Random thoughts

[Lucy]

This is a place for random thoughts/observations I have been thinking about. The list is getting long in my head. Needed some place to put it. Some of them are questions I haven't looked up the answers to yet but I am curious about. People can add their own if they wish.

Why does our interstate have a speed limit but the Autobahn doesn't?

If you’re 'up' for something, you’re usually happy about it. If you’re 'down' for something, you’re also usually happy about it. English is weird.

If you think about it, your birthday is just the anniversary of the day you were evicted from your first apartment.

We call it 'the news,' but it’s almost always just stuff that happened yesterday.

If you’re waiting for the waiter at a restaurant, aren't you the waiter?

If money is at the root of all evil, why do churches ask for it?

Humans are the only species that pay to live!

The banana used to be the food that most looked like a phone. Now it’s the pop tart.

In order to fall asleep we have to pretend to be asleep.

Why are people so afraid to make mistakes when it is how we learn?

Why is it easier to offer forgiveness to others than it is to forgive yourself?

Why did certain countries develop deeply rooted tipping cultures, while others view tipping as an insult?

Why are certain national borders drawn in perfectly straight geometric lines instead of following natural landscapes?

Why do some countries design cities for pedestrians and bicycles, while others build exclusively for cars?

Why do certain nations use entirely unique electrical plug types and voltages instead of a global standard?

Why do certain nations completely eliminate standardized testing in schools, while others base a student's entire future on a single exam?

Why are there no street names or house numbers in the postal system of Costa Rica?

Why does Norway deliberately choose to store its massive oil wealth in a giant global fund instead of spending it domestically?

Why is it considered a major insult to show the soles of your shoes to someone in Middle Eastern cultures?

Why do people in Finland routinely leave their sleeping babies in strollers outside in sub-zero temperatures?

Why does the tiny nation of Tuvalu earn millions of dollars a year just from owning the ".tv" internet domain?

Why does Germany still heavily rely on cash payments for daily transactions while neighboring nations have gone almost entirely cashless?

Why is it tradition in Denmark to splash cinnamon all over single people on their 25th birthday?

Why do France and Spain trade ownership of a single island (Pheasant Island) back and forth every six months?

Why are traditional houses in the Netherlands built with prominent iron hooks sticking out of their top roofs?

Why are historical buildings in Prague marked with unique animal symbols (like a golden horseshoe or a red fox) instead of standard street numbers?

Why do farmers in Peru grow thousands of varieties of potatoes at different altitudes rather than focusing on the single highest-yielding crop?

(More questions and stuff to come.)

 

[Lucy]

How does the insect get inside the Mexican Jumping bean?

Who was the first human to look at a cow and think, "I wonder what that white stuff tastes like coming out of the udder?

Why can turtles carry Salmonella bacteria in their intestinal tract and it not make them sick?

How is it that our government can print money from nothing? and do other governments do that?

Did we really have founding fathers?

Who decided red meant stop and green meant go?

Why was Venice built on stilts?

Why are manhole covers round?

Why do some monks fast for such long periods?

Why does the rest of the world seem to use military time in every day life but we don't?

Who established the international date line?

 

[Jade]

Those are a lot of questions, Lucy, some may answer your questions...however, I'll give you one the rest search on the internet and everything will be answer.

Who established the international date line?

answer: The International Meridian Conference in 1884 in Washington, DC as an imaginary line following the 180-degree meridian, marking the boundary between one calendar and the next.

 

[Julie Justice]

@Lucy. The Bible verse that you are (probably) referring to, comes from 1 Timothy 6:10.
"For the love of money is the root of all evil; which while some have coveted after it, they have erred in faith; and pierced themselves through with many sorrows."

The verse is telling us to keep money in the proper place in our lives; and not be greedy; not that money itself is bad. Jesus was taught to be a carpenter by his foster father, Joseph. Peter was a fisherman, when he first met Jesus. Matthew was a tax collector (which was even more hated back then; because they represented the foreign-occupying power of Rome--and Scripture tells us that Matthew left that job when he became a disciple of Jesus) but I assure you all these people expected to be paid for the services they provided.

The reason that most churches have a tax exempt status is that they don't own the land they are on; and they have no way to generate enough money to pay those kinds of taxes; and anything that they make or sell or any collections of money, food, or clothing that they might take up go to benefit the needs of the congregation and their communities.

But, this was always the way it was. Remember, what you and I consider the Early Christian Church was actually rooted in the Jewish religion. Remember that Joseph, Mary (Mother of Jesus) Jesus, Himself, and all of the original 12 disciples (including Matthew, the tax collector) were all Jewish and followed the Scriptures of the Torah (which is the first five books of the Old Testament of our Christian Bible). So when you read a verse that says,"Take care of the widow and the orphan" it was the local Synagogue or the Temple in Jerusalem that did that. Not the foreign-occupying force of the Roman government.

 

[Lucy]

I really like Jade's idea of making a "What I Learned" series. But I've realized I have way too many questions floating around in my head that I want to explore. So I figured this thread could be my place to collect them.

I also wanted to add something I learned recently! One of my questions was, "What did people do before alarm clocks?

I found out that people used some really creative methods. One was putting nails into candles. As the candle burned down, the nail would eventually fall onto a metal tray or another hard surface, making a noise that could wake them up.

There were also people whose actual job was to wake others up. They were called knocker-uppers, and they would tap on windows with long sticks or throw tiny pebbles until the person woke up!

