• April 20, 2012 •

TGIF! Had lunch with Pete at Steak 'n' Shake where I thoroughly enjoyed a bacon cheeseburger, cheese fries, & a chocolate shake. Then we did a little grocery shopping at Albertsons & headed home for the evening. This morning I again lived vicariously through my 2nd Life avatar & went hang-gliding in Malibu. Onion Festival tomorrow!

Bedroom:

Put clean clothes away. Put dirty clothes in the hamper. It it's half clean or half dirty, lose the identity crisis & give it a home.

Danica Patrick becomes first woman to win Indy race (2008):

On April 20, 2008, 26-year-old Danica Patrick wins the Indy Japan 300 at Twin Ring Montegi in Montegi, Japan, making her the first female winner in IndyCar racing history.

Danica Patrick was born on March 25, 1982, in Beloit, Wisconsin. She became involved in racing as a young girl and as a teenager moved to England in pursuit of better training opportunities. In 2002, after returning to the United States, she began driving for the Rahal Letterman Racing team, owned by 1986 Indianapolis 500 champ Bobby Rahal and late-night talk-show host David Letterman. In 2005, Patrick started competing in IndyCar events, which include the famed Indianapolis 500 race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indiana.

On May 29, 2005, Patrick made her Indy 500 debut, becoming just the fourth female driver ever to compete in the celebrated 500-mile race, which was first held in 1911 and today is considered one of auto racing's premier events. (Driver Janet Guthrie first broke the gender barrier at the Indy 500 in 1977.) During Patrick's inaugural Indy 500, she led the race for 19 laps, marking the first time a woman ever led a lap in the competition. In the end, the diminutive driver, who stands 5'2" and tips the scales at 100 pounds, finished the race in fourth place. She later earned Rookie of the Year honors for the Indy Racing League's 2005 season and finished 12th in the overall standings.

During the 2006 season, Patrick finished in ninth place in the overall IndyCar standings, but didn't win any major races. In 2007, she moved to the Andretti Green Racing team and finished the season seventh in the standings. On April 20, 2008, Patrick won the Indy Japan 300--her 50th IndyCar Series race--at Twin Ring Montegi, a 1.5-mile oval track, making her the first female winner of a major U.S.-sanctioned open-wheel race. She finished the 200-lap race 5.8594 seconds ahead of Helio Castroneves, then a two-time Indy 500 champ. At the 2009 Indy 500, Patrick came in third behind winner Castroneves and second-place finisher Dan Wheldon.

Off the track, the photogenic Patrick has been a media and fan favorite and has found success with a number of commercial endorsements. In 2005 she appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated, and in 2008 she was featured in the magazine's famous swimsuit issue.

Easy Meatloaf Recipe:

Servings: 4
Ingredients
1 pound freshly ground chuck, (at least 80% lean, a.k.a. 80/20)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 level teaspoon onion powder
2 tablespoons ketchup
1/3 cup plain breadcrumbs
For the glaze
1 cup ketchup
1 teaspoon light brown sugar
few dashes tabasco sauce
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375F.
2. In a large bowl, mix the ground beef, salt, pepper, onion powder, ketchup, breadcrumbs and any additional ingredients using your hands until just combined. Overmixing will result in a less-than-fluffy loaf.
3. On a foil-lined baking sheet, shape the mixture into a free-form loaf, then smooth over using your fingers
4. Mix all glaze ingredients together in a small bowl.
5. Spread an even layer of glaze over meatloaf and transfer to oven.
6. Bake for 45 minutes, then remove from oven, allow to rest for at least 15 minutes, slice and serve.
Level of Difficulty: Easy
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 45 minutes

Eraser sponges:

Dirt & stain removal takes less elbow grease with these nifty cleaners.

Foot-in-mouth rescue:

The flub: Saying, "It's nice to meet you," at a business meeting & having the person reply, "Don't you remember? We met last month at the Chamber Convention."

Finesse it: "I remember. I'm just so bat at names. Sorry!" Then, if you can, add something that shows you haven't totally forgotten meeting the person, "We talked about your huge flight delay on the way to the meeting. I hope you haven't run into big travel problems since then." A helpful hint: When you're introduced to someone you may have met before, say, "It's nice to see you" instead of "It's nice to meet you."

How much money is awarded to the syndicate behind the winning yacht in an America’s Cup race?
None. Despite the mega-millions spent to compete, the only prize is the America’s Cup, the oldest trophy in international sports competition.

