The USPS has been photographing letters and packages sent in the US for tracking and security reasons since at least 2013. Under a pilot program called "Informed Delivery," the USPS is emailing to people photographs of the front side of their mail every morning before it is delivered to their home (not business).
PO Box users are not currently targeted as participants in the pilot. PO Box customers in certain Post Offices nationwide can use the existing Real Mail Notification ® service to receive a text-only message without images, via email, or SMS message. You can check with your local Post Office for more details.
The free service will send up to 10 black-and-white photos of mail per day. People who get more than that will be able to check their mail online in the same place they track their packages, according to the USPS fact page.
In 2015 the service was available in the New York City metro area, including the following three digit ZIP Code locations: NY: 100-119; CT: 066, 069. The service has been available in select ZIP Code locations in Northern Virginia since 2014 starting with the following three digits: 201, 220, 221, 222, 223, 226, 227. Expansion to other areas is being considered for 2016.
Great for finding those mailings physically delivered to the wrong house.
May 13, 2016
May 6, 2016
Happy Friday
We must travel over the bridge of smiles to reach the land of happiness.
I stand on the bridge of happiness watching smiles flow by every Happy Friday!
I stand on the bridge of happiness watching smiles flow by every Happy Friday!
World Naked Gardening Day
Tomorrow, May 7 is World Naked Gardening Day - People are encouraged to tend to the various flora around or outside their home while in the nude. The event is celebrated annually on the first Saturday of May. Not too much fun in urban Texas where most neighbors have high fences.
Interesting Food Names
Menus need to convey the right kind of information about a dish as concisely as possible. Short descriptions are used as advertising elements to entice customers. Sautéed shrimp in garlic butter is a good basic description, while zesty garlic butter might make a dish seem even more delicious. Adjectives such as 'tasty', 'fresh', or 'hot' go a long way in persuading a customer to try something. Words that actually refer to taste, such as 'bitter', 'salty', or 'sour' are rarely used. Fanciful participles such as 'married', 'kissed', 'accented', and 'hand-crafted' suggest high quality cooking or ingredients without really saying anything substantive about the dish. Below are a few regional food descriptions.
Toad in the hole (sausages baked in a batter),
Ants on a log (raisins on peanut butter on a celery stick),
Devil/Angel on horseback (oysters/dates wrapped in bacon),
Bubble and Squeak (fried potato, cabbage, and more),
Pigs in a blanket (a sausage wrapped in dough or bacon)
Spotted Dick (a pudding with raisins and custard),
Hush puppies (deep fried cornbread balls),
Love in disguise (a Welsh dish of stuffed and boiled heart).
Incidentally, during 1972-73 the American Food for Peace Program sent tons of yellow corn from the United States to Botswana for distribution in schools as drought relief. The shamed and humiliated secondary school students in Serowe rioted, burned the headmaster’s car, and destroyed stockpiles of the corn. Seems only white maize is fit for human consumption there. Yellow is fed to animals.
Toad in the hole (sausages baked in a batter),
Ants on a log (raisins on peanut butter on a celery stick),
Devil/Angel on horseback (oysters/dates wrapped in bacon),
Bubble and Squeak (fried potato, cabbage, and more),
Pigs in a blanket (a sausage wrapped in dough or bacon)
Spotted Dick (a pudding with raisins and custard),
Hush puppies (deep fried cornbread balls),
Love in disguise (a Welsh dish of stuffed and boiled heart).
Incidentally, during 1972-73 the American Food for Peace Program sent tons of yellow corn from the United States to Botswana for distribution in schools as drought relief. The shamed and humiliated secondary school students in Serowe rioted, burned the headmaster’s car, and destroyed stockpiles of the corn. Seems only white maize is fit for human consumption there. Yellow is fed to animals.
New Endeavors
When starting something new, like a project or hobby, Google "things I wish I knew when starting x" and you will find tons of tips and tricks to keep you from making mistakes and help you get going quickly.
