Happy Friday

 If you are happy, it is not just for you. It is what you exude to others.

Always exude your happiness, especially on a Happy Friday!

National Senior Citizens Day

National Senior Citizens Day, August 21. Today we celebrate the people who are part of the fastest-growing demographic in the world. According to the traditional definition, a senior citizen is anyone older than 60 years of age, but this seems relatively young in today’s society. 

When it comes to new technologies, adults above the age of 55 represent 65% of all “early adopters.” This demographic is also the most politically engaged segment of the population. Almost 80% of all senior citizens vote in a presidential election, while the overall voter turnout is usually about 50%.

President Ronald Reagan proclaimed the first National Senior Citizens Day in 1988. In his explanation he wrote that, “Older citizens are reinforcing their historical roles as leaders and as links with our patrimony and sense of purpose as individuals and as a Nation.”

In honor of National Senior Citizens Day, spend time with your favorite relatives or make a commitment to volunteer at a retirement home. If you are a senior citizen yourself, share a few drinks and snacks with friends. Also, check for special promotions and giveaways at your favorite restaurants and shops.

Happy National Waffle Day Aug 24

 National Waffle Day commemorates the anniversary of the first waffle iron patent issued. On August 24, 1869, Cornelius Swarthout of Troy, New York received his patent for the waffle iron. Celebrate by savoring your favorite kind of waffle.

For longer than anyone can remember, waffles have been a sweet, toasty breakfast treat and a staple inside America’s freezers, restaurants, and recipe books. Maybe you enjoy waffles the old-fashioned way, with butter and maple syrup, or perhaps you like them decked out with chocolate chips, whipped cream, strawberries, and other decadent toppings. Or perhaps you have moved on to concepts like waffle sandwiches, waffle crepes, waffle pizzas, or chicken and waffles.

Food historians trace the waffle’s DNA back to ancient Greece, when cooks roasted flat cakes between two metal plates attached to a long wooden handle. Obelios, as the cakes were called, were not particularly sweet or decadent, but their design evolved over time as people began customizing the plates. In Medieval Europe, the Catholic Church made a large, unleavened wafer as a sort of companion to the communion wafer. These oublies (or “wafers,” derived from the Greek term) were typically made using grain flour and water, and would depict Biblical scenes, crosses, and other religious icons. They were often served after meals as a symbolic final blessing.

In the early 18th century, the English added a second "f" to form the word we know today: waffles. It wasn’t until waffles came to America, courtesy of the Dutch, that they were finally paired with maple syrup, a popular liquid sweetener that was cheaper and more widely available than granulated sugar, which had to be imported. As early as the 1740s, colonists in New Jersey and New York were having parties known as "wafel frolics." Thomas Jefferson, who loved waffles so much that he brought four waffle irons that he bought in Amsterdam, regularly served waffles at Monticello along with other shockingly modern foods like ice cream, French fries, and macaroni and cheese.

A few decades later, three brothers from California would revolutionize the waffle industry and breakfasts everywhere. In 1932, Frank, Anthony, and Samuel Dorsa started a food manufacturing company in their parents’ basement in San Jose. Their first breakthrough, Eggo Mayonnaise, so named because it used "100 percent fresh ranch eggs," became a local success, as did a waffle batter they sold to consumers and restaurants. The brothers also developed one of the first dry waffle mixes, which required just milk to create a rich, thick batter. The Dorsas were so successful that after just a few years they moved out of their parents’ basement and into an old potato chip factory, where they expanded into other categories like chips, noodles, and pretzel sticks.

Banana Facts

A banana plant only produces one bunch of bananas in its lifetime. Banana plants take about nine months to grow up and produce banana berry, and once the bananas have been harvested, the plant dies.

Bananas reproduce by suckers, which are small plants that grow at the root of the parent plant. Each stem grows 9 to 12 hands, which means that a single banana plant can produce up to 240 bananas.

Bananas are berries. Berry is actually a botanical term, not a common English one. Blackberries, mulberries, and raspberries are not berries, but bananas, pumpkins, avocados, and cucumbers are. 

Upload vs. Download Speed

 Internet speed tests let you find out how fast your connection is. These numbers are used in pricing your internet monthly fees. There are two numbers, “upload speed” and “download speed.” The download speed is how fast information comes to your connected device from the internet. Upload speed is how fast information goes from your connected device to the internet. Your download speed will always be higher. 

