Procrastination.

Do I procrastinate?  Well, let's see.  The last time I posted my "daily blog" was 5 days ago.  I was meaning to post one every day, but I put it off for a day, then another day, then another day. . .  OK, don't rush me, I am going to do it right now.  (It would be fitting if I waited another few days to continue this post, wouldn't it?  But I will not, so here goes.)

I will start with an old proverb: "If and When were planted, and Nothing grew."

I liked that one but here are a bunch more:

"The sooner I fall behind, the more time I have to catch up."

                                                           ~Unknown

"One of the greatest labor-saving inventions of today is tomorrow."

                                                           ~Vincent T. Foss

"He who hesitates is last."

                                                           ~Mae West

"When there is a hill to climb, don’t think that waiting will make it smaller."                                              ~Anonymous

"If it weren't for the last minute, I wouldn't get anything done."

                                                             ~Unknown

"Procrastination always gives you something to look forward to."                                                       ~Joan Konner

"Never put off until tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow."                                           ~Mark Twain

“Tomorrow is often the busiest day of the week.”   

                                                              ~Spanish Proverb

I will stop with this great quote from Homer Simpson, "If something's hard to do, then what's the point?!"

I sure hope you enjoyed the above quotes.  I found them HERE,  so go take a look for yourself, but I used most of them on this blog posting.  Now, enjoy life, laugh often, and smile most of the time. . . then everyone will think you are crazy and will leave you alone.  Have a great day, you hear?

  

Space Stuff, Q thru Z.

This is the last of my alphabetical listing of space stuff.  Q through Z will be the last of this series.

"Q" is for Quasar.  A quasar is short for quasi-stellar object.  Now, I suppose you will want to know what that is.  OK, in most young galaxies there is a highly energetic core that may be powered by a huge black hole.  These objects emit exceptionally large amounts of energy.

"R" is for Regolith.  Regolith refers to that powdery stuff that covers the surface of celestial bodies like here on earth, and the moon, asteroids, and lots of others.  Here on earth we call it soil or dirt.

"S" is for Singularity.  Singularity is an area wherein space and time  are infinitely distorted.  That would be a very, very strange place to be, if you could survive being there.

"T" is for Type II Supernova.  It is the explosion of a massive star that occurs when its core runs out of fuel.  These explosions leave behind a neutron star or a black star.

"U" just has to be for Universe, which is all that exists. . . maybe.

"V" is for the Van Allen radiation belt.  The magnetic field of the earth traps protons, Ions, and electrons.  These particles form a protective layer and that layer is called the Van Allen radiation belt.

"W" is for White Dwarf.  A white dwarf is the dense remains of an intermediate mass star like the sun that has collapsed and is the same size as earth.  As sun like stars burn off most of their fuel supply, they don't have enough eternal pressure to offset its gravity and they collapse and explode.

"X" is for X-ray.  We all know what X-rays are but do you know what an X ray star is?  It is a bright object emitting x-rays as a primary component of its radiation.

"Y" is for yellow dwarf.  A yellow dwarf is a star at its stable point in its transformation.  Ordinary stars, including our sun are yellow dwarfs.

"Z" is for zodiac.  The zodiac is an imaginary belt across the sky. Some people believe that which ever zodiac sign you were born under affects their lives.

OK folks, that finishes up my space alphabet.  Wasn't sure that this old man was able to finish that long list, but I did.  Now, some of you may think I am slowing up, but that is not all true.  Yes, I am at the age where I walk slow but drive fast.  Now, you all have a great day, you hear?

"I" through "P" Space Objects.

Linda M said she couldn't wait to see what I did with the rest of the alphabet.  Well Linda, you need not wait any longer.  Since I left off at the letter "H" so today I will continue yesterdays posting by starting with the letter "I".

"I" is for interplanetary, interstellar, or intergalactic.  The inter part of the word means "the space between" and the last part of the word is for either planets, stars, and galaxies.

"J" is for jet and Jovian planet.  A jet is narrow stream of ejected stuff from an accretion disk.  Usually found coming from stars or black holes.  A Jovian planet is one that is Jupiter like.

"K" is for Kuiper Belt, which is a region of the outer solar system where there are millions of small icy bodies which Pluto is the largest known.

"L" can be for a lot of things like latitude, light pollution, and libration, which are the small oscillations in the moon's motion that allows us to see more than just half of the moon.

"M" is for the magnetosphere, an area around a planet where the magnetic field traps charged particles.

"N" is for neutron star, a collapsed, extraordinarily dense city sized remnant of a collapsed star.

"O" is for obliquity which is the angle between the plane of the earth's orbit and that of earth's equator, which is 23 degrees 27 minutes.

"P" is for perigee, the location of a satellite's orbit when it is closest to earth.

