F. Y. I.

Ticking Away
The quartz crystal in your wristwatch vibrates 32,768 times a second.

In Other Words
The literal meaning of the Italian word linguine is "little tongues".

No Kidding
An alligator can go through 3,000 teeth in a lifetime.

Presidents' Files
Before Thomas Jefferson took office, people bowed to the president, rather than shaking his hand.

Back Then
Margarine was called Butterine when it was first marketed in England.

Super - Sized
Most elephants weigh less than the tongue of a blue whale.

Quotable
by Nelson Mandela
"There can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way in which it treats its children."

Did You Know ?
Rubbing coffee beans on your hands will remove odors from foods such as garlic and fish when cooking.

F. Y. I.

Night Light
All scorpions glow in the dark.

All Together
A group of goats is called a trip.

Quotable
by William Faulkner, American novelist (1897-1962)
"The man who removes a mountain begins by carrying away small stones."

Did You Know ?
Most rechargeable batteries can be recharged up to 1,000 times.

Presidents' Files
Harry S Truman's middle name is S.

Point of Origin
"Rookie" comes from a Civil War term, "reckie", which was short for "recruit".

NOW YOU KNOW

• On June 1, 1813, the mortally wounded commander of the U.S. frigate Chesapeake, Capt. James Lawerence, said, "Don't give up the ship" during a losing battle with a British frigate, the HMS Shannon, during the War of 1812.
• On June 2, 1953, Queen Elizabeth 2, of Britain was crowned in Westminster Abbey, 16 months after the death of her father, King George VI.
• On June 3, 1888, the poem "Casey at the Bat," by Ernest Lawrence Thayer, was first published, in the San Francisco Daily Examiner.
• On June 4, the German ocean liner St. Louis, carrying more than 900 Jewish refugees from Germany, was turned away from the Florida coast by U.S. officials.
• On June 6, 1944, the D-Day invasion of Europe took place during World War 2 as Allied forces stormed the beaches of Normandy, France.
• On June 7, 1776, Richard Henry Lee of Viriginia proposed to the Continental Congress a resoolution calling for American independence from Britain.
• On June 8, 1948, the "Texaco Star Theater" made its debut on NBC-TV with Milton Berle guest-hosting the first program. (He was later named the show's permanent host.)
• On June 9, 1978, leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints struck down a 148-year-old policy of excluding black men from the Mormon priesthood.
• On June 10, 1935, Alcoholics Anonymous was founded in Akron, Ohio, by Dr. Robert Holbrook Smith and William Griffith Wilson.
• On June 11, 1776, the Continental Congress formed a committee to draft a Declaration of Independence calling for freedom from Britain.
• On June 13, 1966, the Supreme Court issued its landmark Miranda v. Arizona decision, ruling that criminal suspects had to be informed of their constitutional right to consult with an attorney and to remain silent before being questioned by police.
• On June 14, 1777, the Continental Congress in Philadelphia adopted the Stars and Stripes as the national flag.
• On June 15, 1844, Charles Goodyear received a patent for his process to vulcanize rubber.
• On June 16, 1858, accepting the Illinois Republican Party's nomination for the U.S. Senate, Abraham Lincoln said the slavery issue had to be resolved, declaring, "A house divided against itself cannot stand."
• On June 17, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon's eventual downfall began with the arrest of five burglars inside Democratic national headquarters at the Watergate complex.
• On June 18, 1778, American forces entered Philadelphia as the British withdrew during the Revolutionary War.
• On June 21, 1948, the Republican national conventon opened in Philadelphia.  The delegates ended up choosing Thomas E. Dewey to be their presidential nominee.
• On June 22, 1940, during World War 2, Adolph Hilter gained a stunning victory as France was forced to sign an armistice eight days after German forces overran Paris.
• On JUne 24, 1948, Communist forces cut off all land and water routes between West Germany and West Berlin, prompting the Western allies to organize the Berlin Airlift.
• On June 25, Lt. Col. George A. Custer and his Seventh Cavalry were wiped out by Sioux and Cheyenne Indians in the Battle of the Little Bighorn in Montana.
• On June 27, 1950, the U,N. Security Council passed a resolution calling on member nations to help South Korea repel an invasion from the North and to "restore international peace and security in the area."
• On June 28, 1914, World War 1 began. Archduke Francis Ferdinand and his wife were assassinated while at (what is now known as) Sarajevo, Bosnia.

