~★~♥~♥~★~ El Morno! ♥~★~★~♥ ~
March 23, 2012

★~ Today’s Quote: The Internet is the most important single development in the history of human communication since the invention of call waiting. Dave Barry

★~ National Day of Unplugging:

Unplugging days runs from sundown Friday, March 23 to sundown, Saturday, March 24. With 66% of people claiming they are addicted to the Internet, the day was designed to get people back to re-connect with family, friends and oneself, away from technology.

“Shut down your computer,” the pledge states. “Turn off your cell phone. Stop the constant emailing, texting, tweeting and Facebooking to take time to notice the world around you. Connect with loved ones. Nurture your health. Get outside. Find silence. Avoid commerce. Give back. Eat Together. ”

I am not unplugging click to find out why.

★~ Puppy Day:

All right. Everyone ready for a collective awwwww? It is Puppy Day. We are celebrating the puppy that wags and prances around the house, playing catch me if you can with your favorite shoe in her mouth. Always remember: There is a reason God made puppies so darn cute. We love puppies at camp and are very happy to welcome a new crop of puppy babies to our camp door every spring. If you are planning to adopt a puppy this spring, remember: adopt, don’t shop; talk to breeders and rescue groups; and keep in mind that the adorable ball of fur you love today will need the same kind of love as it grows into a big dog.

★~ Chips and Dip Day:

Chips and dip are the iconic American party snack. Whether you prefer tortilla chips, potato chips, or corn chips, there are dozens of dips to complement your snack of choice. I like Fritos for a dipping chip.

Humans have been dipping their food into sweet and savory sauces for centuries. Some of the earliest dips were humans hummus,  and olive oil, which originated in the Mediterranean region and are still popular today. Salsas and dips made with sour cream became popular in the United States in the 1940s. After the Great Depression, many middle-class families found themselves without a maid for the first time and had to prepare their own go-to party dish, and pouring a bag of chips into a bowl and opening a container of onion dip was something they could prepare without household help!

★~ Today in History:

♥~ 1743 – It was the first London performance of Handel’s Messiah, and King King George II was in the audience. In the middle of the Hallelujah Chorus, the King rose to his feet in appreciation of the great piece! The entire audience followed suit out of respect for the King. And so began the custom of standing during the singing of the Hallelujah Chorus.

♥~ 1794 – Josiah G. Pierson patented a rivet machine. Do you find this riveting?

♥~ 1944 – Nicholas Alkemade fell 18,000 feet without a parachute and lived. Nicholas was the tail gunner in a British Lancaster bomber on a night mission to Berlin. His plane was attacked by German fighters. When the captain ordered the crew to bail out, Alkemade discovered that his parachute was in flames. He chose to jump without the parachute rather than to stay in the burning plane. He fell 5,486 meters, landing in trees, underbrush, and drifted snow. He twisted his knee and had some cuts, but was otherwise alright. And then was shot by the enemy.

♥~ 1965 – Astronaut John Young became the first man to eat a corned beef sandwich in outer space.  Young smuggled the sandwich on board in order to supplement the astronauts’ meals of dehydrated foods, corned beef went well with Tang.

♥~ 1989 – A mountain-sized asteroid passed within 500,000 miles of Earth, a very close call according to NASA. Impact would have equaled the strength of 40,000 hydrogen bombs, created a crater the size of the District of Columbia and devastated everything for 100 miles in all directions.

♥~ 1989 – Helen Gainville unveiled a wedding dress in Paris, with embroidered diamonds by Alexander Reza. History’s most expensive dress was valued at $7.3-million.

♥~ 1994 – Wayne Gretzky broke Gordie Howe’s National Hockey League career record with his 802nd goal.

★~Born Today:

♥~ 1904 – Joan Crawford (Lucille Fay LeSueur) Academy Award-winning actress: Mildred Pierce [1945]; A Woman’s Face, Night Gallery, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane, Above Suspicion,Grand Hotel; died May 10, 1977

♥~ 1966 – Marin Hinkle actress: Two and a Half Men, Once and Again, Imagine That, John’s Hand, Turn the River, Friends With Money, I Am Sam, Frequency, I’m Not Rappaport

♥~ 1966 – Marin Hinkle actress: Two and a Half Men, Once and Again, Imagine That, John’s Hand, Turn the River, Friends With Money, I Am Sam, Frequency, I’m Not Rappaport

♥~ 1976 – Keri Russell actress: The Upside of Anger, Mad About Mambo, Dead Man’s Curve, When Innocence is Lost, The Lottery, Clerks, Honey I Blew Up the Kid

♥~ 1990 – Princess Eugenie (Eugenie Victoria Helena Windsor) British royalty: daughter of Prince Andrew and the Duchess of York [Sarah Ferguson]

★~ Did You Know: Maybe you should unplug when…..

♥~  All of your friends have an @ in their names

♥~  You check your mail. It says “no new messages.” So you check it again.

♥~ You don’t know the sex of three of your closest friends, because they have neutral nicknames and you never bothered to ask.

♥~ You start tilting your head sideways to smile.

♥~ You spend half of the plane trip with your laptop on your lap…and your child in the overhead compartment.

♥~ When you hear a good joke, “LOL” is the first thing that pops into your mind

♥~ You wait for your spam folder to fill up just so that you can empty it again

♥~ You sneak away from your wedding to check your email

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I saved this for last because it made me laugh. Maybe I do need to unplug for a few hours, or at least go out. Oh that’s right I don’t have a car…Anyway I’m filing this one under: it’s hard to be a kid these days.  Today in 2003 three ten-year-olds caused $141,700 damage and left their village of Bottighofen, Switzerland without power. The kids were throwing burning sticks into a canal when one of the sticks melted the insulation on a 16,000 volt power line, blowing the town’s main fuses. Some 1,800 residents were without power for four hours.”  Can you imagine the look on these kids’ faces, or better yet the look on their parents’ faces? I’ll bet from that point on, whenever there was a power outage in that town, parents would say, “I hope it’s not my kid.”

Well, the car dealership just called, and the Rabbit that I like and that Cole is ok with is available. Stick-shift lessons tomorrow, and Monday night he will take it for a test drive. With luck, he will love it. Lenny says it’s a great car; would Lenny lie to us? I do know that Lenny really wants to sell this car, since he has called me twice today updating me on it. “I’m an old gear-head from way back and this car has a lot of pick-up-and-go, but it’s safe. You know I wouldn’t even talk to you about it if it wasn’t safe. I have kids.” If we decide to enter into negotiations on this car, Lenny will be saying, “Hey I’m already not making any money on this car, I have kids to feed.” Stay tuned.

Disconnect means: to sever or interrupt the connection of or between; detach. Connect means: To become joined or united. Now you tell me which one is better??? Will you disconnect for the next 24 hours? Odd wants to know! If you have a time leave a comment…Odd Loves Company!

I’m staying connected! DON’T LEAVE ME!