Difficult to Read

When looking up a particularly complex topic on Wikipedia, you might try replacing the “en” (for English) with “simple” in a Wikipedia URL. You will then get information written using simple English words and grammar that should make the most complex topics easy to understand.

Bye Bye Light Bulbs

As we say goodbye to 2013, we also say goodbye to more incandescent light bulb types. On Jan. 1, 2014, the most popular incandescent light bulbs, 40W and 60W will be no more. They join the already gone 75W and 100W incandescent bulbs as their domestic manufacture and import has been legislated away as part of the final phase-out stage of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007.

An estimated 30 percent of informed consumers will be raiding the aisles of local stores, grabbing all of the 40W and 60W bulbs that they can get their hands on to delay the inevitable - and save big bucks in the process. Maybe by the time their final stash is gone the newer bulb prices will have come down from the stratosphere.

Another icon of the late 19th and early 20th centuries likely to become extinct soon is the landline telephone. This will not need to be legislated out, new technology has rendered them mostly unnecessary, even though the new technology has yet to achieve the clarity and dependability of the landline instruments. The number of home landlines in the US is dropping at a rate of 700,000 per month and currently just five percent of people depend solely on copper phone lines.

New Incandescent Light Bulbs

Fear not the demise of all of our incandescent bulbs, here is a place that makes (almost) the same old incandescent light bulbs many know and love. The bulbs are still available after the new law, because the company changed the way the bulbs are made. The new law says that incandescent bulbs for "rough" use are still allowed, so this company complied with the new spec and makes these bulbs for sale at reasonable prices. The web site is here http://www.newcandescent.com/

Merry Christmas

I wish each of you, and families, and friends a very Merry Christmas. I try to embrace the following words all year, but for those who only save them for the holidays - eat, drink, be merry, think pleasant thoughts, and enjoy!

Happy Friday

A wise man makes his own decisions, ignorant men follow public opinion.

You would be wise to follow my decision to have a Happy Friday . . .  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Advent Calendar

The origins of this Christmas tradition come from the German Lutherans, as early as the beginning of the 19th century. The calendar started off simple, a written way to count down the days until Christmas. Eventually, lighting 24 candles became popular.

Very early in the 20th century, Gerhard Lang was credited with printing the first Advent calendar. Several years later, he decided to add little doors that would open to reveal the date or a scripture. It wasn't’t until after WWII that the calendars began to be filled with candies and treats for the days before Christmas.

Wordology, Nativity

For many people, the word Nativity is only used this time of year as the birth of Christ and other religious connotations for Christmas. Lately the original definition is being used more often in statistical charting. According to a few online dictionaries, nativity means:

1. Birth, especially the place, conditions, or circumstances of being born.
2. Nativity
    a. The birth of Jesus.
    b. A representation, such as a painting, of Jesus just after birth.
    c. Christmas.

Notice that 'Nativity' as capitalized has a religious connotation, while 'nativity' as non-capitalized is the number one definition. Many population and other economic charts use nativity in conjunction with ethnicity. It is a distinction, for instance 'Hispanic' as natural born or foreign born, when showing statistical differences.

Bottom line, before you wonder, there is no conspiracy theory, there is no anti-religious effort put forth. Statisticians are using the word in its original definition to more specifically segment populations by origin of birth.

Christmas Wise Men

According to the bible - 1. Three in number (the number isn't mentioned at all).
2. Kings (they were “wise” men) – this probably comes from Psalm 71:11 (72:11 in protestant bibles): “And all kings of the earth shall adore him: all nations shall serve him.”
3. Traveling on camels. Matthew 2:1–2 says: “When Jesus therefore was born in Bethlehem of Judah, in the days of King Herod, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem.” It says a little later that they offered Him gifts of “gold, frankincense, and myrrh” – but that is about as specific as it gets. Now we are all wiser for knowing this.

Christmas Tradition, Caga tio

One of the more unusual bearers of Christmas presents, with a unique delivery method, is the Caga tió (pooping uncle or, pooping tree trunk). It is found in the Catalonia region and consists of a hollow log.

Beginning at the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, the family “feeds” the tio and covers him with a warm blanket each night. Then, at Christmas, the family gathers together, sings songs, puts the tio partly into the fire and beats it with sticks, until it excretes presents of candy, nuts or figs. When the tio is finished pooping, it signals this by dropping salted herring, a head of garlic, an onion, or by “urinating”, then the entire log is burned.

Holidays and Weight Gain

Postprandial weight gain is especially troublesome during the holidays. In the immediate short term any food and drink that you put into your body will make you exactly that much heavier. Eat a pound of chocolate and you add one pound to your mass, until your body starts to excrete the food or use it for energy.

That gain begins to decrease almost as soon as it begins. The time it takes for food to pass through the digestive tract varies widely. Overall, the journey of a meal takes between 20 and 56 hours. Once it is metabolized and excreted, only excess calories converted to fat remain. If you ate a very salty meal, you tend to retain water, and a greater proportion of the weight temporarily remains. How much remains long term depends on the energy content of the food consumed as excess calories are converted into fat to be used for energy in the future.

In a recent study, a team of Israeli scientists tested different diets on almost 200 obese adults. One group consumed a greater proportion of their calories at breakfast and lost significantly more weight, on average, than the others in the study.

The bottom line is, the net weight gain associated with any one meal will be very small. However, a prolonged series of excess eating can accumulate to have a significant, long-term effect. A few overindulgent meals for the holidays are not a problem, the problem is the three overindulgent meals a day over a long period of time. Just as it takes time to reduce weight, it takes time to gain lasting weight, so enjoy the Holidays.

Gingerbread House

The Gingerbread house was first noted in the Grimm’s Fairy Tale, Hansel and Gretel, and followed in a German opera by the same title. After the show was first produced only days before Christmas, it became a holiday tradition in German Opera houses to build miniature replicas of the gingerbread house from the story. The tradition then spread to bakeries and, eventually, to homes.

Blood Vessels

Forgive me for bringing this up at this time of year, but I found it interesting. Every pound of fat gained causes your body to make 7 new miles of blood vessels. Knowing this, it’s easy to see why obesity and heart disease often go together. Most of the new blood vessels are tiny capillaries, but also include small veins and arteries. This means if you are “only” 10 pounds overweight your heart has to pump blood through an extra 70 miles of blood vessels.

The good news is that this also works in reverse. If you lose a pound of fat, your body will break down and reabsorb the no longer needed blood vessels. This is encouraging to dieters, as one pound does not seem like a lot to lose, but even that little bit of difference will result in a large benefit for your heart.

Boston Tea Party

This week, December 16, 1773, American patriots, protesting the British tax on tea, dumped 342 chests of tea into Boston Harbor. The act is known as the "Boston Tea Party."  It was a nonviolent political protest by the Sons of Liberty in Boston. They were disguised as Indians and destroyed the entire supply of tea sent by the East India Company in defiance of the American boycott of tea carrying a tax the Americans had not authorized.

Mistletoe

 In many ancient religions the mistletoe was regarded as a sacred plant. For the Norsemen the mistletoe caused the death of Baldur, the shining god of youth. The Druids believed that a sprig of mistletoe fastened above a doorway would ward off many things, such as witchcraft, disease, bad luck, and fire. In addition, it would enhance the hospitality and fertility of the household. Hence the English Christmas custom of kissing under the mistletoe.  If you see me during the holidays, pretend I have mistletoe in my hair. I can always use another kiss and hug.