What Would Jimmy Do?

A few days ago, I wrote about being annoyed with the new “high-tech” gas cans. The old ones did the job they were designed to do, and did it well. I suppose it’s just the curmudgeon me, but I think it’d be nice for everything to do a particular job and be good at it. We recently installed a new hot water heater — it’s tankless and uses gas to heat the water, but it doesn’t have a pilot light. It uses some kind of an electrical gadget to light the burner that heats the water. It also comes with an app — so I can keep an eye on what my hot water heater is doing anywhere I might be. I suppose that’s useful — you never know when someone might break into our house and take a shower or wash a load of clothes and use a lot of our gas and water. 

I’m not exactly sure when it became necessary to make everything in your house “smart.” Maybe it all kind of got started with the smart thermostats to control the heating and air conditioning. On the surface, that seems like not such a bad idea, but we have smart thermostats and we rarely use them in the “smart” mode. 

As time goes on, I’m thinking that we’d be better off if our homes didn’t need to become so “smart.” After all, most of us know how to turn on and off lights, are able to get food into and out of our refrigerators and ovens without an LED display giving us instructions…. most of us can even operate a microwave oven without much training. 

With all this stuff in our house connected to the Internet, I’m beginning to worry less about hackers stealing data generated by all the smart devices and more about how smart devices might share their home-related information with who knows who.

Just give me appliances and household stuff that works — I’ll figure out how to operate them.
There’s just something creepy about my house knowing things about me. I’m thinking there may not be much difference between a smart home and a stalking home.
— 30 —

I guess generally companies that make things are of the opinion that the general population is getting dumber. I recently had my snowblower serviced in preparation for winter. Before I stored it in its “spot” in the garage, I put gas in it — pretty simple operation, right?

Well, it used to be. For years, I’ve put gas in my lawnmowers, chain saws, leaf blowers, etc. Never had any problems with that task. But — recently, gas can manufacturers, maybe with assistance or encouragement from the government, have decided that the cans must now be spill-proof and child resistant. 

Used to be that a gas can had a spout, with a little cap on it (to keep dirt/dust out) and you just poured the gas, via the spout, into the gas tank of whatever machine your were using. I’ve done that for probably 70 to 75 years. I rarely, if ever, spilled any gas — and in all that time I never had any neighborhood kids break into my garage to open my gas can. 

But if you’ve bought a gas can recently, you know that it doesn’t have a spout with a little cap on it — it has a new, improved safety contraption — here’s how it works: first remove the new improved spout that is now inside the gas can, by using two hands to defeat the “child-proof” mechanism. After the new improved spout is removed, remove the dust cap. Then attach the new improved spout to the gas can (just like in the old days, except it has to be oriented just right to prevent spills) and “completely” tighten it to the can. Then you must “unlock” the spout by turing the base of the new improved spout counter-clockwise. Next, you must put the hook — built into the new improved spout — onto the rim of the gas tank opening that you’re filling. Once that hook is in place, you must push (the entire gas can full of fuel) down to allow the gas to flow into the tank you’re filling. (I might add that holding a five gallon gas can full of gas takes a bit of strength. All these steps must be repeated each time the spout is used. 

As I mentioned, I’ve used gas cans for over seventy years — I don’t remember ever spilling any. Now, using the new improved, and safer gas can I almost always spill a little.
If you’re ever at a garage sale and they have an “old fashioned” gas can — buy it!!
— 30 —

A few days ago, the news was about a shooting at a university in Prague — 14 or so were killed and more than 25 injured. Another mass murder. And last night I watched part of a program about a serial killer. Even though I’m pretty sure I knew the difference, I thought I’d do some checking on the distinction between serial killers and mass murderers. So here’s what a little extensive research revealed….

A mass murderer kills four or more people during a short period of time, usually in one location. (I’m not sure how they came up with the number four, but apparently if someone only kills three people, he or she is not a mass murderer.) But anyhow, in most cases, the murderer has a sudden mental collapse and goes on a rampage, going from murder to murder without a break. About half the time, these outbreaks end in suicides or fatal standoffs with the police. 
School shootings, that are becoming more common, are instances of mass murder, as are famous cases of postal workers, that resulted in the phrase, “going postal.” Cases where someone murders his, or her, entire family is a mass murderer. Terrorists are also lumped into this category, but they also make up a group of their own.

