~★~♥~♥~★~ El Morno! ♥~★~★~♥ ~
January 17, 2015

★~ Today’s Quote:“Invention, my dear friends, is 93% perspiration, 6% electricity, 4% evaporation, and 2% butterscotch ripple.”  – Willy Wonka, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

★~ Ditch New Years Resolutions Day:

If there’s a day to celebrate New Years and to make resolutions for the upcoming year, then there should be a day to ditch those resolutions.  For some of us, New Years resolutions are hanging heavily over our heads. They have become a burden, and perhaps were not such a good idea after all.  And besides everyone knows you are perfect just as you are.

★~ Kid Inventors Day:

Kid Inventors Day, celebrates the youthful spirit of invention, on Benjamin Franklin birthday, he invented the first swim flippers at age 12. Other awesome stuff invented by kids: the trampoline, the snowmobile and popsicles. Conversely, things invented by adults include the treadmill, the filing cabinet, and paying taxes.

A bit of Gallimaufry… In 1963 6-year-old inventor Robert Patch created a convertible toy truck (see picture above). Young Robert had two goals for this truck: one, that it could be taken apart and put back together; two, that is could transform into all sorts of different vehicles. After drawing up a sketch, Robert got a patent for his idea, and the rest was playtime history.

★~  Hot Buttered Rum Day:

Hot-buttered rum is a warm alcoholic beverage flavored with butter, salt, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, and cloves. These ingredients form a batter that is then mixed with rich, dark rum. Mulled wines and other “toddies” originated in Europe, but hot-buttered rum is an American innovation. During the colonial period, merchants began importing molasses (the basis for rum) from Jamaica. The first rum distillery opened in the 1660s and it wasn’t long before the colonists began mixing the alcohol with spices to create a warm winter refreshment. Hot Buttered Rum.

★~ Today In History:

♥~ 1795 –  The Duddingston Curling Society, the oldest club of its kind, was organized in Edinburgh, Scotland. Curling is an olympic ice sport that began in Scotland and is played wearing Curling shoes which consist of a slider (the sole is coated with a Teflon-like material) and a gripper (usually a crepe rubber), stones and brooms. More about curling.

♥~ 1876 – The saxophone was played by Etta Morgan at New York City’s Olympic Theatre. The instrument was little known at the time in the United States.

♥~ 1945 –  The American record holder for the indoor one mile run, Gilbert Dodds, announced his retirement from competition to devote his time to running for a higher source. Dodds became a gospel preacher. He came out of retirement briefly, in hopes of competing in the 1948 Olympics. While training for the Olympics, he broke his own record by winning the Wanamaker Mile in 4:05.3. How’d Gilbert do in the Olympics? He didn’t. The mumps caught up to him before the trials and he permanently retired from running. (This one is for El Morno friend Irene!)

♥~ 2011 – Japanese researchers said they were launching a project to attempt to resurrect the long-extinct woolly mammoth. By using cloning technology, the scientists hoped to bring the ancient pachyderm back to life.

★~ Born Today:

♥~ 1706 – Benjamin Franklin statesman: oldest signer of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution; printer, author, publisher [Richard Saunders]: Poor Richard’s Almanack; scientist, inventor: Franklin stove, bifocals, lightning rods; established University of Pennsylvania; died Apr 17, 1790

♥~ 1899 – Al Capone ‘Scarface’: gangster, head of crime empire during Prohibition; died Jan 25, 1947

♥~ 1922 – Betty White Emmy Award-winning actress: The Mary Tyler Moore Show [1974-1975, 1975-1976], The Golden Girls [1985-1986]; The Betty White Show, Ladies Man; singer

♥~ 1962 – Jim Carrey actor, comedian: The Mask, Ace Ventura series, Dumb & Dumber, Batman Forever, The Cable Guy, The Truman Show, Me, Myself & Irene, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, The Majestic

★~ Gallimaufry:

According to a study by the University of Scranton, the top 10 New Year’s resolutions for 2014 are:

1. Lose Weight
2. Getting Organized
3. Spend Less, Save More
4. Enjoy Life to the Fullest
5. Staying Fit and Healthy
6. Learn Something Exciting
7. Quit Smoking
8. Help Others in Achieving Their Dreams
9. Fall in Love
10. Spend More Time with Family

1. Lose Weight
Since 1 in 2.8 (35.6%) of adults in the US is obese and 1 in 2.6 (38.5%) of adults believe he/she is overweight, it’s not surprising that losing weight is the top resolution for 2014. Barbie and Ken haven’t gained a pound since 1959, but alas most of us have.

