Jump to it!
If you’re going to jump, today is the day! According to National Day Calendar dot com today is National Frog Jumping day! That doesn’t mean you find a frog to jump over, it means you find a frog and enter him, or her, in the Calaveras County Fair and Frog Jumping Jubilee. In 1865, Mark Twain published his first short story, Jim Smiley and His Jumping Frog. Later, he changed the name and published it as The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County. This same story also had a third title, The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County. This year the Jumping Jubilee takes place on May 19th at the Calaveras County Fairgrounds in Angels Camp, California. You’ve got a few days to train your jumper and you’ll need it. The current frog jumping record was set in 1986 by Rosie the Ribeter, who jumped 21 feet, 5-3/4 inches. Listen to the podcast here; https://theriver953.com/lonnies-fun-fact/
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My little eight ball.
Happy birthday to my little eight ball. Today is my middle son Evan’s birthday. I call him my little eight ball because he was born in 2008, at 8:08, he weighed eight pounds, eight ounces and if you add today’s date, five, one, two, you get eight. He’s not little anymore, as a matter of fact, he’s taller than me. He’s an intelligent 14 year old who’s not afraid to lend a hand and not scared of hard work, when he wants to. He is, after all, a teenager. He’s got a great sense of humor and even laughs at my dad jokes, most of the time. As with most young men his age, he’s into vehicles and has been looking for his first ride on Market Place. He’s leaning towards a truck, which is cool with me, I get tired of hauling smelly trash in the back of my Jeep. Happy birthday Evan, I know God has big plans for you and I’m very proud of the young man you’re becoming. I love you! Listen to the podcast here; https://theriver953.com/lonnies-fun-fact/
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Busy, busy busy!
Spring time and we’re all very busy. How busy, you ask? According to English By Day dot com, there are several comparisons to determine exactly how busy you may be. You may have a lot on your plate. Slammed is another level of being busy. You may be snowed under or swamped. You could be busy as a bee or a beaver, hopefully not both at the same time. Another animal that tends to be busy is a cat on a hot tin room. You could be up to your, insert body part here; arse, armpit, neck, eyeballs, ears, etc. You may have a lot of irons in the fire, probably because you bit off more than you can chew. Perhaps you compare your schedule to that of a rail station, as in, I’m busier than Grand Central Station. Maybe the elements describe how busy you are, as in, busier than a one armed paper hanger in a wind storm. My favorite is I’m as busy as a one legged man in a butt kicking contest. That one inspires a visual for sure. Listen to the podcast here; https://theriver953.com/lonnies-fun-fact/
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It’s all in the whisk!
Tool time Tuesday. Did a bit of cooking over the weekend, including making homemade gravy. One of the tools I used was a sauce whisk. According to Home Stratosphere dot com, whisks come in a lot of shapes and sizes. They can be made of several different materials. The one I used was all metal. Unlike your everyday balloon whisk, a sauce whisk, or gravy whisk, has wire tines in the shape of a coil, so it whisks side-to-side, as well as up and down. You may also hear them called a coil or spiral whisk. It’s able to fit in tight containers and is efficient at mixing sauces, as well as hot cocoa, dressings, dips, and even eggs. Remember when using a whisk, it’s all in the wrist! Listen to the podcast here; https://theriver953.com/lonnies-fun-fact/
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To the moon!
It came to an end on May 9, 1971, or did it? According to History dot com, the last original episode of the very popular show, The Honeymooners, aired. Although a perennial rerun favorite in syndication, The Honeymooners actually aired only 39 episodes in its familiar sitcom format, running for just one season in 1955-56. The show debuted on October 5, 1951, as a six-minute sketch on the variety show Cavalcade of Stars, hosted by Jackie Gleason. Cavalcade of Stars evolved into The Jackie Gleason Show in 1952, and Gleason continued the sketches, playing the blustery Ralph Kramden. In 1955, Gleason had tired of the hour-long variety-show format and wanted to try something new. He suggested creating two half-hour programs: The Honeymooners and Stage Show, a musical-variety show, which Gleason would produce. In a departure from most TV shows of the time, The Honeymooners was filmed live in front of about one thousand members of a studio audience. The recorded shows were then broadcast at a later date. You can still enjoy The Honeymooners on several streaming services. Listen to the podcast here; https://theriver953.com/lonnies-fun-fact/
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Little boxes!
