More Not-so-useless Trivia

 I know, I've done this already.  The last time, though, was mostly a run of disconnected pieces of information.  This time, I thought I'd give more-than-you-ever-wanted-to-know about something we take for granted, but would be loathe to be without.


Technology.  When we hear that word, we tend to think of computers, high-speed internet connections, cell phones and other more recent developments.  We forget that it wasn't all that long ago that technology wasn't even a common word.  The first recorded use of "technology" with the meaning "science of the mechanical and industrial arts" was in 1859.  The phrase "high-tech" was coined in 1972.

Our first (yep, I plan on more of these!) example of early technology is the flush toilet.  The British were the leaders of the pack in the manufacture of  flush toilets.  (Of course, the city of London, by the late 12th century, was a churning mass of people and animals with no proper way of disposing of waste. There's a lot in the history of London that relates to all this, but it would be too much to put down here.)  J. F. Brondel invented the valve-type flush toilet in 1738.  A flurry of inventiveness from 1775 to 1778 further refined the functionality.  John Crapper (he was not the inventor of the flush-toilet, though he did improve upon it's design) opened his manufacturing company in London in 1861, by which point, the problem of sewer gas emissions had been rectified.  (I have no inclination to provide you with the mechanics of the flush toilet.  If you want to know, I suggest you Google it.  Hmm.  At what point did "Google" become a verb?)  Across the pond, in the U.S., the flush toilet did not catch on quickly.  Having more open spaces, I guess Americans were content with the outhouse.  (Personally, the idea of running outside to pee during sub-zero wind chills would have been enough to inspire me to invent something better!)  The first American patent for a toilet, the "plunger closet" was granted in 1857.  But it wasn't until after The Great War (WWI), when our soldiers returned with stories of a "mighty slick invention" used widely throughout England, that the flush toilet became commonplace.  Barely 90 years ago!


See, I told you it would be more-than-you-wanted-to-know stuff.  And I condensed quite a bit.  Just a few more interesting (at least, to me!) and related facts:

• Did you know that King Minos of Crete had the first flushing water closet over 2800 years ago?
• Did you know that a toilet was discovered in the tomb of a Chinese king of the Western Han Dynasty that dates back to circa 200 B.C.?
• Did you know that the first packaged toilet paper was the invention of American Joseph Gayetty in 1857 and that it was premoistened flat-sheets medicated with aloe and called Gayetty's Medicated Paper?
• Did you know that toilet paper in roll form did not become common until 1907?
• Did you know that in 1935, Northern Tissue company first advertised "splinter-free toilet paper?  Yeah, that's right.  Early paper production techniques sometimes left splinters in the paper.  And you thought generic toilet paper was bad!  Ouch!
• Did you know that in 1973 America experienced it's first toilet paper shortage?
• Did you know that originally toilet brushes were made of wood with pig bristles or hair from horses, oxen, squirrels and badgers?
• Did you know there are techniques to toilet train a cat?

Well, now you've been plunged you into the world of toilets.  I think I've flushed out enough facts for you, for now.  You are probably relieved to see the end of this posting.  Heehee. Okay, enough puns.  I just couldn't resist!


This guy is making a fortune with these books:

All Creatures Great and Small

I don't worry too much about the "great" or large creatures.  The chances of having an elephant stumble into our house is practically nil.  And I don't think even a very large breed of dog would dare take on our house full of cats.  No, unfortunately, it's the small creatures that have me stressed out.

When I got up this morning, I was in a very good mood.  Weather forecast said 78 and partly sunny.  So when I got my mother up for breakfast and her meds, I was teasing her and greeting all the cats with much petting and sweet talk.  Even the cat puke on the kitchen floor didn't bother me too much.  Finding the silver lining, I thought, at least it was on the floor and not the rug.  I reached for some paper towels.

I won't print the words that came out of my mouth when I saw the first ant.  Yeah, the first of many.  I grabbed the ant spray and started killing them.  They weren't swarming, but there were enough to keep me busy for a few minutes.  When I didn't see any more live ones, I started wiping the counters with the Clorox wipes.  I've said before, I'm not the best housekeeper, but neither am I a slob.  There really wasn't much that should have attracted the little buggers.  And when I wipe the counters and table, I actually move things to get in the corners and edges.  So, as I'm cleaning the counters, I move the toaster oven to check behind and under it.  The toaster oven bumped the 'on' switch on the blender, which startled me, causing me to yell and step back--right into the cat puke I had forgotten about due to the blasted ants.

