated is mainly to prevent inbreeding though there is the need to not over graze areas too, plus they repopulate more quickly when their numbers are smaller. 

Pad Terr

The unrest over Musk has caused demonstrations and worse at various dealerships across the nation and even though he is doing his best to tear our country down it doesn't mean it's okay to destroy things related to him, though it is still understandable. So what about two RFA engineers in London who went on a drunken spree and kicked and yanked a Paddington Bear statue until it broke in half then beat a retreat taking Paddington's remain with them? A judge ruled that they were the antithesis for everything the bear stood for and noted the label on the bear's coat said, "Please look after this bear." The pair were ordered to perform community work and each pay a fine of $3,527 for repairs but stopped short of calling the Paddington Terrorists. 

Cattails

 No, not the cattails that grow in boggy areas, today's post is about real cat tails, very long cat tails. Mr. Pugsley Addams was recently awarded a Guinness World Record for the longest cat tail at a whomping 18.5 inches and since he is only 2 years old he may break his own record as Maine Coon cats keep growing until they are 4-5. Even though he probably doesn't realize he has an award winning tail it does get in the way at times like when he is playing with his siblings or is watching his mom cook in the kitchen with all that extra tail out there to step on. Other than the tail he is pretty much a regular though mischievous 2 year old. 

Tough Cookie

 Today's Girl Scouts have it easy compared to earlier in their history. The first cookie program to raise money for scouting activities was in 1917. The scouts had to make the cookies at their homes under their mother's supervision. Those original home baked cookies were sugar cookies that were sold for $.25-$.35 per dozen, the recipe was published in The American Girl magazine in 1922. In the 1930s the cookie making transitioned to bakery made cookies and the licensing of the bakeries to make the special cookies. In the 1940s the scouts pivoted to selling calendars due to sugar, flour and butter shortages. Fast forward to present day where there is a vast collection of flavors to choose from and most are available in vegan, gluten-free and kosher varieties and of course they can be purchased online.  

Board Words

A Ford executive kept a list of mixed metaphors and malaprops uttered in meetings and elsewhere. They are quite amusing to say the least. The keeper of the list was also on the list at #3 having been called out by colleagues as self reporting doesn't count. "Let's not reinvent the ocean." "I don't want to sound like a broken drum here, but..." It's a huge task, but we're trying to get our arms and legs around it," We're really low on money right now...We're dancing on thin ice," We need to keep running in our swim lanes." I know these are swing-for-the-moon opportunities, but I think we should pursue them." "We need to make sure dealers have some skin in the teeth." "It's no skin on our back." "Too many cooks in the soup." "Read between the tea leaves." "I'm not trying to beat a dead horse to death." "We need to talk about the elephant in the closet." "He's going to be so happy he'll be like a canary in a coal mine!" 

Unhackable

 Why would anyone use a typewriter in the days of computing? It turns out there are several reasons. One of the biggest reasons is security as a typewriter can't be hacked, so lots of legal offices use them. They are also used for typing checks and envelopes, warehouse forms and even death certificates. Some writers prefer typewriters as they can see they are being productive as he pages pile up and the clacking of the keys helps put them in their zone. What could go wrong? Turns out not much, there're typewriter repair shops across the nation that service and repair 20 or more machines per week, in fact typewriters are still being made by Royal, about 20,000 a year, just enough to remain sustainable. And last but not least some folks collect them for mostly nostalgic reasons though others might be considered hoarders! 

Smell My Feet

Did anyone notice a few months back when people were discussing if they washed their feet in the shower or figured it was redundant since the soap and water ran down to the feet anyway? That sounded wrong and lazy, if you're already in the shower why not do a thorough job? The feet are right up their with the armpits as far as things that need the most attention. The feet have 600 sweat glands per square centimeter, more than any where else on the body not to mention that being closed up in shoes and socks makes the perfect environment for bacterial growth and as with the armpits it isn't the sweat itself that causes the smell, it's the bacteria. So how about...Trick or treat wash my feet? Too corny, I know.  

Where's the Aliens?

 Fair warning: if you lose sleep over scary stuff you may want to skip today's post. Brian Cox, a well known British scientist, was asked to explain why we haven't found aliens yet. With 200-400 million suns in the Milky Way it is almost certain that there are life supporting planets so where are they? One theory is self replicating robots that we don't yet recognize, which is scary when you think about where we are with AI, but again no evidence of this. Then there's the Great Filter theory where intelligent life forms have to go through a number of steps before they can make themselves known but one hurdle is impossible to get past. Here's the kicker...to get to the point of space exploration you lose focus on your home planet by abusing natural resources and ecosystems making it uninhabitable. And last with all the technology comes the risk of a war with the capacity of destroying the planet. Any of this sound familiar? 

