Miscellaneous Ramblings Vol. 9 No. 5

Hello Everyone, It’s  May of course. Been that way for the last two weeks. I’m sure you’ve noticed.

I am determined to be cheerful and happy in whatever situation I may find myself. For I have learned that the greater part of our misery or unhappiness is determined not by our circumstance but by our disposition. ~Martha Washington

>>>The Cats… Have you ever driven Hwy 17 to Santa Cruz? Probably. And probably you've noticed the two beautiful white 8' cats that mark the entrance to an old 34 acre estate. Conventional wisdom dictates that the cats were inspired because of the town of Los Gatos, which in Spanish means “the cats.” But hold on there buckaroo, it ain't true. The estate owners, Colonel Charles Erskine Scott Wood and his partner poet, suffragist Sara Bard Field named the cats, Leo and Leona and apparently the couple just happened to like cats. Actually, Los Gatos was named in honor of the mountain lions and bobcats that frequented the Santa Cruz Mountains back in 1840 when the town was looking for a name. 

>>>>In my ever-to-be-humble opinion… Now I understand why the two statues don’t look anymore like mountain lions or bobcats than Calvin Coolidge looks like Meryl Streep. But then again, they are very nice examples of artistic license, aren’t they?

>>>The man left his mark… Irish warring king, King Niall of the Nine Hostages may have more descendants than any other male in Irish history, or any other country's history for that matter. It's estimated that this prehistoric king may have as many as 2 to 3,000,000 descendants. How do we know that? Well, people who study such things discovered the King Niall had the Y-chromosome, haplotype. Don't ask me how they were able to go back thousands of years to find this out. Probably had something to do with analyzing the king's bones, or what's left of them. And don't ask me about digging the old boy up either. So anyone with that chromosome marker is therefore related to King Niall. Oh, and about his title = Remember he was a warring king, and as a result, he held nine royal hostages in his castle’s dungeons. They were captured in each of the lands he conquered. Voilla...King Niall of the Nine Hostages. 

>>>Spending money… Question: does our government spend our tax money wisely? The answer depends on the issue upon which the money is being spent and whether or not the many different factions agree it's a wise expenditure. Anyway here's one example that has been floating around for some time: When NASA started sending astronauts into space, they quickly discovered that ball-point pens would not work in zero gravity. To combat this problem, Congress approved a program and NASA scientists spent a decade and over $165 million developing a pen that writes in zero gravity, upside-down, on almost any surface and at temperatures ranging from below freezing to over 300ºC … the Russians on the other 

hand used pencils.

>>>And now the rest of the story… The story above is an

urban legend, but there is a grain of truth however: NASA began to develop a space pen, but when development costs skyrocketed the project was abandoned and astronauts went back to using pencils, just like the Soviets. However, the claim that NASA spent millions on the Space Pen is incorrect, as the Fisher pen was developed using private capital, not govern-ment funding. NASA – and the Soviets  – eventually began purchasing such pens.” 

>>>A final word on US spending… The Feds spent a total of $3.8 trillion in 2015. That’s $3,8000,000,000,000. Another way to look at it: it’s $12,000 for each man, woman and child in the country. The $3.8 trillion represents only 21% of the nation's economy (Gross Domestic Product, the value of all goods and services produced in a year). So how much did the Feds collect in taxes in 2015? That number is $3,248,723,000. Do you see the problem?

>>>Water jet cutter... A water jet cutter, also known as a water jet or waterjet, is an industrial tool capable of cutting a wide variety of materials using a very high-pressure jet of water, or a mixture of water and an abrasive substance. WOW, water cuts! My son was doing a kitchen remodel and told me that the granite kitchen tops were cut out with one of these water jets. Again WOW! If you're interested and want to find out how it works, then google “How Water Jets Work – YouTube.” First we did it with a chisel and a hammer, then along came diamond bladed saws and now with water, so what next?

>>>Old VW microbus uses… If you trek over to the Capitola Mall on 41st Avenue you might want to spend some money at this unusual vending machine. It’s a lousy thing to do to a wonderful old microbus. But there’s no accounting for human behavior.

Seven Facts… 1) You cannot put soap in your eyes.  2) You cannot count you hair.  3) You cannot breathe through your nose, with your tongue out.  4) You did #3, didn't you?  5) When you did #3, you realized its possible, and you look like a dog.  6) You're smiling right now.

>>>A Thought to Leave On…. I've heard different speakers use slightly different words to define the Hindi (India) word: namasteI (NOM uh stay). Namaste is used as a customary greeting when individuals meet, and a valediction upon their parting. I chose the following wording: My soul honors your soul. I honor the place in you where the entire universe resides. I honor the light, love, truth, beauty and peace within you, because it is also within me. In sharing these things we are united, we are the same, we are one… After reading that, think what the world would be like if everyone understood and adopted the concept behind namaste: we are all one.

Well, that’s it for this time, stay tuned for the next time, which may be some time from now, or not... But in the meantime ... stay well, be safe, keep in touch,    Sam

And little ZeeDee says, “Woof.”