Coffee Counter~Sept. 6

[Kathy]

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TODAY'S PHOTO OF THE DAY

Bamburgh Dawn

by Sainty







Click on the photo to go to Sainty's album and leave a comment.
 
We all love comments!   

Quote Of The Day 

  "Trust your own instinct.  Your mistakes might as well be your own, instead of someone else's."

Billy Wilder

Today's Trivia

Magellen's Expedition

One of Ferdinand Magellan's five ships--the Vittoria--arrives at SanlÚcar de Barrameda in Spain, thus completing the first circumnavigation of the world on this day in 1520. The Vittoria was commanded by Basque navigator Juan SebastiÁn de Elcano, who took charge of the vessel after the murder of Magellan in the Philippines in April 1521. During a long, hard journey home, the people on the ship suffered from starvation, scurvy, and harassment by Portuguese ships. Only Elcano, 17 other Europeans, and four Indians survived to reach Spain in September 1522.


US President McKinley
 
US President William McKinley is shot at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York on this day in 1901. McKinley was greeting the crowd in the Temple of Music when Leon Czolgosz, an anarchist, stepped forward and shot the president twice at point-blank range. McKinley lived for another week before finally succumbing to a gangrene infection on September 14.  At the time of the shooting, President McKinley was very popular and America was in the midst of a period of peace and prosperity. Czolgosz, a laborer from Cleveland who fell under the sway of charismatic leaders of anarchy.

Today's Chuckles 

The Ancient Spartans

The ancient Spartans were famous for being laconic - that is, laboring to put their thoughts into the fewest possible words. The very word laconic comes from the fact that the district of which Sparta was the central city was Laconia.

The most condensed laconism in history was produced in the fourth century B.C. when Philip of Macedon was reducing all the Greek cities to obedience. The last holdout was Sparta, which, now past its prime of power, nevertheless remained in stubborn isolation.

Philip didn't really need it for his future plans, but it annoyed him that there should be a patch of obstinacy on the map. He therefore sent the Spartans a message that went: "You had better submit without delay, for if I march my army into your land, I will kill all your men and destroy your city."

And the Spartan leaders turned Philip's anger to admiration (so that he decided to leave them alone after all) by sending back a one word answer: "If."



Some Things To Ponder For The Fun Of It

When Webster wrote the first dictionary, where did he find the words?

Why is the third hand on the watch called the second hand?

If a word is misspelled in the dictionary, how would we ever know?

Why do you press harder on the buttons of a remote control when you know the batteries are dead?

Why do we put suits in garment bags and garments in a suitcase?

How come abbreviated is such a long word?

Quick Quotes

"We cannot hold a torch to light another's path without brightening our own. " 
~Ben Sweetland
---

"Learning is a treasure that will follow its owner everywhere "
~Chinese Proverb
---

 "A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it
worth the effort. "   
~Herm Albright
---

More Chuckles

From Job Interviews

The following are "actual" post-interview excerpts collected from middle managers who, needless to say, probably did not hire any of the people mentioned here:

"Applicant stretched out on the floor to fill out the job application."

"She wore a Walkman and said she could listen to me and the music at the same time."

"A balding candidate abruptly excused himself. Returned to office a few minutes later, wearing a hairpiece."

"Applicant asked to see interviewer's resume to see if the personnel executive was qualified to judge the candidate."

"Applicant announced she hadn't had lunch and proceeded to eat a hamburger and french fries in the interviewer's office - wiping the ketchup on her sleeve."

"Stated that, if he were hired, he would demonstrate his loyalty by having the corporate logo tattooed on his forearm."



                                                          

[Kathy]

Good morning! It's time for bagels, coffee and tea!  Our lunch special will be delicious steak sandwiches with pepper and onions! 

I am off to my school library. It's the first day of school for my students and we will have classes in the library!

[snappy]

  The coffee counter really cracks me up - superb as always Kathy!

[Julie]

Those job interviews are FRIGHTENING!
An early visit for me before my second job so can I order a lunch but hold back the onions please Kathy.

[scoundrel1728]

No POTD today?  How disappointing...

Some Things To Ponder For The Fun Of It

Most of these questions have real answers to them.

When Webster wrote the first dictionary, where did he find the words?

The words were already there.   More to the point, how did Noah Webster choose from the many variant spellings available?  I haven't actually looked this one up, but he is likely to have supplied a written answer to that question.

Why is the third hand on the watch called the second hand?

Seconds used to be called second minutes because they were secondary divisions of an hour.  If it had been necessary to subdivide the second, it probably would have been called a "third" or a "tert" as a shortened form of "third minute" or "tertiary minute."   The second hand on a clock is therefore truly the second hand in more than one sense of the word, with the hour hand representing the base unit or zeroth hand and the minute hand being the first.  Something like the French convention of calling the ground floor «le rez-de-chaussée» and starting the count at 1 («le premier étage») for the next higher floor if there is one.

