I learned that people get patents for some very odd things or apply for patents on odd things.

I learned that there is often an offcolor joke lurking in wolfs posts. :o

That depends on which colors are considered normal.

I learned that turning my visiting nephew loose on my World of Warcraft account while I'm at work is a win-win scenario. He doesn't have to hang around the adults, and I will have another toon to play when he goes home.

I learnt again that zippyt says things his own way and I admire him for it (I promise there is no irony nor sarcasm in this post).

I learned the story of dord, a clerical screw up that was harmless, went unnoticed for years, and, in hindsight, has a nice trivia value.

...that you CAN learn a new word every day if you know where to look.

Thanks, glatt.

NO, no, no no. No more new words.
Eye kant speil they uns eye've gut. :headshake

Nice to see you back Mags. Did you move? I thought you lived in Norristown?

Also, you're thinking of Dev, mother to our dear Ruthie Purple. Last I heard, she had moved to DE to be with her man. But that information is VERY old now.

Brian

Not Norristown, puleeze.

Jeffersonville. West Norriton Township. (If I lived in Actual Norristown, I'd carry a spare magazine more often. 12 rounds might not be enough.)

Still living at the same place last we met IRL, though. I GAFIAte from here once in a while for a decent interval, then come back to See What They've Done With The Old Place. Sure has come a long way from the days when you might have to wait for an open line. :-)

Ah, yeas...."dev" not "dov"--right you are. What a difference a vowel makes.

Today I learned that I am more adept at first aid and diagnosis than the pa at my local emergentcy clinic. (TGINS thank god it's not serious) Only I don't have ready access to 'caine type painkillers.

"we'll just do an xray to be sure you didn't hit the bone" = would you like another round of drinks or dessert?"

me: "I can live without the xray, I'm pretty sure I'd know if I hit the bone" = I'm paying for this out of pocket, let's not inflate the bill with a bunch of useless frills intended to compensate for insurance comapnies who only pay you 40 cents on the dollar."

limey, :beer: :guinness:

For my new job of three weeks, I learned a lot about company decisions and plans. One of the founders took me to lunch for two and a half hours. It was very special to get that much time with him one-on-one. We are six weeks from first product launch; exciting times.

My last x-gf is from Wyndmoor; we stayed at her parent's place a few times. So, I had to lookup Jeffersonville, I guess for old time's sake. Today, I learned where Jeffersonville is.

Everyone knows, weight is bad in airplane design.
But, when they were designing the Boeing 777-200ER, a plane that weighs something like half a million pounds, they calculated for flying a 3,000-mile flight, cutting 2,500 pounds could save about 23,250 gallons of jet fuel.

At an average price of $1.66 per gallon, that's almost $39,000 saved on one transcontinental flight. :mg:

That one I already know.

Maggie's out of the borough, but she is in Norristown. Being out of the borough, though, makes all of the difference.

Today I learned that the best way to make the assistant in the Mens Dept. uncomfortable is to look him in the eye and say "I'm not gay, but I'll learn.".

The wife hates shopping with me.

zippyt, you get on over here and I'll buy you that Guinness! :thumbsup:

Most of it. I'm protected from the effects of the lame borough government, but not from the school district.

I thought I was kicking butt in dance class and learning the choreography but then the teacher injured her knee, so she sat in a chair and we did it without her in front, and it turns out no one in class can remember sh** without watching her. Now she's going to make a point of making us dance without her every week. :thepain3:

Cutting 2,500 pounds from "my" airplane would make it lighter than air; it's not allowed to fly if it weighs more than 2,500lbs.

Only seats four, and there's no lav. Would take several hops to go transcontinental too.

That said, weight is even more of an issue for a little airplane...

Another airplane tidbit.....
The Kevlar band made to encircle the engine fan is about three inches thick and two feet wide.
This containment ring is so strong that it can absorb the energy equivalent to stopping a ten-thousand-pound automobile traveling at 70 miles an hour in five inches! :eek:

During the development of the engine for the 777, there were a series of shows about its design, development, testing, etc. There were many shows and one of them, on the engine, had a segment that featured that retaining ring. It showed in extreme slow motion the result of many different insults. They fired a frozen turkey into the spinning turbine blades (sliced frozen turkey, in case you were wondering), they tried to drown it with enough water to simulate storm that dumped 22" of rain (boring. wet.) and they showed what happened when a designated turbine blade came loose. That was interesting. It was painted white, and when it came out, it moved outward from the center of course. But the clearance was so slight that it immediately collided with both the inside of the shroud and the turbine blades following it. Several broke and the whole mess of them continued their outward path. One camera angle was from outside the engine looking at the spot where the blades would have come out (in the absence or failure of your band) and all we could see was a little movement under the fabric, as if something were moving under a sheet. Then nothing.

Until now I hadn't understood what was going on there that produced the effect I saw. Now I know more, but I'm just as amazed.

What I learned last night:

If a recipe doesn't specify what heat to have your grill at, start off on Low. Aubergines go from well-done, to burnt, to ON FIRE!!!! in the time it takes you to cross the kitchen.

Today, I learned how to experimentally determine the rate constant and law of a reaction. And that undergrad chemistry is great fun!

Technically, I learned this yesterday but whatever...