The speeds are shared by all your devices, so if you have two computers and three TVs that share, things could slow down. If you are streaming video, it is recommended to have at least 8 mbps for multiple devices watching HD content. If you are watching 4K content, you will need 25 mbps for one device or 40 mbps for multiple devices.

WD-40 For Bugs

For insect spray, it works equally well on roaches and squeaky hinges. Yellow jackets and other wasp's favorite places to build nests is under eaves. Spray some WD-40 under all the eaves of your house. It will block the wasps from building their nests there. 

Grapefruit Origin

The grapefruit first appeared after 1693 when Captain Shaddock transported some pomelo (non-hybrid, citrus fruit native to Southeast Asia) seeds to the West Indies and planted them close to some orange trees. The pomelo and orange later cross-pollinated to create the grapefruit.

Europeans learned of this citrus fruit in 1750 when Reverend Griffith Hughes encountered one. Hughes was so surprised with the discovery that he named the grapefruit “the forbidden fruit.” That was the name until 1814 when John Lunan called it the grapefruit, because grapefruits resembled the smaller and unrelated grapes when they were still growing.

The grapefruit reached the United States in 1823, but was mistaken for the pomelo. It was only determined to be a distinct fruit in 1837. However, botanists were still confused about its origin. It wasn’t until 1948 that they discovered it was a hybrid of the pomelo and the orange. 

Happy Friday

“Unhappy is he who depends on success to be happy,” ~Alex Dias Ribeiro

If you are happy, you are already a success, especially on a Happy Friday! 

August 8: National Happiness Happens Day

 Created by the Secret Society of Happy People in 1999 as Admit You’re Happy Day, this unofficial holiday encourages people to be open about their happiness and to share it with others. The holiday is based on the premise that happiness is unlimited and contagious and that sharing one's happiness and can bring a lot of joy in other people's lives. In 2000, the Society expanded the celebration of happiness and declared August as Happiness Happens Month.

Do something nice for yourself - after all, happiness starts at home. Make someone else happy by doing something nice for them. It can be something as simple as giving up your seat on the bus to someone else or a more elaborate gesture like volunteering your time and money to a charity of your choice. Studies have found that volunteering doesn't only help people bring joy in their lives, but can also help them live longer.

Participate in a HappyThon - a social media campaign run by the Secret Society of Happy People that encourages people to send happy, joyful, and uplifting messages to people around the world.

Incidentally, In 2012, the United Nations (UN) declared March 20 to be observed as the International Day of Happiness

August 9: National Book Lovers Day

 For most book lovers, every day is a day to celebrate reading. Many of my books will make you happy and you can extend Happiness day. Today is the day to exalt book lovers of all shapes, sizes, covers, and word counts. Diphthongs are not allowed while social distancing is observed.

Top 5 Reasons to Laugh

Having a good laugh makes your brain release endorphins and really does change your mood for the better.

By gently exercising the body, through the laughter and the breathing and the gentle movements one performs while going through the routine.

It helps to prevent you from getting sick as well as helping to improve a number of conditions, like hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, depression, arthritis, allergies, asthma, bronchitis, back ache, fibromyalgia, headaches, cancer, and many more.

Laughter creates a positive energy which helps you to connect with people and attract friends.

It creates a positive mental state which is beneficial when times are rough.

Research is ongoing regarding the potential health benefits of laughter. Still to be proven is if the sense of humor and positive attitude behind laughter are also helpful.

When we laugh, we increase our pulse rate and blood pressure, and the effects may be similar to exercise. Researchers have estimated that laughing for 10 to 15 minutes burns 50 calories. Other studies suggest laughter improves blood flow, immune responses, and blood sugar levels.

Research looking at the connection between mind and body suggests that repeated doses of laughter, and even anticipation of laughter, can lead to positive physical changes.

In a paper presented at the American Physiological Society, they found that the hormones beta-endorphins (which elevate mood) and human growth hormone (which builds immunity) increased by 27% and 87 % respectively in patients exposed to "mirthful laughter."

Another study found that laughter reduced three key stress hormones; cortisol, epinephrine, and dopac -- by 38 percent to 70 percent. Significantly high levels of those three hormones have long been linked to compromised immune systems.

Laughter promotes all kinds of good endorphins, which helps reduce pain and promotes deep breathing.

In another study, they found that the same anticipation of mirthful laughter reduced the levels of three detrimental stress hormones. Cortisol, adrenaline, and dopac, were reduced 39, 70, and 38%, respectively.