If a word is misspelled in the dictionary, how would we ever know?

We would.  There exist people who know things like that.  In fact, I once found "ophthalmology" misspelled on an inline dictionary.  One of my previous jobs was designing the power and control circuitry for lasers used in eye operations, so I knew how to spell that word.

Why do you press harder on the buttons of a remote control when you know the batteries are dead?

This one might be worth some research for someone who otherwise has too much time on his hands.  It is probably the same reason that people tend to shout at blind people even though nothing is wrong with their hearing.

Why do we put suits in garment bags and garments in a suitcase?

My guess would be that other garments besides men's suits, such as fancy dresses, were originally put into such bags, whereas suitcases were more likely to be used by frequent travelers who were mostly men.  Women tended to use boxes, bags, and for large quantities of clothes, trunks for their clothes.

How come abbreviated is such a long word?

Like most sesquipedalian words, this one is a collection of smaller parts.  The word has the same origin as "brief" but has picked up a prefix and two suffixes along the way.

[snappy]

There is always a smartie pants  -  must admit like definitions!

[Kathy]

Congratulations on POTD, Sainty. Well done! 

[chippy]

.

TODAY'S PHOTO OF THE DAY

Bamburgh Dawn

by Sainty







Click on the photo to go to Sainty's album and leave a comment.
 
We all love comments!   

Quote Of The Day 

  "Trust your own instinct.  Your mistakes might as well be your own, instead of someone else's."

Billy Wilder

Today's Trivia

Magellen's Expedition

One of Ferdinand Magellan's five ships--the Vittoria--arrives at SanlÚcar de Barrameda in Spain, thus completing the first circumnavigation of the world on this day in 1520. The Vittoria was commanded by Basque navigator Juan SebastiÁn de Elcano, who took charge of the vessel after the murder of Magellan in the Philippines in April 1521. During a long, hard journey home, the people on the ship suffered from starvation, scurvy, and harassment by Portuguese ships. Only Elcano, 17 other Europeans, and four Indians survived to reach Spain in September 1522.


US President McKinley
 
US President William McKinley is shot at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York on this day in 1901. McKinley was greeting the crowd in the Temple of Music when Leon Czolgosz, an anarchist, stepped forward and shot the president twice at point-blank range. McKinley lived for another week before finally succumbing to a gangrene infection on September 14.  At the time of the shooting, President McKinley was very popular and America was in the midst of a period of peace and prosperity. Czolgosz, a laborer from Cleveland who fell under the sway of charismatic leaders of anarchy.

Today's Chuckles 

The Ancient Spartans

The ancient Spartans were famous for being laconic - that is, laboring to put their thoughts into the fewest possible words. The very word laconic comes from the fact that the district of which Sparta was the central city was Laconia.

The most condensed laconism in history was produced in the fourth century B.C. when Philip of Macedon was reducing all the Greek cities to obedience. The last holdout was Sparta, which, now past its prime of power, nevertheless remained in stubborn isolation.

Philip didn't really need it for his future plans, but it annoyed him that there should be a patch of obstinacy on the map. He therefore sent the Spartans a message that went: "You had better submit without delay, for if I march my army into your land, I will kill all your men and destroy your city."

And the Spartan leaders turned Philip's anger to admiration (so that he decided to leave them alone after all) by sending back a one word answer: "If."



Some Things To Ponder For The Fun Of It

When Webster wrote the first dictionary, where did he find the words?

Why is the third hand on the watch called the second hand?

If a word is misspelled in the dictionary, how would we ever know?

Why do you press harder on the buttons of a remote control when you know the batteries are dead?

Why do we put suits in garment bags and garments in a suitcase?

How come abbreviated is such a long word?

Quick Quotes

"We cannot hold a torch to light another's path without brightening our own. " 
~Ben Sweetland
---

"Learning is a treasure that will follow its owner everywhere "
~Chinese Proverb
---

 "A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it
worth the effort. "   
~Herm Albright
---

More Chuckles

From Job Interviews

The following are "actual" post-interview excerpts collected from middle managers who, needless to say, probably did not hire any of the people mentioned here:

"Applicant stretched out on the floor to fill out the job application."

"She wore a Walkman and said she could listen to me and the music at the same time."

"A balding candidate abruptly excused himself. Returned to office a few minutes later, wearing a hairpiece."

"Applicant asked to see interviewer's resume to see if the personnel executive was qualified to judge the candidate."

"Applicant announced she hadn't had lunch and proceeded to eat a hamburger and french fries in the interviewer's office - wiping the ketchup on her sleeve."

"Stated that, if he were hired, he would demonstrate his loyalty by having the corporate logo tattooed on his forearm."