NOW YOU KNOW

• On May 2,1908, the original version of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game". withmusic by Albert Von Tilzer and lyrics by Jack Norworth, was copyrighted by Von Tilzer's York Music Co.
• On May 3, 1986, in NASA's first post-Challenger launch, an unmanned Delta rocket lost power in its main engine shortly after liftoff, forcing safety officers to destroy it by remote control.
• On May 4, 1970, Ohio National Guardsmen opened fire durng an anti-war protest at Kent University, killing four students and wounding nine others.
• On May 5, 1961, astronaut Alan B. Shepard Jr. became America's first space traveler as he made a 15-minute sub-orbital flight in a capsule launched from Cape Canaveral, Fla.
• On May 6, 1937, the hydrogen-filled German airship Hindenburg burned and crashed in Lakehurst, N.J., killing 35 of the 97 people on board and a Navy crewman on the ground.
• On May 7, 1945, Germany signed an unconditional surrender at Allied headquarters in Rheims, France, ending its role in World War 2.
• On May 9, 1994, South Africa's newly elected parliament chose Nelson Mandela to be the country's first black president.
• On May 10, 205, a hand grenade landed about 65 feet from U.S. President George W. Bush while he was giving a speech to a crowd in Tbilist, Georgia, but it malfunctioned and did not detonate.
• On May 11, 1910, Glacier National Park in Montana was established.
• On May 12, 1978, the Commerce Department said hurricanes would no longer be given only female names.
• On May 13, 1607, English colonists arrived by ship at the site of what became the Jamestown settlement in Virginia.  The colonists went ashore the next day.
• On May 14, 1860, the first Japanese diplomatic mission to the United States arrived in Washington.
• On May 16, 1868, President Andrew Johnson's impeachment trial ended in acquittal by one vote.
• On May 17, 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously struck down racially segregated public schools in its Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka decision.
• On May 18, 1980, the Mount St. Helens volcano in Washington state exploded, leaving 57 people dead or missing.
• On May 20, 1927, Charles Lindberg took off from Long Island aboard the Spirit of St. Louis on his historic solo flight to France.  In 1932, Amelia Earthart took off fromNewfoundland to become the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic.
• On May 21, 1927, Charles A. Lindbergh landed his Spirit of St. Louis near Paris, completing the first solo airplane flight across the Atlantic Ocean in 33 1/2 hours.  Five years later, Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean.
• On May 25, 1925, John T. Scopes was indicted for teaching Charles Darwin's theory of evolution.
• OnMay 26, 1940, the evacuation of more than 338,000 Allied troops from Dunkirk, France, began during World War 2.
• On May 27, 1937, the Golden Gate Bridge connecting San Francisco and Martin County, Calif., was opened to pedestrian traffic (vehicular traffic began crossing the bridge the next day).
• On May 28, 1863, the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, made up of freed blacks, left Boston to fight for the Union in the Civil War.
• On May 30, 1922, the Lincoln Memorial was dediciated in Washington in a ceremony attended by President Warren G. Harding, Chief Justice William Howard Taft and Robert Todd Lincoln.

"FATHER OF THE YEAR "

                By  Charles Osgood

BECAUSE JEAN AND I HAVE FIVE KIDS, one of whom now has three little boys of her own, we take more than a passing interest in Mother's Day and Father's Day.  One year, when my kids were younger, the National Father's Day Committee actually called to advise me that I was being named one of their "Fathers of the Year." I wrote a poem about it, which went like this:

               I confess to a certain pride
              That I won't attempt to hide.
               I'll admit that it delighted me to hear
               That the Father's Day Committee,
               Which is based in New York City,
               Has named me one of the Fathers of the Year.
              
               No, it's not the least bit bad
               To be honored as a dad.
               Although, you may wonder what I did to win it.
               If you ask how I do it,
               I will say there's nothing to it.
               To explain it now will only take a minute.

