Useless Information

HA, you looked! :)

My DH likes to say he's full of useless information whenever I am amazed at something new he tells me. So what oddball facts do you carry around?

I learned recently that protein robs the body of calcium (so how much good is it to try and get all your calcium from dairy products then hmmm?) and that for the body to absorb calcium you must also have vitamin D.

There are great calcium carmel chew products at your local store, one I'm using right now has additional vitamin D added.

Ya got me! I looked. Too curious, I think.

Anyway, I'm amazed at what comes out of my mouth. The useless facts like...

The singer Sting's real name is Gordon Sumner.

Only five percent of volcanos produce pyroclastic clouds.

A peregrine falcon can "stoop" at 120 miles per hour.

Lots of stuff that doesn't present itself until the topic comes up.

Julia Roberts real name is Julie.

Natalie Woods real name was Natasha.

Elvis is still alive.

That one just made my day! LOL

:)

Here ya go! LOL

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iodine

Thank-you kindly!

I've always been told I was full of it.

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA *snort*!

BTW, I love your name. Land of Eternal Youth.

:) thanks!

Tir_Na_Nog (Does that mean something by the way?) -

Go here and read the archives:

http://www.straightdope.com/index.html

Does anyone know that there are 24 gears in a semi? 20 going forward and 4 for reverse? I had to wait 30 years for anyone to ask me that.

Hey, do I have patience or what?


Hap

Some more useless information. Here's my user ID.

http://www.babynamesofireland.com/pages/tir-na-nog.html

Ahh- I wasn't aware (and I've read a decent amount of Irish lit). I kept thinking that it was like one of those vanity license plates with the strange spellings and that eventually I would figure it out.

ROFL, if only I was that clever. :)

Okay, I'm embarassed, but waste some time at that link when you have nothing better to do.

Happy-1,
There may be more or less than 24.

The primary transmission will typically have 4, 5, or 6 gears, and if there is a secondary it may be 2, 3, or 4 speed, And in the late 60's GM made the Allison Torquematic - continuously variable transmission.

The primary will have only 1 reverse gear, but due to the secondary could have up to 4.

Used to work at a diesel shop.

I love useless knowledge. My DH is always saying he's full of useless knowledge too, and he is. I'd love to see him go on a game show someday. Knowledge is only useless until you need it anyway....but some things you do have to wonder why you know them, or at least why you remember them.

My big thing is numbers, for some reason I remember numbers like I have a photographic memory for them. I can still remember my best friend's phone # from middle school....and we quit being friends in 1987. I can't remember why we quit being friends though, lol!

LOL so weird about the number memorization!

38675 and 60634---my phone number for years when I was growing up and also my best friend's phone number--these date back to the 1950's before prefixes were added. Talk about useless information!

Now that i know what Tir-Na-Nog means--I want it! LOL

LOL marsue! I know, I was trying to go for something that dealt with nature and also honor Irish ancestry! What a lucky combo I found!

More useless information that has remained in the recesses of my brain since high school: vocabulary words I will never forget and never have a chance to use (except now): onomatopoeia: a word that sounds like it is spelled: "buzz"
alliteration: a series of similar sounds (which definition is in itself an alliteration)

Aren't y'all glad to know these wonderful words? LOL

Most of the useless stuff I keep is movie and TV related.

UGH! Vocab words. So many hiding in my brain that will never be used....like....

Gowden = golden. We had to know that, plus an hundred others, for lit we were reading. Yeah, I'm going to use "gowden" in my everyday conversations.

More useless stuff....
The "ladybug" that a lot of people have an allergic reaction to isn't a ladybug at all. They look similar is all. They were introduced to the US from a cargo ship coming in from China (or was it Japan?)....anyway, they aren't ladybugs and it was an "oops" that brought them here.

Human head hair grows approximately 1/2" per month. "Alopecia" is the term used for spots of baldness on the human head.

The ecrector pili muscle is the one responsible for making your hair stand on end...as in when you have goosebumps.

You are more likely to get a dry socket when you have a tooth pulled if it's a molar and on the bottom.

I know I'll think of more as soon as I hit send.........

Yepper, I was right.......

