I Didn’t Know That

A friend sent me this in an email:

   You're gonna  say "I didn't know that!" at least 5  times.

  Alaska

More than  half of the coastline of the entire United States is in  Alaska .

Amazon

The Amazon  rainforest produces more than 20% of the world's oxygen  supply.

The  Amazon River pushes so much water into the Atlantic Ocean  that, more than one hundred miles at sea off the mouth of  the river, one can dip fresh water out of the ocean.   The volume of water in the Amazon river is greater than  the next eight largest rivers in the world combined and three times the flow of all rivers in the United States  .

Antarctica

Antarctica  is the only land on our planet that is not owned by any country..

Ninety percent of the world's ice covers  Antarctica .

This ice also represents seventy percent  of all the fresh water in the world.

As strange as it  sounds, however, Antarctica is essentially a  desert;

the average yearly total precipitation is about  two inches.

Although covered with ice (all but 0.4% of  it, ice.), Antarctica is the driest place on the  planet, with an absolute humidity lower than the Gobi  desert.

Brazil

Brazil got  its name from the nut, not the other way  around.

Canada

Canada has  more lakes than the rest of the world combined. Canada is  an Indian word meaning ' Big Village '.

Chicago

Next to  Warsaw , Chicago has the largest Polish population in  the world.

Detroit

Woodward  Avenue in Detroit, Michigan, carries the designation  M-1, so named because it was the first paved road  anywhere.

Damascus  , Syria

Damascus,  Syria, was flourishing a couple of thousand  years before Rome was founded in 753 BC, making it  the oldest continuously inhabited city in  existence.

Istanbul  , Turkey

Istanbul,  Turkey, is the only city in the world located on two  continents.

Los  Angeles

Los Angeles  ' full name is:

El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina de  Los Angeles de Porciuncula

-- and can be abbreviated to  3.63% of its size: L.A.

New  York City

The term  'The Big Apple' was coined by touring jazz musicians of  the 1930s who used the slang expression 'apple' for any  town or city.

Therefore, to play New York City is to  play the big time - The Big Apple.

There are more  Irish in New York City than in Dublin , Ireland  ;

more Italians in New York City than in Rome ,  Italy ;

and more Jews in New York City than in Tel  Aviv , Israel ..

Ohio

There are  no natural lakes in the state of Ohio , every one is  manmade.

Pitcairn  Island

The  smallest island with country status is Pitcairn in  Polynesia , at just 1.75 sq. miles/4,53 sq.  km.

Rome

The first  city to reach a population of 1 million people was Rome  , Italy in 133 B.C.

There is a city called Rome on  every continent.

Siberia

Siberia  contains more than 25% of the world's  forests.

S.M.O.M.

The actual  smallest sovereign entity in the world is the Sovereign  Military Order of Malta (S.M.O.M). It is

located in the  city of Rome , Italy ,

has an area of two tennis  courts

and, as of 2001, has a population of 80 -- 20  less people than the Vatican ..

It is a sovereign  entity under international law, just as the Vatican  is.

Sahara    Desert

In the  Sahara Desert , there is a town named Tidikelt , Algeria, which did not receive a drop of rain for ten  years.

Technically though, the driest place on  Earth is in the valleys of the Antarctic near Ross  Island .. There has been no rainfall there for two  million years.

Spain

Spain  literally means 'the land of rabbits'.

St.  Paul , Minnesota

St. Paul ,  Minnesota , was originally called Pig's Eye after a man  named Pierre 'Pig's Eye' Parrant who set up the first  business there.

Roads

Chances  that a road is unpaved:

in the U.S.A. . = 1%;

in  Canada = ...75%

Russia

The deepest  hole ever drilled by man is the Kola Superdeep  Borehole, in Russia .

It reached a depth of 12,261  meters (about 40,226 feet or 7.62 miles).

It was  drilled for scientific research and gave up some  unexpected discoveries, one of which was a huge deposit  of hydrogen - so massive that the mud coming from the  hole was boiling with it.

United  States

The  Eisenhower interstate system requires that one mile in  every five must be straight. These straight sections  are usable as airstrips in times of war or other  emergencies.