Occasions:
Effortlessly remember birthdays, anniversaries, holidays and other special events with Occasions™! (includes local or push alerts!)
Keep track of dates that are important to you and your loved ones with pop-up, sound and badge count alerts provided through local or push notifications. Decide when you want to know about an occasion coming up, and then use the in-app communication links to send your well wishes.
Sync with Contacts and Facebook to include family and friends in your Occasions list. Create custom entries, complete with photos and custom labels, for someone or something not in your contacts list, like a niece or nephew. Customize Occasions to work for you by selecting the numerous options just the way you want them. The simple and intuitive interface, sleek appearance and feature-rich design make Occasions the only event reminder you need.
OUTSTANDING FEATURES:
• Local Notifications - Receive badge count updates and personalized alerts for your important occasions. Specify the time of day that works best for you to receive alerts. Available on iPhone 4.0 OS or higher.
• Push Notifications - Receive badge count updates and alerts for your important occasions. Specify the time of day that works best for you to receive alerts. (iPhone OS less than 4.0)
• Automatic Retrieval - Retrieves birthdays, anniversaries, and other dates from your Contacts on your iPhone or iPod touch.
• Facebook Sync & Link - Synchronize the birthdays of your Facebook friends and also link them to contact entries.
• Holidays – Select from a list of holidays from 44 countries and 6 religions.
• Remote Backup/Restore - Securely backup and restore all Occasions-specific custom entries and custom data.
• Smart Labels - Correctly categorizes and displays address book dates with the word "Birthday", "bday", "Anniversary", or "anniv" in the date label.
• Badge Count - Displays the number of upcoming occasions on the home screen icon, up to 31 days in advance.
• Communication links - Call, email, message, or see an address, right from the application.
• Add Occasion wizard - Easily add dates to new or existing contacts.
• Customizable Options - Choose the upcoming time frame, notification time, display theme, and other options.
• Custom Entries - Add, edit, and delete custom entries independent of your iPhone or iPod touch contacts, including one-time custom entries.
• Searchable List - Search your Occasions list, and even filter the list by the type of occasion.
• Tutorial - Use the in-app Quick Start Guide and Tutorial to make the most of your Occasions experience.
• Attractive Themes - 16 unique display themes to choose, including a "Standard" theme that matches the iPhone look and feel.
• Fast Load Time - Handles even large lists with a fast start up time.

Secret of NIMH:

This animated adventure chronicles the trials of a widowed field mouse who must move her family to escape a farmer's plow. Aided by a crow and a pack of escaped lab rats, the brave mother struggles to transplant her home to firmer ground.

Simon-pure:

Of untainted purity or integrity; also : pretentiously or hypocritically pure.

Alfred is a simon-pure Republican, rocked in his cradle to the stirring rhythms of G.O.P. speeches, grown to a man sure to vote the party line.

British dramatist & actress Susannah Centlivre (1669-1723) introduced the character of Simon Pure in her 1718 comedy A Bold Stroke for a Wife. In the play, Colonel Fainall wants to marry Anne Lovely, but to do so he must win the consent of Anne's guardian, a Quaker gentleman named Obidah Prim. Fainall tries to gain the needed approval by impersonating a Quaker preacher named Simon Pure. Unfortunately for the scheme, the real Simon Pure appears & proves himself to be the genuine article. People adopted the phrase "the real Simon Pure" (which in turn gave rise to the adjective "simon-pure") to refer to people or things true or genuine.

Washing the car uses up 300 calories an hour.

Watch out for points & origination fees. These are nothing but pre-paid interest. You might get a little lower interest rate if you pay them, but the break-even point is between 7 & 12 years to get your money back. Since the average mortgage is refinanced every 5.6 years, paying points & origination fees is not a good deal. And don't worry if the loan officer tells you this isn't normal. They can make just as much money from the sale. They'll just have to work a little harder to do it!

What American automobile was regularly compared to the P-51 Mustang, the legendary long-range, single-seat World War II fighter plane?

Which detective author was born 1st, 2nd, & 3rd?
A. Raymond Chandler
B. Dashiell Hammett
C. Kenneth Millar

ABC. Dashiell Hammett is the author of the classic detective novel The Maltese Falcon, which was immortalized in film by Humphrey Bogart as Sam Spade, the keen-eyed private eye.

Which famous bird was created 1st, 2nd, & 3rd?

A. Big Bird

B. Daffy Duck

C. Donald Duck