DId you know...

... that four red lights on an Xbox means you have AV plug problem ( Rob's fixing one)

... that the founder of the Girl Scouts was born on Halloween (Missie went to a birthday party for her today)

... that I haven't read a HP book since I read the last one when it came out (too depressing)

YAY useless trivia of both personal and not personal nature! Do you have anything to share? 8)

...that when I'm really tired I can't type to save my life. It took me 4 tries and 3 minutes just to type this properly. ;)

...that it's impossible to find a coat where I live that's not A) wool, B) partially fur, C) at all faux fur, D) a marshmallow coat, or E) a rain coat? I'm pickier than I thought.

Cats love expensive memory foam pillows as much as humans, and will defend their discovery with claws if need be :(

Aww! I feel awful for not telling you that one. I'm sorry about your pillow! We've learned the hard way, too. :(

...that cats enjoy flip flops just as much as memory foam, and if you find a pair for $1-5 somewhere they can be major livesavers for other things. Aloft has her own pair.

I've been educated about flip flops... also any other pair of shoes that the monster can get his teeth into - the more expensive the better. I swear he is more like a dog.

PS. The really irritating thing about the pillow, is that I had to wait almost 6 months for the plastic smell to dissipate before I could use the pillow. I might try washing it and get him a new one.

...dogs (or at least mine) also love memory foam and think will rip your mattress topper and pillows to shreds if left alone with them.

...thongs mean something completely different in Australia and the USA.

...even one year old puppies will break out of the big dog room to steal your favorite shoe in the living room and chew it up. He was doing so well too.

...that my home state of Minnesota has a record high of 114 degrees Fahrenheit, low of -60 degrees Fahrenheit, and a record 1 day temperature change of 71 degrees Fahrenheit.

...my sharp eye teeth grew in behind my front teeth.

Hi Mr ANdrew et al.:

"Biscuits" mean something completely* different
in Australia and the USA.

* well, somewhat different, anyway; there is perhaps a distant relationship.

...that carpenter ants don't actually build anything. They are, in fact, highly destructive to things like 100 year old oak trees.

...that it is easier to juggle an odd number of objects than an even number.

...that if you catch the wrong end of a torch while juggling it won't burn you if you let go quick enough.

...cats enjoy yoga. Especially any pose that puts your head low enough to the ground for them to rub your face.

>#12: ew.

Also, i disagree. it's easier to juggle two balls than three.

is zero an even number?

>#11: that would have to be a very remote relationship. USA biscuits seem closer to scones than cookies, to me.

...grits aren't gritty.

... i have a piece missing out of my
*checks*
right ear.

#12 -- Dogs like yoga for the same reason, more or less.

--that cats love to lay on your homework...while your trying to complete it.

...MrA has the ability to make me laugh at things I've heard before. And yes, as a juggler I have heard every ball joke out there.

So, MrA, you're missing a piece out of your ear? Moo got hungry one night? Ear piercing gone awry? Or...dare I say it...sparkly vampires?

A turtle bit it.

12 I have yoga cats JP.

16 and 17 I was going to go for a VanGogh reference but turtle and sparkling vampires are funnier

. . .I think Einstein must have written something about it but time moves differently while you are at work. . .

#17: Ouch! That must be some story.

#18: I hear time is relative or something. I know time goes slower when relatives are staying over.

...John Astin (the original Gomez Addams) has the exact same hair color as Edgar Allen Poe. Or he did until it turned gray. And before it fell out.

...Seattle's record high is 103 degrees Fahrenheit and the record low is 0 degrees.

...some cats also like Tai Chi and want to *dance* with you. It's hard to hold a pose when you are laughing at your cat.

...that Isaac Asimov is the only author to have a book in every Dewey-decimal category.

...The Main Library at Indiana University sinks over an inch every year because when it was built, engineers failed to take into account the weight of all the books that would occupy the building.

Hi PollyAnnaHP (re Asimov in #22)

I didnʻt know, but am not surprised. I would guess his entry in the 400s would be on Biblical language. Perhaps on everyday English usage, too.

Oh, he had wide interests, all right.
Around 1953-54, I used to sometimes see
Asimov scanning the New Book shelves in the Boston University Library. He obtained special permission to take home bound volumes of Time Magazine from its beginnings about 40 years earlier to the present of that time (the 50s). Someone (not me) asked him if he skipped anything, or read every word of every issue. He admitted to skipping "parts of the financial sections".

#22, 23 Actually he published a major work in every category except the 100s (philosophy and psychology).

...that I do not know of Issac Asimov

OFF TO GOOGLE!! *cue theme music*

...The brain operates on the same amount of power as 10-watt light bulb.

