Google Translate

I recently received an email in French and needed to translate it. Went to Google, and typed in the word translate. The first result showed two boxes next to each other. The first box had a caption 'enter text' the second was 'English'. I pasted the text into the first box and it detected French and populated the second box with the English equivalent. The second also had a microphone icon. When I pressed it, a female voice correctly read aloud the English text. The amazing thing to me was that the translated text was so accurate. Not something we use everyday, but nice to know it is available when we need it.

Free Friday Smile

Happy Friday

"Without love, intelligence is dangerous; without intelligence, love is not enough." ~Ashley Montagu

I have the intelligence to always love a Happy Friday!

National Rum Day

We celebrate National Rum Day on August 16 in the US. The origin of the word rum is unclear. The name may have derived from rumbullion meaning "a great tumult or uproar". Some claim that the name is from the large drinking glasses used by Dutch seamen known as rum rummers. Other options include contractions of the words saccharum, latin for sugar, or arôme, French for aroma.

In current usage, the name used for rum is often based on the rum's place of origin. For rums from Spanish-speaking locales the word ron is used. A ron añejo indicates a rum that has been aged and is often used for premium products. Rhum is the term used for rums from French-speaking locales, while rhum vieux is an aged French rum.

Go ahead and sip a bit of rum all day long. Or start today and make your own spiced rum.

    1 (750-mL) bottle light Rum
    1 Vanilla bean
    3-inch slice Orange peel, white pith removed
    1 Cinnamon stick
    2 Allspice berries
    4 Cloves
    6 Black peppercorns
    pinch ground nutmeg
    1 slice fresh ginger, about the size of a quarter

Add all the ingredients to a wide-mouthed, airtight container and seal. Let stand for about two days and taste. Strain the spices out and re-bottle the liquid.
Note - some lower-quality commercial products tend to overplay the vanilla—cut back on that and the other flavors emerge nicely.

Four Rum Myths Dispelled

Rum is not always sweet, all rum is made from sugar. No, that does not mean it is sweet. Yeast converts sugar to alcohol and carbon dioxide before it goes into the still. A white rum can be as dry as any liquor. And aging in oak adds tannins and other wood flavorings that can produce dark rum as flavorful as Scotch.

Rum is not only best mixed with fruit juices. Rum has traditionally been a cheap spirit, and so was often mixed with cheap juices for frat parties. A good rum holds its own in classic cocktails like a rum Manhattan or a rum Old Fashioned. The finest aged rums are best appreciated neat.

Rum is not just a Caribbean/West Indian spirit. Rum’s commercial birthplace may have been the sugar cane fields of the islands and the tropics, but prior to the American Revolution, dozens of rum distilleries existed in New England. Today, rum is a North American product, with craft distillers making distinctive rums from Boston to Hawaii.

Pirates did not always drink rum. Pirates drank whatever they could plunder, and in the early days, that was chiefly Spanish wine. Contemporary accounts of the dreaded Captain Morgan do not even mention rum. It was not until the late 17th and early 18th centuries that pirates started to drink rum, concurrent with the rise of the West Indian rum trade.

Buccaneers

An offshoot of the name, ‘buccaneers’ of the Caribbean derived their name from the Arawak Indian word buccan, referring to a wooden frame used for smoking meats. The French changed this to boucan and called the French hunters who used these frames to cook and preserve feral cattle and the offspring of Columbus' pigs on the island of Hispaniola boucaniers. English colonists anglicized the word to buccaneers. This was taken from my soon-to-be-released Bacon Orgazmia book.

Airline Lingo

A nonstop flight takes off from one runway and does not land until it reaches its final destination. A direct flight refers to a flight that does not require a plane change, but does stop along the way to its destination, sometimes more than once.

Reservation systems use a hierarchy. Nonstop flights get top priority, followed by direct flights, followed by “through” flights (which use one flight number, but involve a change of planes), followed by connecting flights.

