Be Electerific-National Shut-in Visitation-White T-Shirt- Satisfied Staying Single-National Inventors'-Make A Friend- Don't Cry Over Spilled Milk Day

February 11th is a significant day. There are seven celebrations today. A whole week in one day. Impressive huh!

Be Electerific Day
Last night while I was watching the Olympic Torch Lighting Ceremony with some friends, I said "Wouldn't it be cool to be an engineer." It was funny to see the reaction in the room full of English degrees. I was thinking about the design aspect of being an engineer and having years to come up with cooler pyrotechnics than the previous Olympics.

Another reason I think it would be cool to be an engineer would be to under stand why things like this happen:

An Australian man built up so much static electricity in his clothes as he walked that he burned carpets, melted plastic and sparked a mass evacuation.

Frank Clewer, of the western Victorian city of Warrnambool, was wearing a synthetic nylon jacket and a woollen shirt when he went for a job interview... His clothes were measured by firemen as carrying an electrical charge of 40,000 volts, the Reuters news agency quoted Mr Barton as saying....

The fire official added that the charge was close to being high enough to cause the items to spontaneously combust. "I've been firefighting for over 35 years and I've never come across anything like this," he said."Man's static jacket sparks alert" BBC News

So, unless you want to Be Electerific don't wear wool and nylon together. It can cause some problems.

National Shut-in Visitation Day

Shockingly, I am going to twist this celebration to meet my own agenda. There is this ultra-cool website called Idealist.org. At Idealist.org you can look up jobs, internships, or volunteer opportunities. What is really cool about this site, is you can do it by state, and country, city, area of focus, and get down to what you really want to do. So, if you want to live in Ireland and are want to find a volunteer opportunity to work with seniors you can.

White T-Shirt Day
If I had white t-shirt, it would say something Irish. Because, I have always wanted a "Kiss me I'm Irish" t-shirt. I just looked through my t-shirt collection, and I don't own a white t-shirt. I own white camis, but no white tees. There is something wrong and un-American about that. I must ponder on why I don't have any white tees.

Satisfied Staying Single Day
I probably shouldn't even post this picture, but I found it when I was looking for the Irish t-shirt. I love it! Yes, if I felt even slightly confident claiming Veela blood, I would be wear this shirt. I think that I had better stick with the Irish claim. At least it is true, and we have the Best Holiday Ever quickly approaching. (Only 33 days!) And what better day to be single, the day when everyone says "Kiss Me!"

Oh, I am going to be late. I am going to rush through the rest of these.

National Inventors' Day

In recognition of the enormous contribution inventors make to the nation and the world, the Congress, pursuant to Senate Joint Resolution 140 (Public Law 97 - 198), has designated February 11, the anniversary of the birth of Thomas Alva Edison, as National Inventors' Day. (Wikipedia)

Make a Friend Day

Reasons everyone needs friends:

"My friends are my estate." - Emily Dickinson

"Your friend is the man who knows all about you, and still likes you."- Elbert Hubard

"What is a friend? A single soul in two bodies." - Aristotle

"I really don't mind what happens now and then, As long as you'll be my friend at the end" - Three Doors Down

"Let's make a resolution. I'll drink to that. Let's always stay friends. Friendship is thicker than blood..." (Ten points to whomever names that tune first)

Don't Cry Over Spilt Milk


When I tutored with Project Read, I gave my student an assignment to write what he thought about various common phrases and proverbs, an idea I got from a webpage similar to this.

For "Don't cry over spilt milk" he wrote, "Don't spill the milk or you will be sorry." I have always wondered about that response. According to Bartleby the phrase means "It doesn't do any good to be unhappy about something that has already happened or that can'’t be helped." I always took it to mean something like, "Don't cry because we can easily rectify the situation by wiping it up and milking the cow again." I guess that everyone has their own interpretation of proverbs, and one of the reasons why they last, is because everyone can personalize them.