Oyster Insomnia

 Even though oysters don't have eyes they do have circadian rhythms like most living things and those rhythms are being knocked out of whack by light pollution. It isn't exactly known how the light is "seen" by the oysters but researchers could see the difference by how they opened their shells at inappropriate times. Oysters are usually most active midday but with even dim lights their rhythm was disrupted. You're probably thinking, "so what if an oyster isn't getting enough sleep" but just like with any animal it affects their health and that is important to all of us, not just oyster lovers, as oysters play key roles in filtering water, protecting shorelines, and supplying food and jobs. 

Goose Poop Discovery

 A 13 year old girl who along with six other students were tasked with finding samples in a nearby park of things they thought my contain bacteria. While most of the group picked up leaves, water and sticks Cammaria scooped up some goose poop. After collecting their samples they were taught how to isolate the bacteria and program a robot to catalogue it. Cammaria's bacteria contained a cancer fighting compound. The program out of the University of Illinois partners with Boys and Girls Clubs of Chicago with the goal of giving underserved middle and high school kids experience in biomedical sciences hoping to spark their interest in the field. 

Smell Ya Later

 A Danish archeologist recently published her findings on a study of Greco-Roman statues smelling as good as they looked. They were often perfumed with scents like rose, olive oil, and beeswax which were also symbolic and helped to preserve the statues. Some were covered with a mixture of waxes and oils known as ganosis, while others were coated with olive oil in a process known as kosmesis which helped protect them from the elements. They also often decorated them with colorful paints (which faded over time) and jewelry, fabric, flowers, garlands and ribbons. Fast forward to modern times and Bend, OR gets bent out of shape over googly eyes on the sculptures around their town! Oh well, they claimed it was ruining them and costing a lot to clean the glue off. 

If a Tree Falls in Space

Sure there are no trees in space but things work differently there and I doubt anyone would hear it. This post is more up the gun lovers alley in case they decide to go into space and want to bring their guns.  Technically a gun should be able to fire as it doesn't require oxygen to fire though there are other problems like would the extreme temperature could be problematic. Then if those things go okay the lack of gravity means that the bullets would have no limit other than something hard to stop them, and of course recoil would throw the body backwards unless it was braced on something solid like perhaps the spaceship? and never mind those bulky space suits making gun play awkward. I'm going to go out on a limb and say give the guns a pass for a space trip. 

Shooting on Earth	Shooting in Space
Gun will likely function in average temperatures	Gun could malfunction when exposed to extreme hot or cold temperatures
Bullet will travel until gravity overtakes it, typically 1.5 miles depending on caliber	Bullet could travel indefinitely until striking a solid object
Recoil can be absorbed by body	Recoil could propel body backward

Move Over Wienermobile

 Volkswagen, aka The Peoples Car hasn't been doing so well selling their autos lately but they've been doing really well with their sausages. The VW Currywurst, aka component number 199 398 500 A has been serving employees and locals since 1973. Made in house by a VW employed butcher the currywurst is selling better than the cars and shows no sign of slowing down. Along with the original sausage they've also developed a vegan version plus a spicy ketchup, aka part number 00010 ZDK-259-101.The currywurst is not available in the US at this time though the ketchup can be had for free from VW dealerships. 

You Name It

 Do you ever wonder how car manufacturers decide on the names of the models they make? It actually sounds like it would be a kind of fun job. Most of you have probably heard the urban legend that the Chevy Nova didn't sell well in Spanish speaking countries because no va meant "doesn't go" but the likelihood of that happening is low. The Car companies have committees who make lists of possible names then research the names to make sure none of them are offensive in any language or already in use, then they choose the top three names and turn them over to their legal department, if none of those names make that cut they choose the next three names until they have three that will work. If they wanted to raise the difficulty level they could commit to using only one letter for the entire list, or better yet one letter of the manufacturers name like Ford for instance would have to make the list from only words beginning with the letter "F". You got to love a good puzzle! 

In the Green

 Other than the connection to St. Patrick's Day the color green has various meanings, cash, envy, jealousy and of course ecologically. The ecological-St. Patrick's Day is the focus of today's post. In 1962 the mayor of Chicago (Richard Daley) wanted to turn Lake Michigan green but soon realized the size of that task and instead directed the effort to the Chicago River. Since that time environmentalists have voiced concerns about what the harm the dye was doing to the river's fish and ecosystem. A researcher tagged 100 fish in 2023 to try to determine if the dye aggravated the fish in anyway. The fish had no reaction at all, they remained in their usual haunts, though when a rainstorm overwhelmed the sewer system and sent wastewater into the river the fish scrambled to get out of the contaminated water and there have been fish casualties from the bad water though none from the green water. In conclusion, green is good, brown not so much. 

Soak That Up

Have you ever wondered what the strip on towels is about? While some folks suggest that the embroidery like strip at the end of the towel is to shrink and therefore make you buy more towels, some suggest it is a way to keep track of which part of the towel to use on your face so you don't dry with the part of the towel used to dry your butt cheeks. They're all wrong! Not only does it have an actual use it also has a name, dobby border/weave, and it prevents fraying, reinforces the fabric, improves absorbency, and is decorative. There you have it, we now all have our own house elves!