Thursday, August 6, 2009

The Squirrel's Nut Cache - 8/6/09

The Nut Cache - a collection of recent things I found interesting, or amusing, or nutworthy.

The first item on our list today is a personal item. 19 years ago today, I was a very nervous young man at a hospital waiting for the birth of what turned out to be a beautiful little girl that we named Amanda. Happy Birthday, Pandabear! Daddy loves you!

Now, on with the nuttiness!

Here's a story from across the pond about a rodent in distress. What would you do if your hamster got trapped under the floorboards of your bathroom? Well, the hamster's owner figured that this was an emergency, so she called emergency services. Emergency services were not amused, and are now using her "999" (Brit for "911") call as an example of when not to call. But nowhere do they tell us how the hamster is!

I have friends who are law enforcement officers, and I've had occasions to ride along as they go about their business. You would not believe the abuse that they sometimes face from members of the public that they are sworn to protect and serve; it's shameful. Officers even receive special training in how to cope with the disrespect. Well, the disrespectful behavior wasn't tolerated in this case!

My beer drinking days are far in my past, and I don't miss them. I don't miss the hangovers, the stupid things done in the name of "fun," the wondering of where my money all went, etc. But I will admit that I miss the taste of good beer. And nothing was worse then a stale beer, believe me! So I read that technology is being harnessed to improve the freshness of beer, and that's got to be a good thing. Enjoy one for me, okay?

I can just hear my Dad going off on this one, "You should have gone before the movie started!" Really, a service that tells you what the boring parts are so you don't miss anything when you have to hit the can? Why didn't I think of that? This is a service that really meets a need...

Chinese Astronauts may not have bad breath. Really. That's what this article says. The Chinese space agency has listed 100 qualifying and disqualifying traits that China's future space-farers must meet in order to be shot into space, including no dental cavities, no scars (No scars? Who doesn't have at least 1 scar?). On the positive side, a pleasant disposition is required. I notice that Reuters did not link to the full list...

That's all the nuttiness this week! Have a great day!

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