Asparagus
I read an email touting the cancer killing properties of asparagus last week. After looking on the web, found that it originated in 2006 and has been long since debunked, but still keeps floating around. Below are a few facts about cancer and asparagus that are true.
According to Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center, "There is no evidence that certain foods alter the environment of an existing cancer, at the cellular level, and cause it to either die or grow."
The odor causing ingredient in asparagus has long been known. Benjamin Franklin stated in a 1781 letter to the Royal Academy of Brussels, “A few stems of asparagus eaten, shall give our urine a disagreable odour (sic).”
According to Carolyn O’Neil on Web MD, “Researchers believe that, during digestion, the vegetable’s sulfurous amino acids break down into smelly chemical components in all people.” Within 15 to 30 minutes of eating asparagus, the odor can be present.
In 2010, the genetic sequencing company 23andMe conducted a study in which they asked 10,000 customers if they noticed any scent in their urine after eating asparagus, and looked for genetic similarities among those who could not. This peculiarity appears to stem from a single genetic mutation, a switched base-pair among a cluster of 50 different genes that code for olfactory (sense of smell) receptors.
On a positive note of the benefits, women have long known that asparagus is a wonderful natural diuretic.
An easy way to oven-roast, preheat the oven to 450, mix trimmed asparagus with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Roast in a single layer in a pan, or on aluminum foil for 10 – 15 minutes. I prefer foil, as it is easy to roll up and toss, no washing necessary.
It is best to store the stalks whole and unwashed, in a standing glass of water and place the glass on a refrigerator shelf with the tips sticking out. You can place the vegetable in a sealed plastic bag in fridge vegetable drawer if you will be using quickly. It is usually good for about five to seven days.
For a longer term option, asparagus may be frozen for 6-8 months, but should be cooked or blanched first and placed in freezer safe containers.
According to Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center, "There is no evidence that certain foods alter the environment of an existing cancer, at the cellular level, and cause it to either die or grow."
The odor causing ingredient in asparagus has long been known. Benjamin Franklin stated in a 1781 letter to the Royal Academy of Brussels, “A few stems of asparagus eaten, shall give our urine a disagreable odour (sic).”
According to Carolyn O’Neil on Web MD, “Researchers believe that, during digestion, the vegetable’s sulfurous amino acids break down into smelly chemical components in all people.” Within 15 to 30 minutes of eating asparagus, the odor can be present.
In 2010, the genetic sequencing company 23andMe conducted a study in which they asked 10,000 customers if they noticed any scent in their urine after eating asparagus, and looked for genetic similarities among those who could not. This peculiarity appears to stem from a single genetic mutation, a switched base-pair among a cluster of 50 different genes that code for olfactory (sense of smell) receptors.
On a positive note of the benefits, women have long known that asparagus is a wonderful natural diuretic.
An easy way to oven-roast, preheat the oven to 450, mix trimmed asparagus with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Roast in a single layer in a pan, or on aluminum foil for 10 – 15 minutes. I prefer foil, as it is easy to roll up and toss, no washing necessary.
It is best to store the stalks whole and unwashed, in a standing glass of water and place the glass on a refrigerator shelf with the tips sticking out. You can place the vegetable in a sealed plastic bag in fridge vegetable drawer if you will be using quickly. It is usually good for about five to seven days.
For a longer term option, asparagus may be frozen for 6-8 months, but should be cooked or blanched first and placed in freezer safe containers.
German Pedestrian Red Light Assistance
Distracted smartphone users are alerted when it is safe to cross the road, after a pilot traffic light system was launched in a German city. It embedded rows of LEDs into the pavement. They flash red when the crossing is closed to pedestrians. According to German television station, it became necessary after a 15-year-old girl, who was wearing earbuds and looking at her smartphone, was killed when she stepped in front of a tram.
"We have the additional lamps installed on two crossings that are especially frequented by the relevant target group," said the city's spokesperson.