Waterfalls

The water  of Angel Falls (the world's highest)  in Venezuela drops 3,212 feet (979 meters). They are 15  times higher than Niagara Falls .

I  have always said, you should learn something new  every day. Unfortunately, many of us are  at that age where what we learn today, we forget  tomorrow.

But,  give it a shot anyway.

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Today, Kathy’s mother and I went to see Jack and Jill. I know, I’ve already seen it, but it was great and I enjoyed it even more this time. We then went to Publix for some groceries, where I lost Grace for a few minutes – not really, she was in Publix, but I couldn’t find her.

I met my sister-in-law Rose, my brother-in-law Don, my nephew Bob, my niece Donn and three of my great nieces (Marisa, Sarah and Krysta) at the famous Marietta Diner. If you remember, Esther and I and I alone at there last summer. What a great (and too huge) meal they serve. I’ll try to get some pictures downloaded tomorrow.

My brother Ray comes tomorrow. I’m really lookihng forward to that.

Until next time…

Fun with Grace

Today, my sister-in-law’s mother (Grace) and I went to Discover Mills and shopped our way through Burlington Coat Factory. After shopping we went to Mimi’s Cafe for lunch. I’m not reporting the various troubles we had finding where we were to go, because it would not reflect well on my navigational abilities. We did find where we needed to go.

Anyone who knows me at all knows I am not a shopper – it’s not my favorite thing. (cue Julie Andrews “Favorite Things”) Grace is my complete opposite. She looked through so many things I can’t even count. But we had a good time. She’s got a great sense of humor and finally took pity on my poor feet and back and we sat outside the store for a few moments.

At Mimi’s I had the Blue Cheese and Walnut Salad and a Pom Berry Smoothie. Grace made her way through most of the tomato and basil bisque and half of a tuna salad. She got to take a muffin home.

Tomorrow we’re going to have another adventure.

A friend sent the following report card to me in an e-mail.

Barack Obama's 32 Month Report Card

by Rich Carroll

Mr. Hope and Change wants to create a nation humbled; humiliated, casting-aside capitalism and individual freedoms for one where “we the people” are government controlled. This would be a system that genuflects mediocrity, steals personal aspiration and opportunity, and punishes those who strive to succeed.

A gallon of regular gasoline the day Obama was inaugurated was $1.79 on average in the U.S. Today that price is $3.59, a 100.6% increase. The number of food stamp recipients has risen since Obama took office from 31,983,716 to 43,200,878, a 35.1% jump. Long term unemployment soared 146.2% during the same 32 month period from 2,600,000 to 6,400,000. Staggering “hope and change” isn't it?

American citizens living in poverty have risen 9.5% from 39,800,000 to 43,600,000, and the number of unemployed has jumped almost 25% from 11,616,000 to 14,485,000 as of August 31, 2011. The number of unemployed blacks has risen from 12.6% at the end of George Bush's term to 15.8% today, a 25.4% increase, and finally, our national debt is up 34.4% from 10.627 trillion to 14,278 trillion *

Keep these figures in mind as we recount the number of “firsts” for this presidency:

First President to refuse to show a valid birth certificate.

First President to apply for college aid as a foreign student, then deny he was a foreigner.

First President to have a social security number from a state he has never lived in.

First President to preside over a cut to the credit rating of the United States.

First President to violate the War Powers Act.

First President to be held in contempt of court for illegally obstructing oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.

First President to defy a Federal Judges court order to cease implementing the Health Care Reform Law.

First President to require all Americans to purchase a product from a third party.

First President to spend a trillion dollars on shovel-ready jobs and later admit there was no such thing as shovel-ready jobs.

First President to abrogate bankruptcy law to turn over control of companies to his union supporters.

First President to by-pass Congress and implement the Dream Act through executive fiat.

First President to order a secret amnesty program that stopped the deportation of illegal immigrants across the U.S., including those with criminal convictions.

First President to demand a company hand-over $20 billion to one of his political appointees.

First President to terminate Americas ability to put a man in space.

First President to encourage racial discrimination and intimidation at polling places.

First President to have a law signed by an auto-pen without being present.

First President to arbitrarily declare an existing law unconstitutional and refuse to enforce it.

First President to threaten insurance companies if they publicly speak-out on the reasons for their rate increases.

