Tidbits

Tidbits is stuff I have collected over the years that doesn't really fit into other sections of the site.

An English professor wrote up on the board "woman without her man is nothing" and told his students to punctuate it.

Strategies and Tips

Feeling safe from the neighborhood Spidey

Afraid to kill spiders? Laura Szmania, who is my cousin, says; "If there is no one else available to kill the spider, what you do is buy a can of the cheapest hairspray you can find. (The cheaper, the better, 'cause the cheap stuff is really, really sticky.) And you spray the little spidey with hairspray, thus immobilizing the little fella until someone gets home to kill him. This way, he won't crawl all over your house and you know exactly where he is at all times."

Cousin George Horton says, "Screw that, take a lighter and spray them and poof there gone!" [Be careful of you don't burn yourself.]

Me? Well, I have one rule when it comes to spiders, and I make sure they are aware of it. When I see a spider, I tell him,

"Look, if you stay out of my bedroom I will let you live. Yet, the moment I find you in there, you are dead." Be stern, otherwise, they don't believe you and won't listen.

When In Need

While taking a routine vandalism report at an elementary school, I was interrupted by a little girl about 6 years old. Looking up and down at my uniform, she asked, "Are you a policeman?"

"Well, then," she said as she extended her foot toward me, "would you please tie my shoe?"

Complement - which you really deserve because of your hard work, passion and creativity.

Rule of Thumb

Each morning when I open my eyes I say to myself: "I, not people, events or circumstances, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is gone and tomorrow hasn�t happened yet. I have just one day, today, and I�m going to be happy."

Press On

Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education alone will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.

On Happiness

Happiness is like a butterfly. The more you chase it, the more it will elude you. But if you turn your attention to other things, it comes softly and sits on your shoulder.

On Action

"Having the world's best idea will do you no good unless you act on it. People who want milk shouldn't sit on a stool in the middle of a field in hopes that a cow will back up to them.

Tweet! Tweet!

Today I saw a male House Finch sitting in a tree singing his song to attract a female.

I wonder if that would work for me?

Tweet...tweet!

Maybe if I do it louder...TWEET...TWEET!

Still nothing...now I know how the little guy feels.

Tweet! Tweet! . . . Tweet!

I have bird feeders immediately outside my living room window. When it rains the birds like to hang around the food. Today it rained and I have birds sitting all over the balcony railings, lounge chairs, porch lights... If it is out there on the balcony, they are on it. My kitchen table is right by the sliding glass door, which is next to the living room window. Some of these little guys were an arm's length away. The moment gave me the feeling that I was eating with them.

I went tweet, tweet...TWEET...but they ignored me. I think I am a little too big to play with.

Rainbow

I just saw the most beautiful rainbow. From ground to ground. You could see the whole rainbow, all the colors, everywhere you looked. The best rainbow ever. No buildings in the way, no power lines, just sky, clouds, and rainbow. Stunning. Breathless. Absolutely beautiful.

Credit Cards By The Numbers

Just when your credit cards are recovering from the holidays - along comes Valentine�s Day. If you�ll be putting that special someone�s Valentine gift on plastic this year, you�re not alone.

It's high enough...It's deep enough...

With four seconds left in Super Bowl XXV and the Bills down 20-19, Norwood tried a 47-yard field goal that a sports announcer described best: "It's high enough...It's deep enough...No good! It's wide right!" At the parade in Buffalo, Norwood gave a weepy speech as fans screamed, "We forgive you!" The next season, after shanking three field goals and an extra point in one game, he got the boot. While the Bills lost three more Super Bowls, Norwood went home to Virginia--to sell insurance.

Norwood missed the upright by a foot or so. Many say that if he would have made it, the Bills would have won the next three Super Bowls.

Stanley Cup Post Game Quotes

The Sabres in the Stanley Cup! How exciting! It brought back memories of my childhood listening to the earlier cup games on the radio. I thought we had a chance to win, but I was just happy we made it.

As the series progressed, I started thinking that the Sabres actually had a chance to take the cup. I mean a really good chance. They were physical and playing tough, defensive was a wall, and the goal tending was outstanding. The three key ingredients for champions. I thought the Sabres where going to win!

To have the it all taken away by a bad call is extremely disappointing. I am not a disgruntle fan. I read the rule book. I have asked everyone, regardless of their team affiliation, what they think of the call. They all say the same thing, "No goal."

Read the post game quotes for yourself. Especially Bryan Lewis comments. What gets me is his recall of the timing of events just doesn't match everyone else.

Girls Rule!

According to the Alaska Department of Fish and game, while both male and female reindeer grow antlers in the summer each year, male reindeer drop their antlers at the beginning of winter, usually late November to mid-December. Female reindeer retain their antlers till after they give birth in the spring. Therefore, according to every historical rendition depicting Santa's reindeer, every single one of them, from Rudolph to Blitzen...had to be a girl. We should've known. Only women would be able to drag a fat man in a red velvet suit all around the world in one night, and not get lost.