So, after turning off the blender, I'm trying to clean up the puke, pull my sock off and find the ants' ingress--all at the same time.  I see more of the ubiquitous blighters on the wall.  What the heck?  Were they having a party?  With paper towels in one hand and ant spray in the other, I attack the wall, while still cleaning the floor.  At some point I had the good sense to move the cat food bowls so I didn't get bug spray in them.  I don't even remember doing that.  Fortunately, the new ant spray is non-staining and odor-free, with a setting for "stream" instead of "spray" so the kitchen wasn't filled with fumes.  Unfortunately, it's still chemicals being squirted and my lungs and sinuses knew it.

It wasn't long before I was sneezing and coughing.  My eyes watered, making it difficult to see the tiny critters.  I moved things away from the wall and Tabitha (since the blender was off) decided she needed to check on my progress.  In a side note, cats don't eat ants!  I told her she should eat them.  Bears eat ants.  Aardvarks eat ants.  I didn't mention anteaters--too obvious.  Tabitha couldn't care less about bears and aardvarks.  But she did have to see what I was doing, which put her beautiful, copper-colored stripes right in front of me.  (I know women who would pay a fortune to have their hair the color of Tabitha's fur.)  I couldn't spray with her there, which was probably for the best, considering I could barely breathe anymore.  There I am, coughing and sneezing, hopping on one foot, dirty sock hanging half off the other foot, ant spray in one hand, used paper towels in the other, looking through watery eyes past a cat so I could check for more ants.  Then I hear my mother ask "What's going on?"

Oh, brother!

Well, leaving my mother on ant patrol, I threw the paper towels in the garbage, blew my nose for an hour (okay, okay, more like five minutes), took off both socks and threw them in the laundry, sprayed around the kitchen baseboard and then rewashed the saucepan because God knows what had gotten into it.  While I was washing the pan, I spotted a few more ants gathered around the stainless steel scrubber.  Ah-ha!  These were grease ants.  As opposed to sugar ants.  Not that it makes them any better, but at least it was an explanation.  I'd made a frozen pizza the night before and had left the cutter and server in the sink.  There were a few more ants in the sink, too, but that got washed thoroughly.  I took some fiendish pleasure in running the garbage disposal while I watched the ants go down the drain.

My mother thought it was all terribly funny.  Not the ants, but everything else.

When I made dinner, I kept a sharp eye out.  All's quiet in the kitchen.  For now.

Decluttering: Part 2

Yes, this is the second post today (miracles do happen) and yes, that is an actual picture of my bedroom while I continue to work on cleaning out my closet.  It's a really good thing I don't care to watch TV, because I can't see it right now.  It's slow going, mostly because I keep finding pictures and I have to look at them.  (That's the "C" in OCD).  However, I also have been cleaning other areas.  I know, skipping to clean out other places isn't really sticking to "the plan,"  but since I'll have to do every place in the house and garage eventually anyway, I figure, what's the difference in the long run?

My mom and I went to the hair stylist several days ago.  Our stylist is a confirmed Catholic.  She and my mother get into discussions about the church and priests and such.  So, this last time, my mom offered our stylist a Catholic bible.  The answer was an emphatic "yes!"  That's how I ended up cleaning out one of the shelving units in the living room.  To find the Catholic bible my mom had in mind.  Sounds fairly simple, eh?  Well, not in our house.  My parents (mostly my mom) had a vast collection of bibles, bible commentaries, bible study aids, concordances and other religious books.  Several years ago, I had gone through these during my Ebay phase.  Anything that looked new, I sold.  Probably four or five bibles or religious texts.  Then, a couple of years ago, I sorted through the bibles and stuff again, donating a few more to the library.  Now, I'm trying to find a specific bible in the more than two dozen bibles on the shelves (not counting all the other associated books).  So I decide, let's make good use of this time and pack up whatever I can to sell or donate.

After keeping all the bibles with ancestral and important event information in them, I was left with about a dozen bibles that I could get rid of.  Most of those had those plastic tabs on them to designate the books of the bible.  Those could only be donated to a charity.  Out of the three or four in good condition, only one had any actual monetary value.  That was the New Jerusalem Bible.  It's unusual and in like-new condition.  The other couple are going to the library.  However, by the time I added all the commentaries, study aids, concordances, prayer books, books on saints, books on grief, biographical books of religious leaders and one really interesting-looking book called Christian Metaphysics (almost kept that one), I had four good-sized boxes full to try and sell.  They are currently stacked in the living room.  Tabitha (alpha cat) has claimed one box as her very own.  I don't know when I'll be able to move that box.

