Random Trivia

The blender was invented in 1910.
The saftey pin was invented in 1849.
Instant coffee was invented in 1938.
The Munster's premiered in 1964.
The answering machine was invented in 1950.
The ice cream cone was invented in 1903.
The Addam's Family premiered in 1964.
The bowling shirt was invented in 1921.
The Tootsie Roll was introduced in 1896.
The styrofoam cooler was invented in 1957.
The baseball cap was invented in 1860.
Chewing gum was invented in 1871.
The Pop Tart was invented in 1965.
The juke box was invented in 1883.
The first Superman comic came out in 1938.
Velcro was introduced in 1978.
The elevator was invented in 1743.
MTV premiered in 1981.
Tupperware was invented in 1942.
The microwave oven was invented in 1967.
The front hook bra was invented in 1951.


I can't quote accurate sources for all these, so take them for what they're worth. I was only alive for about half a dozen of these. How about the rest of you?


Now you can amaze your friends at parties!
Excell at trivial pursuit!
Annoy everyone you know!

:-)

Things (and people) I Won't Miss

(1982, California) Larry Walters of Los Angeles is one of the few to contend for the Darwin Awards and live to tell the tale. "I have fulfilled my 20-year dream," said Walters, a former truck driver for a company that makes TV commercials. "I'm staying on the ground. I've proved the thing works."

Larry's boyhood dream was to fly. But fates conspired to keep him from his dream. He joined the Air Force, but his poor eyesight disqualified him from the job of pilot. After he was discharged from the military, he sat in his backyard watching jets fly overhead.

He hatched his weather balloon scheme while sitting outside in his "extremely comfortable" Sears lawnchair. He purchased 45 weather balloons from an Army-Navy surplus store, tied them to his tethered lawnchair dubbed the Inspiration I, and filled the 4' diameter balloons with helium. Then he strapped himself into his lawnchair with some sandwiches, Miller Lite, and a pellet gun. He figured he would pop a few of the many balloons when it was time to descend.

Larry's plan was to sever the anchor and lazily float up to a height of about 30 feet above his back yard, where he would enjoy a few hours of flight before coming back down. But things didn't work out quite as Larry planned.

When his friends cut the cord anchoring the lawnchair to his Jeep, he did not float lazily up to 30 feet. Instead, he streaked into the LA sky as if shot from a cannon, pulled by the lift of 42 helium balloons holding 33 cubic feet of helium each. He didn't level off at 100 feet, nor did he level off at 1000 feet. After climbing and climbing, he leveled off at 16,000 feet.

At that height he felt he couldn't risk shooting any of the balloons, lest he unbalance the load and really find himself in trouble. So he stayed there, drifting cold and frightened with his beer and sandwiches, for more than 14 hours. He crossed the primary approach corridor of LAX, where Trans World Airlines and Delta Airlines pilots radioed in reports of the strange sight.

Eventually he gathered the nerve to shoot a few balloons, and slowly descended. The hanging tethers tangled and caught in a power line, blacking out a Long Beach neighborhood for 20 minutes. Larry climbed to safety, where he was arrested by waiting members of the LAPD. As he was led away in handcuffs, a reporter dispatched to cover the daring rescue asked him why he had done it. Larry replied nonchalantly, "A man can't just sit around."

The Federal Aviation Administration was not amused. Safety Inspector Neal Savoy said, "We know he broke some part of the Federal Aviation Act, and as soon as we decide which part it is, a charge will be filed."


Go HERE for pictures and news of Larry's fine and ultimate fate.

A Matter of Trust - Billy Joel

It has to be. If there isn't trust, the rest doesn't matter.
I'm so glad to have found that. I'm flying without a net, not because I'm reckless or daring, because I know I don't need one.

Yeah

What she said.

Goodbye George - NSFW

George Carlin died today, he was 71. He will be missed.

Public Space

It seems like there are fewer comments since Gothcat and I started sharing blogs. Maybe people are just busy, but just to satify my own angst......

You have to know that we talk to each other. There's a flurry of email going back and forth continually. There are packages in the mail even as you read this. We talk for hours on the phone almost every day. Anything we want to keep private, is already. Anything we post here is meant for everyone to see. If some things seem like there's a back story or an inside joke, there probably is, but don't feel excluded. We want to share our excitement and happiness with all of you, or we wouldn't be doing it. Think of this as the party room at the front of our house, we've got our private spaces back there for our private moments. Up here, it's okay to track mud on the floors, listen to the music a little loud, and say what you want.

You guys are all a part of how this happened and if we could figure out a way to throw a big party for you all with some magic pixie dust that would make everybody as deliriously happy as we are for a few hours, we would.

Jump in, dance like nobody's watching.
:-)

Huge hugs to everybody.

Meet Matt

I don't know who Matt is or what this is about, but I like it. This guy went all over the planet, hung out with people who likely don't speak the same language, and had fun. I like that one guy can go anywhere and act goofy and people will join in, laugh, get along with strangers. It kind of renews my faith in the human race a bit.

