Trivial Pursuits

I spend a fair amount of times on planes, traveling for both work and pleasure. And since the gypsy in me won't stay still, and I'm borderline ADD some of the time anyway, I'm always looking for new forms of in-flight entertainment. Most of the time, this DOES NOT involve reading the airline's travel mag. Most of the time, they're pretty uninspired, and mainly a rehash of cool things to know about places I've either already been or have absolutely no desire to go. But I do admit I enjoy Southwest Airlines' Spirit magazine, especially "The Numbers," a section containing interesting tidbits of entertaining knowledge.

Here are some fun facts I learned on the 7:50 PM flight back to Burbank from Sacramento last night. File them away for your next game of Trivial Pursuit....

• The longest lab experiment has lasted 82 years. A physicist wanted to measure the fluid properties of pitch...you know, the tar-like stuff they use in roofing, etc. Why he would even want to do this is an experiment in itself! Turns out the stuff is not very fluid. After 21 years, only 2 drops had fallen. They're expecting the 9th drop somewhere around 2012, so mark your calendars and get ready to celebrate!
• The fastest production car can go 257 MPH. Now as a car person, THIS is cool to know. The vehicle is called the Shelby SSC Ultimate Aero, it has 1,183 horsepower, and looks AWESOME! Definitely worth a web link....check it out! http://www.shelbysupercars.com/news-100907.php
• A $1 bill lasts 21 months. Apparently they wear out fast, and once commercial banks see signs of too much wear and tear, they ship the stuff off to the Federal Reserve to be shredded. By way of comparison, the $100 bill lasts 89 months. I imagine even longer in the current economy, if you can even find one.
• We get a new word every 98 minutes. Apparently a group called the Global Language Monitor in Austin, TX tracks trends in the English language and decides whether to give the word it's seal of approval when it gets used enough. So we have Texas to thank for adding "blog," "ginormous," and "Rickroll" to our everyday discourse. At the current pace, English will have 1 million words this April. No wonder people in foreign countries resent having to learn English...who really needs that many words!

And although it wasn't in "The Numbers" section, I also checked out an article on a company called "College Hunks Hauling Junk."

http://www.1800junkusa.com/

So as you're planning your Spring reorganizing, get yourself a little eye candy at the same time! And send them my way when you're done...