- May 21, 2012 -

It's been a busy 4 days. I haven't been on here, I have no pics to share ... & I don't even know where to start so I'm just going to skip the 3 days prior to yesterday & pick up with yesterday. I looked at outdoor kitchens since I've always wanted one & fell in love with the one pictured here. That little bugger is over $7k & I'm sure that doesn't include shipping. LCFD training tomorrow.

Cancel any magazine subscriptions you don't read regularly.

Collude:

To conspire or plot.

The U.S. District Court has granted class-action status to a complaint that the retailer & manufacturer colluded to keep prices high.

English "lude" words ("allude," delude," "elude," & "prelude") are based on the Latin verb ludere, meaning "to play." "collude" dates back to 1525 & combines ludere & the prefix col-, meaning "with' or"together." "Collude" is younger than the related noun "collusion," which appeared sometime in the 14thh century with the specific meaning "secret agreement" or cooperation." Despite their playful history, "collude" & "colusion' have always suggested deceit or trickery rather than good-natured fun.

FICO will love you if you're always in debt & making payments. But here's the catch - you'll never be able to take care of your family, retire with dignity, or make a difference in the world through giving.

Fitness center etiquette:

• Wipe your sweat off mats & machines. No one wants to sit or lie in someone else's perspiration. Carry a towel for this purpose, or use disinfectant spray & wipes if supplied by the gym.
• Don't leave weights & dumbbells on a var or machine. Otherwise, the next person who uses the equipment may have to spend the time removing them.

Garfield's spine on display at museum (2000):

On this day in 2000, the bones of President James Garfield's spine are on display for a final day as part of the Out of the Blue Closets exhibit at the National Museum of Health and Medicine in Washington, D.C. The exhibit featured medical oddities from the museum's archives.

The British medical journal The Lancet published a story about the exhibit in May 2000. Among many other medical curiosities, the display featured President Garfield's spinal column that showed exactly where one out of two assassin's bullets had passed through it on July 2, 1881. The first bullet grazed Garfield's arm. The second bullet lodged below his pancreas.

Alexander Graham Bell, who was one of Garfield's physicians at the time, tried to use an early version of a metal detector to find the second bullet, but failed. Historical accounts vary slightly as to the exact cause of Garfield's death. Physicians may have given him treatments that hastened his demise, including the administering of quinine, morphine, brandy and calomel; he was also fed through the rectum. Others insist Garfield died from an already advanced case of heart disease that the trauma of the shooting exacerbated. Autopsy reports described how pressure from the festering pancreatic wound created a fatal aneurism. Regardless, Garfield succumbed to complications from his wounds 80 days after being shot.

Garfield's spine is not the only presidential body part to have been an item of interest at the National Museum of Health and Medicine. The museum also owns some of Lincoln's skull fragments and President Eisenhower's gallstones. A museum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, keeps a tumor removed from President Grover Cleveland. John F. Kennedy's brain, which was removed during his autopsy after his assassination in 1963, disappeared and has never been found.

Give items an expiration date. If you have not used an item by a certain date, then let it go. This applies for unread magazines, clothes that don't fit, kids toys, etc.

Grammar Guide:

Grammar Guide is an easy to use, quick reference guide with general rules, helpful hints and reference for using grammar in your day-to-day writing. The topics covered in this guide are the most troublesome to the majority of writers. The topics include a glossary of terms, punctuation, capitalization, misused words, misspelled words, when to use numbers and tips for proofreading. This guide is for quick reference and by no means is meant to be your only resource on the subject.

Hark back:

1: To turn back to an earlier topic or circumstance. 2: To go back to something as an origin or source.

2 local grape varieties ... give the wine an earthly quality & nutty flavor that hark back to Italian wines of another era.

"Hark." a very old word meaning "listen," was used as a cry in hunting. The master of the hunt might cry "Hark! Forward!" or "Hark! Back!" The cries became set phrases, both as nouns & verbs. Thus, a "hark back" was a retracing of a route by dogs & hunters, & "to hark back" was to turn back along the path. From its use in hunting, the verb soon acquired its current figurative meanings. In the early 20th century, English-speakers used "hearken back" & its variant "harken back" synonymously with the verb "hark back." Like "hark," "hearken" & "harken" can mean "listen," through the latter can also be used alone to mean "hark back."

