224, 225, 226

Saturday I learned what a "ruby slipper" is: it's a shot of whiskey topped off with grenadine and dropped into a glass of 7-Up. It is not a glass of water and a shot of grenadine, which is what they gave me at Larry's. That was hilarious.

Sunday I learned that you can do a Priceline-esque hotel room purchase through Skybus. They have some rooms that you can book like normal, but they also have some that they can't tell you what they are until you've booked. You'll know the cost, hotel amenities and location, but that's it. I am too big of a wuss to book a hotel that way. If I was just going to stay there for one, maybe two nights, I might go for it, but for a longer vacation I don't see it happening.

I had something I wanted to do for today but I could not find anything useful on the topic...bad librarian! Instead I learned about "meat pies." I read this book that takes place in Australia, and characters kept eating "pies" all through the book, though I got the impression that they were not the delicious cherry or pecan pies that you or I might expect. Instead they were these, a sort of Hot Pocket meets pot pie convenience food. I uh...kind of want one. Except for that part in the Wikipedia article that talks about tongue roots and blood vessels.

214, 215

Yesterday I learned that there are like, official levels of security for paper shredders. We got this awesome new shredder at work (nickname: the beast) that shreds CDs (yes, I tried it) and for some reason people keep having me shred stuff; I must clearly be pretty immature if everyone in the office knows how excited I'll get about putting stuff in a shredder. Anyway, ours is very nice and my boss said that it's a high security level; he said it was a level below the CIA level. I guess he was probably joking about that, but there are 6 different security levels for shredders. Ours looks like a level 3 or 4; it makes cool confetti. I have shredded 247 library card applications and a bunch of volunteer apps with private information on them. Also, if you stick your tongue to the outside of the shredder, it stops shredding b/c it knows you have your tongue on there. Yes, I'm sure.

Today I learned that a previous blog on Skybus was wrongers. They announced 4 new cities today, but none of them were Cancun or Nassau. Skybus is now going to be flying to Biloxi, Ft Myers, Chattanooga, and Milwaukee. I think they're flying to way too many places in Florida; I was hoping for something like the SC/Georgia area, or Texas or something. Somewhere I've never been.

210, 211, 212

Saturday I learned that one explanation for why "the clap" is called "the clap" is that guys would clap their wang in between their hands in order to expel pus out of the urethra when they were all grody and infected. Yikes. Grossest thing ever. (Other less terrifying explanations include a shortening of the old French word "clapier" which meant brothel. Yeah. Let's go with that one.)

Sunday I learned why DVDs and CDs always come out on Tuesdays; or, I sort of did. There are a lot of explanations (see here and here): the timing of sales figure releases, slow business on Tuesdays, not having to stock the shelves on a busy weekend night, etc. I think, in the end, that it's all of these reasons combined with the fact that Tuesday has been the release date for many years now and it's just when people know to look for new stuff.

Today I learned that Skybus may start selling tickets to Cancun and Nassau beginning in October. Hmmm. I can has spring break?

179, 180, 181, 182, 183

Wednesday I learned how to set a library account to ignore your holds while you're on vacation. I already knew how to do it through the regular catalog/website, but I did not know how to do it at work. Or, I sort of did, but I didn't know how to format the date. Now I know.

Thursday I learned about AC adapters for laptop computers. Ugh. Mine spontaneously burned up on Thursday night, and it was retardedly difficult to find a new one. I found a "universal" adapter at Best Buy that works with over 6,300 models of computer...but not mine. I guess the more common ones are like a circular shaped plug thing, but mine is a big old plug shaped like a house with the roof partially chopped off, and four holes in it. Yeah, I dunno. It's like that one specific model of Toshiba that has such a messed up cord. Anyway, nobody could find it in a store so I'll have to order one online.

Friday I learned some work-related gossip. Oh snap! You'll have to ask me about that one, can't be posting it online.

Saturday I learned that you can buy 2 kinds of pancake mix. Some of it you have to add oil and eggs and water to, and some of it just needs water. Why would you get the kind that needs all that stuff? Isn't it always easier to just add water? Maybe they taste better, although a pancake pretty much just tastes like a pancake, as far as I'm concerned.

Today I learned how to check in and print your boarding pass online when you fly Skybus.

Please excuse these ridiculously delayed entries. My computer's been dead since Thursday so I haven't had much of a chance to post anything. I also won't be able to blog again until at least this coming Friday, because I'll be on vacation until then. But I'm sure I will learn lots of cool things on my trip that you will looooove to hear about. See you then!

Seventy five, Seventy six, Seventy seven

Thursday I learned who picks Nobel prize winners...people are nominated in the beginning, then they are discussed by experts in the field and ultimately they're chosen by a small committee.

Friday I learned about the origins of Spider Man, because I saw the movie.

Today I learned about Skybus and how ridiculously cheap their plane tickets are. I mean, RIDICULOUSLY cheap. I'm totally going on vacation this summer, don't try to stop me!