Credit for the above must go to planetfacts.org/space-terms

That is enough for today isn't Linda M.?  Maybe I can finish the alphabet in tomorrow's post if nothing more important doesn't pop up.  Now don't get too spaced out but have a great day, you hear?

B is for. . .

Back on the seventeenth, I did a blog entitled "A is for Asteroid".  Today, I am going to move on to the next letter in alphabet, "B".  Since I started with an object from space, I think I will try to keep the astronomy thing as the subject, since that is one of my favorite subjects.

"B" can be for a lot of things, like Blueshift.  Blueshift is the opposite of redshift.  OK, I suppose you want more of an explanation?  Blueshift is a shift in the lines of an object's spectrum toward the blue end when it is coming towards you.  Redshift is the shift that occurs when the object is moving away from you.  The larger the shift, the faster the object is moving.  It is like hearing a train's whistle as it approaches and passes you.  In this respect, sound waves act the same as light.  Of course Black Hole, Big Bang, and Bolide comes to mind, also.

"C" is for Comet, which can brighten up the night sky with their beauty, or for Constellation which are groupings of stars that can form a picture, or for Cosmic Rays which hit the Earth's atmosphere with very high energy, or craters which form when smaller bodies smash into larger ones.

"D" is for Dark Matter.  Stuff out there in space that can only be detected by its gravitational effects on other stuff that can be seen.

"E" is for Extraterrestrial.  That is what we call anything that does not originate on Earth.

"F" is for Fireball.  That would be an extremely bright meteor or bolide (see "B" above)."

"G" is for Galaxy.  A galaxy is a huge group of stars.  Some have formed a spiral like our own Milky Way galaxy.

"H" is for Hubble's Law which says that the farther a galaxy is from us, the faster it is moving away from us.

I am going to quit now.  That was probably a lot more than you wanted to hear or know, but I am not going to give up.  Yep, I will finish the alphabet at another time.  Just a warning.  But for now, have a great day, you hear?

Little of This, a Little of That.

There is no general theme to this blog, there is just a little of this and a little of that.  At least I hope you enjoy what I dug up on the internet.

I found this first picture of a bowling alley.  They put pictures of open mouths in front of the pins so that the pins looked like teeth in the mouth.  As you can see, the three mouths in the middle have a few missing teeth.  You know, I bet this was a tournament for dentists that like to bowl:

 This next one is a picture of my grandson teaching his son (my great grandson) how to steer his truck (grin).  Well, maybe it is a tad too early to do that, but ain't he cute?

 I found this picture of a. . . what should I call it?  Maybe a mono-glass for a person with one eye and a skinny head?

 Oh, now I see what could wear it, this Minion:

 Now this is sad.  I guess it will have to be my job to break the bad news to all the little children of this world that there just may not be a Christmas this year because there was a terrible accident.  Santa collided with and airliner.  Oh the sadness of it all!!!

I sure hate to leave you on such a sad note but I am having trouble seeing through the tears in my eyes. . . but don't let that bother you but rather, I want you to have a great day, you hear?

A is for Asteroid

Let's talk about asteroids today.  I am sure you have heard about some of the larger ones, like the ones shown in the picture below.

In the next picture below, the smallest asteroid shown is Vesta, which is the largest asteroid shown in the above picture.  This will give you a sense of scale.  Of course the largest object (on the right) is the moon.

 Asteroids can be killers.  One hit the Earth and wiped out the dinosaurs and blew out a huge hole that became the Gulf of Mexico.  So, you say that one large enough to wipe out life on Earth is quite slim and that there aren't that many asteroids out there.  Well, think again.  Just look how many are out there and most of them are between Mars and Jupiter.  Mars is the next planet past the Earth, so they aren't that far away.

Just in cast that you think all asteroids are small rocks, here is an illustration of the four largest asteroids in our solar system compared to the United States.

As you can see, Ceres is the largest followed by Vesta and Pallus and the smallest of the big four is Hygiea.  I believe that you can enlarge the above picture by clicking on it so that you can read the descriptions of those four asteroids.  Now, let us hope that all those asteroids stay up there where they belong and that they don't go bumping together.  That may dislodge some from their orbits and send them hurtling this way.  Not that I am astronomical genius or anything, but it makes sense to me that some of them will eventually head for the sun, but until that time, have a great day, you hear?

A Few More Jokes.

Today I am going to try to make you laugh, so here are some jokes that I hope does the job:

Aging gracefully is about enjoying life. For example, I'm sitting here thinking how nice it is that wrinkles don't hurt. Agatha Christie knew about aging gracefully when she said: "An archeologist is the best husband any woman can have:  the older she gets, the more interested he is in her." - See more at: http://www.atimetolaugh.org/directory-aging-gracefully.html#sthash.5hEPHjpQ.dpuf

OK, I also found a list of what women want in a man at different ages.  It starts out with men at age 22 and goes up by a jump of ten years.  Up until the man reaches the age of 72, each is about the same.  The big change is at the age of 72 and higher.

