2018 February "FROM MY PERSPECTIVE"

                                        2018 February “FROM MY PERSPECTIVE”

Trivia has always fascinated me; I love it.  Some trivia is helpful, some is funny, some is mundane, but some is thought provoking.  Here are a few I’ve found very interesting:

In the movie SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, Hannibal Lechtor does not blink when he speaks.  Elephants do not have 4 knees; what looks like the elephant’s front knees are actually its wrists.  If you put two straws in your mouth, one inside a drink and one outside it, you won’t be able to drink through either straw. (I know you'll try this)  Bananas have no fat, cholesterol or sodium. The word 'banan' is Arabic for finger. Mosquitoes prefer to bite women.  Geese have been trained to tend and move sheep.  The U.S. paper money has 75% cotton and 25% linen; prior to WWI the fibers were made of silk.  Cannibalism was once widespread and possibly still exists today on the island of New Guinea.  (‘Not going there on vacation!!)  MEXICO CITY, GUADALAJARA, and LOS ANGELES have the most Mexicans.  The world's longest continuous hiking trail is located in the U.S., and is called the Appalachian Trail; it extends over 2,000 miles, from Maine in the North to Georgia in the South.  Disneyland invented Doritos to get rid of their extra tortillas.  Frito-Lay, the company that makes Doritos, had a Disneyland restaurant named Casa de Fritos. In 1964, workers at Casa de Fritos decided to experiment with leftover tortillas, so they fried and seasoned them. Little did they know, but their revised recipe would become the famous orange chips in 1966, when Frito-Lay's VP of Marketing, Arch West, realized their potential.  The invention of tea bags was an accident. Tea was meant to be removed from the bags before being used, but no one made that clear.

My daughter, Della and I, went up to the Chicago area to visit a relative.  I told Della there wasn't enough $$ to pay me to live in the Chicago area unless I had a chauffeur.  GODS, 80 mph traffic, semi-trucks, crazy drivers and I’m just a country girl driving.  We experienced the epitome of STUPID---had to have been Brenduhh's sister---antic while going up there.  We were on I-55 North going 70.  A red Jeep was in front of us.  We approached a right-hand merging traffic on-ramp, and she started slowing down, THEN STOPPED HER ASS so the merging traffic could get on I-55 North.  Both my feet hit the brakes, a tractor trailer about plowed into her (she would have been a red bug on his grill), and other cars hit their breaks and swerved into the left lane.  I think the F-word came out of my mouth about.....cripes I lost count.  When we restarted our hearts and got going, we both agreed she was descriptive words my mother never taught me, epitome of stupid, and will eat our dust.....so we got in front of her and did a Thelma and Louise get away.  We arrived safely.

Curious that we spend more time congratulating people who have succeeded than encouraging people who have not. -Neil deGrasse Tyson, astrophysicist and author (b. 5 Oct 1958)

It's good to have money and the things that money can buy, but it's good, too, to check up once in a while and make sure that you haven't lost the things that money can't buy. -George H. Lorimer, editor (6 Oct 1867-1937) EXAMPLES:  manners, morals, respect, character, common sense, trust, wisdom, patience, integrity, love, and true friendship.

There is no problem with aiming high and missing, but there is a problem if you aim low and hit.  The problem---well, to try to be better is to set the goal high so you can stretch, get out of your comfort zone, and move forward.  "When we fail to learn, we fail to change.  When we fail to change, we fail to achieve our goals.  And, when we fail to achieve our goals, we fail to achieve the happiness we seek."  Dr. Mardy

This is a quasi-oxymoron:  Oxygen is required for combustion and hydrogen is a flammable gas, but together
they make water.....which puts fire out.

That 20-sided shape in the inside of the Magic 8-Ball fortune telling device is called an ICOSAHEDRON, not an "I don't want THAT answer!!"

There are so many types of love, but each is important in its own.  I tell my children and their spouses I love them.  I have special relationships with non-family members....a few former students, one who tells me I'm like a second mother to him.  He tells me he loves me; I reciprocate.  I have friends whom I tell I love them.  They know.  One friend in particular is having trouble remembering a lot of things.  We've been friends for over 30 years, taught together at the same high school, became widows within a few years of each other, and share our fears, delights, and deep thoughts.  I tell her I love her before I hang up the phone or before I leave after being with her to help her.  She smiles and tells me the same.  She told me she doesn't remember as much anymore.  I tell her, "I'll remember for you."  She smiles and says, "I know you will.  I love you."

"It's a topsy-turvy world.  When we ask for advice, we usually want approval, and when we ask for approval, we usually get advice."  Dr. Mardy  “The friend given you by circumstances over which you have no control was God’s own gift.”  Frederick Robertson

My daughter fell and opened her chin in a nasty laceration.  I called the doctor’s office and asked them if they stitched-up chin wounds.  They told me they’d rather I go to a clinic 10 miles away which is very good and does that.  Off we went to FIRST CARE and arrived 20 minutes after the clinic’s opening time.  3 trees’ death of paperwork and 45 minutes later, she was seen by the doctor who was engaging, humorous, and dedicated to putting a patient at ease.  His personality and skill at stitching was admirable.  His staff, though, distracted him with questions, etc.  We were there for about 2 hours.  I’m glad we didn’t go to PROMPT CARE because it would not have lived up to its name; we weren’t FIRST, either.

I saw this recently and truly wanted to share it with y’all.  “Whatever anyone says or fails to say….you are loved.  And, when you are standing alone at he edge of the Earth and it looks like no one is coming, listen closely…..You will hear the roar of rattling stones, trembling beneath the feet of friends who are moving mountains to find you.”  Honestly, you are never alone.  There is ALWAYS someone who will listen to what you have to say, to offer a shoulder to help you with a burden, to present a box of tissues to dry your tears, and to give you a much needed hug.  Perhaps they will cry with you, too. 

“I believe in words, you see. I believe they do things. I don’t know how they work, and I don’t care. Saying simple words can make the sick feel a little better, make the sad smile, and make the old remember.”  Sean D.

“May you have a smile and blessing given to you today,” is what I like to say to others when I leave them or the conversation is over.  When I taught, I told my students, “Please give someone a smile today; it may be the only one they’ve gotten.”  In the last class of the school day, I said this to a class.  The bell rang and everyone rushed out the door.  One student lingered, turned and came to my desk.  “Mz. R., I want you to know that every day when you say that and then you smile, helps me to go on and to what I have to face at home.”  The student turned and left quickly; I sat down and said a prayer for them and thanked God for putting me where I was every day for that student….I knew of their home life.

Psychopaths typically use too many "uhs" and "ums" while talking, in order to seem normal.

A man said to the universe: "Sir I exist!" "However," replied the universe, "The fact has not created in me a sense of obligation." -Stephen Crane, writer (1 Nov 1871-1900)

Do you have a “hell drawer”?  You know, that drawer that has little things in it which at the time you put them there, they were important, or the thought of, “I’ll need this one of these days.”  Now there are a bazillion little things in it, all of which had importance at a time, and are taking up valuable space for more little things.  Oh no, there will not be a second “hell drawer” made because this one is just fine.  You don’t DARE throw anything in that drawer away.  WHY????  Because you will find you have use for it one day after the environmental specialist (garbage man and truck) has hauled it away to sites unseen and unknown.  Here’s the definition of the infamous HELL DRAWER:  it's hell to open and hell to close and while looking for something, you usually say, "Where the hell is it?"

Peace, love, smiles, and blessings to you.  Trudy J