The Beginning of a Great Engine.

Today I am going to talk about the fellow who invented a great engine of a type that is used world wide still today.  This fellow's name is Rudolf Diesel and with a name like that I bet you can guess what he invented.  No, he didn't write the book about Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.  His first name is spelled differently.  He invented the Diesel engine.  Diesel engines are a real workhorse.  I have a Caterpillar Diesel in the rear of my motorhome and it is a great engine.

Mr. Diesel patented his engine design on February 28th, 1892.  I would have to say that his invention actually changed the world.  Too bad that when he was on a ship traveling to England for the ground breaking of a new diesel engine plant, he fell or was pushed off the ship.  There were rumors that it was not an accident.  Of course, we will never know.  Now, you all have a great day, you hear?

Wondering About Poisonous Plants.

My last blog posting was about a poisonous animal.  I think just to be fair I should also post about poisonous plants.  Yep, there are a lot more plants that can do you in than there are mammals.  Here is a list that I found on:
http://www.livescience.com/11356-top-10-poisonous-plants.html

No. 10  -  Wisteria

The entire plant is poisonous.  It is beautiful but don't eat any part of it.












No. 9  -  Foxglove            
The leaves of Foxglove are a commercial source of the heart drug digitalis.  If you are having a heart attack, chew on some of its leaves. . or better yet, get to the emergency room. 





No. 8 - Hydrangea.    

It looks like both the leaves and the flowers would be yummy, but please don't try them unless you want a belly ache and maybe even go into a coma.









No. 7 - Lily-of-the-valley.

This plant, if eaten, causes severe stomach distress and maybe a slow or irregular heart beat.



No. 6 - Anthurium.

This plant will give you a painful burning in the mouth and even swelling and blisters can occur.



No. 5 - Chrysanthemum

Some plant these to keep rabbits away.  The flower heads are somewhat toxic to us if eaten but touching them can make you itch and swell up.


No, 4 - Oleander

This whole plant is poisonous.  Even breathing the smoke if they are burned can be a problem.  But they are pretty.



No. 3 - Ficus

I never heard of this plant, but it isn't too dangerous.  Contact with it or the sap will irritate your skin and it will itch and fall off. . . your skin, not the leaves.


No. 2 - Rhododendron

The leaves are toxic and so it the honey that is made from the nectar.  It causes increased salivation, vomiting, diarrhea, etc.  It could slow your heart rate and put you into a coma.

No. 1 - Narcissus  

If you confuse them for onions and eat the bulbs, you will wish you hadn't.  Probably will not kill you but you may wish you were dead (grin)

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All the above plants are beautiful, of course, to look at only.  If you have a young child that chews on everything or a dog, be extra careful of these pretty posies.  Now, smell the roses and have a great day, you hear?

Wondering About Solenodons.

 See this ugly looking jaw bone?  Do you know the longest front tooth in this jaw has a groove in it and rattlesnake type venom runs down that slot into what ever victim this animal decides to bite:

This is only one of two mammals that are poisonous and the other one may not exist.  This one exists (although some thought it went extinct since it was living among the dinosaurs) and I bet you think that the owners of this type jaw and poison must be really mean, ugly looking critters.  Well they are small, about two pounds, and some may say they are cute.  I am not one of those who thinks they are cute.  The next five pictures show what the animal looks like: 

If you ever come across one of these "cute" little creatures, be sure to give it a wide berth.  There are two species of them.  The one lives close to us.  The one is found in the wilds of Cuba and the other in Haiti.  These animals are also endangered and may go extinct.  But it fooled the scientists before and I bet it could do it again.  Now don't run out and try to buy one for a household pet, but rather, have a great day, you hear?

Wondering About an Old General Store.

I got to remembering about an old general store that I used to spend a lot of time inside and also sitting out on the steps just talking to others who were also sitting out on the steps.  This little store was the only store in a small railroad town in Pennsylvania.  It had a cracker barrel and pot bellied stove to keep the chill off in the winter time.  All those who were sitting on the steps would move inside in cold weather and warm their hands and feet at that old pot bellied stove.  Here are a couple of pictures of pot bellied stoves:

Actually the one I am talking about looked more like this one:

That little store was across the street from my grandparents house.  It was also up the tracks from the roundhouse where the locomotives were stored waiting for their turn to pull railroad cars where ever they had to go.  This little store and the conversations of those sitting on the steps or around the stove were a learning thing for me and an experience I will never forget.  Boy do I yearn for those good old days.  Now, even though we all have to live in today, make sure that today is a great day for all of you, you hear?

