Daylight saving Time

Daylight saving time is often incorrectly referred to as “Daylight savings time.” It is difficult to imagine why some still follow this political tradition of messing with our clocks in the vain attempt to change Mother Nature. Nonetheless, this Sunday, March 9, 2014 is the day in the US most move our clocks forward one hour (and also to change the batteries on smoke detectors), while some are not required to change their clocks.

United States Congress established the Uniform Time Act of 1966 that stated DST would begin on the last Sunday of April and end on the last Sunday of October. The US Congress extended DST to a period of ten months in 1974, and back to eight months in 1975. The DST schedule period lasted for about seven months from 1987 to 2006. The current schedule began in 2007 and follows the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which extended the period by about one month where DST starts on the second Sunday in March and ends on the first Sunday in November.

Interesting that the vast majority, well over one hundred countries, do not change clocks for DST or any other reason. Those that do observe it have different days, ranging from Mar 9 to April 6, and September in New Zealand, Antarctica, and Namibia. Some of Australia changes on October 5, with other parts of Australia not changing their clocks.

Pro - According to a 2004 Japan Productivity Centre (sic) for Socio-Economic Development report titled, 'Summer Time as a Means to Lifestyle Structural Reform', "lighter evenings could, in the long-term, reduce bag theft by up to 10 percent."

Con - The California Energy Commission published a report, 'The Effect of Early Daylight Saving Time on California Electricity Consumption: A Statistical Analysis'. According to the report, the extension of daylight saving time in March 2007 had little or no effect on energy consumption in California.

No studies have been conducted to prove the heated rhetoric caused by DST discussions that could possibly increase global warming by .1658%

Wise words indeed!

Wordology, Lunatic

Next week, we change the balance from more moon and less sun to more sun and less moon. Lunatic literally means ‘moon-sick’ in Old English - or ‘affected with periodic insanity, dependent on the changes of the moon’. It stems from the Old French ‘lunatique’. Maybe more sun is why we feel better in the spring.

Sliced Bread

Speaking of time, sliced bread was introduced in 1928 by Otto Frederick Rohwedder. Before then, bread was sold in whole loaves as bakers didn't believe sliced bread could stay fresh. Betty White was born in 1922 and that makes her older than sliced bread.

Also, 1922 was the last year of the Ottoman Empire, when it was taken over by the Turkish government. It was also 14 years after the last time the Chicago Cubs won a World Series, in 1908. The record still stands at 105 years.

Sound Mirrors

Mirrors can actually reflect sound as well as light. Mirrors that reflect sound waves are known as “acoustic mirrors,” and were used in Britain during World War I to detect certain sound waves coming from enemy aircraft from 8 to 15 miles away. This was before the development of radar.

Several were built around the coast of Britain, and are still standing today on both the north and south shores of England. They are also called listening stones.

Concrete acoustic mirrors were built on the south and northeast coasts of England between about 1916 and the 1930s. The ‘listening ears’ were intended to provide early warning of incoming enemy aircraft.

They did work, but the development of faster aircraft made them less useful, as an incoming aircraft would be within sight by the time it had been located. Also, increasing ambient noise made the mirrors more difficult to use successfully, and then radar rendered acoustic detection redundant.

There is also an example of one that is a parabolic sound mirror carved into boulders to dramatically magnify the sound of a nearby stream for listeners. It is inspired by satellite dishes, the seating in choir lofts where curved walls reflect sound, and the antique hand-held sound magnifiers used in the days before hearing aids.

Dial 311

The 311 number has been used for years, but many are not aware of it. It was used in the distant past as a number dialed in TV shows and some movies in the same way as the now used 555 prefix.

This number is available in most US and Canadian cities for a wide range of non-emergency services, such as graffiti, high weeds, litter, and garbage cart replacement, aggressive or dead animals, non-working street lights, noise complaints, potholes, etc. Most large cities have made this available and the list of cities continues to grow. When in doubt, try dialing 311 before calling 911 and they can help. Handy to use when you do not know the phone number for non-emergency police or city services.

Old Spice

The first Old Spice® product, called Early American Old Spice for women, was introduced in 1937, closely followed by Old Spice for men in 1938. The Old Spice products were manufactured by the Shulton Company that was founded in 1934 by William Lightfoot Schultz.

Early American Old Spice was developed around a colonial theme. When Old Spice was introduced, Schultz was interested in maintaining a colonial framework for those products and chose a nautical theme for Old Spice. Thus, colonial sailing ships were used as a trademark. Through continuous use and advertising, the various ships have become a valuable trademark identifying the Old Spice product for men.

The original ships used on the packaging were the Grand Turk and the Friendship. Other ships used on Old Spice packaging include the Wesley, Salem, Birmingham and Hamilton.

Procter & Gamble purchased the Old Spice fragrances, skin care, antiperspirant, and deodorant products from the Shulton Company in June 1990.

Origins of Gin and Tonic

British soldiers fighting in the Indies had a serious problem with Malaria. The British also had a tonic water that contained quinine, which was effective at fighting malaria. The tonic water tasted terrible, so the British soldiers mixed gin with it to make it palatable. Upon returning home after the war, they continued to drink the mix and it became quite popular.

Incidentally, Malaria comes from the Italian, meaning 'bad air' as it was originally thought to be caused by dirty air.

Tonic water still contains some quinine, but much less than the original, and now usually has artificial sweeteners to moderate the bitter taste. Interesting to note the sensitivity of quinine to UV makes it appear fluorescent in direct sunlight and glows blue under black lights.

Minced Oath

No, it is not a spicy oath. 'Bye George, by George we’ll miss ya!'  The minced oath, “by George” where one letter - ‘g’ word is substituted for another ‘g’ word. In this case, the second George is substituted for God, because some people did not believe in God. The use of George came into use around the turn of the 20th century and usually meant great or OK, as in ‘everything is George’.

Free Smile Friday

Put one on and wear it all day