A group of 20 high-risk diabetic patients with hypertension and hyperlipidemia were divided into two groups: Group C (control) and Group L (laughter). Both groups were started on standard medications for diabetes and Group L viewed self-selected humor for 30 minutes in addition to the standard therapies.

The patients in the laughter group had lower epinephrine and norepinephrine levels by the second month, suggesting lower stress levels. They also increased HDL (good) cholesterol and had lower levels of inflammation.

At the end of one year, the laughter group HDL cholesterol had risen by 26 percent, and only 3 percent in the Group Control. Harmful C-reactive proteins decreased 66% in the laughter group vs. 26% for the control group.

The study suggests that the addition of an adjunct therapeutic laughter prescription to standard diabetes care may lower stress and inflammatory response and increase "good" cholesterol levels. The authors conclude that laughter may thus lower the risk of cardiovascular disease associated with diabetes mellitus and metabolic syndrome. 

Salty Milk

Add a pinch of salt to a gallon of milk  and it will make it last a bit longer. Store bought or fresh, it does not matter. Something about the salt preserves the milk and keeps it from spoiling as quickly.

Cold vs. Warm Milk

 In the United States, milk is sold and stored cold, but America is a bit of an outlier.

It comes down to different pasteurization methods. In the US and Canada, milk manufacturers make use of high-temperature short-time pasteurization, or HTST. Able to kill bacteria in large batches, HTST is efficient, but results in milk that expires relatively quickly - about seven to 10 days after opening. That is because the temperature used (about 161°F for 15 seconds) is enough to kill most bacteria, but some will proliferate if the milk hangs around long enough.

In Europe and other parts of the world, another technique called ultra-heat-treated pasteurization, or UHT, is used. Milk is exposed to higher temperatures of 284°F for three seconds, decimating virtually all the bacteria and making it shelf-stable for about six months if left unopened. Once opened, it has to be refrigerated. Because it is “cooked” at high heat and burns off some of the sugar, UHT milk also has a slightly different flavor.  

Pasteurization is named after Louis Pasteur, a French scientist in the 1860s who realized heating beer could kill bacteria. Decades later, German agricultural chemist Franz von Soxhlet applied the principle of high heat to milk, since dairy products had a nasty habit of harboring contaminants that could cause diphtheria or tuberculosis. HTST and UHT methods followed, and Europe picked up on the promise of UHT producing milk that would not spoil quickly.

The idea of purchasing milk in the middle of a grocery store, unrefrigerated, is something that does not fit with US food storage habits. While UHT milk is still sold in the US, it is primarily for portable cartons thrown in lunchboxes or for people who want to have milk on hand for a backpack.

Trip Insurance

Take photos before leaving for a trips to show proof that the oven dials all show off and the thermostat is turned off (or at least down or up depending on season. Also take a picture of the locked door and any other thing you may worry about as soon as you get in the car to go to the airport. The interesting thing is that you most likely will never look at the pictures, because you have the peace of mind knowing you took the picture. Also don't forget to take a picture of where you parked your car at the airport. Also:
Clean out the fridge,
Refrigerate produce,
Take out the trash,
Wipe down surfaces,
Make the bed and change the sheets,
Water plants and move them to cool areas, or setup a self watering system,
Stock up on ready made meals and coffee,
Hold your mail or ask a neighbor to get it,
Raise, lower, or turn off thermostats,

Toss fresh flowers. 

Labyrinth vs. Maze

 A maze is a complex branching puzzle that includes choices of path and direction, may have multiple entrances and exits, and dead ends. Mazes can be constructed with varying levels of difficulty and complexity.

A labyrinth has only a single non-branching path, which leads to the center then back out the same way, with only one entry/exit point.

Happy Friday

To be draped in happiness is to dress for kings.

Dress well, especially on a Royal Happy Friday!

Good Egg vs. Bad Egg

Most foods are easy to determine if they are good or bad by smell, touch, color, etc. Eggs are not so obvious. However there is a quick and easy way to tell if eggs are good or bad. Fill a cup or bowl with cold water and place eggs in. If they sink to the bottom and lay flat on their sides, they are very fresh. If they are a few weeks old, but still good to eat, they will stand on one end at the bottom of the bowl. If they float to the surface, they are no longer fresh enough to eat. Incidentally, those that stand up are best for hard boiling. The extra air in the older eggs will help the peel come off easier after hard boiling.

