A total solar eclipse is happening on August 21, 2017, and
for the first time in nearly a hundred years, it will be visible
from much of the continental US. In the US, the eclipse will
appear to move across the country from West to East, with the
best view starting around 9:05 a.m. PDT in Lincoln Beach,
Oregon, according to NASA, and moving southeast throughout the
day to end around Charleston, South Carolina at 2:48 pm EDT.
It is true that you
should not look directly at it with your naked eyes, because the
sun delivers more power than our eyes are designed to handle,
and it will damage your retinas. Not likely to make you blind,
but could cause serious ongoing problems.
In Dallas, the Partial
Eclipse begins Aug 21 at 11:40 am. The moon touches the Sun's
edge Maximum Eclipse at 1:09 pm. The moon is closest to the
center of the Sun. The Partial Eclipse ends at 2:39 pm.
When the moon passes
between Earth and the sun, and scores a bull’s eye by completely
blotting out the sunlight, that is a total solar eclipse. The
moon casts a shadow on our planet. The total eclipse will last
up to 2 minutes and 40 seconds in places. A partial eclipse will
be visible along the periphery.
Below are site links to
see the eclipse online. In addition to the links below, you can
check YouTube, which also promises live viewing.
August 21 is National Spumoni Day in the United
States. Go out and eat some great Spumoni ice cream while
watching the eclipse. It will make you happy.
Ostriches are the largest flightless bird
living today, and also happen to lay the largest eggs of any
living bird in existence today. In fact, the Guinness World
Record for the largest egg laid by a bird was achieved during
2008 on a farm in Sweden – the egg weighed 5 pounds and 11.36
ounces. A typical ostrich egg is equivalent to about two dozen
chicken eggs.
The shells of ostrich eggs are so thick that most people
recommend getting into them by boring in with an electric drill.
They usually take about two hours to cook, due to the thickness
of the shell.
Ostriches sleep standing up. Ostriches are the fastest
two-legged creature in the world. An ostrich when pushed or in
danger can achieve speeds of up to 43 miles per hour, and can
steadily keep up a pace of about 30 miles per hour for 10 miles
at a time without needing to slow down or rest.
Ostriches are found
naturally in Africa, but many are also found in southern
Australia and some are farmed in the US.
Ostriches do not stick their head in sand
when startled or threatened. They dig shallow holes in the
dirt to use as nests for their eggs. Several times a day, a
bird puts her head down and turns the eggs. It just looks like
she is burying her head in the sand.
There is an
interesting web site called thisTothat LINK It has
two boxes and you choose a material to put in each, such wood,
glass, leather, or whatever and it offers suggestions of the
best glue for the project. Very handy.
Peruse has a controversial double
meaning due to common misuse. Even dictionaries do not all agree
on the meaning of the word.
The primary meaning for the word peruse is
to read or look at carefully or thoroughly. Its original
meaning is synonymous with words like examine or inspect. The
new definition addressing the misuse cropped up rather recently,
sometime late in the last century.
The new meaning for the word is to skim, to look through in a
casual or selective manner. These definitions have one
suggesting a thorough examination and the other a few simple
glances.
A word with two
potential, opposite meanings is called a contronym, an
autoantonym, or a Janus word. Others include: “To bolt” can mean “to run
away,” but it can also mean “to hold in place.” “Sanction” can
mean “to approve” or “to boycott.”
Elsie is the name of the cow used as the
symbol on Elmer's products. She is the spouse of Elmer, the bull
(male cow) who the company is named after.
Keyboard function keys really do have
functions and some are quite handy. Function keys are usually on
the top row and have an F followed by a number, such as F1, F2,
etc.
The most universal is F1, press it and you get help for almost
every program you happen to be using.
F3 is handy for doing searches. For instance, if you are in a
document or on a long web page, just press F3 and a search bar
appears on the bottom of your screen. (You can also open a
search box by holding down the CTRL key and hitting the letter
f.)
F6 is handy if you are using a browser. It jumps the cursor to
the address bar so you can type a new address in it.
Obviously there are more, but some are used by specific
programs, such as F7 while in Microsoft Word checks for
spelling. Try them, you may be surprised at how much time you
can save.
Warner Brothers’ Tweety
Bird, was told to put some clothes on. In his first cartoon,
Tweety was pink, but censors said he looked naked, so animator
Bob Clampett said he was repainted yellow, so he appeared to
have feathers.
Life
happens, whether you take advantage of it or not.
Take advantage of celebrating a Happy Friday!