The first two pavement traffic lights have been installed near the local university. They are aimed particularly at young people and commuters, who tend to be too consumed by their smartphones to look up at the conventional traffic lights system.
US lawmakers take a different approach and seek to ban texting while walking, because distracted walking leads to falls, and 9% "strike a motionless object."
"We have the additional lamps installed on two crossings that are especially frequented by the relevant target group," said the city's spokesperson.
The first two pavement traffic lights have been installed near the local university. They are aimed particularly at young people and commuters, who tend to be too consumed by their smartphones to look up at the conventional traffic lights system.
US lawmakers take a different approach and seek to ban texting while walking, because distracted walking leads to falls, and 9% "strike a motionless object."
Wordology, Turning a Blind Eye
Turning a blind eye is an idiom describing the ignoring of undesirable information.
The phrase to turn a blind eye is attributed to an incident in the life of Admiral Horatio Nelson. Nelson was blinded in one eye early in his Royal Navy career. During the Battle of Copenhagen in 1801 the cautious Admiral Sir Hyde Parker, in overall command of the British forces, sent a signal to Nelson's forces ordering them to discontinue the action.
At the time, naval orders were transmitted via a system of signal flags at that time. When this order was given to the more aggressive Nelson's attention, he lifted his telescope up to his blind eye, said, "I really do not see the signal," and most of his forces continued to press home the attack. The frigates supporting the line-of-battle ships did break off, in one case suffering severe losses in the retreat.
There is a misconception that the order was to be obeyed at Nelson's discretion, but this is contradicted by the fact that it was a general order to all the attacking ships, and later that day Nelson openly stated that he had 'fought contrary to orders'. Sir Hyde Parker was recalled in disgrace and Nelson appointed Commander-in-Chief of the fleet following the battle.
The phrase to turn a blind eye is attributed to an incident in the life of Admiral Horatio Nelson. Nelson was blinded in one eye early in his Royal Navy career. During the Battle of Copenhagen in 1801 the cautious Admiral Sir Hyde Parker, in overall command of the British forces, sent a signal to Nelson's forces ordering them to discontinue the action.
At the time, naval orders were transmitted via a system of signal flags at that time. When this order was given to the more aggressive Nelson's attention, he lifted his telescope up to his blind eye, said, "I really do not see the signal," and most of his forces continued to press home the attack. The frigates supporting the line-of-battle ships did break off, in one case suffering severe losses in the retreat.
There is a misconception that the order was to be obeyed at Nelson's discretion, but this is contradicted by the fact that it was a general order to all the attacking ships, and later that day Nelson openly stated that he had 'fought contrary to orders'. Sir Hyde Parker was recalled in disgrace and Nelson appointed Commander-in-Chief of the fleet following the battle.
Another Happiness Study
In countries worldwide, happiness for most is success in doing the things of everyday life. That might be making a living, raising a family, maintaining good health, and working in an interesting and secure job. These are the things that dominate daily lives everywhere; the things that people care about and which they think they have some ability to control.
Psychologists have investigated the reliability and validity of the measures and economists have studied the nature and robustness of the results. Support comes from the fact that many countries now officially collect happiness data. The same relationships are found between happiness and a variety of life circumstances in country after country. Those who are significantly less happy are typically the unemployed, those not living with a partner, people in poor health, members of a minority, and the less-educated.
Respondents to surveys clearly recognize the difference between happiness as an emotion and happiness in the sense of life satisfaction.
Psychologists have investigated the reliability and validity of the measures and economists have studied the nature and robustness of the results. Support comes from the fact that many countries now officially collect happiness data. The same relationships are found between happiness and a variety of life circumstances in country after country. Those who are significantly less happy are typically the unemployed, those not living with a partner, people in poor health, members of a minority, and the less-educated.
Respondents to surveys clearly recognize the difference between happiness as an emotion and happiness in the sense of life satisfaction.
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