2022 A to Z Mashup part 2

 

So here we go with part two of this year's April Mashup.  If you missed part one, go here.

M is for MANUFACTURER

It was supposed to be "main", but Google can't handle finding facts about 'main' instead of "Maine".  Anyway, experts estimate we will need to create 4 million manufacturing jobs by 2030, on top of the 12.66 million as of this March.  That is an increase of 24%- whereas the population is supposed to increase only 7.5%.  The site I found went on to say, "... and 2.1 million are expected to go unfilled if we do not inspire more people to pursue modern manufacturing careers."  There is something about "inspiring" someone to work in a factory that amuses me...

N is for NATURE

I was proved wise in using the random word generator to give me three choices this time, because otherwise I wouldn't have known that owls don't have eye'balls'...they have, for want of a better term, tubes.  And since tubes don't swivel, that's why they have that amazing neck-turning capacity.

O is for OPPOSED

Yes, RWG gave me a lot of crappy words, but therein lies the challenge.  I found a plethora of experiments on the subject of "Facts don't change opinions".  One of which I really enjoyed, I'll sum up as follows.  Step one, the group is given a set of logic problems to solve.  Step two, they were then asked to explain their answers, and change them as needed.  About 15% modified those answers.  Step three was the trick- they were given both their own responses and someone else's to answer- BUT, they were told the answer that was theirs was not, and vice versa.

Results?  Only about half of them caught on to the game.  Of the half that were fooled, 60% disagreed with their own answers that they thought belonged to someone else.  I have an ex-wife these researchers woulda loved.

P is for PILLS

And according to Google, and despite the evidence of my daily med dispenser, there is only one pill- THE Pill.  So here's one about THE pill.  It is made from a (presumably formerly) wild yam from Mexico whose name translates as, "Black Head".  So presumably you could disguise your order of 'the pill' by claiming it was pimple medicine....

Q is for QUANTITY

When is a hundred not a hundred?  When it is 120.  Huh? The word hundred comes from the Old Norse 'hundrath', which roughly means 'long hundred'.   So what the heck did they use for hundred, and why are we depending on Thor to count large numbers anyway?

"Have a care, varlet..."

R is for ROOMBA

The kids got us a Roomba last Christmas, and a couple weeks ago Laurie finally had KC show her how to work it.  Shortly thereafter, while inebriated, I asked her to show me how to use it.  Tonight as I type this, I used it for the first time.  For vacuuming, I give it a B+.  For scaring Misty, a solid C (I may have told her, "Look out, it's gonna get you"...). Ease of emptying, B.  But as for the doggie hair I tried to clean from around its surfaces... I may have to give it a tail and cut my losses.

And maybe a couple of floppy ears...

S is for SEIZE

Google really had fun with my first random word choice here- Seize.  It gave me choices of geese, siege (like as in Waco), the Suez canal, and John Hancock.  John Hancock?  Yes, and here's how, from Constitutioncenter.org...

4. John Hancock, smuggler? Well, he may have been an importer, too, but goods like tea that arrived in New England on Hancock’s ships may have escaped paying a duty. The suspicions led the British to seize Hancock’s ship, Liberty, which started a riot. John Adams got Hancock off the hook from the smuggling charges.

 So according to Google, Hancock was smuggling geese through the Suez canal, heading for Waco, when he was beseiged by the British, which caused John Adams to seize up.  Because it was his duty, I guess.

T is for TABLET

I thought I might get something similar to pill, silly me, I got the ubiquitous (Hey, spelled it right the first time without looking!) computer tablets, and among their 12 Interesting facts about them, I found several facts that explain why I don't have one...

Tablet acquisition rises with age with the 25-54-year age group accounting for the maximum number of users.  And I'm turning 60 in mere days, so I blew the age demographic.

49% of adult tablet users have a college degree and 55% earn more than $75,000 a year.  So while technically I can squeeze in the 49%, the 55% leaves me in the dust.

In 2012, an average tablet user spent $359 on buying products online. See my picture in the Webster's under cheapskate.

 

 There are 126 million tablet users in the world which is expected to reach 150 million by the end of 2013. (Yes, old article).  And somebody has to be among the 7.02 BILLION people who in 2013 didn't have one.  Which means the odds were like 49 to one I wouldn't have one.

 

 

U is for UNCLE

I was curious about where we get the word uncle. Like lotsa other words, we borrowed it from the French, who got it cheap from Latin.  The Latin word was Avunculus, which was understood as, 'maternal uncle', but literally meant "little grandfather". First appearing in print about 1290 in a collection of legends of southern England with “To hi vncle he gan go . . Erchebischop of caunterburi,”, which of course made me think perhaps they were referencing Canterbury Tales, but that came out (allegedly) some 90 years later.  But, at least you now know that people have been saying, "Bob's your vncle" for at least 730 years.

V is for VIABLE

This, surprisingly, led me to the oldest viable seeds on record to germinate with man's assistance.  The story goes thusly: In 1965, excavators at the site of Herod The Great's palace found a jar of seeds to a date palm tree that had gone extinct, or nearly so, somewhere in the 1500's.  So naturally, they sat on them for 40 years until someone got the bright idea to see if they might grow.  That picture of reliability, radiocarbon dating, pinned them as being produced about the same time Mary produced Jesus, give or take about 150 years one way and 70 the other.  In 2005, scientists got the seeds to sprout, and a Judean date palm tree, named Methuselah, planted way down south in the point of Israel, as of 2020 was still thriving and was almost 12 ft tall.

W is for WASH

This one stands for itself...

In Ancient Rome, there used to be an entire job description devoted to collecting urine, heating it up with water, and stomp on soaked clothes.

And you wanted to go back in time...

 

X is for XYSTUS

X really baffles the random engines.  The one I'd been using would only give me x-ray. The next one would only give me xylophone.  Excuse me, but I can come up with more than that on a bad day, people.  This one, though, I had no idea, so I thought I'd go with it.  THIS is a Xystus:

 

A long portico with a polished floor.  Not sure why the monkey on the bottom left is there, though.

Y is for YARDS

"Lawns trap about 12 million tons of dust annually." Hey, Laurie, I have an idea to cut down on the housework!  I'll need a wheelbarrow, some fill dirt...

And at last...

Z is for ZONES

A delightful article about time zones can be found here , if you want to damage your sanity trying to make sense of some of these.  (I challenge you to go read the part about China!) But if tying your brain in a pretzel isn't your cuppa, try this simpler one on for size...

Amongst many things the Second World War messed up, one of them was the time zones between the UK and the rest of Europe. France, Holland, Luxembourg and Belgium were all originally in the same time zone as the UK, but Germany changed their time to match the German zone (one hour ahead of the UK) during their occupation of those countries during the war. Meanwhile, Spanish dictator Franco changed the time to an hour ahead in Spain too. This would explain why Portugal is the same time zone as the UK, despite being in the same actual place as Spain.

 

So of all the things the nations of Europe set back to normal after the war, THIS they left alone.  Go figure.