Aww... I thought you were going to say that all Porsche 911s go... to heaven. Where the all the gas is high octane, all the cops ride bicycles, and all the roads are twisty.

I knew a guy who was so rich he had a front Porsche and a back Porsche.

WWII touched virtually everyone in America. There were 134 million people in the US in 1941, and some 16 million men and 350,000 women served in the armed forces during the war, something like 12% of the population. Almost everyone had a son or daughter, father or mother, brother or sister in the Army or Navy.…

My own personal astronaut swag: I teach IT at a community college, and have for 30 years. I used to use the Space Shuttle as an example of redundant systems, pointing it had five computers that compared every system factor. I also mentioned that it was capable of landing the shuttle, and in fact that’s how they landed…

OMG, it’s just like what happened to Pete Best! Kind of. Pete was the Beatles’ drummer for two years, but they kicked him out just when they were getting popular, replacing him with Ringo. They said it was because he wasn’t a good enough drummer (actually he wasn’t) but some said it was because he was becoming too…

“...Secret Six...”

Fun fact: John Henry was a steel driving man, but he wasn’t laying track as is often depicted. His job was to drive a steel spike into a rock face using a large hammer and main force. He then repeated the process many times, creating a grid of holes. A worker called a ‘powder monkey’ filled each hole with blasting…

Just we’re all the same page, the Board of Directors’ job is to look after the interests of the shareholders; they make sure that everything the corporation does enhances shareholder wealth. Every publicly traded corporation has one. The Chairman of the Board is not involved in the day-to-day running of the company,…

“There is only one correct way to “dispose” of bacon grease...”

This is a great deal; every Kindle-less person should take advantage of it. My Kindle is my favorite gadget of all time, and that’s saying a lot as I’ve been a gadget wonk since the ‘50s. Earlier this year, figuring that I’m not getting any younger, I treated myself to a Kindle Oasis II; it’s wonderful, and I’m never…

This is a great deal; every Kindle-less person should take advantage of it. My Kindle is my favorite gadget of all…

“...teach them some magic tricks.”

Cliff Stoll is an astronomer who tracked down an infamous hacker, wrote a book about it, and was a thing for a while back in the ‘80s*. In his book he describes his efforts to perfect the chocolate chip cookie through science. With each batch he varied the ingredients slightly, then recorded taste-test data from his…

“...I’ve always thought cats are smarter than dogs...”

Reminds me of these toy baking powder divers we got in cereal boxes in the ‘60s.

So close. So very close.

So close. So very close.

Fun fact: Ruben Goldberg (1883-1970) was a cartoonist who specialized in showing people using hilariously complicated machines to do simple things. In the early 20th century he was America’s most popular cartoonist. At his peak he was paid will over $1M per year in today dollars. In the UK, Heath Robinson made similar…

A full English breakfast: fried egg, sausage, white and black pudding, back bacon, mushrooms, baked beans, hash browns, toast, and half a tomato. And, a quick trip to the ER for incipient arteriosclerosis.

You kids and your modern technology! My VHS tapes are organized by the Dewey Decimal System, as god intended.