Wondering About Jack Larson.

I bet if you watched TV back in the 1950's, you saw this fellow.  His name is Jack Larson and I am sorry to say that he passed away yesterday at the age of 87.  Have you figured out what character he played ?

He played Jimmy Olsen, the newspaper reporter that was friends with Clark Kent, another reporter who led a secret life as Superman.  Now do you remember him?

The show ran on TV from 1952 through 1958:

This last picture is of the original cast of the Superman show.  From left to right:

Perry White - - - played by John Hamilton
Superman - - - played by George Reeves
Unidentified mother and daughter
Lois Lane - - - played first by Noel Neill and then by Phillis Coates
Jimmy Olsen - - - played by Jack Larson.

This is one of those shows that showed that good always wins out over evil, unlike a lot of the stuff on TV these days.  Now tell me, how many of you remember that old show or am I the only one in blogger land old enough to remember it?  Now, don't go flying all around without the aid of an airplane nor bend steel with your bare hands, but have a great day, you hear?

A Couple of Dinosaurs.

Today I am going to write about a couple of dinosaurs.  Everyone likes them and there are dinosaurs toys for kids.  Yep, we started liking them when we were young.  There have been many movies about them, most, if not all, have not been very accurate.

The two I am going to talk about are the Stegosaurus:

And the Tyrannosaurus Rex:

The first one above, the Stegosaurus, was a large, plant-eating dinosaur.  It lived 150.8 to 155.7 million years ago and roamed mostly in western North America.  It wasn't too smart, probably because it had small brain about the size and shape of a hot dog.  Those strange looking plates running down its back actually had blood vessels in them and thus (maybe) they were used to control the beast's body temperature.

The bottom picture above is the well know Tyrannosaurus Rex which was one of the largest meat eating dinosaurs.  It could bite off huge chunks of meat with its 4-foot long jaw lined with sharp, conical teeth.  Oh yes, did you know that its fore-arms were so short that they wouldn't reach its mouth.  So, your guess is as good as mine at what they were used for.  Now, stay out of this dinosaur's way so that you can have a good day, you hear?  

Some More Jokes, Enjoy.

Jokes again today.

Here are some Bill Gates quotes that I think are funny:

"I failed in some subjects in exam, but my friend passed in all.  Now he is an engineer in Microsoft and I am the owner of Microsoft"

And this one about Bill Gates in restaurant:

After eating, he gave $5.00 to the waiter as a tip.  The waiter had a strange expression on his face after the tip.  Gates noticed and asked "What Happened"?
Waiter:  "I'm just amazed because on the same table your son gave a tip of $500.00 and you, his father, richest man in the world only gave five bucks. . .?
Gates smiled & replied with meaningful words, "He is a son of the world's richest man, but I am the son of a wood cutter. . . "

OK, enough of that.  How about a joke that I also found on the internet while I was searching for Bill Gates stuff?  I got a laugh out of it and hope you do, too.

One day in the men's locker room at a gym, a man answers a cell phone ringing, "Hun, I stopped at the mall and I found this awesome fur coat for sale I was wondering, can I get it?" The man looks grim and asks, "How much does it cost sweetie?" the wife replies "Its only a thousand, please???" He looks regretfully and says "Sure, why not hunny" The wife replies, "Thanks hun! awesome!... Ohh baby I just remembered that one SUV I wanted, I drove by the Mercedes-Benz dealer and they are having a huge sale! can I get it?" The man, appearing overwhelmed and confused, asks "how much are they asking for it?" The wife replies, "oh, its about 120k....???" The man quickly replies "Fine sweetie if your gonna spend that much I want it with ALL the options" the wife, very happy and thanking him, says "ok hunny ill see ya when I get home!" The man hangs up the phone, with a funny grin on his face, he turns around facing the 3 other men changing near him and he asks " Do you guys have any idea who's cell phone this might be?"

I hope you enjoyed today's fun stuff.  I have fun finding it and putting it on here.  Now, you all have a great day, you hear?