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OMG ….. WOW !!!!!!!!!!! what a speech, what a woman, what a family.

A friend sent an email today with some pictures in it. They bring back a few memories. And what better time to be a little nostalgic, with just 25 days prior to a half a century worth of memories.

At first, I didn’t know what this was. It’s a 45 RPM spindle. It allowed you to play 45 RPM records on a 33 RPM record player. I’ll bet that sounds GREEK to anyone under 40. Forty-fives were records with one song on each side. Thirty-threes were the album size. At least that is how I remember it. And I don’t remember the spindles being yellow.

My Mom used to collect these! S & H Green Stamps. I remember licking them and sticking them in the book. This would have been in the early 1960s for me. I remember thinking they were pretty valuable. I don’t think they were and it took a lot of them to get things.

Metal ice cube trays. While I don’t quite remember these, I do remember the novelty of the new and innovative plastic trays in the 1970s.

Didn’t read the comic but do remember a cartoon with that green creature! Check out the price — 12 cents! [Read the rest of this entry…]

Can you believe I almost missed this one? It was July 2007 and I was coming out of work. I was almost to my truck when I looked up and there it was. I whipped out my cell phone and snapped the picture. That is an Outback Steakhouse and the sky was awesome.

I am anxiously awaiting the coming of cooler temps here so I can get out and not use the 110 temps as an excuse not to hike. I have access to racquetball again and plan ot begin playing. I will have to take that slow as I think outside of swimming, is one of the highest cardio sports there is. Might have to take that into consideration at my age! My problem is that I think I am still 20 or 30.

If you get a chance, check out Telluride Daily Photo by Lisa. (see the blog roll) What a great place. I think I should go to Telluride this winter just before an approaching winter storm! Seriously, that would be so cool. I could wear some of my Colorado clothes/jackets that I haven’t even looked at since moving to Phoenix. I will just have to coordinate the storm with a weekend so as to limit the days I miss from work.

A SOLAR Race Car

The Drifter, the solar powered vehicle of the University of Arizona solar racing team, was on display at the University of Phoenix last week. The team had just successfully completed the 2008 North American Solar Challenge, a 2400 mile race from Dallas, Texas to Calgary, Alberta. They finished a respectable 10th place of a total of 24 teams that had tried to qualify.

Here’s a look at what is under the hood — interesting stuff. I was too embarrassed to ask where the air conditioning was. I will say these guys knew what they were talking about. I think they would have finished even better in the race had they not had some tough breaks in the race that held them up. They did proudly beat out the other two Wildcat competitor schools, the University of Kentucky and Northwestern. Congrats!

[Read the rest of this entry…]

As the world comes together for the 2008 Summer Olympics on 8/8/08, I am reminded of the new study reported just about a week ago regarding the phenomena referred as six degrees of separation. The finding reveals it is a very small world after all.

There are any number of ways to think about this. What do you think is the distance between you and any other random person on the planet? What are the odds we, as individuals, are connected to another worlds apart? Apparently, the odds are better than you think.

Microsoft did a study using text messages (over 30 billion) and through some, what I could only imagine would be some crazy mathematics, found the link between you and anyone else would be no more than seven people! The relevance of this study is that it was the most comprehensive of any ever done using far more advanced technology and the first to be applied world-wide.

There is an interconnectedness in the world.

Eric Horvitz, of Microsoft, was quoted in the Washington post saying,

To me, it was pretty shocking. What we’re seeing suggests there may be a social connectivity constant for humanity. People have had this suspicion that we are really close. But we are showing on a very large scale that this idea goes beyond folklore.

As we watch the world play together in this Olympiad, I sense the reality that we are truly related. We are much closer than we think. The world is a big family. I tend to see it as another hint pointing toward a grand Creator.

A number of years ago, I figured out pretty quick that using Google search was a great way to check the correct spelling of word. It would return a search with a mis-spelled word with a question, Did you mean — ? Instead of taking the time of using the ol’ dictionary, I would just type the word into google and have my answer instantly. I have continued to use this means to check for correct spelling of words, even as recently as today. It’s quick and easy!

But I have found so many other quirky things that a google search is good for. Here is a list of my favorite uses of google search:

• the latest stock price by typing in your stock symbol
• word definitions — type “define:” followed by the word or phrase
• synonyms — place the tilde sign (~) immediately in front of your search term
• find the time anywhere in the world — type in “time” and the name of the city
• weather reports — type “weather” followed by the city and state, U.S. zip code, or city and country (I like this one.)
• zip codes/area codes — just type it in and viola, the location
• unit conversions — (I just used this today to remember how many ounces are in a pint) to convert between many different units of measurement of height, weight, and mass among others, enter your desired conversion into the search box, ie. pint = ounces

In looking into this further, I found that other interesting uses include:

• air travel information — type in the name of the airline and the flight number into the search box to see flight status for arriving and departing U.S. flights
• currency conversions — 100 usd in euros (Currently approximately $65.23, ouch.)
• maps — just type Phoenix map or any combo of a location and it comes up
• get an answer to a question — type your question using an asterisk to fill in the blank. Columbus discovered * (I think this might be an interesting approach to finding relative information.
• package tracking — never tried this, but the next time I have a tracking number, I am going to try it.
• movie show times: type movies and your zip code or the name of the movie and zip. This can also be used to find types of businesses, ie. Italian food and zip.

Interesting stuff. And pretty accurate — I just checked the weather here in Phoenix as it is THUNDERING out there. What was the result? Google came back with a current report in bold, THUNDERSTORM. Oh, and the temp was a cooling off NINETY-FIVE. Love it!

It was last Sunday evening. I ran to the grocery to pick up a few things. I get to the self-check out and begin the process. As I pull out my wallet to scan the card, you know it.  I didn’t have my card with me, and I did not have enough cash on me to cover it.

Has this ever happened to you? What did you do?

Let me tell you what I did. I covertly pushed my cart into a barren isle and LEFT! LoL. Seriously. I don’t know why this is funny. But I am laughing. (There were no perishable items in the cart. Here is the pic of the cart in its covert hiding place.)

Yes, I left with the plan to return with my card, get the cart and check out.

While driving back to get the card, I was talking to a friend when they asked what I was doing. I told them what had just happened. I think we were kind of laughing when I asked if they had ever done that. They admitted they had!! It made me think my bizarre decision wasn’t so bizarre after all.

It also reminded me of a couple of times, for whatever reason, I had placed an item I had picked up in isle 3 back on the shelf — in isle 7. Like putting a jar of mayo back on the shelf between the Captain Crunch and Wheaties. You know, I didn’t feel like going all the way back to the 3rd isle. I asked if they had ever done that and again, they admitted they had. I started thinking maybe this was behavior that was becoming epidemic.

A number of years ago I walked into the grocery my cousin was the manager at and found her pushing a cart through the isles loaded with all kinds of miscellaneous products. I asked her what she was doing. She said something to the effect like inventory cleaning, meaning checking each isle for stuff that had been re-shelved by those like my friend and I! I remember her saying that it was a pretty common thing, and you could tell it made her kind of disgusted that she or an employee had to spend time cleaning these things up.

Well, I did go back last Sunday night. The picture above shows my cart waiting for me, close to how I left it. It was actually on the right side of the isle when I left it.

So tell me, have YOU ever done such a thing? C’mon, truthfully.