...One human hair can support 3.5 ounces.

...Sneezes regularly exceed 100 mph.

...After eating too much, your hearing is less sharp.

What? :o)

For some reason I keep thinking of Uncle Fester with the lightbulb in his mouth...

...that it is possible for a small lizard to survive lost in a house for over a week even if you have six cats. And even if one of those cats catches it and carries it to you. (Thank goodness, because I would have hated to have a lizard funeral the other day.)

That it is possible for a contractor to finish a job under the time quoted, and for the same amount of money originally quoted.

*jumps around shouting 'I have a bathroom ceiling', and MrA still has all of his fingers*

ETA: eulogy for a Lizard

He was a good lizard, a natural entertainer who would entertain the cats for hours on end. While he will be missed by his immediate family, I believe his friends the house cats will miss him more.

Just recently I remember an occasion when one of the cats found him in a weakened state and bought him to me gently cradled in his mouth...

Um - what else can you say about a lizard?

good heavens Donna! Thats a freakin' miracle! both the time /money thing and Mr. A's fingers

OMG - maybe it was Jesus? In his early days he was a carpenter wasn't he? Maybe because of the tough economic climate he is having to moonlight!

Anyone remember the beginning of Lamb and what he did with the lizard?

JP: we had a lizard we renamed Houdini, because he was an escape artist. The last time he escaped we lost him for 2 weeks and found him the day after we had a houseful of about 40 people for Christmas (not to mention two cats and a dog). We swept him up into the dirt pile when we were cleaning up. I nver would've imagined he could've survived, I guess they are resilient creatures!

I never knew that about Isaac Asimov either I just googled random facts and thought it was interesting! and fitting lol!

...The word "nerd" was first coined by Dr. Seuss in If I Ran the Zoo

...that Kansas state law requires pedestrians crossing the highways at night to wear tail lights.

...that The Baby Ruth candy bar was actually named after Grover Cleveland's baby daughter, Ruth.

that jack-o-lanterns began as large hollowed out turnips? When irish immigrants first came to America, they discovered the pumpkin was more plentiful and easier to carve

The factoid about Asimov reminded me of Rita Moreno's rare achievement of having won all of the major entertainment awards:

Oscar (Best Supporting Actress in West Side Story)
Grammy (soundtrack of Electric Company program)
Tony (The Ritz)
2 Emmys (The Muppet Show & The Rockford Files)

Can anyone think of another entertainer who achieved this?

...Ancient Egyptians shaved off their eyebrows to mourn the deaths of their cats.

...Crocodiles swallow stones to help them dive deeper.

*wonders what the croc does to float up again*

...sea cucumbers can turn themselves inside out to get rid of parasites.

inside out?!

...U.S. Grant, while President was issued a speeding ticket for $20 for riding his horse too fast down a Washington street. He was also the first President to run against a woman candidate, Virginia Woodhull the nominee of the “Equal Rights Party” in 1872.

...James Garfield could perform a very unique parlor feat that entertained many. He could write in Latin with one hand, while writing in Greek with the other hand at the same time

...that Tom Hanks went to my college for acting classes. Who knew. I read an article in my school paper about it today. It's been in the college's plans that when he may visit the college, deemed Tom Hanks Day, he will be crowned King of the Gladiators.

...that I really hope K's school mascot is the Gladiators, otherwise they need some help in the making sense department.

...that i really hope K attended Gladiator school.

Bwaha! Indeed, bib. :D MrA, why ever do you think I'm currently going to a school with Gladiators for? ;)

Gladiatorial games? K goes to a rough school.

...In Czechoslovakia, there is a church that has a chandelier made out of human bones.

*eewww*

Psst, Veta, it's now the Czech Republic! ;o) And yes, not only does the church at Kutna Hora have a chandelier made of human bones, but pretty much the entire decor is of human remains. I believe there are something close to 40,000 bones there...or maybe it's remains from 40,000 people. Either way, it's disturbing.

Sounds like decor by Vlad the Impaler. Interesting.

...After laying gas pipelines in NY, the scent of carrion is pumped through. If there are any leaks, turkey vultures will gather. This is done so that workers know where leaks need to be fixed before natural gas is pumped through.

oops *blushes* I knew that... lol, i was entirely creeped out by the chandelier but the whole decor, that's not the church i'd want to go to...

...In New Mexico, over eleven thousand people have visited a tortilla chip that appeared to have the face of Jesus Christ burned into it.

*wonders how it would taste*

#46 VetaTorres:
Stale. ;)

...that not all fragrances smell the same on each of us because of our individual body chemistry.