2. Getting Organized
The average office employee spends 1.5 hours a day (6 weeks per year) looking for things. Americans spend 9 million hours looking for things. The top five items men look for in their homes were clean socks, remote control, wedding album, car keys and their driver’s license. For women, the top five items were a favorite pair of shoes, child’s toy, wallet, lipstick and the remote control.

3. Save More
During 2013, the personal savings rate or savings as a percent of disposable personal income, was about 4.5%. Thus the odds a dollar of personal income was saved in 2013 was 1 in 22.2. Current levels of saving are an improvement over the 2007 rate of 2.6% (1 in 38.7) but still a far cry from the 1971 height of 13.3% (1 in 7.5). What are the odds an adult has no savings at all? 1 in 3.2 or 31% of American adults.

4. Enjoy Life to the Fullest
We work way too hard. The odds an American doesn’t plan on taking all his or her vacation are 1 in 4, and half of those who vacation work or think about it during their time off. Play is as important to us as it is to cats. The odds an hour of a man’s day will be spent at leisure or play are 1 in 4.1. The odds an hour of a woman’s day will be spent at leisure or play are 1 in 4.8

5. Staying Fit and Healthy
Staying fit and healthy is an aspiration but less than half of us are willing to do much to achieve it, especially as they get older. In the US, 1 in 1.7 adults 18-24 get the recommended amount of exercise a week and the odds drop as people get older, to 1 in 1.9 of those 25 to 34, 1 in 2 for those 35 to 64 and 1 in 2.5 for those 65 and older. If only paying for a gym membership did the trick by itself!

6. Learn something exciting
The Department of Labor estimates that the average worker will switch careers 3 to 5 times during their working life. Continuing education can help a person pick a career that matches their abilities and interests. Not everyone attends continuing education classes for professional reasons. In fact, hundreds of thousands of people enroll in personal enrichment classes every year to learn new things and meet new people.

The odds an employed person is engaged in:
• In career- or job-related courses: 1 in 2.6
• In apprenticeship programs: 1 in 71.4
• In personal interest courses: 1 in 4.6
• In informal learning activities for personal interest: 1 in 1.4

7. Quit Smoking
In 2011, 19% of people 18 and over (1 in 5.3) smoke. In 2013, most people who smoked wanted to quit smoking all together (1 in 1.4 or 70%) but 1 in 2.5 (40%) will try to quit this year. However, a small minority, 1 in 14 or 7%, will succeed in quitting on their first attempt.

8. Help Others in Achieving Their Dreams
Americans are remarkably generous with their time. Over 64 million people volunteered in the last year, which is more than the population of the U.K. That’s a lot of dream help! The odds a man volunteered in 2012 were 1 in 4.3, and the odds a woman volunteered in 2013 were 1 in 3.4.

9. Fall in love
The odds an adult believes in love at first sight are 1 in 1.9, over half of us! The odds an adult believes there is any number of people with whom she or he could fall in love are 1 in 4.2.

10. Spend more time with family
About 23% (1 in 4.4) of adults spend time helping household members, while about 20% (1 in 5) spend time helping their children. The average time spent per week on each of these activities is two hours. One of our favorite family activities is reading to kids at bedtime. The odds? A wonderful 1 in 1.2 parents read to their 3 to 5 year olds weekly.

The Bottom Line
Of the 317 million adults in the US only 1 in 2.2 make a New Year’s resolution. Of these 1 in 8 or 17.8 million will keep it for a year. Don’t lose hope though. It turns out people who make a New Year’s resolution are 10 times more likely to change their lives than those who don’t.

From Lightning Strikes to Love at First Sight which collects the odds of everyday life and published by HarperCollins and William Morrow. Amazon

#

Thanks to everyone who made Fig Newton Day so special for my Dear Dad! He was thrilled so many people gave a fig.  I’m told he was heard saying more than once ….”You’re Darn Toooton I Love Fig Newtons!”

And I really appreciated Amazon’s dedication to delivering his Fig Newton package on time and keeping me in the loop by text message.

Have a super Saturday!

Odd Loves Company,

 

 

* Very late breaking news…Nabisco changed Fig Newtons name to just Newton in 2012. Nobody noticed, nobody cared, and most people still call them Fig Newtons.