Wordology, Lake vs. Pond

A pond is shallow enough that light penetrates all the way to the bottom. Although there is no set size for either, most geographers agree that when a body of freshwater is bigger than 12 acres, it is a lake. Smaller than that, it is a pond.

Rats and Monkeys Laugh

It may sound strange, but several scientists have elicited "tickle-induced vocalizations" from primates. Penny Paterson, president of the Gorilla Foundation says that Koko, the gorilla famous for her sign language abilities, even had a special "ho, ho," for visitors she liked. And rats apparently have very ticklish necks. When Bowling Green State University scientist Jaak Panksepp and his graduate students tickled baby rats' napes, the rodents emitted high-frequency chirps that Panksepp interpreted as laughter.

Robert Levinson, psychology professor at the University of California Berkeley, invited couples into his lab and asked each partner to discuss something that irritated him or her about the other partner. The couples who tackled the stressful situation with laughter not only felt better in the moment, but had higher levels of relationship satisfaction and stayed together longer than couples who did not crack a smile.

When you see people laughing, you just can't help but smile. That is because your brain makes it nearly impossible not to. That is the result of research from the lab of Sophie Scott, a neuroscientist at University College London. When she monitored subjects' brains while she played laughing sounds, she found that the premotor cortical region of the brain, which prepares the muscles in the face to move, was activated.

Incidentally, 10 to 15 minutes of laughing a day can burn up to 40 calories, according to a Vanderbilt University study. Researchers determined that the increase in heart rate and oxygen consumption during these funny moments boosted the burn.

Pardon my Tartle

We have all been there: You run into someone and you go to introduce them to whoever you are with and you can't remember their name.


There happens to be a Scottish term for this awkward hesitation. So if you (unfortunately) ever find yourself in that situation you can say, "Pardon my tartle!"

Free Photos

Access a million high-quality photos, for free. Graphic designers and artists are constantly on the hunt for high quality images, but few of the biggest stock photo platforms are free to use.

That is what makes Unsplash different. Unlike competitors, Unsplash’s library is made up of 100% community contributions.

Reddit

Reddit has now surpassed Facebook and is now the third-most-popular internet destination for users in the United States, according to rankings published by Amazon subsidiary Alexa, a website that tracks and analyzes web traffic. Despite its recent controversial site redesign, this means that Reddit now trails only Google and YouTube, but ranks ahead of Facebook and Amazon.

While Reddit still does not attract the same amount of traffic as Google or YouTube, the good news for the site is that users spend more time browsing the site, averaging 15 minutes and 10 seconds every day, The Next Web reported. Reddit also outranks the top five sites on the list with more daily page views per visitors. Rounding out the top 10 sites are Wikipedia, Yahoo, Twitter, eBay, and Netflix.

Man Made Fruit

The tangelo is a man-made hybrid of the tangerine and the pomelo. In fact, that is where the tangelo got its name. However, it is common for people to confuse the tangelo with the tangerine, mandarin, and orange.

To add to the confusion, there are different varieties of tangelos and all are not necessarily created from tangerines and pomelos. One common variant, the Minneola tangelo, is a hybrid of the tangerine and Duncan grapefruit. Another variant was created by crossing a mandarin with a pomelo, which technically makes it an orange.

The tangelo is believed to have first appeared in the forests of Southeast Asia 3,500 years ago when insects cross-pollinated the mandarin with a fruit that is closely related to the grapefruit. However, today’s tangelos are the result of a selective breeding program that started in the 1800s.

At the forefront of the tangelo project was the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), which created the popular Minneola tangelo sold across the United States. The USDA released the seeds of the Minneola tangelo in 1931. It is named after the city of Minneola, Florida.

Unclaimed Luggage

Over 99.9% of domestic airline’s checked bags are picked up at the carousel. After airlines conduct an extensive three month tracing process there are still a small percentage of bags left unclaimed.
Unclaimed Baggage buys orphaned bags and gives them a second life by selling, donating, and recycling their contents.
Unclaimed Baggage has purchasing agreements for unclaimed items with all domestic airlines and other travel and transportation companies. With five decades of experience processing large volumes of one-of-a-kind items, we maximize each item’s potential for a second life.

Fun and unusual finds, including amazing jewelry at good prices LINK.