               It is absolutely true
               That there's nothing that I do
               To make the Father's Day Committee name me.
               It all has to do with Jean
               And five kids named Kathleen,
               Winston, Annie, Emily, and Jamie.

                Three lasses and two laddies,
                I'm the luckiest of daddies.
                They are wonderful as any kids could be.
                And though often I'm not there,
                They can hear me onthe air
                And also see me there on the TV.

                I'm sure Jean was pleased to hear
                That I'm Father of the Year.
                It must thrill her as she goes about her life
                To be informed that I am such a splendid guy-
                And she's the Father of the Year's wife.

                Every morning she gets up
                To a day that never lets up
                To pack lunches for the kids to take to school.
                She does that every day,
                Although I am far away.
                I'm long gone to work by that time,
                As a rule.

                Yes, it must seem really keen.
                I'm sure it must to Jean.
                It must fill her with satisfying cheer
                To hear that in the city
                The Father's Day Committee
                Has picked me as a father of the year.

                When she drives them all to school,
                Trying hard to keep her cool,
                As the rush hour traffic slowly moves along,
                She must give a little smile
                At this little daily trail
                And wonder if she's doing something wrong.

                She tends to them when they're sick;
                When they're hurt comes running quick.
                It is she who helps them with the violin.
                I would do it if I could,
                I am certain that I would,
                Were it not that I am very seldom in.

                It is Jean who drives them places,
               And makes sure they wash their faces,
               And finds their missing jackets and their shoes.
               It is she who does it all,
               While yours truly has the gall
               To be off somewhere gathering some news.

                Jean breaks up each fight,
                Reads stories every night,
                And when they have troubles, takes time to hear.
                She does that, truth to tell,
                And she does it all so well.
                That's why they named me Father of the Year.

    I eagerly await, any day now, a call from the National Grandfather's Day Committee.  Jean will be
    so pleased.  

DID YOU KNOW THAT JUNE IS MORE THAN THE START OF SUMMER?

It's also the month that recognizes these great occasions.
My favorite is National Ice Cream Month!
                  Which one do you prefer?

• National Blueberry Month
• National Anti-Boredom Month
• Unlucky Month for Weddings
• National Cell Phone Courtesy Month
• National Hot Dog Month
• National Ice Cream Month

THE GRAPEVINE

                Musings of a Grown Up

1. I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten-page technical report that I swear I did not make any changes to.
2. "Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this - ever.
3. I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? Dang it!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voice mail.  What did you do after I didn't answer?  Drop the phone and run away?
4. I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day.  What a waste.
5. I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone book just so I know not to answer when they call.
6. I think the freezer deserves a light as well.
7. I disagree with Kay Jewelers.  I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lite than Kay.
8. Sometimes I'll watch a movie that I watched when I was younger and suddenly realize I had no idea what the heck was going on when I first saw it.
9. I would rather try to carry 10 over-loaded plastic bags in each hand than take 2 trips to bring in my groceries.

JULY JOKES

• My wife, a real estate agent, wrote an ad for a house she was listing.  The house had a second - floor suite that could be accessed using a lift chair that slid along the staircase.  Quickly describing this feature, she inadvertently made it sound even more attractive:  "Mother-in-law suite comes with an electric chair".
• Two guys are out drinking when one of them falls off his barstool and lies motionless on the floor.  "One thing about Fred," his buddy says to the bartender. "He knows when to stop."
• As I picked out flowers for my mother, I noticeda man next to me juggling three boxes of candy and a large bouquet.  "What did you do wrong?"  I said with a laugh.  He mumbled back, "I got married."
• A friend and I were watching a film when a character called another a nymphomaniac.  "What's that mean?"  she asked.  "It's a female who's addicted to sex", I answered.  "What do they call males who are addicted to sex?"  "Men".
• During our priest's sermon, a large plant fell over right behind the pulpit, crashing to the ground.  Acknowledging his reputation for long-windedness, he smiled sheepishly and said, "Well, that's the first time I actually put a plant to sleep."