How many common words of 4 letters or more can you make from the letters in the following word? (You may use each letter only once.)

FAMILY

Fail, fila, film, filmy, flam, flay, lima, limy, mail.

ICK! Scale! All over your houseplants! But spraying insecticidal soap isn't working! What to do, what to do?1st of all, calm down. You're not doing anything wrong; you're just not doing enough of what's right. A soapy spray isn't as effective as a soapy bath. Try bathing your plants repeatedly, at least once a week. The insects reproduce parthenogenically: even if only 1 survives, it can reproduce all by itself.

Fill a sink or bucket with a gallon or 2 of warm water. Add insecticidal soap, following the package directions if it's concentrated. If it's the prediluted mix, remove the spray top & pour in about 1/3 of a cup for each gallon of water. Turn small plants upside down & hold the stems under the water for several seconds. (Keep the soil in place by covering it with tin foil or with a wet paper towel, & hold your hand over it.) Large plants can be laid on their sides & their limbs gently dipped into the soapy water.

I don't have a problem with guys being stay-at-home dads, as long as the family is in agreement & can afford to do that kind of thing. But if you're just scraping by or can't meet your financial obligations, that's a different story. Then the guy needs to get off his butt, fulfill his responsibilities as a man & a husband, & find a way to start taking care of his family!

If a man wants to be the perfect gentleman by being especially attentive to a woman, she shouldn't be offended. Whatever his motive, he's still trying to be kind. But, here's a tip for men: Ask the woman instead of just doing the kind deed. For example, you can ask, "May I help you with your chair?" As you start to reach for it. That way, the woman either says "Yes. Thanks!" or "Oh, that's okay; I have it." Asking 1st diffuses a potentially awkward exchange if the woman doesn't want help.

If your mailbox is full of unsolicited credit card & home equity loan offers, call the national credit bureaus to opt out of unsolicited offers. This keeps credit sharks from swimming around in your credit reports for the sole purpose of offering credit you didn't request. The toll-free # is 888-5OPT-OUT

If you're planning a road trip this summer, pack light. Avoid strapping luggage or cargo to the roof of your car. This will impact your gas mileage. Instead take only what you need & make sure you can fit it inside the car.

In whose name did Stevie Wonder accept his 1985 Oscar for Best Original Song for “I Just Called to Say I Love You”?

Then-imprisoned South African civil rights leader Nelson Mandela. As a result, Wonder’s music was banned in South Africa. The song was in the film The Woman in Red.

Iron Man 2:

Wealthy inventor Tony Stark -- aka Iron Man -- resists calls by the American government to hand over his technology. Meanwhile, Ivan Vanko has constructed his own miniaturized arc reactor, causing all kinds of problems for the superhero.

Items that don't add value to your life shouldn't be in your life. Clear the clutter!

Keep the utensil holder next to your stove top for easy access. Place your utensils with the handles facing down to maximize the storage in the holder. Don't overcrowd the holder; doing so will make removing or adding utensils difficult. Only store the utensils you use most often in your utensil holder.

Learn from the mistakes of others. You won't live long enough to make them all yourself.

Lots of people believe good things only come with payments attached. Many times the only reason for this is that their parents had the same wrong idea about handling money, & it rubbed off on them.

Occam's razor:

A scientific & philosophic rule that the simplest of competing theories or explanations be preferred to the more complex.

With regard to crop circles, Sean invoked Occam's razor to explain why they were more likely created by humans than by extraterrestrials.

The 14th-century philosopher & theologian William of Occam (also spelled "Ockham") didn't invent the rule associated with his name. Others had espoused "keep it simple" before, but no one wielded the concept (also known as the "law of parsimony") as relentlessly as he did. He used it to counter what he considered the fuzzy logic of his theological contemporaries, & his applications of this principle inspired 19th-century Scottish philosopher Sir William Hamilton to link "Occam" with the idea of cutting away extraneous material, giving us the modern name for the rule.