Speaking of Sting....did you know that he and his wife were married only after a neighbor child called their son a bad name (because his parent's weren't married)...they decided it was time to get married, for their kids. I know some other stuff about Sting, but it's really not appropriate for a family site, lol!

The only thing I know about Sting, which is really not about him at all but is a bit of trivial and useless information, is that a former bus driver of his (back in the 80's) and a young woman I used to work with were married backstage at one of Sting's concerts in July or August of 1988.

Marsue that is so cool! I bet she had some great stories to tell.

More I've thought of......

Dog's tongues actually cup backwards (or under) when they are drinking water. Back towards their necks, not towards their noses.

The reason dogs turn in circles before they lay down is inherited wolf behavior. They are trying to tell which direction the wind is blowing so they can get their nose in the wind to smell predators.

Vellum used to be made of sheep's skin. The skin, not the fur. Vellum was used for writing on and rolled up as scrolls.


DH just stopped home for lunch and would like to add......if the moon explodes it'll take about 14 seconds before we know it.

....you can read a newspaper in space from the light the Luxor hotel in Vegas puts off.

....it only takes about 12 lbs of pressure to break someone's neck (why does he know this one?)

....that back when people were hung you could pay the executioner to put the knot on the side of your neck so you'd die quicker.


One that both of us have rolling around in our heads (we've just discovered) is the story and meaning behind one of the English language's dirtiest words....long ago, when someone was caught in adultery (or whatever the case may have been) they were put in the stocks in the middle of town and a sign was hung up stating why they were being punished...For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge. Rather than write out a sign that said all of that, they began abbreviating it, and that's where the word came from and how it came to mean what it means. I hope that didn't offend anyone, I have always found that tid-bit interesting.

Something I've learned recently.

There is a shortage of hellium gas therefore helium balloon costs are on the rise.

What will we do when we have no more helium?!?!?!?!

On the note of helium, did you know that men who inspected the Hindenburg (which was filled with hydrogen gas) had to wear special fabric slippers while going inside to check things out. I can't remember what they were made out of, but something that wouldn't produce static electricity....for good reason.

I know a lot of dirty word stuff but...

I know that in WW2, US "brains" tried to use "batbombs" to blow up buildings in Japan. They ended up blowing up themselves.

I know that 17% of helium is used for laser welding.

I know my phone # from when I was a kid, including the area code.

I know that in Moscow it's 10pm.

i know my phone number from when i was a kid too! and that was a while ago--i think i remember because it had a lot of s's in it (stewart 3 7724) and i couldn't say my s's--soooooooo it was a great source of amusement for my sister to have me tell people our phone number!!---sad thing is i have no idea what my cell phone number is now!
my useless info --marlon brando insulted sophia loren when they were in a movie together and he commented on a nose hair of hers durring a kissing scene

Heathr.....

There used to be a reference to a diploma or other very important certificate as a sheep skin. (Because they were made from sheep skin.!!)

Bubba, don't try to confuse this ol gal. I am lucky enough to remember 24 with going into the details. Besides, you are the 1 one in 67 years that has had the correct information. Whatda guy!!! Thanks.

MY DFs phone number at work, when I was young, was "23". That is REALLY before area codes. When I called him, I had to ask an operator to get me the number.

Have a great afternoon, kids.

I have some more info on sheepskin for those who wish to d-mail me. It's kind of a delicate subject and not for this forum. It's kind of interesting though. Maybe not you, but to me it is.

Oh, and mouton is the french word for sheep.

Yeah, mouton--anybody remember those coats that were so popular back in the fifties?? I kept mine for years but after a few years nobody wanted to buy one so I think I gave it to charity.

What will we do when we have no more helium? We won't be able to inhale it so we can talk funny or until we black-out from lack of oxygen. I have never done that but one of my very intelligent children did at a church fair one time and nearly scared me silly! I though he was dead! :o(( Now this is a piece of information that you might possibly find useful: never let your kids/grandkids inhale helium from a balloon!!

When we run out, we'll make more. The plants (manufacturing, not the green kind) that produce it are WAAAAAAY behind on production.

ROFLOL!

Is it true, salt added to the water keeps it from boiling over???

I've heard that and in fact, I have tried it and it worked for me.