Pontiac Grand Ams make a weird crunching noise when a semi runs them over.

Phila drivers are INSANE!

This guy is one of the dumbest drivers on the planet! How do you not see a semi the size of a small house, lit up like a cruise ship at night, on a well-lighted street, flashing THREE sets of turn signals, making a turn at less then five mph and then try to get past it on the right???

Wish the pics had come out better than black with a shiny thing on it so I could show you the wages of stupidity.

And I barely felt it (felt like a curb to me). Damage to truck: a scuff on a tire, a small scratch on the lower rail and nothing else.

I'll find out what safety dept has to say in a few days. Could be anything from "Oops!" to "You're fired!". I'll let y'all know.

Brian

Yikes. Good luck with that.

I learned just how much the other half and I laugh. Which is nice.

My hubby had thyroid surgery yesterday and now it really hurts when he laughs. We didn't realize how often that was before. And of course not being able to laugh make you want to.... I'm staying out of eye contact for now. He's literally in danger of laughing his head off :lol: Poor thing.

Today I learned that there's a preservative in a lot of bread which sends kids loopy (apparently).

Yesterday I learned it was the first day of Alaska King Crab season. :yum:
Today I learned the Cellar is crawllllllling. :(

Today I woke up and learned that I still have the hots for Bono.

I never did. You're welcome to him.

I learned to never again let my dog get lose in the neighbor's yard. :blush:

Today I learned that you don't need to yell to make children quiet down.

Waving a shotgun around will have the same effect.

I learned that I am a screamer.

Please tell me that's not all you learned from that incident.

OK

I learned that I know absolutely nothing regarding the nature of potentially explosive devices. I learned that they might be road flares or they might be something more lethal, and if the latter, that the item does not become harmless merely because it is old. I learned that since my ignorance on the matter is so vast, that if I ever again come across something like that to leave it alone and call somebody who knows more than me about such things (this would seem to include most of the rest of the entire world).

There. I learned some important stuff, actually, and came away unharmed. Thank heavens the things were only ancient road flares.

Wiley E. Coyote on line 1.

I have been informed (again) that I am a slow learner. I hesitate to say I learned anything.

Or maybe it's so good that I get to keep learning it over and over and over.

Uh...shouldn't your wife have posted that? ;)

I learned today that a gay baseball flick is coming out.

Buy a bread making machine. Easy-peasy to operate, and fantastic bread, PLUS you know what youve put into it!
:yum:

Brokeback Pitchers Mound?

But who is catching ???? LJ ????

I learned that the Guttenberg Bible was actually NOT the first printed book. It was the first substantial and significant book to be printed, but the press was used for numerous flyers, pamphlets, calendars, and small folios before it was geared up to do the bibles.

We went to the Huntington Library in Pasadena today, which has a Guttenberg on display.

what the?

i told you zippy, i'll only catch for you....sweetie ;)

I learned a long time ago that Willam Randolph Hearst lived in a way that would put a king to shame. On one of the tours of Hearst Castle, I saw a table lamp that had a lampshade made from pages of a Guttenberg Bible. Talk about conspicuous consumption! :yowza:

Today I learned that our car can hold 70 large helium balloons, but it can't hold 140. I also learned that while they manage to completely obscure my vision everywhere but the windshield and side mirrors, they contribute amazingly little to the handling of the vehicle, good or bad.

I learned that everything I ever thought about a certain person in my life is true.

I learned that I only need a day's worth of trial-and-error to be better at programming with XML and Director than the guy at our company whose job it is to do those things.

Seeing as how he still gets paid more than I do, this didn't really please me.

I learned that if you put of buying a part for the dryer, until you are ready to install it, because the Maytag parts place is only a mile away. It won't be there anymore.
Now I have to edit my reply in the dirty jeans thread. :dunce:

I learned this acouple of months ago, but am reminded everyday, not to let children gather acorns and bring them into the house. Apparently there are little worms within, that turn into an army of moths. :rar:

BigV, I'm pretty sure the Velum Lamp at the Hearst Castle is a 15th century antiphonal songbook, not a Guttenberg.

Could be wrong, but I'm fairly certain. In either case, it's still a whorish excess of consumption to destroy a codex like that.

I learned that if it was possible to make me crazy, Lady Keryx would do so.

I learned that if I don't get a good night's sleep, I'm a bitch.

I also learned that I haven't gotten a good night's sleep for 35 years.

:lol2: Made me laugh out loud. Aren't you supposed to put a "swallow drink before reading" warning on stuff like this?

So barge into the boss' office and demand a raise. Or a promotion. Or both. Seriously.

Meh--I don't want a promotion. I'm a contractor. This job is about as far from "career-advancing" as it could be; I'm just riding it out until I leave the full-time workforce indefinitely in May. I suppose I could ask for more money for the next three months, but that might give them the idea I want to stay there, if only the right offer were made. Truth is, I hate the place with a violent passion and I'm only there because they pay me more than temp work would and I can quit in May with a clear conscience (I have a huge guilt-complex about leaving any job where I feel they "need" me). It's really more about what an incompetent man this so-called programmer is.

I learned this week that my employer has more chuckleheads than I originally thought. I think I also finally figured out my career calling: training and development. I need to think on that some more.