At age72, there are still 10 things but they are a little different.  Here are the 10 things:

Doesn't scare small children.
Remembers where the bathroom is.
Doesn't require much money for upkeep.
Only snores lightly when asleep.
Remembers why he's laughing.
Is in good enough shape to stand up by himself. 
Usually wears some clothes.
Likes soft foods.
Remembers where he left his teeth.
Remembers that it's the weekend.

OK, the list gets a lot shorter for 82 and over.  In fact there are only two things on the list for that age:

Breathing

Doesn't miss the toilet.

********************************

I got the above from:

http://www.atimetolaugh.org/what-a-woman-wants-in-a-man.html#sthash.d4vnvLe9.dpbs

Think I will leave you with Bugs Bunny joke:

Bugs Bunny was shopping at the supermarket and a sales assistant said to him: “If you can tell me what 19,866 times 10,543 is, we’ll give you free carrots for life.”
Immediately, Bugs responded: “209,447,238”. 

The sales assistant was astonished and asked: “How on earth did you do that?”
Bugs replied: “If there’s one thing rabbits are good at, it’s multiplying."

Found this last one at: http://inspire21.com/stories/humorstories/AnimalJokes

I hope you got a chuckle out of the jokes and make sure to go to the web sites if you want more laughs.  Laughing is good for you.  Now have a great day, you hear?  And just a closing thought - Eat well, stay fit, die anyway.

Vegetables and Telephones

My wife eats mostly vegetables.  She says that they are good for you. Me, I eat anything and everything.  The only two things I don't like are anise/licorice and coconut.  Everything else is fair game to me.

I would imagine that they had vegetarians in the past, too:

I guess back in the 16th century, eating no meat was not so much a choice but rather, that was all they could afford.  Yes, I am old but NO, I wasn't around back then.

Speaking of being old, I can remember old rotary dial phones and party lines.   For you young people out there, party lines were when some of your neighbors shared a line.  Each person had their own ring.  Those rings rang every phone on the party line and but your ring was unique.  This led to a lot of your "good" neighbors listening in on your conversation.  Everyone on the party line seemed to know each other's business.  Yep, that was back when the hand receivers had tails:

What was the first type of phone that you can remember.  Through my life, I have had all kinds of phones.  Some had cords, some were cordless but you couldn't get very far from the base or you would the signal would be lost, and now, cell phones.  My wife and I both have cell phones, we also have landlines and some have cords and some don't.  We also had a Verizon Hot Spot that we used when traveling in our RV.  That can be used to access the internet.  My son and his wife has those fancy new cell phones that also can get on the internet.  I guess we are behind times, but that is OK with me.  Now, you all have a great day, you hear?

Thinking What to Post.

When I am laying in bed at night waiting for sleep to take over my body, I think up some really, really good subjects to post on my blog.  Yep, they are fantastic ideas,  but there is problem.  When I wake in the morning, I can't remember a dang thing I was planning to write.

Some day when you read my blog and think to yourself, "self, now that was a great blog posting that Dizzy published", that will be the day that I remember one of my really, really great ideas.  But if I were you, I wouldn't hold my breath.

It is hard to believe, but here it is the first part of February and the temperatures here have been extremely high for this time of year.  Right now it is 84 and overcast.  Just think how hot it would be if the sun were shining!!  Don't get me wrong, I sure ain't complaining, I am just worried about the coming summer.  I have heard on the TV weather that we are not the only ones that are having warmer than normal temperatures.    Oh well, Mother Nature will do what she wants to do and never, ever asks me for my opinion.  Now, you all stay cool or warm, whichever you prefer, and have a great day, you hear?

Laugh, Cry, or Scream

Laugh, Cry, or Scream, which do you prefer?  Well that is an easy answer for me because I love to laugh.  So, let me phrase that differently.  Which of the three do you prefer when you choose your reading material, television shows, or movies?

OK, since I am just now writing this blog, you have no way of answering my question because you haven't read it yet. . . or have you???  Wow, that would be really spooky if you did, because I haven't even written all of it yet.

OK, I found three stories on the internet that match those three categories.  This first one, I hope, will make you laugh:

http://www.tallrite.com/LightRelief/worldsbestjokes.htm

This second story, especially if you have dogs that are a big part of your family, will bring tears to your eye.  It did for me:
https://specialfriends1.wordpress.com/2010/11/21/the-story-of-reggie-the-dog-will-make-you-cry/

The last link is to a site that has twenty very short (two sentence) horror stories.  Even if you have a very short attention span, you will enjoy these: 
http://justsomething.co/20-terrifying-two-sentence-horror-stories-that-will-make-you-hold-your-breath/2/

Ok, now don't tell me that I didn't try to tickle your funny bone, make you feel bad, and scare you.  Did you shudder at them or not?  I sure hope that nothing happens to you to make you cry or scare you to death, but rather I want you to laugh and have a great day, you hear?