Cheese Posties

This is the name for a subscription service that delivers grilled cheese sandwiches to your door. The company was started by
Dave Rotheroe of London, UK who has a background in IT project management. It will begin shipping at the beginning of September.

Subscribers will be presented with a series of questions including ‘Sweet or savory?’ and ‘Are you vegetarian or gluten free?’ Cheese Posties will then determine which gourmet grilled sandwich to ship to them that week.

The actual sandwich will be delivered in a box, inside a vacuum-sealed pack with two slices of bread, cheese and, the condiments required to put together that particular creation. The package will also include a Teflon toaster bag. Prices were not listed. Sandwiches can be shipped to the US, UK, and Europe. Sounds like a fun idea and a great way send a unique gift to friends. Hey Dave, why not offer to substitute bacon weaves instead of bread.

Chinese Currency

With the recent devaluation of China's currency, many articles have been written about the Renimbi and the Yuan. Renminbi is the official name for the currency, and Yuan is the main unit of currency. This is akin to the British currency being pound sterling and the units are pounds.

Seven Home Remedies That Work

Feeding a cold, even when you are overfeeding it vitamin C supplements, is not supported by science. However there are many other home remedies that have been proven to work.

In three separate studies since 2001, scientists have directly measured a reduction in acid reflux in subjects who chewed sugar-free gum after a meal, designed to give them heartburn, versus those who did not. The saliva you secrete when chewing gum has a calming effect on acid reflux.

Oats have anti-inflammatory compounds that are effective when applied directly to the skin and can be applied as oatmeal or adding ground oats to a bath. Good for treating poison ivy, irritated skin, or itching due to eczema.

One way to reduce sunburn pain is cucumber. Use a food processor to turn it into paste, apply it to sunburned skin and leave it on until it dries.

In a small study published in the American Journal of Physiology, researchers induced nausea by spinning subjects in a large drum after a heavy meal. Ginger helped ease the nausea of the subjects. Try drinking ginger ale, eating a ginger candy, or dissolving a teaspoon of ginger powder in a cup of water or tea.

According to 2002 research in the Journal of Family Practice, nasal irrigation with a saltwater solution relieved the symptoms of sinus congestion and improved sinus-related quality of life. Add half a teaspoon of salt for every eight ounces of warm water. Use a neti pot or a squeeze bottle to pour the solution into your nostrils while leaning over a sink to catch the drainage.

Apple cider vinegar is an antibiotic and can be used to treat fungus. Soak toes or fingers in apple cider vinegar for twenty minutes twice a day until symptoms go away. It is also good to combat acne as it kills bacteria on your skin and shrinks blood vessels around the acne. Soak a cotton ball with apple cider vinegar, and apply it to affected skin after washing.

According to a 2009 and 2011 studies, tart cherry juice that lists montmorency cherries in the ingredients increases melatonin levels in the body. Melatonin is a hormone instrumental in sleep regulation. Subjects in the studies reduced the amount of time it took to fall asleep and saw significant increases in sleep time and quality

Hydrophilic, Hydrophobic, and Hygroscopic

Hydrophilic refers to substances that absorb water. A hydrophilic substance will bond, on a molecular level with water.
Hydrophobic materials hate water and repel it.
Hygroscopic refers to the ability of a material to absorb humidity from the air.  A hygroscopic substance will actively attract and absorb water, without bonding. A hygroscope indicates changes in humidity.

Water is hydrophilic (mixes with more water easily) and oils or fats are generally hydrophobic and separate from water, forming an oily layer.

The suffix "philic" means loving or attracted to. The suffix "phobic" means fear or fearful.

Medical Humor

My Medical Humor book is now available on Amazon Kindle for E-book readers LINK
It has 'Search Inside' on for free previews.

Happy Friday

Laughter is the best aphrodisiac.

I love to share my laughter to enjoy a special Happy Friday!

National Presidential Joke Day

This “unofficial” US national holiday is celebrated annually and began on August 11, 1984 when President Ronald Reagan was doing a microphone test and made a joke not realizing that the microphone was on. Am sure there are many throughout history who qualify as presidential jokes.