Bag of Randomness for the First Day of December 2016

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  • Our current and future president had a parent who was born overseas, Obama’s father was born in Kenya and Trump’s mother was born in Scotland. That hasn’t happened since Hoover (Canadian mother) and Wilson (English mother).
  • A lot of times, television shows will throw in product placement and not make it look so obvious, but last night, ‘Modern Family’ did it twice with Google Home and it was forced.
  • I check all our financial accounts daily just to make sure nothing fishy is going on. Yesterday, I discovered two Amazon transactions on our credit card that weren’t in our Amazon order history. Being the holiday season, I double checked with WifeGeeding to be sure it wasn’t some sort of present for me, and she hasn’t been on Amazon for a while. So I had to call to dispute the transactions. I also have credit and fraud protection monitoring, but they didn’t pick it up the transactions.
  • The United States leads the world for most space rocket launches in 2016 for the first time since the 1990s
    • The US will finish with 20 space rocket launches. China will finish in second with 19 and Russia in third with 18. Since the late 1960s Russia has been an undisputed leader in annual launch rates – launching about 100 rockets per year at its prime. Since 1957, Russia has launched over 3,000 rockets – roughly twice as many as the U.S.
  • WifeGeeding and a bunch of lady friends are attending a women’s church event tonight in which HGTV’s ‘Fixer Upper’ furniture maker Clint Harp and his wife will be the featured speakers. WifeGeeding and Harp were neighbors in an apartment complex in Waco and she took him to a sorority formal. I’m comfortable with her going, but I’d be lying if I said I was 100% completely comfortable. I sadly admit I have some embarrassing flaws, and admit I get easily jealous and have trust issues.
  • Jann S. Wenner of Rolling Stone had her fourth interviwed scheduled with President Obama the day after the election. But the the results being a surprise, she thought the interview would be called off. And now we have her last interview with Obama, the morning after the election – The Day After: Obama on His Legacy, Trump’s Win and the Path Forward
  • Buzzfeed – People Are Applauding This Dog For Trying To Clean Up His Own Pee With Toilet Paper – I’m a cynic, so I’m thinking the owner staged the photo. He’s a recording artist from Denton, I have a feeling he’s trying to get some publicity.
  • Deadspin – Baylor Regent: Getting A Full Report Would Have Cost Us Money
    • Waco-based KWTX said regent Dr. Ron Wilson spent Tuesday at a meeting members of Baylor’s faculty and staff where he, other regents, and interim Baylor President David Garland took questions that had been submitted in advance. Afterward, he told KWTX why nothing was released beyond a 13-page “findings of fact” that included almost no facts.
    • “Pepper Hamilton is an oral report so the process of writing would take four to six months. Also with the personal nature of the information so much of it would be redacted. Plus, the cost would be a factor,” Wilson said.
      • By only taking questions submitted by advance, they really wanted to control the conversation.
      • I can somewhat understand time being a factor, but cost?
        • And whatever added cost a written report would create probably doesn’t compare to the settlements Baylor is paying out to ex-coach Art Briles as well as the women who reported they were gang-raped by football players under Briles’s and the regents’s watch.
  • Dallas Cowboys linemen Zack Martin and Travis Frederick warm up before games by running receiver routes passing the ball to one another.
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Bag of Randomness for the last day of November 2016

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  • President-elect Donald Trump has chosen Elaine Chao to be the next transportation secretary, and it makes the choice makes for an interesting piece of political trivia. She will be the second person to have been Secretary of Labor, Secretary of Transportation and be married to a Senate majority leader. The first . . . Elizabeth Dole.
  • I’m curious to know if any future Trump hotels or any going through any remodeling will be getting Carrier air conditioners.
  • The ugly Christmas sweater trend annoys me.
  • It recently occurred to me I haven’t had a really good laugh in a very long while. I used to get those often. I’m talking about the kind of laugh that I have to gasp for air, snort, and can neither sit or stand. I miss those moments and fear I’m now become too reserved around others and just plane surly.
  • Trump’s tweets haven’t caused me any concern, but they will if he starts to consistently use emojis. However, I find emoticons presidentially permissible. Don’t know the difference between emoticons and an emojis? Here you go, or just know emoticons are text and emojis are tiny pictures. (Note: Some apps will change your emoticons to emojis.)
  • A little mood lighting….
    screenshot-2016-11-29-at-10-23-56-pm
  • CBS11’s lead story at 10:00PM last night was about people stealing packages from porches, and referred to those thieves as “porch pirates”. That’s the first I’ve heard of the term.
  • Some are comparing that photo of Trump and Romey with iconic Dallas photo of Jerry Jones and Jimmy Johnson
    screenshot-2016-11-29-at-10-35-19-pm.
  • A Midland, TX restaurant won’t serve people with visible face and neck tattoos and it seems they are basing that on a certain dress code standard for their establishment.
  • Today’s dose of etymology – Groggy
    • Grog is a concoction of rum, water and citrus juice that was originally drunk by British sailors and adopted by the U.S. Navy as a way to make stagnant water more palatable and to fight scurvy. Someone who is dazed or sleepy might feel as if they have had too much grog, making them “groggy.”
  • Bad Turkey – 3 Dead, 5 Others Sickened in Antioch After Thanksgiving Dinner: Health Officials
  • I’m highly curious who will win Texas Monthly’s Bum Steer award, I have a feeling the surprise election results have altered things.
  • The Atlantic – The Understudied Female Sexual PredatorAccording to new research, sexual victimization by women is more common than gender stereotypes would suggest.  
  • Great picture from Monday night
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  • Robert Griffin III, girlfriend have money stolen from Browns’ garage
  • I didn’t know Dallas Cowboys tight end Gavin Escobar is a survivor of testicular cancer.
    • Escobar, who had the tumor removed as an 18-year-old freshman at San Diego State, will wear cleats that have the messages “I survived” and “feeling nuts” on them when the Cowboys face the Vikings on Thursday.
    • It turns out the NFL is allowing players this week to promote a cause on their cleats, other Cowboys notables:
      screenshot-2016-11-29-at-9-59-23-pm screenshot-2016-11-29-at-9-58-13-pm
  • Kindergarteners In Alaska Learn How To Butcher A Moose – For you sensitive folks, you’ll see a picture of kids around a butcher table with a decapitated moose head.
  • Leah Remini did a Reddit Ask Me Anything about Scientology, but I was actually hoping for more questions about her time on “Saved By The Bell”.
  • Today’s dose of ‘MURICA! – Penn and Teller burn the American flag

They pretty much did the same thing in an episode of “The West Wing” where the staff was concerned they burned the flag in the White House.

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