Paper Toss:

** Now with Retina Display support for iPhone 4 **
Have you ever been bored at work, crumpled up a piece of paper and counted how many times you can make it in a small trash can? Has your boss ever gone out for a quick bite while you and your co-workers see how far you can move the trash can away and still make the paper shot? Have you ever brought in electric fans to make the shot even harder? Backflip Studios is happy to announce that we have brought this amazing and hilarious experience to the iPhone.
This game is oddly satisfying . . . much like tossing a real ball of crumpled paper into a metal trash basket. So realistic, you will think you are stuck in an office killing time.
Amaze, share and compare your scores with friends and others on the online global scoreboard.
Game includes:
-Gorgeous graphics
-7 levels of varied difficulty
-Innovative flick control
-Global online scoreboard
-Animated paper
-Real office sounds
-Varying wind speed from fan impacts paper flight
-Verbal abuse from angry co-workers
-Mobile Ads
-Retina Display support with high-resolution graphics for iPhone 4

Patios:

"Outdoor living rooms," as they were initially called, give suburban families a summer space to cook, dine, relax & - yes, back in the day - sunbathe.

Randy Johnson throws perfect game at 40 (2004):

On this day in 2004, 40-year-old Arizona Diamondbacks lefthander Randy Johnson becomes the oldest pitcher in major league history to throw a perfect game, leading his team to a 2-0 victory over the Atlanta Braves. A "perfect game" is when a pitcher faces a minimum 27 batters, recording 27 outs. Through the 2006 season, only 17 perfect games had been thrown, including 15 in the modern era (post-1900).

Johnson, known for his overpowering fastball, struck out 13 batters in the game. He led the National League in strikeouts for the fifth time that year; he had previously won four strikeout titles in the American League, even though managers routinely stacked their lineups with right-handed hitters to combat Johnson’s utter dominance of left-handers. The 6-foot-10-inch "Big Unit" used his height and length to full advantage, striding towards the plate and throwing the ball sidearm, so that left-handers could not see the pitch until it was on top of them or past them.

Johnson had already thrown a no-hitter in 1990 for the Seattle Mariners; he missed a perfect game that day by walking seven batters. In 1995, still with Seattle, he won his first of five Cy Young Awards, given each year to the best American League and National League pitchers. His next four Cy Youngs came consecutively from 1999 to 2002, while he pitched for the National League’s Arizona Diamondbacks. In 2001, Johnson set a major league record with an average of 13.41 strikeouts per nine innings. He was also the fifth player to throw no-hitters in both the American League and National League after Cy Young, Jim Bunning, Nolan Ryan and Hideo Nomo.

The oldest pitcher to throw a no-hitter in the major leagues was 44-year-old Texas Ranger Nolan Ryan in 1991. It was the seventh no-hitter of Ryan’s career. He never threw a perfect game.

Registries:

Honeymoon Registry: These registries, available though many travel companies & agents, allow guests to contribute money toward a couple's honeymoon trip.

Charity Registry: Couples who don't want gifts ask that guests make donations to a favorite charity or nonprofit agency instead.

Alternative Retailer Registry: This is a registry at a specialized store such as one that sells home improvement supplies, sporting goods, camping gear or furniture. Registries have expanded from being just for traditional gifts such as tableware, kitchen goods, & linens.

Responses such as "no, but thanks for asking" & "No, I can't help right now, but you're kind to think of me" show you appreciate being asked.

Saxicolous:

Inhabiting or growing among rocks.

As a graduate student, Pan studied sacicolous lichens above the treeline in 3 different parts of the Canadian Rockies.

It's not a word that exactly rolls off the tongue, but it's a seful designation for botanists. The word is from Latin, naturally. Saxum is Latin for "rock," & "colous" (meaning "living or growing in or on") traces back to Latin - cola, meaning "inhabitant." Other "colous" offspring include "arenicolous" ("living, burrowing, or growing in sand") & "cavernicolous" (inhabiting caves"). All of these words were coined in the late 19th & early 20th centuries to describe the flora & fauna of our world.

Simpsons airs 400th episode (2007):

On this day in 2007, Fox’s long-running animated series The Simpsons airs its 400th episode.

The Simpsons was created by Matt Groenig, whose comic strip Life Is Hell caught the attention of the Hollywood producer James L. Brooks. Brooks enlisted Groenig to create a cartoon short that would run during the Fox sketch comedy series The Tracey Ullmann Show. Two of the show’s regulars, Dan Castellaneta and Julie Kavner, provided the voices for Homer and Marge Simpson, while Nancy Cartwright (who had originally auditioned for the role of their daughter, Lisa) landed the role of their troublemaking adolescent son, Bart. Lisa (voiced by Yeardley Smith) rounded out the speaking parts for the dysfunctional Simpson family, who made their debut on The Tracey Ullmann Show in April 1987. Brooks later convinced Barry Diller, Fox’s then-chief executive, to turn the shorts into a half-hour weekly series, to be developed by Brooks, Groenig and Sam Simon. The Simpsons debuted on Fox in December 1989 with a special Christmas episode, “Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire.”

