35,523,986 minutes ago…

That, more or less, is thirty-five million, five hundred twenty-three thousand, nine hundred and eighty six minutes ago (after all is it only based on that day and today’s day, not on exact time born nor exact time today) there appeared yet another human being on this particular planet: me

The fun that one can get up to online is highly entertaining.

This “fact” came thanks to a friend’s sending me a link to a web-site that calculates what the favorite song was on the day that you were born. Of course once there, a number of other “important” calculations can be made, including how many minutes ago one was born.

Does this change the world? Change anything? Even slightly interesting?

Not really, but in the “good ‘ol days” one would actually have had to sit down and physically calculate it whereas here in seconds one knows, for better or for worse.

 

Continuing I clicked on the top radio songs of that year: Dinah Shore, Nat King Cole, Peggy Lee, Bing Crosby, Doris Day, Mahalla Jackson, Ella Fitzgerald, Perry Como, Gene Autry, Al Jolson, Tommy Dorsey, and many I never heard of, including a wonderful title by Evelyn Knight: “Powder your face with Sunshine”

Ah… what a wonderful thought and especially as it is  currently still gray outside, think I’ll hold that thought – where can one wear sunshine (or good cheer or friendliness) better than on one’s face!

Google Images

Trivia

Life is a tad hectic these days and I don’t seem to have much time to reflect or otherwise produce interesting photos (the November gray may have something to do with that as well) so I have chosen to concentrate on trivia – the bits and pieces of interesting, entertaining or otherwise different items printed in daily papers.

• An irascable cow tore down the fence of her pasture then charged two 80-year-old women on the grounds of the local EMS (medicalized home for the elderly) before wandering its corridors ! Although shaken the two woman are o.k. and the cow who fortunately didn’t run into any more pensioners in the corridors was anesthesized before being taken back to her pasture.
• Pears for the future : Switzerland, believe it or not, can count 840 different varieties of pears – all of which will be inventoried and seeds kept in order to face coming climate changes
• Several stores in Geneva celebrated « Black Friday » (why ? who thought of this ? and above all why use the words in English ?). The world of commerce is struggling obviously.
• They are going to have to add something to electric cars so that they make more noise instead of sneaking up on people.
• A treasure of over 4'000 pieces from the Roman emporers Aurelian and Maximien (3rd century) was found in an agriculteur’s fields.
• 4 poisonous snakes were stolen, but according to the police « they aren’t dangerous as they aren’t agressive" … right – wouldn’t want to step on one anyway!
• The oldest person in Europe is an Italian woman : Emma Morano. She says that the secret to her long life was leaving her husband in 1938 !
• How to know that you have been robbed ? Run into someone on the streets wearing your clothes (this happened to someone here in Geneva)
• We have just started the last month of 2015 – and already I am wondering where this year went.
• There are only 21 days until the days start growing longer – a day we all greatly look forward to even though this November has been warmer and sunnier than many.
• And the best of all: yesterday there was a rainbow over my home as I was walking down after picking up the mail !

November 30, 2015

Trivia, quizzes and totally unimportant knowledge

    OK we all know that I like to play computer games, that I enjoy blogging, love taking pictures and am lucky enough to have a wonderful, large circle of friends and family with whom I get along very well indeed.

We also know that I love to read, have fun watching an English program called « The Chase » (and must I admit it ? watch rom-coms and bed-time reading is not at all on the serious side, but rather what my spouse used to call « love trash »), enjoy walking, love renting my summer flat in the mountains, will travel on most any excuse and in general enjoy life.

However, I have also been known to spend a couple of hours jumping from one cute Facebook video of small animals, children or most anything at all once started to another dozen of the same.  Then there are the days that I get caught up in the «quizzes».

I have just successfully 15/15 passed FB’s version of « grammar » ; have found out that in a former life my lover was an Italian of whom I have never heard (and whose name I have not retained); that I am a good candidate for German citizenship, i.e. 95% correct or 19/20 (not sure why I would want to be as am rather happy with my Swiss citizenship and still have my American citizenship as well; that my general school knowledge is also excellent (95% and the one I missed is probably the German population, which I suspect is also the one I missed under being a good candidate for German citizenship : hmmmm… the fact that I am living in Switzerland is perhaps having FB slant my quizzes towards anything German?). There is however one fly in the ointment – I am now annoyed that I wasted so much time on FB trivia so the last quizz « Can you pass the agression handling test» was not the greatest success. I wonder why?

Trivia and the trivial

Yesterday having been one of “those” days, why should it astonish me when today has started with trivia and the trivial.  In no particular order – either alphabetically or in importance, nor even as to date:

Trivia:

·      What tiny Caribbean island has an Irish harp on its flag, a shamrock-shaped passport stamp, and St.Patrick’s Day as an official national holiday?                            Montserrat, which calls itself the Emerald Isle of the Caribbean. In the 17^th century they welcomed Irish Catholic indentured servants. (Page-a-day calendar)

·      From Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff 2011: Accept the fact that you can make excuses, you can make money, but you can’t do both. (Yep some of my yearly page-a-day calendars get read late, or pages saved for the odd pleasure that they afford)

Trivial:

·      It’s Thursday and I only have one meeting on the calendar – an annual meeting for a small foundation “Kaicedra” that helps support a couple of schools in Burkina Faso (Africa): http://www.kaicedra.org/  Their website is in French and English.

·      A Facebook posting warning of the dangers of aspartame to the health of women led me to check the sweeteners in Coke Zero (my favorite if I indulge) only to discover that on top of the aspartame, there are also cyclamates and Acesulfame-K (interestingly enough the K stands for potassium so any one needing to watch their potassium intake should be aware of this). No calories, but also no redeeming factors and perhaps some negative ones.

·     Today’s mail was a true hodge-podge of totally unrelated and interesting items: an invitation to a Conference for the colleague of my housemate (I’m still getting mail for the daughter who left last September); a brochure from my housemate’s old school; advertising (at home in spite of two stickers requesting no advertising I still get stuff – so far the PO Box had been junk mail free… guess those days are over, sigh); a few “normal” letters for me; but the real kicker was a letter from a local foundation for my husband… who died 14 years ago! Does it never end?

·      Our free paper brought its lot of entertaining information as well: a snake (non-poisonous as it turned out) had the Intercity train from Bern evacuating all 450 passengers; allergy season is in full swing – bring out the tissues; our Inventions Salon is on this weekend – for the silly, the functional, the wishful and the inventive.

I have noticed that Facebook has developed – or at least that’s where things tend to get posted that I see – what is called Throwback Thursday. Mine is now Trivial Thursday and as my housemate read to me last night from an online posting, I leave you with this thought.

Last year you woke up every day – thus it was a good year!

Today’s Trivia

Had coffee with a friend, M, celebrated her birthday today,

Got groceries for sick housemate,

Drove up to the mountains (first snow of the season has left a bundle, fortunately not on my particular bundle so could enjoy the beauty of the alps draped in their first winter mantle),

Checked on landlord – he is finally home after 8 weeks in the hospital,

Unsubscribed from a couple of newsletters,

Clicked the pink button on The Breast Cancer Site to provide funding for mammograms (mailto:http://thebreastcancersite.greatergood.com/clickToGive/ )

Played a couple of computer games,

Checked e-mails,

Looking back on all this, I realize that most of it wasn’t “trivia” at all, but very good things happening to very good people (even the housemate is getting better or I wouldn’t have left!).

May your trivia be as validating.