Now you know.

Some silly facts that you ought to know.

Q: Do you know why sailors reply Aye Aye when given an order?

The first Aye is to say that the order has been received and understood. the second Aye says that it will be carried out.

Q: Why do men's clothes have buttons on the right while women's clothes have buttons on the left?

A: When buttons were invented, they were very expensive and worn primarily by the rich. Since most people are right-handed, it is easier to push buttons on the right through holes on the left. Because wealthy women were dressed by maids, dressmakers put the buttons on the maid's right! And that's where women's buttons have remained since.

Q: Why do ships and aircraft use “mayday” as their call for help?

A: This comes from the French word m'aidez - meaning “help me” - and is pronounced, approximately, “mayday.”

Q: Why are zero scores in tennis called “love”?

A: In France , where tennis became popular, round zero on the scoreboard looked like an egg and was called “l'oeuf,” which is French for “egg.” When tennis was introduced in the US , Americans mispronounced it “love.”

Q. Why do X's at the end of a letter signify kisses?

A: In the Middle Ages, when many people were unable to read or write, documents were often signed using an X. Kissing the X represented an oath to fulfill obligations specified in the document. The X and the kiss eventually became synonymous.

Q: Why is shifting responsibility to someone else called “passing the buck”?

A: In card games, it was once customary to pass an item, called a buck, from player to player to indicate whose turn it was to deal. If a player did not wish to assume the responsibility of dealing, he would “pass the buck” to the next player.

Q: Why do people clink their glasses before drinking a toast?

A: It used to be common for someone to try to kill an enemy by offering him a poisoned drink. To prove to a guest that a drink was safe, it became customary for a guest to pour a small amount of his drink into the glass of the host. Both men would drink it simultaneously. When a guest trusted his host, he would only touch or clink the host's glass with his own. (The Author of this blog never does that. The last thing I want to do is have my glass broken and miss out on the Alcohol. *Hic*).

Q: Why are people in the public eye said to be “in the limelight”?

A: Invented in 1825, limelight was used in lighthouses and theatres by burning a cylinder of lime which produced a brilliant light. In the theatre, a performer “in the limelight” was the centre of attention.

Q: Why is someone who is feeling great “on cloud nine”?
A: Types of clouds are numbered according to the altitudes they attain, with nine being the highest cloud. If someone is said to be on cloud nine, that person is floating well above worldly cares.

Q: In golf, where did the term “Caddie” come from?

A. When Mary Queen of Scots went to France as a young girl, Louis, King of France, learned that she loved the Scots game “golf.” So he had the first course outside of Scotland built for her enjoyment. To make sure she was properly chaperoned (and guarded) while she played, Louis hired cadets from a military school to accompany her. Mary liked this a lot and when returned to Scotland (not a very good idea in the long run), she took the practice with her. In French, the word cadet is pronounced “ca-day” and the Scots changed it into “caddie”.

Q: Why are many coin banks shaped like pigs?

A: Long ago, dishes and cookware in Europe were made of a dense orange clay called “pygg”. When people saved coins in jars made of this clay, the jars became known as “pygg banks.” When an English potter misunderstood the word, he made a container that resembled a pig. And it caught on.

Q: Did you ever wonder why dimes, quarters and half dollars have notches (milling), while pennies and nickels do not?

A: The US Mint began putting notches on the edges of coins containing gold and silver to discourage holders from shaving off small quantities of the precious metals. Dimes, quarters and half dollars are notched because they used to contain silver. Pennies and nickels aren't notched because the metals they contain are not valuable enough to shave. (Bloody Yanks).

So there you are!

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Hot topic

Since I posted yesterday on the decision of one E cig company to decide to wage war against smokers, my site visits have gone through the roof.

It would seem that it has hit a raw nerve by both smokers and vapers alike.

Having been linked on a couple of vaping sites, it amazes me that they haven’t realised that they are one of the next targets on the Public health template of denormalisation.

Well vapers, you have been warned.

Along with Drinkers, Salt lovers, sugar lovers, and those that like a nice juicy steak.

So I would say to vapers. Join forces and fight this pernicious taking away of your freedom to live a happy and fruitful life. Otherwise they’ll grind you down into nothing more than proles of the big state.

I’d have added some links but I’m expecting a skype call from a smoker in the caribbean. (No connection to the post, incidentally)

The second front against smokers.

I received an E-mail yesterday, funnily enough it was sent to my spam box. Now I know a lot of vapers are feeling holier-than-thou, but if I was a vaper I would never buy from the company that allowed this press release.

They start off with this:

Go-Lites, a leading supplier of e-cigarettes and e-liquids, is urging employers all over the country to take the lead in stamping out smoking, for the good of their own companies, by introducing their employees to healthy alternatives. In the UK, a staggering one million work days are lost each year due to tobacco related conditions, causing a huge preventable loss for businesses.  Companies who hire smokers also have to worry about long term sickness and lost productivity on regular breaks for workers to get their nicotine fix.  In light of these statistics, Go-Lites are appealing to employers to take the lead in promoting a smoke-free workforce.

