Life's a Beach

A French tourist to the island of Sardinia was fined $1,200 for trying to smuggle 4 1/2 lbs of sand off the island. The white sand from the island's pristine beaches has been federally protected since 2017,fines range from $600 to $3,550 and some come with jail time depending on the quantity. Authorities found a website featuring the sand for sale and the removal of the sand was becoming problematic so they have been steadily cracking down on the sand thieves. After the sand is confiscated it is held in an operating room with other items,though try as I might I couldn't find out if they eventually return the sand to the beach,if not why would they bother other than to collect the fines to maintain other aspects of the beaches?

Zapped

Everyone knows how annoying flying insects can be if you're trying to eat or sleep and we've all read about people burning their homes accidentally while pursuing insects or spiders.  An 80 year old man in France nearly destroyed his home while trying to zap a fly with a hand held bug zapper. The electronic spark from the zapper was all a leaky gas tank needed to cause the explosion. I've often thought a zapper would be handy but after reading about this mishap and looking up the cautions on zappers I decided to stick with the old fashioned swatter. Not only can a zapper cause flammable gases to ignite it can also spread disease if an insect is carrying disease when it is vaporized,and of course the hanging type of zapper is an indiscriminate killer,killing the beneficial along with the targeted insects. Oh,the man got lucky and escaped with only a minor burn on his hand but he will be living in a camp until the repairs to his home can be made.

Gnarly Gnome

A wife's simple request for her husband to do some weeding in the yard and possibly get a gnome for decoration nearly scared the life out of her. Her husband for some reason thought instead of a common garden gnome he would shell out $2,126 and get the T-Rex he preferred. Then to add to the shock he wanted to wait until morning to surprise her with Dave (the T-Rex) so he didn't say anything about Dave that evening so when she got up in the middle of the night to let the dog out she flipped on the light to find Dave staring at her. Her screams woke her husband and possibly the whole neighborhood,but he is convinced she will grow to love Dave. Dave? Dave's not here!

A Taste of Honey

I still have the Herb Alpert "A Taste of Honey" album though I rarely play vinyl anymore,but once again I digress. I might be the only person who didn't know that watermelons weren't originally pink/red inside but there you have it. Watermelons were first cultivated in Africa and the flesh was yellow,the pink/red flesh found today is actually a mutation,maybe from cross pollination? Though the watermelon we know today has lycopene the yellow variety does not though all in all it has higher nutritional value and is said to be sweeter,almost like eating honey in watermelon form,thus the title of today's post. Who knew?

Strange Brew

In the past I introduced The Disgusting Foods Museum complete with its offering of various disgusting dishes,they have now added an equally disgusting  alcoholic beverages display featuring the lengths people will go to when it comes to getting a buzz. Exhibits like wine fermented in a prison toilet,spit fermented cornmeal beer from Peru,Uganda gin made from fermented bananas,and ancient Korean beverage made from children's feces and rice,a strong Scottish brew served from the mouth of a taxidermied squirrel and not to be outdone an Icelandic beer made from whale testicle smoked in sheep dung. Apparently the message is people can be very creative when the craving for alcohol becomes acute.

Money Talk$

It seems like a long time since I've posted a quote day,though with the virus brain thing going on it could have been yesterday. Oh well,without further ado...
In this country you're guilty until proven wealthy. Bill Maher
I wish to become so rich that I can instruct the people and glorify honest poverty a little,like those kindhearted,fat,benevolent people do. Mark Twain
Prior to the Reagan era,the newly rich aped the old rich. But that isn't true any longer. Donald trump is making no effort to behave like Eleanor Roosevelt as far as I can see. Fran Lebowitz
As a general rule,nobody has money who ought to have it. Benjamin Disraeli
The rich,like well-brought-up children,are meant to be seen and not heard. Lewis H. Lapham


This one look a little like the Corona Virus.

More Proof

Today's post will fall under things most of us already knew or at least suspected. Two different studies,one in Brazil the other in Poland have found the people who refuse to wear face masks exhibit traits of sociopaths such as callousness,deceitfulness and risk taking. Those same people lack empathy and for the most part are antisocial unless it somehow benefits them. Gee,I don't know about the rest of you but all of these symptoms certainly remind me of someone,not to mention any names (trump).