Little boxes hauling little boxes. You see them on the streets of most towns and cities in the United States. I’m talking about the little old mail trucks. They are nondescript yet very familiar. They are known as the Grumman LLV, or Long Life Vehicle. They were built by Grumman, the same company who made airplanes. They were built between 1987 and 1994 and used the engine and frame from a 1982 Chevy Blazer and the body was built by Grumman. The front axel is from a two wheel drive S10 Blazer while the real axel in from a four wheel drive S10 Blazer. That means the rear wheels are slightly farther apart than the front wheels. This stance makes the mail truck not perform well in snow, which is why you’ll often see them with chains on during a snow storm. As the name suggest, they were designed for a long service life. In the original contract the Postal Service wanted a vehicle that would last 24 years, but that was extended to 30 years in 2009. That means the fleet is nearing the end of their useful life, but fear not because also in 2009 the Postal Service spent 524 million dollars to make repairs to the aging fleet. It’s estimated that it would cost over 4 billion dollars to replace them. There are over 140 thousand Grumman mail trucks in service in the US and Canada. Listen to the podcast here; https://theriver953.com/lonnies-fun-fact/
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May the fourth……
May the fourth…be with you! Happy National Star Wars Day! Believe it or not, the day didn’t come from Star War fans, at least not American ones. According to National Day Calendar dot com, in 1979 Britain elected the first female Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher. On May 4th, the day she took office, the Conservative Party placed an advertisement in The London Evening News, which read, “May the Fourth Be with You, Maggie. Congratulations.” In 2005, during an interview on a German news TV channel, Star Wars creator, George Lucas was asked to say the famous sentence “May the Force Be with You.” Upon doing so, the interpreter interpreted the sentence into German as “On May 4 we are with you.” As you celebrate today have some spacey treats, watch some Star Wars movies and wear your Wookie costume. Na New Na New…wait, that’s something different. Live long and prosper? Listen to the podcast here; https://theriver953.com/lonnies-fun-fact/
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Torqued?
Tool time Tuesday. I was a bit torqued over the weekend. I tried to get the rear wheels off my wife’s Jeep to check the brakes and adjust the emergency brake. I tried my brand new impact wrench, but the lug nuts wouldn’t budge. I tried my 4 way lug wrench and I couldn’t make them move. I added a cheater bar to the 4 way, in other words I used a pipe to extend one arm of the 4 way for better leverage. I managed to break two lugs loose, but the other three would not move. Are you supposed to see stars when you’re changing a tire? Asking for a friend. I was about to borrow my neighbors three foot breaker bar when the drops started to fall, chasing me inside. You know the torque on lug nuts, depending on the size, is between 70 and 90 foot pounds, more for larger wheels. The ones I was working with must be torqued to “pop a blood vessel.” Listen to the podcast here; https://theriver953.com/lonnies-fun-fact/
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Nessy gets some press!
Nessy gets some press! According to History dot com, it was on May 2, 1933 that the first sighting of the Loch Ness Monster was reported in the newspaper the Iverness Courier. The article shared the account of a local couple who reported seeing “an enormous animal rolling and plunging on the surface.” The “monster” moniker was added by the editor of the newspaper and soon other papers picked up the story and the legend was born. For decades armature, scientific and educational expeditions have been searching for Nessy. Video and still cameras, sonar sweeps, and sightseeing cruises have all been on the lookout for the monster, to no avail. Even after a 1934 photograph was determined to be a hoax, people still flock to the shores of Loch Ness in the Scottish Highlands trying to catch a glimpse of the elusive monster. Listen to the podcast here; https://theriver953.com/lonnies-fun-fact/
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Lumps and bumps, oh my!
Are you afraid of bumps, lumps and holes? If so, you may be suffering from trypophobia. According to Very Well Mind dot com, trypophobia is often described as “the fear of holes,” but it is important to note that it may also apply to bumps or other patterns that are closely clustered together. When people see trigger objects, they experience symptoms such as severe fear, nausea, itching, sweating, shaking, and even panic attacks. Examples of objects that might trigger a fear response include seed pods, bubble wrap, fruit seeds, insect eyes or a close-up image of someone’s pores. There is some debate among researchers as to whether trypophobia is a genuine condition. Early reports of trypophobia were first described in an online forum in 2005, but it has not been recognized as a distinct diagnosis in the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders of the American Psychiatric Association. While not listed in the DSM-5, trypophobia would fall under the broad classification of specific phobias as long as the symptoms are persistent, excessive, and lead to significant impairment or distress. Listen to the podcast here; https://theriver953.com/lonnies-fun-fact/
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