I say we all try to be nice to a stranger once this weekend. Just for the hell of it.

:-)

Semaphore

That woman that I used to not-date called this evening. She claimed she was just killing time. Yeah, that makes me feel useful. Anyway, she thanked me for the birthday card and asked what I'd been doing lately. So I told her, planning to move to Australia. She didn't do like most people and ask why, she just kind of asked peripheral questions. I'm shocked. Anyway, I think I made it clear without being mean that any chance with me she might have had is gone. She acted like that was completely cool. Okay, it's cool with me too.

So not only has that ship sailed, this woman doesn't even know where to start looking for the dock, even if she wanted to.

Maybe I should get her a book on semaphore before I leave.

Tomorrow Is

Smile Power Day. I think it might be the next experiment in flex fuel.

The 17th is Watergate Day. That's what we need, a celebration of criminal activity and corruption in our political system. Maybe we can start a petition for 'drive by shooting' day.

The 18th is International Panic Day. I thought that was pretty much everyday as long as W is still in the Whitehouse.

And, drumroll please....
The 19th is World Sauntering Day. You know what to do. :-)

Get off

"Do unto another,as you would have done unto yourself";)

Words Fail Me

I know what you're thinking, that shouldn't happen. I've been blogging almost non-stop for years and I've managed to scratch out three books. I ought to be able to string together a few meager words that really hit the mark. But I can't seem to. Actions are supposed to be louder than words. I'm going to move around the world, that ought to do it, but it doesn't seem enough either. I'm doing that as much for me as for her.

So here I am, struggling with something that usually works pretty well for me. I think she knows how I feel about her, but I can't seem to find any words that don't seem puny, small, and wholly insufficient to tell her how *much* I feel.


No words will ever be enough, but it won't stop me from trying. Every day. Until my last breath fails me.

Tomorrow Is

Machine Day.
And this machine will have eyes, ears, and a voice.


Sorry I haven't been posting more often, I've been........distracted.
I've been doing a little hardware shopping, learning about mass transit, paying more attention to meteorology, trying to keep cool, and trying to be cool.

That last one is the toughest.
:-)

No Secret

For anybody who hasn't gotten embarassed by all the hugs and kisses around here and is still reading, here's what you want to know.
I find myself telling my analog friends things that sound like I'm going forward with care so they won't think I'm rushing headlong into something they don't understand. They look out for me, I appreciate it. But the real truth about me and Gothcat is, this is a done deal. I have a lot of logistical stuff to wade through, but one of these days I'm going to be blogging from Down Under.
It's a complicated thing to move your life around a planet, but if it came down to that fine line in the sand and I had to just chuck it all an go, I would. She would never want me to feel like I had to make that kind of choice, which is exactly why I'd do it. I don't think it will come to that, it's the intent that matters.
So, we'll try to keep you all informed as this goes along because that's what friends do. Anytime there's anything like a party happening we'll let you know, even if you can't be there. There's this massive electrical thing between us with enough stray voltage to share with all the people we care about.

If any of your are ever feeling down, don't quit, don't give up on happiness. It's out there somewhere, you just have to choose to see it.

Little Richard

Long Tall Sally, she's built for speed, she's got everything Uncle John needs, Oh Baby

YA-FREAKIN-HOO!!!!

NO PLACE IS SAFE FROM ME NOW!

So it broke 90(33C) today, and I was working in an attic. So you can add 10(6C) degrees to that. Oh, did I mention I was hanging sheetrock on the ceiling? So I drank 4 or 5 liters of water and I feel like a dish rag that's been run over by an armor division. Then I find this in my mailbox and it's all good. There are only a handful of things that could make me feel better, and I need this for most of them. :-)

I Don't Want To Miss Thing

Everybody has the potential whether they realize it or not, large or small, you can be somebody's hero. Don't stop looking until you find yours, the world needs all the everyday heroes it can get.

Tomorrow Is

Reapeat day.

Tomorrow Is
Repeat day.

Tomorrow Is
Repeat day.


The 5th is Festival Of Popular Delusions Day. That sounds like fun, but is there a day for unpopular delusions? Strabge people need love too.

The 8th is Name Your Poision Day.
I think I'll call my poision, Fred.


Sleep well, be happy. (It turns out that being happy is really kind of nice.)

:-)

Word For The Day

ec·stat·ic

–adjective

1. of, pertaining to, or characterized by ecstasy.

2. subject to or in a state of ecstasy; rapturous.

–noun

3. a person subject to fits of ecstasy.


I could use it in a sentence for you all, but I'm a little too ecstatic.

:-)

Truly Madly Deeply

I don't want to start a song war competition here, it's not the gentlemanly thing to do.

Okay. Okay. I'd get my ass kicked.

So I'll just post this one as my own humble attempt. :-)

"Untouched"

;-)