Jan 4, 2019

Wordology, Psithurism

The "p" at the beginning of psithurism is silent. It is pronounced sith-err-iz-um. It is the sounds of wind in the trees and the rustling of leaves.

Psithurism comes from the Greek word psithuros, which means whispering. It fits with the sound wind often makes when it blows through trees. On windy fall days, the rustling of the leaves seems almost musical. Your worries disappear for a time as you listen to the melodies of the wind in the trees.

Quick Fact About Cable

About 33 million people have ditched their cable or satellite subscription in 2018, according to researcher eMarketer, up from 24.9 million who cut the cord during 2017. The number one reason was to save monthly fees.

What's in a Name, Kansas and Arkansas

Have you ever wondered why they are pronounced differently? This is why.

Kansas was named for the Kansa, a Siouan tribe that lived in the region. The Kansa people were called, in plural, Kansas, and that became the name of the state.

Arkansas was named for a related Siouan tribe, the Quapaw. The Algonquians called them “akansa,” joining their own a- prefix (used in front of ethnic groups) to the Kansa name. It took some time for Arkansans to come to agreement on pronunciation. In 1881, a heated disagreement between the state's two senators, one who said “arKANzis” and the other who said “ARkansaw,” led to a ruling by the state legislature making the “ARkansaw” pronunciation official.

Dec 28, 2018

Happy Friday

Happiness is a choice.

Always choose to be happy, especially on a Happy Friday!

New Year Tradition

Watching 'Dinner for One' is a New Year tradition in much of Europe. Here is a LINK from my blog to the perennially favorite comedy (length 14 minutes). Enjoy. Happy New Year!

Cannabis and Big Business

Cannabis is now fully legal in Canada and rapidly taking over the rest of the world, as soon as politicians get their acts together. Even though outlets are limited and the industry is in its nascent stages, big business is beginning to pour billions in investment to get ahead of the pack for worldwide dominance. Now that hemp is legal and no longer controlled by the Controlled Substance Act in the US, some say it is the crack in the dam and time to look for even more action and investments. Following are a few recently announced deals.

AB InBev (Budweiser, Labatt's, Stella Artois, and more) said it is teaming up with Canada's Tilray to research cannabis-infused drinks. Together, they will invest a combined $100 million into researching non-alcoholic drinks containing cannabis elements.

Marlboro owner Altria invested $1.8 billion in cannabis company Cronos. Phillip Morris is also looking for a cannabis partner to invest in.

Constellation brands (Corona and others) invested four billion dollars into Canopy Growth, another Canadian marijuana business.

Heineken launched Hi-Fi Hops, a cannabis-only beverage in a handful of dispensaries in California. The beverage is designed to taste like beer, but does not contain alcohol. Currently, the beverage comes in a ten-milligram version with THC, and a hybrid version with five milligrams of THC and five milligrams of CBD.

Molson Coors Canada announced a joint venture with The Hydropothecary Corporation, a recognized leader in Canadian medical cannabis to develop a line of non-alcoholic, cannabis-infused beverages.

Alberta-based Aurora Cannabis Inc. recently announced a license agreement with Alcanna, Canada’s largest private-sector liquor retailer paying $82.5 million for a 19.9 percent ownership interest in Alcanna, which at the time was called Liquor Stores N.A. Alcanna already begun converting some of its 229 liquor stores into cannabis retail outlets.

Microsoft shook the cannabis industry and much of the business world when it announced that it would be entering the cannabis industry via a partnership to provide seed-to-sale tracking software, a lucrative sector in cannabis.

Jack in the Box fast-food chain teamed up with the Snoop Dogg-backed cannabis media company Merry Jane to offer a limited-time meal for the cheeky price of $4.20. It is available at a handful of locations in Southern California. The meal was more symbolic than it was an actual entry into the cannabis industry. It marked the first time a non-cannabis company the size of Jack in the Box publicly marketed directly to cannabis consumers.

Walmart, Amazon, and Home Depot sell hydroponic equipment, grow lights, and a number of other products that are used for cultivating cannabis. These are essential items for some cannabis growers, but they have other uses too, so the retailers selling them do not necessarily raise eyebrows. They also sell products that are specifically geared towards cannabis cultivation. American Cannabis Company has a distribution agreement with all three retailers. The retailers will distribute such products as SoHum Living Soils – designed for cannabis cultivation.

