Bag of Randomness

  • I renewed my vehicle registration online last night for the car I so desperate want to trade in.  It turns out I now have the option of renewing for 24 or 36 months – I no longer have to just settle for 12 months.  By choosing the 24 month option I save about three bucks and five bucks with the 36 month option.  Also, unlike previous years, the insurance verification was done automatically.  I think last time I actually had to enter account numbers or something.  This may be old news to some, but it’s a first for my county.
  • I remember when vehicle registration stickers didn’t go on the windshield but on the license plate.  Sometimes my dad use to let me put the sticker on for him, which made me feel really grown up.
  • It’s May Sweeps and all the local news stations are trying to provocative can’t miss segments.  I use to get caught up in that madness until I realized that I can either DVR the news and that the story will be posted on their website when I get to work the next morning.
  • There’s already a plethora of stars appearing in the season finale of “The Office.”  You can now add Warren Buffet to that list.
  • Jerry Seinfeld has posted his personal archives.  Seinfeld fans (I’m talking to you, Brent!) should check it out daily.
  • A man in a custom built jet-suit took an eight might flight over the Grand Canyon and flew as fast as 190 mph.  I think he would have gotten more pub if he didn’t launch from a helicopter.  Here’s an article with video of the feat.
  • All ball point pens in federal government builders were built by blind people.
  • According to FEMA’s website, Texas tops the list of states receiving disaster funds, with 84 declarations since 1953.
  • A rehabbed baby seal is released back to the wild.  It’s kinda heart-warming.
  • A study is going to be performed regarding high speed rail from DFW to Houston.  I bet Southwest Airlines is going to have a bunch of lobbyist on that one.
  • Something for you Lord of the Ring fans.
  • You may soon be able to verbally communicate with dolphins.
  • The Queen giving Helen Mirren a deadly stare.
  • Yesterday the Library of Congress today launched the National Jukebox, which makes thousands of historical sound recordings available free of charge to the public .
  • Grace
Posted in Personal | 2 Comments

Great Move, Toyota

The Toyota Tundra plant in San Antonio, TX has been hit by parts shortages as a result of the March 11 earthquake. The plant will be shut down on Mondays and Fridays, and production will be at only 50 percent the other three days of the week.

Luckily for the facility’s 2,800 workers, Toyota plans to pay its employees even when the plant is down, but there’s a caveat. The workers will need to either sign up for training or build homes for Habitat for Humanity if they want to collect a full paycheck. If the workers don’t feel like taking Toyota up on either offer, the employee will be able to take an unpaid leave.

AutoBlog

However, Honda has their own plan:

The move runs counter to one made by Honda, which recently announced part-time plant schedules in North America between May 9 and July 1. Honda workers will have the choice of doing training if they wish, or they can stay home and get paid anyway.

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Leg-reversal surgery keeps boy in the game

Dugan Smith loves playing sports – baseball, basketball, football, you name it. So when the 13-year-old lost part of one leg to bone cancer, he was faced with the prospect of being sidelined as a spectator for the rest of his life.

Instead, Dugan opted for a rare and what to many would seem a radical operation that has allowed him to return to the field like almost any other kid.

Known as a rotationplasty, his surgery involved removing a large section of his right leg that surrounded the tumour – from below his knee to about mid-thigh – then reattaching the lower limb to the shortened upper thigh.

The twist, so to speak, is that Dugan’s lower leg was rotated 180 degrees and sewn on backwards.

His ankle now acts as his knee, his calf has replaced the lower part of his thigh and his backwards-facing foot slips into a prosthetic and powers the reversed muscles and joint with an up-and-down motion.

Full Article

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Man dies jumping off world’s tallest building

A 30-year-old Indian died falling off Burj Khalifa today afternoon in an apparent suicide, Dubai Police have confirmed.

According to the eyewitnesses, the man jumped from the 147th floor of the building and fell on the 102nd floor, dying after a few minutes.

Link

A 45 floor death is bad enough, but can you imagine if he made it all the way down?  Here’s a chart for comparison sakes.

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