Mar 28, 2014

Happy Friday

"We do not remember days, we remember moments."

I always remember and cherish every moment of every Happy Friday!

Why Grass

Approximately 80% of all homes in the United States have grass lawns. Lawns are a $40 billion per year industry and 3 billion man-hours are spent mowing lawns. A variety of factors caused grass lawns to become more popular.

The Industrial Revolution resulted in the first lawn mower, originally developed by Edwin Budding in 1830. Doing away with scythes and back-breaking labor meant that trimmed grass lawns were more accessible to the average person.

Frederick Law Olmstead, who designed Central Park in New York, also designed suburbs where each house had its own little lawn. This further popularized the idea that houses should have grass lawns.

About that time, the games of golf, lawn bowling, and other sports were becoming popular in North America. As people worked less hours and had more time to themselves, there was time to play golf, or to tend a lush, green lawn.

Next to grass at a major league baseball field is a strip of dirt located in front of the home run fence. This dirt trail is known as the warning track. Outfielders use the warning track as a warning that they are nearing the fence when chasing a fly ball.

Wordology, Perfect Storm

It is actually a cliché and will not go away as most clichés usually do. One would naturally think a perfect storm is about weather, but it is seldom used to discuss weather. In fact, it was used for a few hundred years before a Texas weather bureau first used in 1936: "The weather bureau describes the disturbance as ‘the perfect storm’ of its type. Seven factors were involved in the chain of circumstances that led to the flood."

A meteorologist with the National Weather Service said "I haven't used it once after 30 years in the Weather Service and am proud to say I've never used 'Storm of the Century,' either." Major weeknight network newscasts (NBC, ABC, CBS) used it a total of 32 times in the past year; USA Today used it 22 times, and the New York Times used it 57 times, all discussing non-weather related items.

Current usage describes a perfect storm as a confluence of circumstances that tend to exaggerate a situation, such as:
May was another perfect-storm month for the NBA.
A strong showing by Tiger Woods was a perfect storm of scoring conditions.
Budget cuts led to a perfect storm of unintended consequences.
The confluence of the Internet, TiVo, cable TV, and DVDs, means we are looking at a perfect storm.
The economic disaster was caused by a perfect storm of real-estate headaches.
About the recently fired Catholic bishop - ‘Bishop Bling’ was a perfect storm.
At the end of the day, I guess a perfect storm is better than using 'at the end of the day'.

Did You Know

After age 30, our chances of dying double every ten years.

Sunglasses Facts

If you get a really good pair of sunglasses it will certainly be to your benefit. Ophthalmologists have explained that if you get a cheap pair that does not protect you from UVA and UVB, you might as well not wear sunglasses. Normally if you are looking toward a bright light, your eyes will squint to protect you, but if you are wearing sunglasses, your eyes will open further to allow in more light. One researcher used a meter to test random sunglasses that he bought from vendors in New York and found that some of them did not live up to the protection claims on the glasses. Caveat Emptor.

More Salt Facts

Salt is a terrific flavor enhancer, helping to reduce bitterness and acidity, and bringing out other flavors in the food.
Adding salt to bread dough controls the action of the yeast and improves the flavor. Bread made without salt will have a coarser texture and a blander flavor than bread made with salt.
Try sprinkling salt on citrus fruit, melons, tomatoes, and even in wine to enhance flavor.
Adding a little salt balances the flavor of sweets like cakes, cookies, and candies.
Boiling eggs in salted water makes them easier to peel.
Adding a pinch of salt (preferably non-iodized) to cream or egg whites before they are whipped increases their volume and serves as a stabilizer.
Salt is a mineral, so it can be stored indefinitely without going stale. It won't taste any fresher if you grind it with a salt mill.
Salt has been used for millennia as a preservative for meats, fish, cheese, and other foods. It works by absorbing moisture from the cells of bacteria and mold through osmosis, which kills them or leaves them unable to reproduce.
Salting slices of eggplants helps draw out the bitter juices.

April Fool Prank

On April 1, 1974, Oliver Bickar climbed into Mt. Edgecumbe, a volcano that had been dormant for around 9,000 years, and made it look like it was coming back to life. After four years of planning, Bickar doused 100 tires in cooking oil and lit them on fire inside Mt. Edgecumbe. He also spray painted "April Fool" in 50 foot letters around the rim.

Five Microwave Facts

A common myth surrounding microwaves is that you can not put metal in them. The walls of the microwave are metal. You put metal in when you cook things like hot-pockets in those sleeves they come with (lined with aluminum, which heats up and browns the crust via convection). Some even come with a metal rack for double deck cooking.

A microwave oven’s radiation does not cause cancer, because it is not ionizing radiation. Even mice that spent their whole lives exposed to low levels of microwaves at the same frequency as a microwave oven, showed no adverse effects from the microwaves.

Devices like your wireless router, GPS satellites, Bluetooth devices, and smart phones also likely operate using the same band as your microwave oven. This is also why when you run your microwave, you may notice those wireless devices stop working well when you get too close to the running microwave. Some fractions of the microwaves from the magnetron are escaping and interfering with the signal your devices are using. The amount is too miniscule to be noticed or felt if you stand in front.

There is nothing special about the material the window of your microwave is made of. It is typically just plastic or glass. What stops the microwaves from cooking you is the metal mesh that is on the inside of the plastic or glass. The holes in the mesh are smaller than the wavelengths of the electromagnetic radiation your microwave is producing. The microwaves bounce off and back into your microwave oven to heat the food.

Many microwavable foods have a recommendation that you let the food sit for a few minutes before eating it. This is because sometimes the food is very thick and the microwaves may not have managed to penetrate deeply and so the center may not be warm, but is surrounded by a very hot outer layer. By waiting a few minutes, it allows the hot part to warm the center and the overall temperature of the food evens out. This is also why when you click “defrost” on your microwave you hear it periodically kicking on and off. It heats the frozen object for a short period and then lets the heated part warm the inner part by convection.

Writer's Worth

The top famous authors are worth much more than we might expect. J.K. Rowling went from rags to riches and was worth over 1 billion dollars in 2011. Other wealthy authors include Danielle Steel ($610 million), Stephen King ($400 million), Tom Clancy ($300 million), James Patterson ($250 million), John Grisham ($200 million), Barbara Taylor Bradford ($200 million), Nora Roberts ($150 million), Stephenie Meyer ($125 million), and Dan Brown ($100 million). That is something to write home about.