First President to tell a major manufacturing company in which state they are allowed to locate a factory.

First President to file lawsuits against the states he swore an oath to protect (Az, WI, OH, IN)

First President to withdraw an existing coal permit that had been properly issued years ago.

First President to fire an inspector general of Ameri-corps for catching one of his friends in a corruption case.

First President to appoint 45 Czars to replace elected officials in his office.

First President to golf 73 separate times in his first two and a half years in office.

First President to hide his medical, educational and travel records.

First President to win a Nobel Peace Prize for doing NOTHING to earn it.

First President to coddle American enemies while alienating Americas allies.

First President to publicly bow to Americas enemies while refusing to salute the U.S. Flag.

First President to go on multiple global apology tours.

First President to go on 17 lavish vacations, including date nights and Wednesday evening White House parties for his friends, paid for by the taxpayer.

First President to refuse to wear the U.S. Flag lapel pin.

First President to have 22 personal servants (taxpayer funded) for his wife.

First President to keep a dog trainer on retainer for $102,000.00 a year at taxpayer expense.

First President to repeat “the Holy Qur'an tells us,” and openly admit “the early morning call of the Azan (Islamic call to worship) is the most beautiful sound on earth.”

Remember that 32 months of Obama White House we the people have accumulated national debt at a rate more than 27 times as fast as during the rest of our nation's entire history, as the Obama's plan their next extravagant vacation to the Indonesian Island nation of Bali.

* sources: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Wall Street Journal, Bureau of Labor Statistics, US Dept of Labor, Standard & Poors/Case-Shiller, Federal Reserve, US Treasury, Heritage Foundation.

Until next time…

Arrived safely - more tomorrow - til next time

A Productive Day

Today, I did my laundry and it only took about 4 hours, but at least it’s done and packed in my suitcase and packed in my truck, ready to go to my brother’s.

My cousin and I went to Carrabba’s for dinner tonight so I didn’t even have to cook or do dishes. Instead of my usual spaghetti with meat sauce and sausage, I had pizza. It was really good.

I’m learning how to use my Kindle Fire. Got to go through the User Guide today while watching TV and doing laundry. It’s not quite what I expected, but I really like it and think I will learn to like it even more once I know what I’m doing.

I’m not exactly looking forward to my long ride tomorrow, but always enjoy listening to my books on tape.I think I’ll listen to Dirty Blonde by Lisa Scottoline.

Well, time to take care of a last few things so I’ll be ready to leave whenever I get up in the morning.

Until next time…

Kindle Fire

Had breakfast this morning with Joan, Joyce, Don, Sandy, and John. We had a great time. It was wonderful to see everyone again. It had been way too long. Breakfast was really good, as well.

Today, I got my new Kindle Fire, but haven’t got the cover I ordered yet. I’m just learning to use it, but so far, so good.

Just saw a segment on Bill O’Reilly about wild turkeys terrorizing people on Staten Island. They probably don’t have any natural enemies except man and being part of NYC, probably can’t use guns to get rid of them.

Until next time…

The Poor in America

Today, our national debt exceeded FIFTEEN TRILLION DOLLARS. If our Congress and President don’t wake up and start balancing our budget, we are headed for certain economic collapse.

In view of this, you might find this well-documented article on the poor in America interesting:

http://townhall.com/columnists/walterewilliams/2011/11/16/poverty_in_america/page/full/

I’m almost finished with V Is For Vengeance, so you can guess what I did for a good part of the day. I’ll probably finish it before I go to sleep tonight.

Tomorrow morning, I’ll be joining some friends for breakfast at the NY Bagel Diner in Valrico.

Until next time…

V Is For Vengeance

I finally started Sue Grafton’s 22n Kinsey Milhone book, V Is For Vengeance. It didn’t take long to pull me into the story. I spent a good deal of my day reading and still have 3/4 of the book to read, buecause I did do a few other things today, including going to my storage space and bringing back a couple of more things.

It’ll be hard to read tonight since Tues is my main TV night: NCIS, NCIS-LA and Unforgettable. I also tape Last Man Standing, Raising Hope, and Body of Proof. I’ll watch the taped stuff later.

Well, I guess I’ll get a little more reading in before I start watching TV.

Until next time…