The first animated prime-time sitcom since The Flinstones in the 1960s, The Simpsons burst onto the scene during a period when most of the successful comedy series on television were family-friendly offerings such as The Cosby Show, Full House, Growing Pains and Family Matters. Offbeat and dysfunctional, The Simpsons offered a far different view of family life. Critics raved about the show and its edgy, pop-culture savvy humor from the beginning, and it became a huge ratings hit.

In 2005, The Simpsons became the longest-running sitcom ever, passing The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, which ran for 14 seasons (1952-66). Over the years, the series racked up no fewer than 23 Emmy Awards, and was named by TIME magazine as the best show of all time in 1999 and as No. 1 on Entertainment Weekly’s list of New Classic TV Shows in 2008. Its incredible success paved the way for other adult-oriented animated series, notably Beavis and Butthead, King of the Hill, The Family Guy and South Park.

Smart launches U.S. road show to introduce its microcar (2007):

Los Angeles, California, is the first stop on a cross-country road show launched on this day in 2007 by Smart USA to promote the attractions of its "ForTwo" microcar, which it had scheduled for release in the United States in 2008.

In the early 1990s, Nicholas Hayek of Swatch, the company famous for its wide range of colorful and trendy plastic watches, went to German automaker Mercedes-Benz with his idea for an "ultra-urban" car. The result of their joint venture was the diminutive Smart (an acronym for Swatch Mercedes ART) ForTwo, which debuted at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 1997 and went on sale in nine European countries over the next year. Measuring just over eight feet from bumper to bumper, the original ForTwo was marketed as a safe, fuel-efficient car that could be maneuvered easily through narrow, crowded city streets. Despite its popularity among urban Europeans, Smart posted significant losses, and Swatch soon pulled out of the joint venture.

Undaunted, Mercedes maker DaimlerChrysler (now Daimler AG) launched the Smart ForTwo in Canada in 2004 as an initial foray into the North American market. In June 2006, DaimlerChrysler chairman Dieter Zetsche announced that the Smart would make its U.S. debut in early 2008. Between 2003 and 2006, as reported by the German newspaper Handelsblatt, DaimlerChrysler took a loss of some 3.9 billion euros (around $5.2 billion) on the Smart brand, and the company looked to the U.S. market as a way to bring the brand into profitability.

The cross-country road show that began in May 2007 allowed consumers in 50 cities nationwide to test-drive the ForTwo. On each stop on the tour, a large truck served as a mobile exhibit dedicated to the microcar, complete with interactive displays and virtual demonstrations. As Dave Schembri, president of Smart USA, put it: "The Smart ForTwo is all about urban independence and freeing people from the constraints of city driving." Under normal driving conditions, the ForTwo was designed to achieve 40 plus miles per gallon. The show was presumably a success: By September 2007, according to an article in MarketWatch, Smart USA said it had already received more than 30,000 registrations from potential buyers. The FortTwo went on sale in the United States in January 2008, at prices ranging from around $12,000 to around $21,000.

Store oven mitts in a drawer near the oven.

Surf Report:

Take the mystery out of checking the surf with the Oakley Surf Report powered by Surfline. Check the surf height, swell direction, and tide. Monitor the weather. View a 2-day forecast. You'll know exactly where to go when there's a low tide, with an epic SSW swell, and an onshore breeze. And you can do it all from the comfort of your iPhone or iPod touch.
You can use the Surf Report to:
-Stalk the surf conditions for thousands of beaches and bookmark your favorites.
-Learn what the best conditions are for any beach
-Find the best beaches nearest you.
-Immerse yourself in the surf community.
-Watch great surf videos.
-Get the latest Surf News.
-Learn where the pros like to surf by reading the Oakley Team Rider Bios.
-See photos from the latest surf events.

