Thomas F. Shubnell's Blog, page 503

Quotable

Some of today's humor is like some foods - you have to acquire a taste for it.

To Stop a Crying Baby

Here is one interesting video. It is a one minute Japanese video showing a simple way to stop a crying baby by making a sound. The voice over is not in English, but the sound is obvious. Great for babies and grand babies that will not stop crying. It does not say how long the effect lasts, but sometimes a brief respite is all that is needed. Getting down on all fours and imitating a rhinoceros

Quotable

Pessimist: Person who thinks all women are the same.
Optimist: Person who thinks all women are the same.

Quotable

A baby is God's opinion that the world should go on.  Carl Sandburg

What's in a Name, Sparky

The 1920s comic strip, Barney Google and Snuffy Smith, strip gave us the nickname "Sparky," from the name of Barney's horse, Sparkplug.

Billy DeBeck wrote the strip about a community of backwoods hillbillies and moonshiners. In a 1923 strip Barney tells someone to, "Get that stupid look offa your pan. You gimme the heeby jeebys!" It meant, 'a feeling of discomfort'.


Other phrases coined by

Quotable

People who live in the past generally are afraid to compete in the present. I've got my faults, but living in the past is not one of them. There's no future in it. Sparky Anderson, baseball player and coach.

Shave and a Haircut, Two Bits

Shaving does not cause hair to grow back thicker, or coarser, or darker. This belief is due to the fact that hair that has never been cut has a tapered end, whereas, after cutting, there is no taper. Thus, it appears thicker, and feels coarser due to the sharper, unworn edges.



Hair can also appear darker after it grows back because hair that has never been cut is often lighter due to sun

Uses for Lemons

The following are a few uses for lemons that you may not have thought of. 

Polish chrome -
Rub with a lemon rind, rinse, and dry with a paper towel.

Clean tarnished brass, bronze, copper, and stainless steel -
Make a paste of lemon juice and baking soda and apply to the tarnished area. Let soak for 5 to 10 minutes and wash in soapy water.

Get rid of stain on marble -
For stubborn stain on

Sandwich Costs

Do you know how much it costs to make a sandwich? Here is a site that is a sandwich cost calculator. It has no redeeming features, just calculates the cost to make a sandwich. The lead up to it goes into great detail about the ingredients, but it offers no option of adding an extra 10 slices of bacon, or three or four extra slices of cheese.

Quotable

After all these years, it's still embarrassing for me to play on the American golf tour. Like the time I asked my caddy for a sand wedge and he came back ten minutes later with a ham on rye.  Chi Chi Rodriguez