Sealioning

This is a common, subtle harassment which consists of pursuing people with persistent requests for evidence or repeated questions, while feigning ignorance, sincerity, and politeness. It may take the form bad-faith invitations to engage in debate, often trying to incite in order to play victim. It may take the form of "incessant, bad-faith invitations to engage in debate."

The troll feigns ignorance and politeness, so that if the target is provoked into making an angry response, the troll can then act as the aggrieved party.

Happy Friday

"Three grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love, and something to hope for." ~Joseph Addison

I always enjoy a threefer, especially on a Happy Friday!

Wordology, Ultracrepidarianism

It is the habit of giving opinions and advice on matters outside of one's knowledge. We all know people who have knowledge in one thing or another and attempt to translate that to things they have little no knowledge about.

The term ultracrepidarian was first publicly recorded in 1819 by the essayist William Hazlitt in an open Letter to William Gifford, the editor of the Quarterly Review, "You have been well called an Ultra-Crepidarian critic."

It may come from a famous Greek artist, to a shoemaker who presumed to criticize his painting. It can be taken to mean that a shoemaker ought not to judge beyond his own soles. Critics should only comment on things they know something about. The saying remains popular in several languages, as in a cobbler should stick to his shoes.

Herbs vs. Spices

Herbs and spices all come from plants, they do not all come from the same parts of plants. Herbs are the leaves of a plant—things like parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme, and others.

A seasoning harvested from any other part of the plant—including the roots, bark, seeds, rhizomes, bulbs, buds, etc.—is considered a spice. Cinnamon sticks are really bits of bark from trees in the Cinnamomum genus, while cloves are dried flower buds from the clove tree.
Some plants boast an herb and a spice. The leaves of the Coriandrum sativum plant are widely known as cilantro, which is definitely an herb. The seeds usually called coriander, are a spice, but cilantro and coriander are both common names for the whole plant, and cilantro is just the Spanish word for coriander. Dill is another example. Dill weed refers to dill leaves (the herb), while dill seed, which is actually not a seed, but the tiny, brown fruit of the dill plant is a spice.

According to Merriam-Webster, the botanical definition of herb is “a seed-producing annual, biennial, or perennial that does not develop persistent woody tissue, but dies down at the end of the growing season.” Botanically speaking, herbs are whole plants that do not have wooden parts like trees and bushes. The entire cumin plant, for instance, whose seeds are ground into a spice, is technically an herb.

TV Categories

Are you confused about the subtle differences between mystery and drama. The shows presented on TV streaming show much overlap as shows are included in both categories. It means even the producers are not sure of the differences.

“Mystery” refers to an intellectual process where there is a puzzle that needs to be solved. “Suspense” refers to an emotional process where there is an unknown situation, event, or threat that produces anxiety and fear and needs to be resolved.

"Drama" is a composition in verse or prose presenting a story in pantomime or dialogue. It contains conflict of characters, particularly the ones who perform in front of audience on the stage. A drama is a story or situation which usually presents some sort of conflict. An example of drama is a break-up caused by the boyfriend cheating with the girlfriend's best friend.

Wordology, Peladophobia

It is the fear of bald people. It's also the fear of becoming bald, which means it is most frequently suffered by balding people who are turning into the thing they fear the most.

More Statue of Liberty Facts

According to designer Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi, the sculpture’s true title is “Liberty Enlightening the World.
Bartholdi’s mother, Charlotte, who is rumored to be the model for Liberty’s massive copper visage. (Bartholdi’s wife posed for the arms and torso.)

The island where she stands was called Bedloe’s Island (after an early Dutch settler) until 1956, when it was renamed Liberty Island by an act of Congress. Liberty Island and Ellis Island are two separate islands in the New York Harbor.
Ellis Island became known as the gateway to New York for millions of immigrants, who passed through the inspection station on the island between 1892 and 1954. Ellis Island is now home to the Ellis Island Immigration Museum, which also includes the American Family Immigration History Center, also Oyster beds, a smallpox quarantine station, a Scottish Earl’s summer estate, a recruitment center, and now a National Park and museum. 
The Lady stands on a pedestal, and the pedestal stands on a disused granite fort in the shape of an 11-pointed star. Fort Wood, completed in 1811, once held 77 mounted guns and a garrison of 350 U.S. Army troops to protect New York harbor. Today it holds a museum.

Miss America vs. Miss USA

Both Miss America and Miss USA emphasize good looks and figures. Both also promote themselves as a forum for young women to better themselves, earn scholarships, make lasting friendships, become leaders, give back to their communities, and beyond through charitable partnerships. Both pageants now feature contenders from all 50 states plus a representative from the District of Columbia.

