More Fun Facts and Tantalizing Tidbits

Hi all, welcome to yet another installment of Fun Facts and Tantalizing Tidbits. Hopefully this little tastes of fun will brighten your day and keep you a little happier about your week.

Tonight we will pick on the chef's out there:

For all those water conservative people out there, it takes about a half a gallon of water to cook macaroni (really good...) but it takes about a gallon to clean the pot once you are done cooking the macaroni. (not so good...)

The wheat that produces a one-pound loaf of bread requires two tons of water to grow...

Only 30% of the famous Maryland Blue Crabs are actually from Maryland, the rest are from North Carolina and Virginia...

Did you ever wonder where some of our slang phrases came from? Did you know the origin of the term "the whole 9 yards"? This phrase was coined by World War II fighter pilots in the South Pacific. When arming their airplanes on the ground, the .50 caliber machine gun ammo belts measured exactly 27 feet, before being loaded into the fuselage. If the pilots fired all their ammo at a target, it got "the whole 9 yards".

Did you know the origins of the phrase, "It's all fun and games until someone loses an eye"? It came from Ancient Rome. The only rule during wrestling matches was, "no eye gouging". Everything else was allowed, but the only way to be disqualified was to poke someones eye out....ewwwww...

Here is a really interesting bit of history - If you were born in Los Alamos, New Mexico during the Manhattan project (where they made the atomic bomb), your birth place was listed as a post office box in Albuquerque, NM.

Have you ever wondered if there was a better way to lace your shoe and get a better fit? If you lace your shoes from the inside to the outside, the fit will be snugger around your big toe.

Lastly, for you advertising and marketing types - have you ever noticed in most advertisements, including newspapers, the time displayed on an analog watch is 10:10 because then the hands of the watch frame the brand name on the watch face?

Hopefully you have enjoyed this week's installment of Fun Facts and Tantalizing Tidbits. Stay tuned for this upcoming Wednesday. It will be an interesting article...for sure...hehehehe...

Until Wednesday...

Run for the Wall is Near

Tonight's brief discussion is on the upcoming event called Run for the Wall. This is an annual event that begins in Rancho Cucomonga, Californa and ends the Friday before Memorial Day in Washington, D.C. It is a 10-day motorcycle trip across this wonderful country of ours that takes you through either the Southern or Central parts of the United States. It is an event that I have personally particpated in for the last 6 consecutive years and all of those years I went "all the way" to Washington, D.C.

Some of you may think that this is just like any other motorcycle rally, but this is an Event, it is not a club, it is not a rally. The mission statement for Run for the Wall (RFTW) is "To promote healing among ALL veterans and their families and friends, to call for an accounting of all Prisoners of War and those Missing in Action (POW/MIA), to honor the memory of those Killed in Action (KIA) from all wars, and to support our military personnel all over the world."

They strive to maintain a safe, supportive and private atmosphere in which all participants can reflect and heal on their journey to the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C. in the hope that they can return home to a new beginning. It is very difficult to explain the feelings you experience while participating in RFTW, but talk to anyone who has participated, and you will see a misty look in their eyes. Once you participate in RFTW, you become part of a wonderful, extended family that will not forget you and truly cares about your personal well-being.

I am not a veteran, but have found that you do not need to be a veteran to be involved with RFTW. Anyone who believes in and supports our Troops is welcome. As RFTW travels across either the Central or Southern United States, they have planned stops at various elementary schools, memorials, veterans hospitals, Legion Halls, veteran centers, etc. At many of the stops, we spend time and talk with the people in the area, usually they are lining the roads and waving flags as we arrive. There is nothing more awe-inspring as after a long day in the motorcycle saddle, than to pull into an area to stop, and have both sides of the street lined with people waving, clapping, taking photographs, holding signs and pictures and just having a wonderful time, because we are there.

By participating in Run for the Wall, even if not for the full legnth of the trip, you get a true view of America and her people. We have seen many, many people in uniform standing at attention as we pass by. We have met people who have not just served in Vietnam, but also World War II, Korea, Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan. We have had the opportunity to talk with some Navajo Code Talkers, Baatan Death March survivors, Pearl Harbor Survivors, POW's and those who survived the Battle of the Bulge (not the battle around your wasteband...). It is inspiring and humbling to hear their first-hand accounts of what they endured.

If you have an opportunity to even ride for a day with RFTW, the specific itinerary is listed on their website - www.rftw.org. You can quickly see where each route goes, and the itinerary is very specific. Even if you are unable to ride, you may have the opportunity to watch us ride by, again the itinerary is very accurate for dates and times. Please wave if you see us wander by, we will wave back. This is an event that anyone who supports our Troops should try at least once in their lifetime. It will change your view of the world.

We hope to see you along the road.

Until Friday...

Back to Blogging - and a few fun tidbits

Well Hello one and all... it has been a VERY long time, but I am back to blogging. If you couldn't guess, life got just a tad hectic leading up to April 15th, and I needed to focus on the tasks at hand and had to put my conversations on the back burner.

Life has not become any less hectic, but I am learning to carve a little bit of time out of this insane schedule to chat again. For this week, our conversations will be for tonight, Wed and probably Thursday. Again, I do not want to over-promise and under-deliver. Assuming I can keep to chatting 3x a week, I will see if I can carve out more time to chat, but we are going to start with baby steps first.

I have thought long and hard about talking with all of you, but with as hectic a schedule as I have had in the last almost 2 months, I honestly didn't have any time to talk. When I did have the time, my eyeballs were so tired, I couldn't see to type. For those of you on Facebook, you also know I have been putting in pretty rare appearances.

With luck, all of that insanity is now behind me. Tonight, let's warm up again on a few of our Fun tidbits -

Did you know that the word, "Google" is actually the common name for a number with a million zeros?

Here are some fun factoids for the animal lovers out there:
A group of larks is called an exaltation
A group of humming birds is called a charm
Twelve or more cows are known as a "flink" (never heard a farmer call them that....many other names, not a Flink though...)
An ant lion is neither an ant nor a lion. (see picture below...yuch...)


Chickens that lay brown eggs have red ear lobes. There is a genetic link between the two..

And the last animal bit of trivial tidbits for the night - Spider Monkeys like banana daiquiris...

Thanks for being patient with me as I get my hectic life back in order. Look forward to chatting again this Wednesday.

Until Wednesday...