Bag of Randomness for Tuesday, May 28, 2019

  • Our family has been watching the HBO John Adams mini-series. It’s hard to believe it’s eleven years old, and I forgot how much I enjoyed David Morse‘s portrayal of George Washington.
  • The series led me to research a few things and I discovered, to my surprise, there has never been a fatality reported due to tar and feathering and the tar used was usually pine tar, not the black tar we associate with roofing and roadwork. I’m not advocating that it wasn’t brutal, just it wasn’t what I thought it was.
  • I’ve also been watching the new HBO miniseries Chernoble. I can remember the first time I heard about the actual accident, it was told to me by Clarice Tinsley and she was explaining if the radioactive air would reach the Dallas area and whether or not local residents should be concerned. She then moved on to a story about the local Comanche Peak Nuclear Plant. I was eleven at the time, and if memory serves correct, she was wearing a blue or purple dress with a large metallic necklace.
  • I’m really enjoying Scott Pelley’s new book. It focuses on virtues or character traits (and flaws) of people in extraordinary events, each chapter is titled accordingly. The first chapter is over 9/11 and he goes into vivid detail. I like how he takes time to educate the reader. For instance, he describes firefighting terminology, ranks, and organization/leadership structure. For instance, the Fire Department of New York (FDNY) has five Borough Commands. Within them exists nine firefighting Divisions, each headed by a Deputy Division Chief). Each Division has four to seven Battalions, each led by a Battalion chief. Each Battalion consists of three to eight firehouses and consists of approximately 180–200 firefighters and officers.
  • Pelley stated he lost his job as the ‘CBS Evening News’ anchor because of his complaints of a hostile work environment. As much as I love and admire the man, I think it’s more adequate to state that as one of the reasons he was removed from the coveted spot. He also lost it because of ratings and his agent negotiating a salary and contract not in line with management and rating results.
  • I don’t have a logical explanation for this, but I find it weird for the NCAA World Series to be played outside of the regular academic school year yet I’m okay with college bowl games being played during the holiday break.
  • The 1995 version of me would faint from this news – Founding Members Of dcTalk, Petra, WhiteHeart & Jars Of Clay Form New Supergroup
  • Last night’s Final Jeopardy – When this game was introduced in 1860, it had squares like intemperance & poverty & if you hit the suicide square your game was over.
    • What is Life?
  • Man allegedly hiding drugs in butt accidentally shoots himself in testicles, report says
    • It’s the Editor’s Note which is the kicker: Editor’s Note: This story initially reported the man accidentally shot himself in the penis. He actually accidentally shot himself in the testicles.
  • Following this on Twitter was a fun event, I wish I could make such a positive impact on a community that I’d be loved like this – More Than 300 Neighbors Throw Retirement Block Party for Beloved Mailman of 34 Years — and Raise Money for His Dream Vacation
  • I’ve run into a handful of organ donation honor walks. I’d encourage you to at least skim through one of these videos. Here’s a story of a mother in Iowa who shared footage of her 1-year-old daughter’s honor walk, (getting wheeled into organ donation surgery) who had been declared brain dead after contracting a virus. ‘Amazing Grace’ is such a fitting song for everyone to sing. For those interested in becoming an organ donor and giving the gift of life, visit Donate Life America.

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Bag of Randomness for Thursday, May 23, 2019

  • That lovely piece of ‘MURICA! was brought to you by @stevbiro.
    • So lucky to capture a symmetrical reflection of this beautiful Bald Eagle coming straight at me!
  • It’s the last day of school for the kids and WifeGeeding.
  • An entertaining shower thought I read recently – You are probably closer to being a millionaire than Bill Gates or Jeff Bezos.
  • The last sonic boom I recall hearing was on February 1, 2003. That’s when the Space Shuttle Columbia was destroyed during re-entry. I was in my childhood home in Mineral Wells, TX and the windows rattled so much I thought they may have cracked. WifeGeeding was roughly 200 miles east in Lindale and heard the same thing just as strong. I’m still amazed as to how far that sound carried.
  • My high school geometry teacher hung a favorite saying hers on the wall, she made it herself out of posterboard. It’s hokie, but I think about it whenever I’m struggling at learning something and it continues to be a motivator – Success is not measured by the IQ, but by the I DO.
  • Last American Slave Ship Is Discovered In Alabama
  • It Cost About $65 To Have A Cold Pizza Delivered In The Middle Of The Night To Skywalker Ranch in 1994′
      • Then one day we’re all in the art department and the head of ILM comes to the art department and says, ‘Listen, George has decided to start up Star Wars again.’ Remember at the time it was only the three original movies and that infamous Christmas special, so this is what everybody wanted, it was pretty much what got them in the business.
      • And we looked around the room and all of us were playing it so cool with each other. We were like, ‘Yeah, maybe, maybe not, I don’t know, we’ll see, I got things to do.’ But that night everybody was there until 1:00 in the morning working on their portfolios. We all wanted in.
  • “Skywalker Ranch” is such a cool name.
  • Man graduates with nursing degree from same university where he started as a janitor
    • “I could barely speak English at the time when I started working at NYU,” said Baez, who moved to New York from the Dominican Republic with his mom at age 15. “Now I reflect on it and I feel very proud of how much I accomplished.”
  • I was impressed, I didn’t think he could make a viable rap out of the classic, but he proved me wrong.

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