Did you notice anything missing in that ramble of information?  Yeah, didn't find the Catholic bible my mom wants to give our stylist.  After sorting and packing through an episode of Hawaii 5-0 and one of It Takes a Thief, I was sweaty and tired and thirsty.  The process had been more difficult because my mom wanted to see what books I was giving away or selling.  Distracting her was a lot of work!  I leaned back on the couch.  My head lolled to the left.  My eyes narrowed.  On the middle shelf of the entertainment unit on the opposite wall were two good-sized hard-covered books.  Hmmm.  Wonder what those are?  I gathered what's left of my wits and crawled over to the shelf.  The first book is (yet another!) book on Christian living.  The second is--low and behold!--the elusive Catholic bible destined for our stylist!  Mission accomplished!

Yesterday, I loaded the trunk of my car with give-away bags and boxes.  I told Tabitha that I might be taking her box.  She didn't look pleased.  Fortunately for her, I ran out of room before I got to the boxes of books in the living room.  For the time being, her box is still there.  I think I'm going to have to buy some catnip for her in order to take that box away.  If I get her mellow enough, maybe she'll never remember the box.  Yeah, right.

Well, I can dream anyway!

Trivia Pursuit

Did you know that May 15th is Armed Forces Day?  Not to be confused with Veterans Day, which is to honor people who served in the past, or with Memorial Day, which is, of course, to honor those who've died in service.  Armed Forces Day is to honor the currently enlisted (or commissioned) people serving our country.  Who knew?

Did you know that the capybara is the largest rodent in the world?  It's indigenous to the American southwest and Mexico.  Don't confuse it with the chupacabra, which is a Mexican/South American mythical creature which is like a cross between a Tasmanian Devil and a zombie.  Nice.

Did you know that the earthquake that hit Argentina several weeks ago, ever-so-slightly knocked the earth's rotation off?  That's a lot of force.  The last time I knew of the earth's rotation being changed was when Superman reversed it to save Lois Lane in the first Superman movie.  Well, I guess that wasn't real.  It was still pretty cool and Christopher Reeve looked excellent in tights.  ;-D  But I digress.  As usual.  The last time the earth's rotation was changed would be when God made the sun stand still for Joshua.  (Josh. 10:12-13)  And that is real, because there are other historical documents from around 1500-1400 b.c., that state the earth stopped rotating for a period of about 20 hours.  And because I believe it.

My head is full of a plethora of interesting/useless information.  I use the slash, since some people couldn't care less.  Did you know the correct phrase is "couldn't care less" because to say "could care less" would mean that you cared a little, at least?  See what I mean?

I used to watch Jeopardy avidly.  When I worked a 9 to 5 job, I taped it.  (Yes, on VHS tape.  I also remember when Alex had a mustache.)  I stopped watching a year or so ago, only because my nap time falls between 3:00 and 4:00 p.m.  Did you know that if you want to take naps, you need to take one every day at about the same time to keep your body in the proper circadian rhythm?  I have friends that take naps every Sunday.  Supposedly that just throws your body out of whack.

Anyway, I liked to see how many Jeopardy questions I got correct.  I had a pretty good average of about 30%.  I liked the teen weeks the best.  I averaged a little better than half during those.  The kids' weeks were just too easy.

There are tons of trivia websites.  But I get most of my minutiae through reading.  Sometimes I find mistakes of a trivial nature and want to go on the author's website and leave a note that they got their facts wrong.  I haven't done that.  Yet.

I think I'll do it the next time I see the "could care less" error.  That's a pet peeve of mine.  I could do a whole posting on pet peeves!

Did you know that the past tense of "spell" can be "spelled" or "spelt"?  Either is correct.

Did you know that the holes in Swiss cheese are called "eyes"?

Did you know that Leonardo di Vinci, Winston Churchill, Albert Einstein, Gen'l George S. Patton and Thomas Edison were all dyslexic?

Did you know that Socrates trained to be a stonecutter?

Did you know that in 1858, Hyman Lipman put the pencil and eraser together for the first time?

Did you know a cabbage has 18 chromosomes?

Did you know that achondroplasia, which causes dwarfism in humans, is the genetic trait that gives dachshunds their short legs?  (I better not let my mother see that, she'd freak!)

Did you know that beavers are vegetarians?

Okay, I didn't know all of those things before doing this blog.  I knew about the past tense of "spell."  I knew about Lipman's pencil and eraser, but not the year.  I knew beavers were vegetarians.  And I knew Albert Einstein was dyslexic.  The rest I grabbed off of triviacountry.com.

Oh, there are a lot of better ways to spend my time, I'll agree.  I could

finish decluttering my closet.  I could be working on my novel.  Or I could be sending emails to my bff's.

There's just nothing like knowing a lot of trivia.  It's fun!  It's interesting!  And best of all--it makes me look smart!  Looks can be deceiving.