Temperature Convert:

Temperature Convert 3.0 now out with support for iPad and iPhone!
Temperature Convert is a powerful yet simple tool for converting temperatures from fahrenheit to celsius or celsius to fahrenheit. It also has support for Kelvin so you can convert kelvin to celsius or fahrenheit or vise-versa. Also Included is a decimal and negative point, so you can convert decimal temperatures and negative (below 0) temperatures.
With Temperature Convert's slick interface converting Temperature is a breeze. Simply open up the app, type in the temperature and Temperature Convert will autoconvert your Temperature.

There's no need to use chemicals to kill the grass when converting a portion of lawn to a bed. Instead, layer about 10 sheets of newspapers on the grassy area you're converting, & cover the newspapers with mulch. This will smother the lawn.

Traditionally, dessert spoons & forks are brought out before dessert is served. These days, the dessert utensils are often set horizontally above the place setting before a meal. Set the dessert spoon with the handle facing right. Place the dessert fork underneath the spoon with the handle facing left.

What did former Russian president Boris Yeltsin say he was seeking when Secret Service agents found him—drunk, alone, and in his underwear—trying to hail a cab near the White House?

What is an octobass?

It’s a rare three-stringed musical instrument, a much larger version of the double bass. More than 10 feet tall and rather unwieldy, playing it requires two musicians—one to do the bowing, the other to do the fingering.

What is the key ingredient in the Hawaiian dish poi?

Taro root. Taro is a thick-rooted leafy green vegetable. To make poi, the roots are cooked for a long time and then pounded into a paste.

What should you put in the bottom of a pot, before adding the soil & the plant? Pebbles? Potsherds?

When a co-worker or a co-worker's relative is seriously ill, actions speak louder than words. Show sympathy by helping the person at work & not complaining about absences. Be alert if anyone tries to undermine the worker's position during the illness. Keep the person in the loop, if he's receptive, tell him what;s happening in the office.

When budgeting, if you continually have money left over at the end of the month in a category that you should be going through like food or gas, then you're setting aside too much, & you need to adjust your budget down. Some categories - like clothing - will carry over. If it's just small amounts here or there, just rake it together & dump it into one category or toward a place where you're struggling.

When you go to a financial advisor, you're paying for his advice, expertise & ability to teach you to make smart decisions about your investments. You may have heard me say to search out someone with the heart of a teacher. This is so important when it comes to handling your money. I mean, you've worked hard for it, & now you want it to work hard for you. Are you willing to just throw it at something because a guy in an expensive suit says so?

Which device was invented 1st, 2nd, & 3rd?

A. Egg beater

B. Can opener

C. Cash register

BCA. The 1st can opener looked like a bent bayonet & never left the store. Your cans had to be opened before you went home!

Which nation is the youngest, 2nd youngest, & 3rd youngest?

A. Palau

B. East Timor

C. Czech Republic

BAC. East Timor became the 1st new country of the 21st century on May 20, 2002.

Which of these are considered part of the Romantic languages?

French, Italian, English, Portuguese, German, Romanian.

French, Italian, Portuguese, & Romanian.

Which star is the brightest, 2nd brightest, & 3rd brightest?

A. Canopus

B. Sirius

C. Alpha Centauri

BAC. Sirius resides in the constellation Canis Major, & is often called the Dog Star. In ancient Greek times, its dawn rising marked the hottest days of summer - whence cometh the phrase, "dog days of summer."

Which waterfall is the highest, 2nd highest, & 3rd highest?

A. Angel Falls

B. Victoria Falls

C. Tugela Falls

ACB. Although sighted in the early 20th century by explorers, Angel Falls was not known to the Western world until it was visited in 1935 by American aviator James Crawford Angel. That crazy dude actually landed at the top of the waterfall.

Which word has the most, 2nd most, & 3rd most meanings?

A. Run

B. Set

C. Get

BAC. Have a look in an unabridged dictionary like the Oxford English or Chalmers. The list of alternate meanings for the word "set" goes on forever. And there are almost as many entries for "run," & "get." Fascinating, huh? (Okay, okay ...)

Which word is used the most, 2nd most, & 3rd most?

A. Of

B. The

C. And

Who was the only American woman to found a lasting religion?

Mary Baker Eddy, founder of the Christian Science religion.

Why don't cats play poker in the jungle?

Too many cheetahs.

You don't need a diet, just more sleep. Sleep deprivation affects the hormones that control your eating, making you more apt to stuff yourself.