Neither is to be confused with Miss World America, Miss U.S. International, or Miss Earth United States.

Both national pageants require entrants to participate and win local and state competitions before they move on to the national stage. For Miss America, the national show is the end of the line and the winner then travels around the country for her “year of service” according to the pageant’s official site. But if you take the top spot at Miss USA, you are sent to represent America at that year’s Miss Universe pageant where you take on the top contenders from around the world.

The older pageant also places more emphasis on tangible skills. The talent portion of a contestant’s performance is crucial when it comes to voting on a victor at Miss America, it makes up 35 percent of their overall score, versus Miss USA, which does not take talent into consideration when crowning their beauty queen.

The winner of the Miss America pageant collects a $50,000 scholarship. The Miss America Organization’s Public Relations Coordinator Chelsea Mineur told Bustle in 2017 that no one goes home empty-handed. Every contestant receives a scholarship, ranging from $3,000 for last place finishers to $25,000 for the first runner-up. Miss America will travel around the country, which is covered by the company, making appearances, doing speaking engagements, performing charity work, and serving as the National Ambassador for the Children’s Miracle Network.

The woman who is crowned as Miss USA will instantly move into a luxury apartment in New York City. The winner will live there rent free for her entire reign as Miss USA. In addition to a new living situation, Miss USA 2018 received a year-long salary. All of her living expenses will be covered for her whole reign. She will be making promotional appearances around the country and the internationally, which is both a duty and a perk of the acquiring the title. The winner also gets to be styled by the official Miss Universe Organization fashion stylist. She also gets her annual wardrobe covered. The average salary for miss USA jobs is $63,132.

Aside from everything that comes with being Miss USA, the winner will have an opportunity to move on to the next level of competition: the Miss Universe pageant. If Miss USA ends up winning the Miss Universe title, there will be even more personal perks and opportunities to give back to the community, but on a global scale.

Peninsula vs. Cape

A cape is connected to the mainland by a much larger mass of land than a peninsula. Peninsulas are connected to the mainland by a thin landmass.


An easy way to think about the difference is that a peninsula is almost an island while a cape is not. A cape is also surrounded by water on two sides and a peninsula is surrounded by water on three sides.

Three Interesting Names

Figure showing a 5 in the dice is called a quincunx. It is 4 points forming a rectangle or a square, and an extra point in the middle.
The separation or gap that forms between two front teeth is called a diastema, and it can result from a disproportionate relationship between the size of your teeth and the size of your jaw.

We always called it a “division sign,” but in fact, this symbol is called an obelus.

Laughter

Humans laughed before they spoke. Some scientists believe that laughter was used as a way for humans to relate to one another millions of years before they developed the lung strength for language. The mechanism of laughter is so ingrained in our brains that babies as young as 17 days old have been observed doing it. In fact, children born blind and deaf still have the ability to laugh.


A Scientific Investigation, Robert R. Provine, professor of psychology and neuroscience at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, describes an intriguing study about laughter and it did not take place at a comedy club. Provine and some graduate students listened in on normal conversations at local malls. They found that out of 1,200 "laugh episodes," only about 10 percent were generated by a joke. "Laughter really has a bonding function between individuals in a group."

United Nations Languages

Despite having 193 member countries, the United Nations only has six official languages. These are Chinese, Spanish, English, Russian, and French, which also happen to be the languages spoken in the founding members of the organization. The sixth language, Arabic, was added in 1974 by popular demand.

Happy Friday

Nurture your mind with happy thoughts and your soul will be healed.

Happy thoughts are always welcome, especially on a Happy Friday!

National Hot Dog Day, Jul 22

Industry groups, such as National Hot Dog and Sausage Council in the USA, encourage, sponsor, and support the events. The Council designates July as National Hot Dog Month; National Hot Dog Day varies year to year, during 2020 it falls on Wednesday, July 22. It is based on when the North American Meat Institute hosts its annual Hot Dog Lunch on Capitol Hill. (One site lists the day as July 23. Why not extend and enjoy some hot dogs on both days this year).

Buying Ice

You can buy bags of ice at many Burger King, McDonald's, Sonic, Dunkin', and Chik-fil-a when you do not want to make a trip to the store. Many are the eight to ten pound size. Just ask and it may save you some money and another trip.