Incidentally, investing in cannabis stocks is looking like investing in Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft and others was, before they achieved wildly inflated prices they command today.

Typing Tip

Have you noticed the small ridges toward the bottom of “F” and “J” keys with almost all keyboards? Your index fingers can locate them by touch and you are sure you are on the 'home' row and ready to type without looking.

Epilation vs. Depilation

Both refer to the processes of unwanted body hair removal. Depilation refers to hair removal just at the surface and without damaging the follicles. The procedure does not damage the structure of the hair. Its effect lasts from a few hours to several days. For depilation, razors and different hair removal creams are used.

Epilation is the removal of hair entirely, including the part below the skin. It damages hair follicles and the effect lasts from several days to several weeks. Epilation includes waxing, sugaring, lasering, and other salon procedures.

More Google Tips

Either this or that is effective if you are not exactly sure of the information you are searching. Put in a few potential variations of what you are looking for, and separate them by typing the “|“ symbol. You can also use "or". Then it is easy to choose the result that makes the most sense. For instance, "Chuck or Tom".

If you need to find websites on a given subject rather than those that include a specific phrase, add the "~" symbol to your search. For example, if you search for the term "healthy ~food" you will get results about the principles of healthy eating, cooking recipes, as well as healthy dining options.


Sometimes you read an interesting article on a website and find yourself subsequently wanting to share it with your friends or simply reread it. The easiest way to find the desired piece of information again is to search within the website. To do this, type the address of the site, then a key word or entire phrase from the article, and it should come up immediately. For instance try shubsthoughts Google (no " marks).

If you found something you really like online and want to find similar websites, type in "related:" and then the address of the site, without a space between them. For example try related:twitter.com.

If you type in the words i love you without quotation marks, Google will show the results where these words appear in any order on a website. However, if you type "i love you" within quotation marks, you will get only those results where these words appear in the order you typed them. This is a great way to find lyrics to a song when you might just remember one line from it.

Five Fascinating Body Facts

If you take every vessel in a body and put them end to end, it would be a length of 96,000 kilometers or 60,000 miles in children and 100,000 miles in adults.

There are more bacteria in a human mouth than there are people in the world.
Canadian scientists revealed that the female heart runs 10 beats a minute more than the male heart.


Messages from the human brain travel along nerves at up to 200 miles an hour or 322 km/h.

By the age of 60, people usually lose up to 40% of their sense of taste.

Aerial vs. Antenna

The words aerial and antenna are used interchangeably by almost everyone, except techies. Accurately speaking, the top or elevated portion of the antenna is the aerial, and that portion which completes the electrical connection between the aerial and the instruments is the lead-in. The antenna is the entire system consisting of the aerial and lead-in together.

Dec 21, 2018

Happy Friday

Happiness is a gift you can share all year.

It is great to share happiness, especially on a Happy Friday!

Christmas Pickle

The Weihnachtsgurke, or Christmas Pickle, is supposedly a classic German tradition, but may not be as German as some believe. Legend has it that when Germans decorate their Christmas tree, the very last ornament they hang on it is a pickle or pickle ornament. On Christmas Eve, the first child to find the pickle hidden in the branches is said to get good luck for the year to come, as well as an extra present.

If you ask someone from the American Midwest, they will most likely be able to tell you all about the German festive custom. Germans, on the other hand, may have no knowledge of the custom.
One story is that a captured German-American soldier in the civil war became seriously ill and asked for a pickle as his last meal. After eating it, he was restored to health and from then on always hung a pickle on his tree each year.

According to another legend, St. Nicholas (not Santa) discovered that a shop keeper had murdered three boys and hidden them in a barrel of pickles. He prayed for the boys and his faith miraculously brought them back to life. Supposedly, from then on the pickle has been linked to St. Nick and consequently to Christmas.

Recently, the Christmas Pickle has made its way back across the pond and is beginning to rise in popularity in Germany.

Holiday Hack

Just before guests come over for a Holiday visit, simmer a pan of water on the stove and add some cinnamon and maybe some essential oils. It will make the house smell great and add some much needed humidity.