BEST BLOGS

We searched the blogosphere to find American voices that make us laugh:

Andy Borowitz
"A new social network is about to alter the social - media world, and it's called PhoneBook, a game changer that will leave Facebook and Twitter in the dust.  With PhoneBook, you have a book that lists all your friends in the city, plus everyone else who lives there.  When you want to chat with a friend, you look him up in PhoneBook, find his phone number, and it connects you directly to him!"
borowitzreport.com

Jennifer Worick
"Increasingly, when I enter someone's home, I'm shoe-horned into a foyer lined with shoes and instructed to add mine to the pile.  I get that folks don't want their hardwoods scratched and scuffed.  Call me a heel, but I don't want to walk around a party in my socks."
thingsiwanttopunchintheface.blogspot.com

Ree Drummond
"I attended college in Los Angeles and wore black pumps to work every day.  I ate sushi and treated myself to pedicures.  Then I fell in love with a rugged cattle rancher.  Now I live in the middle of nowhere and spend my days wrangling children and washing jeans.  I have no idea how I got here....but you know what?  I love it. Don't tell anyone."
thepioneerwoman.com

Lenore Skenazy
"The American Academy of Pediatrics wants companies to start labeling hot dogs, carrots, and grapes as choking hazzards.  Which, admittedly, they are.  And sidewalks are tripping hazards, and puddles are slipping hazards, and trees are bumping-into hazards."
freerangekids.wordpress.com

TEXT MESSAGE

M, pls rite on tabs & giv 2 ppl

If God had texted the Ten Commandments to Moses:

1. nol b4 me. srsly.
2. dnt wrshp pix/idols
3. no omg's
4. no wrk on w/end (sat 4 now; sun l8r)
5. pos ok - ur m&d r cool
6. dnt kill ppl
7. :-X only w/ m8
8. dnt  steal
9. dnt lie re: bf
10. dnt ogle ur bf's m8. or ox. or dnkey. myob.

F. Y. I.

Drawing the Line
The average lead pencil can draw a line 35 miles long or write roughly 50,000 English words.

Quotable
by Luciano Pavarotti
"People think I'm disciplined.  It is not discipline.  It is devotion.  There is a great difference."

By Comparison
The state of Flordia is bigger than England.

Consider This
Recycled paper is made using 40 percent less energy than non-recycled paper.

Still On The Books
In Zion, Ill., it is illegal for anyone to give cats, dogs or other domesticated animals a lighted cigar.

No Kidding
The name of the city we call Bangkok is 115 letters long in the Thai language.

F. Y. I.

No Kidding
In 2004, French author Michael Thaler published "Le Train de Nulle Part" (The Train from Nowhere"), a 233-page novel written without verbs.

Count 'Em
New York City has 722 miles of subway track.

Did You Know ?
Snails have teeth.

Quotable
by Mick Jagger
"It's all right letting yourself go, as long as you can get yourself back".

Fear This ?
The fear of vegetables is called lachanophobia.

In Other Words
The scientific term for sneezing is sternutation.

F. Y. I.

Quotable
by Bernie Siegel, physician and author
"If you watch how nature deals with adversity, continually renewing itself, you can't help but learn."

Still On The Books
In Athens, Greece, a driver's license can be taken away by law if the driver is deemed either "unbathed" or "poorly dressed".

State Stats
Texas has two official peppers  -  the jalapeno and the chiltepin - both of which are used in its official dish: chili.

In Other Worlds
The women of the Tiwi tribe in the South Pacific are married at birth.

Back Then
In 1859, 24 rabbits were released inAustralia.  Within six years, the population grew to 2 million.

No Kidding
A strand from the web of a golden spider is as strong as a steel wire of the same size.

F. Y. I.

First Words
Shakespeare invented the words "assassination" and "bump".

Quotable
by Josh Billings, American humorist (1818 - 1885)
"There is no revenge so complete as forgiveness".

Body Wisdom
The human brain takes up 2 percent of the human body weight but uses 20 percent of its energy.

So Called
A group of 12 or more cows is called a flink.

Still On The Books
In Vermont, women must obtain written permission from their husbands to wear false teeth.

State Stats
The first potato planted in the United States was at Londonerry Common Field in New Hampshire in 1719.