I’d like a few facts and figures from where they get their “staggering one million work days are lost each year due to tobacco related conditions,”. Then as you see they churn out the tried and tested mantra, so loved by the anti-smoking zealots, “lost productivity on regular breaks for workers to get their nicotine fix”. Absolute bollocks. There are in place, in law, statutory breaks required by law, which can be used for a smoke. (FAIL again).

Then they continue with this:

Srikanth Vadlamudi, of Go-Lites, says “It is hard to believe that a workforce with up to 250 employees can lose up to £370,520 in lost productivity each year, thanks to smoking.  Employees who smoke pose a health risk to themselves, but each day off work caused by the diseases and conditions associated with smoking also has a negative impact on the rest of the workforce.

Where the fuck does he get that estimate from? Probably cloud cuckoo land, I expect.

And what are these “diseases” that smokers contract that lays them low. I worked for 43 years and never saw any such productivity loss due to “smoking related illness”. Most of the time off was people using a common cold as an excuse.

Now if any decent employer reads this, I suggest you point any member of your workforce who want to quit, to buy E cigs  from someone who actually cares and is not using the war against smokers to feather their own nests.

If an article was written telling employers that they shouldn’t employ gay people as the risk of time off due to HIV was higher than with heterosexuals, there would be hell on.

If smokers want to go the vaping route, I suggest you buy your product elsewhere.

Bye the way vapers, you are next due to an EU directive soon to become law. You could have had the support of 20% of the population but you were too righteous and ignored us. You made your bed and therefore you can lie in it.

If you’d like to discuss this with the originator of this junk science, feel free.

Contact: Issued by Dakota Digital. For press enquiries, contact Lauren Carroll. Email: lauren@dakotadigital.co.uk. Tel: 0161 818 9624.

Oops

 

My Travel Plans for 2014

I have been in many places, but I've never been in Cahoots. Apparently, you can't go alone. You have to be in Cahoots with someone.

I've also never been in Cognito. I hear no one recognizes you there.

I have, however, been in Sane. They don't have an airport; you have to be driven there. I have made several trips there, thanks to my children, friends, family and work.

I would like to go to Conclusions, but you have to jump, and I'm not too good with physical activity anymore.

I have also been in Doubt! That is a sad place to go, and I try not to visit there too often.

I've been in Flexible, but only when it was very important to stand firm.

Sometimes I'm in Capable, and I go there more often as I'm getting older.

One of my favourite places to be is in Suspense! It really gets the adrenalin flowing and pumps up the old heart! At my age I need all the stimuli I can get!

I may have been in Continent, and I don't remember what country I was in. It's an age thing. They tell me it is very wet and damp there.

And there you are.

May the force overpower you.

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Double meaning

Fracking crazy

I’ve just been perusing DesSmogBlog’s (spits) latest iteration. This is an article by that crazed fearmonger David Suzuki about the danger of water shortages caused by Fracking.

Here he goes:

One of the most disturbing findings is that hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is using enormous amounts of water in areas that can scarcely afford it. The report notes that close to half the oil and gas wells recently fracked in the U.S. “are in regions with high or extremely high water stress” and more than 55 per cent are in areas experiencing drought. In Colorado and California, almost all wells – 97 and 96 per cent, respectively – are in regions with high or extremely high water stress, meaning more than 80 per cent of available surface and groundwater has already been allocated for municipalities, industry and agriculture. A quarter of Alberta wells are in areas with medium to high water stress.

Of course  the casual reader of that article would recoil in horror from the thought. However what he doesn’t mention is that large quantities are only used in the initial fracture process.

See vid below

http://www.europeunconventionalgas.org/hydraulic-fracturing

What he won’t tell you is that fracking water can be recovered and purified using centrifuges, reverse osmosis, and filtration. (Centrifuge separation has been successfully  used for seventy years or more, and reverse osmosis and sophisticated filtration have also been available for the last two decades.

On my last ship I had two RO plants that were capable of producing between them, 200,000 litres of potable water per day. Both plants would fit comfortably in your average sitting room.

Of course the Luddites at DesMogBlog will just put their fingers in their ears and collectively go La La La La La..

Fixed

 

40

I worked for forty years (Actually 43 to be precise)

I paid tax for forty years.

I paid the bills for forty years.

I paid into a pension for forty years.

Alright I accept that this is the norm, but:

Why have I had to buy an anniversary card and flowers for Mrs FE for forty years, given these so called days of gender equality?

As you may have guessed, Mrs FE and myself were married forty years ago on this day in 1974 at 1400.ish.

DO NOT POINT HER TO THIS POST.