A serial killer usually murders one person at a time — typically a stranger — with a “cooling off” period between each murder. Unlike mass murders, serial killers don’t suddenly snap one day — they have an ongoing compulsion (usually with a sexual component) that drives them to kill, often in very specific ways. 
Serial killers may even maintain jobs and normal relationships while going to great lengths to conceal their deadly affliction or habit. They may resist the urge to kill for long periods, but the compulsion ultimately grows too strong to resist. After the third victim the killer graduates from plain ol’ murderer to a bona fide serial killer. (Again, not sure who came up with the magic fourth killing to qualify as a serial killer.)

It’s kind of interesting, or depressing, that in between these two groups, there are others known as the spree killer and the serial spree killer. A spree killer commits murder in multiple locations over the course of a few days. This is often part of a general crime wave. One example given is that an escaped convict may kill multiple people, steal cars and commit other offenses as he tries to escape the police. Like a mass murderer, a spree killer doesn’t plan each murder individually.
The serial spree killer, on the other hand, does plan and commit each murder separately — serial killer style. But he doesn’t take time off between murders or maintain a double life — it’s just killing, all the time. One example that most of us remember is the Washington D.C. area beltway snipers who killed ten people within three weeks in October of 2002.

Of course, if you encounter any of these type of killers it doesn’t matter what category they fit into. It’s just too bad there is so much killing that we have to categorize the culprits.
— 30 —

Well, this first month of the new year is shaping up to be a busy one — maybe before getting too involved we should talk about one of my least favorite months — January.

In leap years, January always starts on the same day as April and July — this year is a leap year.
The month of January, like most months, has its share of firsts and historical events…..
Ellis Island opened on January 1st, 1892.
Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863.
The History Channel was launched in 1995.
The first New Year’s ball drop in New York City started in 1908.
The Rose Parade started in Pasadena, California in 1890.
Alaska became the 49th state of the United States in 1959.
The first Penal Colony in Australia was established in 1788.

Many people in the United Kingdom practice “Dry January.” This is a movement to encourage people to quit drinking alcohol for the month — a means of encouraging public health. I guess that’s another way to make my least favorite month even more unfavorable.
And interestingly enough, more couples tend to separate or get divorced in January than in any other month — so be aware.
And, we’re off — today is the second page of a new, 366-page book.
Write a good one. And remember that every new year is another chance for us to get it right.
— 30 —

Well, here we go — new month, new year. 
January was named after the Roman god Janus — and as appropriate, Janus represented new beginnings. Interestingly, Janus was known as the protector of gates and doorways as well as symbolizing beginnings and endings. I’m sure you’ve seen him depicted with two faces —one looking into the past, the other with the ability to see into the future. So I guess he’s a good symbol for the first month of the new year — January is our door into the new year. 

This month’s full Moon will reach peak illumination on Thursday, January 25, at 12:54 p.m. EST, and it’s called the Wolf Moon.

As for 2024, it’s a leap year and starts today, Monday, on the Gregorian calendar and is the 2024th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations. It’s the 24th year of the 3rd millennium, the 24th year of the 21st century and the 5th year of the 2020s decade.

Major events this year will include the Summer Olympics held in Paris and the United States presidential election. 
And be sure and save the calendar for this year — it can be used again in 2052.
Happy New Year!!
— 30 —

The new year is approaching — it’s a time when millions of people will celebrate. There’s lots of  New Year’s Eve traditions like the kiss at midnight, the champagne toast and the making of resolutions. Of course celebrating the arrival of the new year isn’t a recent thing — the first New Year’s celebration dates back 4,000 years. Julius Caesar, the emperor of Rome, was the first to declare January 1 a national holiday. He named the month after Janus, the Roman god of doors and gates. Around forty-five percent of Americans make New Year’s resolutions — and about 25 percent of them give up on their resolutions by the second week of January.

But there are a lot of traditions and other things centered around the new year that are interesting….
Kissing someone at midnight is said to come from the idea that doing so will prevent loneliness during the coming year and ward off evil spirits. Ancient Romans are credited with the kissing tradition because of their Saturnalia festival — a celebration honoring Saturn, the god of time.

The island nation of Kiribati in the Central Pacific is the first location to ring in the new year each year.
American Samoa is the second to last place to celebrate the new year (behind Baker and Howland Islands, which are both uninhabited.)