Jules Verne

Way back on this day in 1828, a great writer of fiction, Jules Verne was born in Nantes, France.  When you think of this writer, which one of his books comes to mind first?

His most well known books, such as A Journey to the Center of the  Earth, From the Earth to the Moon, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, and Around the World in Eighty Days, have been translated into most of the worlds languages and later, made into movies.  I have to admit that I haven't read these books but I did see the movies, does that count?

What is so very impressive about his books is that he wrote these (at the time) science fiction stories which, to the most part, came true later.  Let me take one book at a time.

A Journey to the Center of the Earth - Well no, no one has done that and will never do it because the center of the Earth is molten rock.  Of course, some deep wells have gone down deep enough to where things start to get hot.  In fact, some very deep mines get very warm at the bottom.

From the Earth to the Moon - Yep, has been done multiple times.

Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea - One League is three nautical miles long, so twenty thousand leagues would be over 60,000 miles and the Earth's diameter is only a little over 7900 miles.  That doesn't add up. . .

Around the World in 80 days. - In this day and age, that would be very, very slow.  Of course if you stopped to see all the great sights, it may take longer than 80 days.

Old Jules had quite a knack of looking into the future.  Gee, I wonder if he was really a time traveler. . .  OK, maybe not a time traveler in body, but his mind sure was.  Now, you all try to be happy in your own time and have a great day, you hear?

Some Things You May Not Know.

There are a lot of things that some of us know and a few things that all of us know.  Since we all don't know everything, we can learn from each other.  We can learn from our successes and from our failures and mistakes.  My Dad always told me "Son, wise is he who learns from his own mistakes but doubly wise is he who learns from others' mistakes".  I don't know if he read or heard that somewhere or came up with it him self, but it always stuck with me.

Now, here are a few things that you may or may not know.  Let us know which ones you knew and which ones you didn't know:

"Bananas are radio active."
Yep, they are. . . but, to cause you harm you would have to eat 274 bananas a day for seven years and to kill you, you would have to eat 10,000,000 bananas all at once.  Bet you can't do that. . .

"The stuff you smell enters your body"
In order for you to smell something, small particles of the substance has to enter your nose.  Think about that the next time you pass by a dead and rotting animal run over on the highway or when you enter that public bathroom. . .

"a gamma ray burst could kill us all"
Yes it could, if it occurred in our galaxy and the beams of energy were directed toward us.  That would be a very rare occurrence, so I wouldn't hold my breath.

"cockroaches can live 9 days without their heads."
I never knew much about cockroaches until I moved to the south.  Of course the big ones are called water bugs.  They are hard to kill and the only reason they die after getting their heads whacked off is because they can't eat and they starve to death.

"You held a world record if only for a split second."
Every one of has held a world record at one time or another, but we all have held one at that exact second you were born.  Then you would have been the youngest person in the world.  But, with huge population in the world today, you may have to share that record.

I think that is enough for one posting.  Now, I want you all to break a world record for having the best day possible, you hear?

Faces in Space.

Some people say that we are alone in the universe while others say that the possibility of life some where out there is quite high.  Well, I am here to tell you that there are life forms out there.  Don't believe me??  I bet you want some proof, right?  Will photos do?

This first picture is of a couple of ghostly space people lurking behind that huge cloud of gas.  can you spot them on the upper left?  They seem to be waving at you:

Still not convinced?  Well how about a huge smiling happy face:

Space is must be a very happy place to be, because it seems that all the faces up there are smiling:

Except maybe this guy.  He seems to have a sinister look about him.  You know, I see two faces on that asteroid.  I see another one just to the left and slightly above the bottom of the V-notch.  In fact, I think the one I see is better than the one they point out in the picture: 

And of course the famous picture of the face on the surface of Mars:

That just goes to show you that we ain't alone. . . (grin).  Now smile because someone or something out there may be watching us and we want leave a good impression.  Have a great day, you hear?

Picture Ol Pup's Blue Collar.

Our boy pup seems to be feeling no pain and definitely did not loose his appetite.  He is still taking pain medication, but my wife has a call into the Vet and is waiting for a call back.  We want to know if we can stop the medication.  Why?  Well, he seems just fine but so far has not gone "number two".  Yep, it must have caused him to get constipated.

I thought that you all would like to see what he looks like in his fancy blue collar.  It doesn't seem to bother him and it is made out of soft fabric that will not hurt him when he lies down.

That is all for now folks, so please have a great day, you hear?