Jan 11, 2019

Google Search Tip

When our memory decides to prevent us from recalling that one key word, phrase, or number we need in order to find what we are looking for, you can turn to the powerful asterisk "*" symbol. Just use this in the place of the word/phrase you can’t remember, and you should be able to find the results you are looking for. For example, junk* returns anything that has junk as a prefix, including junk itself. Junk * returns any phrase containing "junk".

Sometimes we urgently need to acquaint ourselves with events that occurred during a certain period of time. To do so, you can add a time frame to your search query with the help of three dots between the dates. For example, if we want to find out about scientific discoveries during the 20th century, we can write: scientific discoveries 1900...1999.

Jan 4, 2019

Happy Friday

"Hope smiles from the threshold of the year to come, whispering, 'It will be happier.'" ~Tennyson

We awake to a happier day, especially on a Happy Friday!

Happy National Trivia Day

January 4 each year is National Trivia Day. Over time, the word “trivia” has come to refer to obscure and arcane bits of dry knowledge as well as nostalgic remembrances of pop culture. You can celebrate by getting together with friends and play Trivial Pursuit. You can call friends and family and enlighten them with some trivia. More fun is to stop random people and start a conversation with “did you know...?” You may even make some new friends. You can also pick up one of my books and spend the day filling your brain with more random trivia.

Quick Trivia

Three Musketeers used to contain three small bars of vanilla, strawberry, and chocolate.
Chemists describe the old book smell as grassy notes with a tang of acids and a hint of vanilla over an underlying mustiness.
The Sun-Maid Raisins girl was modeled after Lorraine Collett Petersen.
A California woman once tried to sue the makers of Cap'n Crunch because crunch berries contained no berries.
During 2006, a man tried to sell New Zealand on eBay. The price went to $3,000 before eBay shut it down.
Forty is the only number in which the letters are in alphabetical order.


Despite the urban legend, birds ingesting uncooked rice will not explode.

Nutritious Foods

After analyzing more than 1,000 raw foods, researchers ranked the ingredients that provide the best balance of your daily nutritional requirements.
There is no one food that contains all the nutrients necessary to meet, but not exceed, our daily nutrient demands. Scientists assigned each a nutritional score. The higher the score, the more likely each food would meet, but not exceed daily nutritional needs, when eaten in combination with others.
Out of the top one hundred from the one thousand analyzed, pork fat came in eighth (one is most nutritious). It provides a good source of B vitamins and minerals. Pork fat is more unsaturated and healthier than lamb or beef fat. It has 632kcal per 100g and has a nutritional score of 73. Of all the most nutritious foods, pork fat is the only one derived from livestock.

So, my opinion that bacon is the best tasting (my friend Mike says it is Maple Bacon) and most satisfying, is fortified by scientists who rate is as eighth most nutritious. According to them it is more nutritious than sweet potato (nutritional score 49), ginger 49, Brussels sprouts 50, broccoli 50, cauliflower 50, carrots 51, oranges 51, tomatoes 56, spinach 59, kale 62, etc.

Almonds came in first as most nutritious, and is rich in mono-unsaturated fatty acids, promotes cardiovascular health and may help with diabetes. It has 579kcal per 100g and has a nutritional score of 97.


Food selection, ranking based on the scientific study “Uncovering the Nutritional Landscape of Food”, published in the journal PLoS ONE. The list can be found at LINK

Silent Monks Singing Hallelujah

One last musical for the season. The silent monks provide three minutes of fun. It has been around for a while and has had 1.7 million views. LINK

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.