In the Philippines, roundness is thought to signify prosperity, so on New Year’s Eve locals surround themselves with round shapes, by wearing polka dots, filling their pockets with coins, or by eating circular fruits. The French consume a stack of pancakes every new year. In Scotland and Greece, they believe that the first person who enters your home in the new year will either bring good or bad luck. Make sure you’re careful about who it is and that they walk in using their right foot. In Denmark, the Danes throw unused plates that have been saved up throughout the year at the front doors of family and friends for good luck.

Every year a giant ball droops in Times Square in New York in a countdown to the new year. The ball has been lowered every year since 1907, with the exceptions of 1942 and 1943, when the ceremony was suspended due to the wartime dim-out of lights in New York City.
The idea of a ball “dropping” to signal the passage of time dates back to 1883 when a ball was installed on the top of England’s Royal Observatory at Greenwich, allowing the captains of nearby ships to precisely set their navigational instruments.
But not everyone counts down to the new year by dropping a ball — at the Hershey Press Building in Pennsylvania, a 300-pound, 7-foot tall Hershey Kiss is lowered. And in Mobile, Alabama, a 12-foot, 600-pound electric Moon Pie drops at midnight (that seems a bit strange, because Moon Pies are made in Tennessee.)
So however you celebrate the arrival of the coming year, have a happy, healthy new year.
—30 —

Well, here we are nearing the end of 2023…. I guess, to be honest, 2023 has just worn me down. It’s been a trying year — personally as well as on the world scene. Ongoing wars continued and new ones erupted. Meetings between heads of state seemed to generate only headlines — and little, or no, progress. All years are good years, but it sure seems like this year good news has been in short supply.   

I’m not into numerology, but I wonder if 2023 means anything….. I know that if you’d like to write the year 2023 in roman numerals, it’d be MMXXIII. And although I haven’t thought about it for a while, I used to be a little proficient in binary numbers — if you’re interested, in binary it’s 11111100111. And while we’re at it, 2023 is a Harshad number. A Harshad number is a number that can be evenly divided by the sum of its digits. If you add the four digits of 2023 it equals 7. Now if 2023 can be divided evenly by 7, it’s a Harshad number. Turns out it can 2023 ÷ 7 = 289.

Of course according to the Chinese calendar, 2023 was the Year of the Rabbit. And because the Chinese calendar works from the lunar cycle, Chinese New Year for 2023 didn’t start on January 1 — it started on January 22nd and won’t end until February 9, 2024.

So this year was full of ups and downs — seems like there were more downs than ups this time, but now that we’re closing out the year, we should try to put the past years mistakes and regrets in the past.
Let’s welcome 2024 with optimism, goodwill and high hopes for the year and try to not let the current gloom dampen our enthusiasm for the future.
— 30 —

Since it’s still the Christmas season, I thought I’d share something kind of interesting that I ran across while looking for football playoff information. So the fact that I ran across this when looking for football information must be fate, or maybe a Google mistake….

When I was a kid, I never heard much about a Yule log, but since I left home I’ve noticed it’s a fairly common tradition in a lot of places. Shepherdstown has a Yule log during some of their Christmas celebrations. 

Today, the Yule log is about the only thing that remains from past Yuletide celebrations….
Yule is one of the oldest winter celebrations in the world — originally celebrated on the winter solstice. Today, Yule and Yuletide are usually associated with Christmas, but the meaning behind them is different than our Christmas celebrations. 

The original Yule celebrations were centered around the winter solstice, which traditionally marked the halfway point of the winter season. After the solstice, the days again begin to get longer, so it’s thought that the Yule was a celebration of the re-appearance of the Sun and the fertile land’s rebirth. 
Ancient people were mostly hunters and spent most of their time outdoors, so the seasons and weather played a major role in their lives. These early celebrations typically consisted of a hearty feast and generally noisy activities, including caroling, drinking and dancing. 
Much later, after Christianity came to the British Isles, Christians adopted some parts of the pagan festival into a celebration of the birth of Christ. 

As I mentioned, burning a log in celebration of Yule started as part of the winter solstice festivities. Some people believe that the candles and lights associated with Christmas — meant to symbolize guiding beacons for the Christ child, may have evolved from the Yule log — which was lit to entice the Sun to return as part of the Yule celebration.

