Bonus Trivia

Why do the wires on telephone poles hum?

Well, it’s not the electricity or people’s phone conversations that produce the hum. The hum you sometimes hear is caused by the wind passing through the wires and making them vibrate to make a sound which varies in pitch depending upon the speed of the wind and the tightness of the wire.

Trivia of the Day for Friday

A hippo can open its mouth wide enough to fit a 4 foot tall child inside.

Einstein couldn’t speak fluently when he was age nine.

You’re more likely to get stung by a bee on a windy day than in any other weather.

The average person laughs about 5 times a day.

A sneeze zooms out of your mouth at over 600 mph.

Something Different

I am sending this post, which originally went out on my Free Kindle Books and Tips blog, to each of my blogs:

Well, this post is a little different, so please bear with me for a few moments…

I frequently mention my family in my weekly “rambling” posts as they usually keep me grounded in reality. With school just starting this week in the Houston area, we now have an 8th grade daughter and a 5th grade son: they keep my wife and me on our toes!

Both of the kids have shown an entrepreneurial spirit since they were younger, always looking for ways to start their own business, make extra money, you name it. They have both said for the past few years they were going to write a book and put it up for sale on the Amazon Kindle storefront – I always replied “sure, what’s your topic or subject?”

That usually started a conversation over the years of random things such as the relatively unknown (yet obviously in high demand) guide to crazy blue frogs, a book of limericks or riddles, a kid’s book review club, a pirate adventure book, or even a guide to playing Pokemon; I still don’t understand Pokemon after all of these years, and I doubt many parents ever will. As with many great ideas for both kids and adults, the idea was always there but the execution never seemed to happen.

On preparation of the new school year, my daughter told us a couple of weeks ago her class is planning a school trip to Washington, D.C. during spring break (in March of next year), and she wanted to know if she could go – my answer, typical of many parents, was “absolutely, how are you going to pay for it?”

Little brother chimed in with “I want to go, too!”

I replied back to both of them with “Sure, you both can go, but you need to find a way to pay for it because the money tree growing in the back yard is suffering from the drought. Why don’t you two write a Kindle book like you’ve been talking about for years to pay for it?”

So, they did – start to finish.

I will tell you they spent days compiling and editing the book, collaborating, making corrections, you name it. Most important to me they learned a heck of a lot, did quite a bit of research, discussed what they wanted to do and compromised with each other (after a little arguing and some refereeing by Mom and Dad), worked on creating a book cover, and did what a lot of adults can’t do and figured out how to convert a text document to the Kindle format.

What’s the title or subject, you may ask (if you didn’t ask I was going to tell you anyway)? They have created a neat little book called Quote of the Day 2013, which provides a daily inspirational or humorous quote, and what they believe is something to inspire you each day or make you chuckle in your walk of life. Each quote was hand-selected by them, and features quotes from the famous and not-so-famous everyday people to begin your day.

Of course, I’d love for each of you to buy a copy not only for yourself but gift several copies of the Kindle book to your friends and family! After Amazon takes their cut and the government demands their fair share, each copy sold will contribute $1.36 to their Washington D.C. trip.

 

 

USA subscribers: click here or type in http://bit.ly/quotes2013 into your web browser.

UK subscribers: click here or type in http://bit.ly/quotes2013uk into your web browser

In addition to my daughter and son thanking you if you purchase the book, my wife and I will be thanking you more as we try to let them enjoy a spring break they will remember for the rest of their lives. If you do purchase a copy, you have my appreciation – if this Kindle book venture of theirs is a success or otherwise, I’ll keep you updated on their status!

Thanks for listening, and your regularly-scheduled programing will resume soon!

Michael

Trivia of the Day for Thursday

A cockroach can live several weeks with its head cut off.

Ants stretch when they wake up in the morning.

Human teeth are almost as hard as rocks.

A mole can dig a tunnel 300 feet long in just one night.

Ancient Egyptians slept on pillows made of stone.

Bonus Trivia

Why does eating spicy food sometimes make a person sweat?

Spicy foods, such as jalapenos and chili peppers, contain a chemical which stimulates the same nerve endings in the mouth as does a rise in temperature. These nerves, which don’t know the difference, send messages to the brain telling it the temperature near your face has increased. Your brain reacts by activating cooling mechanisms to reduce the temperature around your face, and one of those mechanisms is perspiration.

Trivia of the Day for Wednesday

The state of Florida is bigger than England.

A quarter has 119 grooves on its edge, a dime has one less groove.

A hummingbird weighs less than a penny.

Until 1796, there was a state in the United States called Franklin.  Today it is known as Tennessee.

The Earth weighs around 6,588,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 tons.

Trivia of the Day for Tuesday

Honey is used to make antifreeze.

Dog meat is a delicacy in China.

A fella by the name of Robert Earl Hughes used to be the heaviest person in the world. He weighed *just* 1,067 pounds.

Shooting stars are not stars – they are meteors.

Black-eyed peas are not peas. They are beans.

Trivia of the Day for Monday

Almost half of the bones in your body are in your hands and feet.

Istanbul, Turkey is actually in two continents – Asia and Europe.

Your brain is approximately 80% water.

Your feet perspire approximately one-half of a pint of water per day. Here in Houston my feet perspire a whole pint, but that’s more information than you wanted to know beside it being damned hot here in Houston.

William Moulton Marston was the creator of Wonder Woman. He also invented the polygraph.

Trivia of the Day for Sunday

Maine is the only state in the US which has one syllable.

Lake Michigan is the only Great Lake entirely in the USA.

Nepal is the only country in the world which does not have a rectangular flag – it has two triangular pennants, one on top of the other.

The letter “Q” is the only letter not used in the spelling of any of the 50 US states.

The great horned owl is the only animal that will eat a skunk.

Trivia of the Day for Saturday

As there is a tropical storm, maybe a soon-to-be hurricane near Florida right now, here is some hurricane trivia for you:

 

Hurricanes are the most destructive natural weather occurences on Earth.

Australians call hurricanes willy-willies.

The average forward speed of a hurricane is less than 20 miles per hour.

In 1971, Hurricane Ginger lasted for over three weeks.

In 1970, a hurricane in Pakistan killed more than 300,000 people.

Hurricanes do not form in the South Atlantic ocean as the water is too cold for them to form.

The first hurricane with a man’s name was Hurricane Bob in July 1979 that hit near New Orleans.