Wordology, Vorfreude

It is the joy you feel thinking about good things that will happen. You probably already know the meaning of schadenfreude. Vorfreude is its kinder, nicer cousin. Literally "pre-joy."

Use Your Old Phone

I temporarily lost my cell phone last week and was worried I might have an emergency. Then I remembered the following. Old cell phones may not be able to use high-speed data networks, you can’t call any other number, and can’t receive calls, but you can call 911 in an emergency. Federal law requires that cell phones must be able to call 911 at all times. As long as an old cell phone is functional, it can be used as an emergency phone.
Tip, if you cannot speak, call 911, wait for an answer, then use your telephone's keypad to "talk" to the dispatcher. Press 1 if you need police, 2 for fire, and 3 for an ambulance.

For landline service that has been discontinued, service is not required for land lines. There is no federal law that requires this. However, depending on your area, 911 may still be available. You may have 911 access on a land line if your area mandates a “soft” dial tone for emergency access. Some large carriers may also provide it. If you do not have a dial tone, you probably do not have this as a soft tone sounds the same as a regular tone, but you can always call 911 to test and explain why you called.

Incidentally, FCC rules require all wireless carriers and other providers of text messaging applications in the United States to deliver emergency texts to call centers that request them.

PS - A friend gave me an old cell phone to use as a backup, which I keep on my bed-stand. Problem solved. Nice to have friends.

Local News Online

Feeling a bit nostalgic for your old hometown news. There is a site that has over 500 current local paper front pages available for free reading. It also has links to websites from those papers that have one. Interesting to see different takes on stories from different locations. LINK

Canada vs. US Forests

During 2016, there were 65,575 wildfires in the US, according to the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC).  That year 5.4 million acres were burned.

During 2017, there were 71,499 US wildfires and about 10 million acres were burned. The number of acres burned in 2017 was higher than the 10-year average.

During 2018 there were 58,083 US wildfires according to the NIFC. About 8.8 million acres were burned in 2018.

During 2019, from January 1 to November 22, 2019 there were 46,706 US wildfires compared with 52,080 wildfires in the same period in 2018, according to the  (NIFC). About 4.6 million acres were burned in the 2019 period, compared with 8.5 million acres in 2018.

Currently, forests cover about 749 million acres in the US. Wildfires in the United States burn an average of 7 million acres of land each year.

Our Canadian neighbors to the north boast 981 acres (396.9-million hectares) of forests, or nine percent of all of the forest area in the entire world, according to Natural Resources Canada. Less than 1 percent is logged annually. Currently, US forests cover about 749 million acres of the U.S.

During a typical year there are over 9,000 forest fires in Canada, burning an average of 6 million acres or 25,000 square kilometers.

Wordology, Bitter End

This term first appeared in Captain John Smith's 1627 publication, Seaman's Grammar: "A Bitter is but the turne of a Cable about the Bits, and yeare it out by little and little. And the Bitters end is that part of the Cable doth stay within boord." Basically, a bit is a post on the deck of a ship to which rope is wrapped around. When a rope is pulled out to the "bitter end," it means there is no more rope left to be used.

Fingerprints Not Protected

our fingerprint is not protected under the 5th amendment, so police in the US can force you to unlock a phone with a fingerprint, but not a password - from 2014, those tiny skin ridges we all share were at the heart of a Virginia court case last week in which a judge ruled that police, who suspected there was incriminating evidence on a suspect’s smartphone, could legally force the man to unlock his device with its fingerprint scanner. While the Fifth Amendment protects defendants from revealing their numeric passcodes, which would be considered a self-incriminating testimonial, biometrics like fingerprint scans fall outside the law’s scope.

“If you are being forced to divulge something that you know, that’s not okay,” said Marcia Hofmann, an attorney and special counsel to digital rights group Electronic Frontier Foundation. “If the government is able through other means to collect evidence that just exists, then they certainly can do that without stepping on the toes of the constitutional protection.” “The important thing is,” Hofmann said, “is it something you know, or something you have?”

Population Ages

According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), as of 2012, 50.5 percent of the world's population were people under the age of 30. Around 89.7 percent of those young people live in emerging and developing economies like the Middle East and Africa.

People 60 years and older make up 12.3 percent of the global population.

Although the majority of the human population is currently under 30 years old, there are still plenty of older folks among us. In fact, 12.3 percent of people on Earth are 60 years old and older. That number is expected to reach 22 percent by 2050.