Thousands of years ago, some civilizations used water clocks. As water slowly dripped from one container to another, it eventually raised a float, triggered a lever, or rang a bell.

Church bells, In many towns, people didn't need individual alarms. The local church bells rang: before sunrise, at the start of work, for meals, and at other regular times.
Roosters! Other family members!

Did you know facts:

The plastic tip on the end of a shoelace is called an Aglet!

The little metal band that holds the eraser onto a pencil is called a ferrule.

The little dent in the bottom of many whine bottles is called a "punt"?

The grooves on the edge of a coin are called reeding.

The little metal plate around a keyhole is called an escutcheon.

The dots on dice are called pips.

The dot over the letters i and j has a name. It's called a tittle.

The symbol & is called an ampersand

That little extra pocket inside your front pocket was originally designed for a pocket watch. It's sometimes called a watch pocket.

Did you know the raised bumps on the letters F and J on a keyboard have a purpose?
They're called home row markers. They help you place your fingers correctly without looking.

The @ symbol was used in commerce long before computers. It meant "at the rate of" (like "5 apples @ $1 each").

Did you know the little plastic strip on the edge of a zipper has a name?
It's called a zipper pull when you grab it, and the slider is the part that moves up and down the teeth.

Bananas are berries, but berries aren't?

turtles can breathe through specialized tissues near their rear ends while hibernating underwater, allowing them to survive months beneath ice.

Bodies can make sounds after death as gasses move through the body. These noises have startled people for centuries.

 

[Jade]

Lucy, no wonder you got lots of questions waiting for you with answers beside using the computer why read non-fiction books to give you answers as well.

Just take it easy on yourself and let your brain calm down until the next to make another 'What I learned' series like I'm taking a break from the Studio and getting some ideas for my next story.

 

[Lucy]

So for this question, @Julie Justice and I looked it up together. Please enjoy.

What "we" learned:

How did the stork become associated with babies?

So, apparently, this myth goes back centuries to Greece when Hera transformed a rival into stork. The transformed stork refused to leave the new born, Gerena, scooped her baby up in a blanket with her beak, and flew off.

There is also a similar connection in Egyptian myth, Where Bennu, flew over the waters of Nun, before creation. When Bennu landed on a rock and let out a cry, it determined what would be included in the unfolding world.

More recent research suggestions that Gerena was transformed into a Crane, not a stork, and archaeological evidence indicates that Bennu was likely inspired by a now-extinct species of large heron that once lived on the Arabian Peninsula.

Another bird that may have been confused with the stork, and which contributed to the idea of storks as bringers of life, is the pelican. In Catholic symbolism, the image of a mother pelican feeding her chicks is deeply symbolic.

According to legend, a brood of young pelicans, despite being lovingly cared for, became increasingly aggressive toward their mother, pecking at her and wounding her. In a fit of anger, she struck out with her sharp beak, killing them. Three days later, overcome with remorse, she pierced her own breast, drawing blood that dripped onto her chicks, miraculously reviving them while she perished, an ultimate act of sacrifice.

We found it most interesting that this was referenced by Shakespeare.

To his good friends thus wide I’ll ope my arms
And, like the kind life-rend’ring pelican,
Repast them with my blood.

In the 19th century it was Hans Christian Anderson who popularized the stork and babies with a dark and unsettling twist in his tale The Storks.

People in Northern Europe also noticed their flight patterns, They would go South for the Winter, and return exactly nine months later in the Spring. Villagers noticed that they would get back just in time for a wave of new births.

European peasants had observed that storks nested on the little-used gallows or “Catherine” wheel in towns. These looked like wagon wheels positioned horizontally on tall poles, and storks found them a safe place to nest. The birds were regarded as good luck, so it was not uncommon for people to construct a similar wheel on top of their roofs to attract storks. When children asked about the origin of the infant, it was easy to suggest that it had arrived by way of the chimney and that the stork had accomplished this deed.

(Julie if you find I missed something, let me know and I'll edit this.)

More Questions:

Are they really going to get rid of the U.N?

Why do some leaders treat my questions like threats?

Why does it seem like our educational system wants to take away our creativity?

Why are European keyboards different than American ones? What about the rest of the world?

why do escalators have brushes on the side?

Why do tennis balls have fuzz?

Why do elevators have mirrors?

Why do a handful of companies control food in the USA?

Why isn't our money backed by gold anymore?

Is it true the reason we have summer break in school was so kids could help their parents with the planting of crops?

Why was Satan's/serpent punishment to slither on its belly all the days of his life?

Why are soda bottles shaped the way they are?

Why do political disagreements sometimes escalate into labeling and demonetization?

Do the Japanese still sleep on the floor? and why? Plus, do they wear kimonos outside of celebrations?

Why do other countries start you off with a family to help you integrate into the culture, but America doesn't?

Why are some words considered rude?

Where do accents come from?

Why do computers use binary?

Why do certain colors feel a certain way?

Why does anesthesia knock people out?

Why does salt melt ice?

Why does time move differently in space?

Why does the Moon have phases?

Why does metal rust?

Why don't we like the sound of our own voice?

why is the unicorn the national animal of Scotland

Do other countries have mythical animals for their national animals?

Why are so many deaths associated with the Hungarian Death song, and did the BBC really ban it for so many years?

Why don't we remember the moment we fall asleep?

If the Nazis were the Third Reich, What were the 1st and 2nd?

Why are they called "spicy" kitties?

Why were Japanese houses made of paper?