Aug 12, 2016

Chauvin Day

On the anniversary of Napoleon Bonaparte's birthday August 15, we celebrate the interesting etymological history of the word "chauvinism," which comes from a man named Nicholas Chauvin, who so idealized Napoleon that he became internationally mocked for his blind loyalty to a cause. The term became associated with any misguided or ill-intentioned adherence to a particular cause and the discriminatory mindset it refers to today.

Aug 6, 2016

Happy Friday

Happiness in your soul cannot be contained.


Let all that happiness out and enjoy a Happy Friday!

What's in a Name, J.R. Simplot

J.R. Simplot was a high school dropout who developed the first freeze-dried potatoes and vegetables for the U.S. Army, during WWII in Europe. The longer shelf-life and easy reconstitution of Simplot’s frozen vegetables helped ensure troops overseas could be kept stocked with food needed during the war.

At the end of the war Simplot signed a contract with Ray Kroc at Mc Donald's to provide frozen French fries. It provides McDonald’s with more than 50% of its French fries worldwide.

Size Matters

The Statue of Liberty is the tallest statue in the US. France paid $250,000 to build the statue, US paid $275,000 to build the stand. It was originally copper color and gradually took on a patina to the current green.

Motto of United States

The following is not meant to be political, but to remind what the Motto of the United States is. Contrary to what one of our candidates for president said during her recent acceptance speech, E Pluribus Unum was officially replaced as the motto of the US during 1956, by the US Congress passing an act making “In God We Trust” the official motto.



Incidentally, President Obama also made the same faux pas during a speech he made a few years ago.

Clementines, Tangerines, and Oranges

A Mandarin is a small, loose-skinned, orange-yellow to deep orange-red citrus fruit. While many refer to mandarins as oranges, they are technically tangerines. All Clementines and Tangerines are Mandarins, but not all Mandarins are Clementines or Tangerines.

A Clementine is a deep red-orange, often seedless mandarin orange.

A Tangerine is a widely cultivated variety of mandarin orange having deep red-orange fruit with easily separated segments. Tangerines have seeds. A tangerine is smaller, less round, sweeter, and contains less acid than an orange. They have virtually the same nutritional values. Tangerines are smaller than oranges and the peel comes off easily.

Oranges are larger, as well as more tart and sweet than tangerines. Orange zest is the orange layer on the outside and the rind is the white underneath.

A Satsuma is a seedless mandarin orange native to Japan and the hardiest commercial citrus fruit.

Clementines look like small oranges: they are actually a cross between navel oranges and mandarin oranges. They are a great source of vitamin C and provide a natural sweet, honey-like flavor. They have shiny tight skins and make a great display as a centerpiece. Clementines are often confused with Satsumas, which have a looser skin.

Navel oranges are the most common type of oranges for eating. These sweet oranges are baseball sized, seedless, and sweet. The thick skins make these oranges easy to peel.

Blood oranges have a deep red color of the flesh that distinguishes them. They are smaller than navel oranges and are very sweet.

Valencia oranges are the classic orange for juicing. They have a thin skin and seeds. Valencia oranges are delicious to eat as a fruit, but more difficult to peel than navel oranges.

Seville and other sour oranges make great marmalade. They can be used to add acid when cooking, for cocktails, and in salad dressing. You can replace lemon or lime juice in recipes with the juice of a sour orange.

Free Gym Membership

 Before you sign up or renew your health club/gym membership, check your health insurance policy. Many reimburse for health club membership fees.

Wordology, Whale, Wail, and Wale

A whale is a large marine mammal, one of the larger cetacean mammals that has flippers, a streamlined body, and a blowhole. The word whale may also be used as an adjective to signify something outstanding or impressive, and used as a verb to mean to thrash soundly, to beat upon, or to go fishing for whales. The word whale is derived from the Old English word hwæl.

A wail is a high-pitched cry of grief, anger, or pain. Wail may be used as a noun or a verb. Wail is also used by American jazz musicians to mean 'play well', as in, he can sure wail on that sax. Wail comes from the Old Norse word væla, which means to lament.


A wale is the welt that raises up on the skin after a whipping. Wale may also be used to refer to a ridge of corduroy fabric or the weave of a fabric in general. Wale also refers to the horizontal band on a basket. Wale is derived from the Old English word walu, which means ridge of earth or stone, as well as stripe or weal.

Hamburger Menu

The three short horizontal lines on the upper right or left of browsers and on many apps is commonly called 'the hamburger menu'.


In Chrome on the upper-right corner, click on it and under “More Tools” is 'Extensions'. In Firefox it is called 'add-ons'. Click either and you will see a list of all the extensions or add-ons you have installed. At the bottom of the list is 'Get more'. Clicking that will take you to Google Play or Mozilla and show thousands of free extensions and add-ons you can install.


Incidentally, for most options, icons, hamburger menus, other menus, Start Button, or shortcuts in Windows, left click the mouse to take action, right click the mouse for information. If you are not sure, right click.