Put Your Letters on the Fast Track

Some little changes in the way you prepare your mail can make a positive difference on your bottom line, and by following a few guidelines in the way your company designs mail, you'll benefit from faster handling and more accurate delivery. Plus the improved cash flow that results from improved mail flow.

Properly prepared letter mail can run through our automated equipment with unprecedented speed and accuracy (over 36,000 pieces per hour). That's the fast track, where mail moves the quickest.

Mail not designed correctly can move at only a fraction of this speed. That costs both time and money. Yours and ours. If you are unsure about certain envelope designs or addressing characteristics, contact the United States Postal Service for specific information.

Have you ever wondered why I used the nine-digit zip code designation? I can get a check deposited in my credit union that is 130 miles away by morning, if I include the nine-digit zip code and mail from the main post office by 10 pm. How is that for the fast track.

John McColgan's picture of the Bitterroot National Forest fire. (click for the story details)

Bitterroot Picture

Capricorn

The symbol of Capricorn is the mountain goat. Capricorns are considered responsible, serious, and ambitious. Sometimes pessimistic, they trust what has proved valuable in the past. They need security, and work to achieve it.

Capricorn (astrology), tenth sign of the zodiac, symbolized by a mountain goat. Astrologers believe that people whose birthdays fall between December 22 and January 19 are born under the sun sign of Capricorn. The planet Saturn rules Capricorn, which is an earth sign.

According to astrologers, Capricorns have responsible, disciplined, practical, methodical, cautious, serious, and sometimes pessimistic natures. Capricorns believe that anything worth having is worth working hard for, and they assign the highest value to things won through the hardest work. Typical Capricorns are aloof and shy, sometimes even awkward, because they stay so focused on responsibility. To them life is serious business, and they sometimes have difficulty relaxing and having fun. Because of this, Capricorns may be lonely.

Astrologers believe that Capricorns respect power, authority, structure, tradition, and old things whose value and durability are tested by time. Capricorns are ambitious, and they typically are not satisfied unless they have reached a level of power and authority. They have a deep need for security, especially financial, and often will work very hard to get rich. Professions traditionally associated with Capricorn include banking; government, big business, and other situations with power hierarchies; mining; farming; and construction.

Natal Chart of My Birth (click for larger image)

Birth Chart

Someone told me once, that my birth was unusual because all the planets were aligned on one side. I never did believe it, until I stumbled across an astrology site that created birth or natal charts for free. Always being curious, the finished chart got my interest.

Brain Works

Determines your dominant brain hemisphere. I was amazed at the accuracy of this test, and asked several friends to give it a try. The idea was to review their results to what I know of them to see how accurate the test was with other people. I strongly believe the results are accurate. I even ask identical twins to take the test. They both live in different states and took the test at different times. The results? They both had the same results. Right in the middle, off slightly, but the same. Either this is because they both grew up in the same environment or twins share a common bond. Give it a try and you decide. For instance, my Brain Works Results kind of explains this web site.

The 'Mad Bluebird' (click for the story behind this picture)

Grr...

The Mad Bluebird is one of my favorite pictures. I heard this is the most reproduced picture in the world.

Special Birthday?

Different Thinking

A class of noisy boys in a German primary school was being punished by their teacher. They were assigned the problem of adding together all the number from 1 to 100.

The boys settled down, scribbling busily on their slates�all but one. This boy looked off into space for a few moments, then wrote something on his slate and turned it in. His was the only right answer.

When the amazed teacher asked how he did it, the boy replied, "I thought there might be some shortcut, and I found one: 100 plus 1 is 101; 99 plus 2 is 101; 98 plus 3 is 101, and if I continue the series all the way to 51 plus 50, I have 101 fifty time, which is 5,050."

After the episode, the young scholar received special tutoring from his teacher. The boy grew up to be Carl Friedrich Gauss, the great mathematician of the 19th century.

Sieve of Eratosthenes

Sieve of Eratosthenes, ehr uh TAHS thuh neez, is a method developed in the 200's B.C. by the Greek mathematician Eratosthenes for identifying prime numbers. These are numbers other than 1 that can be divided evenly by only 1 and themselves. Today, mathematicians use computers to identify prime numbers. But Eratosthenes' method, though much slower, always works.

To find prime numbers with the sieve of Eratosthenes, first write the series of whole numbers starting with 2. Next, cross out every second number after 2. This step eliminates all numbers that can be divided evenly by 2, except for 2 itself. Similarly, cross out every third number after 3. (Include in your count those numbers that you have already crossed out.) This step eliminates all the numbers that can be divided evenly by 3, except for 3 itself.

Then, since 4 is already crossed out, move on to 5. Cross out every fifth number after 5, any you have:

Continue this process for multiples of 7, and so on. Numbers that are not crossed out can be thought of as having passed through a sieve (strainer) that has caught all the rest.

Any number that has not been crossed out when you start with a number to its right-for example, the 3, when you begin a crossing-out step with 6-is prime. This process is endless because, as the Greek mathematician Euclid proved about 300 B.C., there is no largest prime number.