Kerian, i bet you're right!

and no wonder my best friends perfume smells better on her!

...In 1926, a waiter in Budapest committed suicide. He left his suicide note in the form of a crossword and the police had to get help from the public to solve it.

Sounds like something from CSI

Do you know what it read when they solved it? Sounds like a creative waiter, pity he didn't stick around.

he obviously put a lot of thought into his death

sorry i don't know what it said...

i know creepy...

...Skepticisms is the longest word that alternates hands when typing.

Radio comedian Fred Allen had the reputation of being one of the few comics who wrote most of his own material. He did have writers, though, among them the later famous novelist Herman Wouk

The term jack-o-lantern came from an Irish legend of a man called Stingy Jack who tricked the devil into climbing a tree then carved crosses all around the trunk so the devil cursed him with forever traveling the world at night with only a turnip lantern for light

... that the roman numeral for four was IIII, but clock makers changed it to IV so the clock would look more symmetrical.

...There is enough concrete in the Hoover Dam to pave a two lane highway from San Francisco to New York.

...In Serbia, vampires can turn themselves into butterflies (supposedly)

...The word Lethologica describes the state of not remembering the word you want to say.

really? thats....uh....um...thats ....oh whats that word!

Ooh, I know the word you're thinking of! It's, uh, you know...

...That in Florida: It is illegal to fart in a public place after 6:00pm on a Thursday.

dang! there goes my plans for Thursday! :)

sorry to ruin your exciting plans polly! lol

s'alright

It is possible to inhale a mouthful of sandwich into your nasal cavity when reading posts by the Pollys (especially when you haven't realised there are two, and you thought PollyS was speaking to herself).

I like this thread! :)

#61 I wonder how they reinforce that law...Lol

#65 KIK

...California's record high is 134 degrees and the record low is -45 degrees.

...the state with the highest percentage of people who walk to work is Alaska.

...that according to suicide statistics, Monday is the favored day for self-destruction.

...that the highest point in Pennsylvania is lower than the lowest point in Colorado.

#65: I totally understand that MsD. My son inhaled three inches of linguine when he was one. It had to be the most interesting thing I ever pulled out of a toddler's nose.

...catbastet can't think of interesting facts when she is signed in. Instead, she tells me the interesting facts when I'm trying to think of an interesting fact.

The shortest known Maori genealogy is longer than the longest one in Homerʻs Iliad.

How could I forget that; wel, I almost did, but for being reminded of it by ChelseBottomnleyʻs 4th "did you know" (#66).

The shortest known Maori genealogy is longer than the longest one in Homerʻs Iliad.

How could I forget that; wel, I almost did, but for being reminded of it by ChelseBottomnleyʻs 4th "did you know" (#66).

#48 VetaTorres:
Yep, that's why exactly. Some people think it's silly, but it's incredibly true. :)

#61 pollyanna:
My kid sister reads me those illegal things for different states all the time. I recognize that one from her list. ;)

Somewhere in Arizona, it's supposed to be illegal for women to wear pants. My mother finds that interesting because no one said anything when she wore jeans in that very city in Arizona when she was younger.

Yet in another state, it's illegal for teachers to have their hair cut in a bob.

>#61, 62: i think we have tracked down where the missing humors have gone to.

>#66: corks.

#72: ROFL! But I don't know if that would be a good idea. I'm imagining something like Krakatoa.

...Speaking of Krakatoa, the first understanding of wind currents came from worldwide observations of ash from the eruption of the volcanic island of Krakatoa.

...That in the city of Lexington, Kentucky it is illegal to walk around with ice cream in your pocket.

...That in Gainesville, Georgia it is illegal for anyone to compel another person to eat fried chicken with a fork.

#74: Darn! I ALWAYS have ice cream in my pocket! Guess I can never visit Lexington. *sigh*

#73 - Another fact I learned from Krakatoa:The Day the World Exploded, August 27, 1883 was that the shock wave, recorded on barometers, went around the world three times.

Cool mamzel!

Espy, I think New York has a similar, but unwritten law about pizza. :o)

Clarification: ...About not eating it with a fork. Not the part about walking around with it in your pocket.

*wonders how many people in New York walk around with pizza in their pocket*
*decides she doesn't want to know*

Hey, when it gets cold in New York City there's nothing better than a nice, hot slice of pizza in your pockets.

to Weddings: re # 80

So are sandwiches of peanut butter with chopped carrots on top. But no one since the Federal nutritionists of the 1930s, in New Deal free school lunch programs, seems to have realized this.

It beats claiming that "ketchup is a vegetable" of the 1980s!