The Yule log was originally an entire tree — families would bring the trunk of the Yule tree inside and stick the big end of it into the fireplace. The log would feed the fire  from Christmas Day through the 5th of January — known as Twelfth Night. The Yule log is still a Christmas tradition in some cultures — often the Yule log is burned in the fireplace on Christmas Eve. 

So the whole season, called “Yule-tide,” was among the most important holidays in pagan Europe. It’s transformed into one of our most important holidays too, and after all, it’s the sprit of the season that’s important — may your fire burn warm and bright, and may the Yule Spirits bless you this very night.
— 30 —

If you’ve read this blog over the past few years, you know that today, December 28, is considered to be the unluckiest day of the year on the Christian calendar. If you’re interested in more details, you can check the archives of this blog for the entries on December 28 — but briefly….

At one time, the day, known as the Feast of the Holy Innocents, or alternatively, as Childermass, was considered cursed. The past is littered with warnings about Childermass — like, “no important affair is taken in hand on Childermass Day, and the sailors are heedful not to leave their port in the way of beginning a voyage under consideration.” Or, “it is very unlucky to begin any work whatever on this day.” And, “this day is of most unlucky omen. None ever marries on a childermass day.” 
But children had the most to fear on the 28th of December — up until the seventeenth century, it was believed that ritually beating a child with a stick on Childermass brought the beater good luck and reminded the child of both King Herod’s viciousness and Jesus’s suffering.
Catholics still observe December 28 with prayers and readings referencing King Herod’s slaughter of babies as recorded in Matthew. 

So — folklore, superstition, and traditions have all contributed to today being an unlucky day. 
But — I think an argument can be made that my birthday — August 6 — just might be the unluckiest day. Take a look at some events that have occurred on August 6.
1890 — The first ever execution by electric chair occurred at Auburn Prison in New York.
1914 — Austria-Hungary declared war on Russia, pitting two of the major powers of World War I against one another.
1945 — The Enola Gay dropped the first-ever atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan — instantly killing 80,000 people. 
1951 — 4,800 people died when a massive typhoon hit the coast of Manchuria in northeast Asia.
1964 — The world’s oldest tree, known as “Prometheus,” was cut down by a graduate student conducting climate research. The tree, located in Great Basin National Park, was around 4,900 years old.
1997 — a Korean Air flight crashed on the island of Guam. Of the 254 people aboard, only 26 survived.
2013 — Twenty-five people were killed and 60 others injured when a series of car bombs detonated in Baghdad.
2019 — The Department of Health in Manila, Philippines, declared a national epidemic after the dengue outbreak.

I’ll let you decide if maybe my birthday is unluckier than December 28, but superstition aside, today is a good day to remember that not a whole lot has changed in our world —  it’s not a safe place for many people. Unfortunately, innocent people are still put death — I guess Childermass is a good day to remember that.
— 30 —

Yesterday was Boxing Day — it lands on December 26 every year. It’s a day for giving, especially to the less fortunate. It’s the day after Christmas — of course it’s not as widely celebrated as Christmas here in the U.S., but Boxing Day is celebrated all over the world — Australia, Austria, canada, Germany, Greenland, Hong Kong, Jamaica, Kenya, New Zealand, Norway Romania, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and others celebrate it as a special day.

In South Africa, Boxing Day is known as the “Day of Goodwill” — In Ireland, it is known as “Saint Stevens Day,” but it’s also sometimes referred to as Wren Day, a nod to an old tradition in which poor children would kill a wren, then sell the feathers to neighbors for good luck. When it is celebrated today, the wren is fake. 
And in some European countries, it is known as “Christmas II” or “Second Christmas Day.”
In Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the UK, Boxing Day is the heaviest shopping day of the year. 

No one really knows where the name “Boxing Day” got its name. Many historians think Boxing Day’s name is derived from the church practice of opening alms boxes the day after Christmas and distributing money to the poor. Historically, British employers followed the church’s lead by giving workers and servants gifts or cash on December 26. Another thought is that the “box” refers to the boxes of gifts employers gave to their servants on the day after Christmas — in wealthy households, servants were often required to work on Christmas Day, but give the day after off to celebrate the holiday on their own. All good stories…. but no one knows for sure.
— 30 —