That's true. Ketchup is not a vegetable.

It's a fruit.

:oD

...The world's tallest free fall rollercoaster is The Giant Drop located in Australia. The drops is 120 meters which is equivalent to a 39 storey building.

*runs away and hides*

...A ‘jiffy’ is an actual unit of time for 1/100th of a second.

...If you yelled for over 8 and a half years, you would have produced enough sound energy to heat one cup of coffee.

...Top Six reasons for being late for work: 1) traffic. 2) oversleeping. 3) procrastination. 4) Chores. 5) Car Trouble. 6) Having Sex.

...If you pet a cat 70 million times, you will have developed enough static electricity to light a 60-watt light bulb for one minute.

...Car accidents rise 10% during the first week of daylight savings time.

(be careful next weekend!)

TO PollyAnnaHP:

Speaking of daylight savings time, why are you Eastern Time Zoners* still on it? The last Sunday in October has gone past. Last year, the change to
E S T was on the first(?) weekend in October.

* not that I know which of you are Eastern ; just going by the time LT puts down -- 6 hrs. after HST, just as it has been since April.

#85 Roland...I never remember when daylight savings time is, I rely on the newspaper to remind me to change my clock. I thought it was this past weekend, but apparently it is this coming up weekend....A few years a go when the younger Bush was president he changed our daylight savings, but I'm not sure if it was ever changed back.

#84 -- Ah, but next weekend marks the end of daylight savings time, so we should all be fine! ;-)

#85 -- You speak of this as if it's something we have any modicum of control over. Blame the government!

Thanks, foggidawn

Thanks, PollyAnnaHP

You just made the "within October" deadline, but maybe there never was any deadlne.

I didnʻt mean to imply any "control".

Actually, we don't make the 'October' deadline, the change happens at 2 AM, Sunday, Nov. 1st.

Oh goody, an extra hour of trick or treats! *sarcasm dripping*

...The dromedary camel can drink as much as 100 litres of water in just 10 minutes.

*tummy ache...*

Did you know that Pres. Obama is NOT the 44th president of the U.S. ?

(Ths is NOT an argument about "stolen elections", or who SHOULD have been inaugurated - just a simple count of the individuals that HAVE been inaugurated.) Count them and promise not to count anyone twice, and you will see that 42 individuals, not 43 preceded Obama.

The conventional the " >44 grkmwk:" count is based on counting Pres. Cleveland twice - as both the 22nd and the 24th president, because he had non-consecutive terms. Does that make him 2 presidents? We donʻt say that any of the
2 term presidents were "two presidents"; we donʻt say that FDR was 4 presidents because of having been inaugurated 4 times.
So, if you aspire to being TWO PRESIDENTS, and not just a president twice, be sure your two terms are NON-CONSECUTIVE!

Maybe Grover Cleveland was two people...Grover and Evil Twin Grover. Hmmm...

TO jugglingpaynes:

LOL
This wasnʻt what made his TWO people, but I used to ask, in a Trivia Chat Room, who was the only president who won the popular vote EXACTLY 3 times, no less and no more? Few got the answer --Cleveland of course -- the 2 times he was elected and 1888, ,when Benjamin Harrison won the Electoral College.

When I had occasion to cite Freud and Bullittʻs Thomas Woodrow Wilson, 28th President of the United States, I used always to put sic after "28th", because he was the 27th.

...Under federal law, garment tags that contain the use-and-care instructions must last the lifetime of the garment, which is why most of those tags are so stiff and scratchy.

...that in Lake Tomahawk, WI they have a snowshoe baseball league, that plays in the summer.

...when you are released from jail in Simpson County, KY you are supposed to receive a horse and a $10 gold piece.

Heck yeah! I'm heading to Simpson County!

lol...they won't actually give it to you espy...when my husband was younger and in his wild days, he asked for his horse and gold piece they just laughed at him and said it was a blue collar law that was no longer in effect...but it was still on the books....sooooo good luck with that! lol

...In Kentucky, it's the law that a person must take a bath once a year.

(good thing i live in CA :D)

re #99: Are you listening Espy?

re criminal (?) behavior and the laws covering (?) it:

Iʻm not sure if thereʻs any law against STEALING a house, in Hawaiʻi. --Yes, stealing not robbing: an (unoccupied, I assume) house was once being viewed by its owner, and he found that it had been stolen -- aparently, not demolished but disassembled and taken away. (Never heard any follow-up on this.)

Hawaiʻi may be the only state where an inmate serving a sentence on weekends was denied admission to jail; in his case it was on the grounds of intoxication.

>#100: lols. Maybe if you'd let him out of the cage now and again...