NEVER A THOUGHT
THE NEFF ZONE -- BY JIM NEFF
CADILLAC NEWS -- JUNE 8, 2024
There are a lot of important things to think about these days. Because of this there is a plethora of seemingly useless information floating around us that is just waiting to be lobbed into unsuspecting conversations. If you're the lobber, you'll be the one transforming the useless into useful.
For instance, ask your audience who invented Chinese Checkers. “Contrary to its name, Chinese checkers has nothing to do with China.” In fact, the game came from a place nothing like China. “It’s a variation of a game called Halma invented in Germany around 1880.”
The game came to America in the 1920s and was dubbed Chinese star checkers. “It was advertised as a game from the Orient for all ages.” Obscure facts like this will dazzle those around you. (https://historyfacts.com/arts-culture/fact/chinese-checkers-was-invented-in-germany/)
That fact may seem useless, but not more so than our superfluous seven body parts. “There are some parts of the human body we no longer need, but for some reason we still have.”
One of these is only useful as a curiosity. “We have muscles within and outside of our ears, but there's a low chance that you actually use them. Our ancestors will have been able to move their ears as it helped with sound localization, but we don't need them to move anymore. So, basically, if you can wiggle your ears, it's nothing more than an entertaining party trick.” See six more at: https://www.unilad.com/news/health/useless-parts-of-human-body-180868-20240516.
If you want to practice wiggling your ears, you can do so while waiting in a traffic jam. “According to the traffic analytics firm INRIX, Americans spent, on average, fifty-one hours stuck in traffic in 2022. Traffic delays cost an average $546 in fuel costs.”
To avoid traffic, stay away from Chicago. “It’s the most congested city in the United States by a significant margin, with the average commuter spending 155 hours in traffic delays.” (https://www.interestingfacts.com/traffic-facts/ZZSiQsxyeQAHDg5v)
You could avoid automobile traffic by opting for traveling by air. If so, make sure that everything you had going into a security check point is with you when you leave the checkpoint. Why? The latest TSA figures show that during 2023, air travelers left almost one million dollars in small change at checkpoints.” In the past twelve years, travelers left behind almost ten million dollars in change.
What happens to all that cash? “For coins and the occasional paper bills that end up in the scanner bins, TSA has a procedure. It collects all that money and deposits it into a special account that the TSA uses to improve security operations.”
Phones are also an item left behind in TSA security bins, but the agency has a lost-and-found department for those. When it comes to phone security, another agency has some advice: “NSA Warns iPhone And Android Users To Turn It Off And On Again.”
This simple action could save you future problems. “The NSA recommends users turn their devices off and then back on once every week to protect against zero-click exploits, which attackers often use to eavesdrop on and collect data from phones. Users can mitigate the threat of spear-phishing, which can lead to the installation of yet more malware and spyware.” More phone safety measures at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/daveywinder/2024/06/01/nsa-warns-iphone—android-users-to-turn-it-off-and-on-again/.
You want to keep your phone in tip-top shape so you won't miss any earth-shattering news updates. An example is a screaming headline this week: “The Cola Wars Are Now a 3-Horse Race.”
Yikes! How will humanity survive? “It's long been accepted that Pepsi is Coke's main rival in the soda biz, but that truth has just been overturned. The Cola Wars are now a three-horse race. Sales of regular Dr Pepper now equal regular Pepsi. The Wall Street Journal reports that, after nearly 140 years in the industry, Dr Pepper is tied with Pepsi for second place among carbonated soft drinks.” (https://www.newser.com/story/351151/the-cola-wars-are-now-a-3-horse-race.html)
The good news is that you live in the right place if you want to avoid the cola controversy. Sipping a tall glass of refreshing water is a pretty nice alternative. See, the Great Lakes hold more than twenty percent of the world's surface fresh water.
That's a lot of H2O. “The Great Lakes stretch some 94,600 square miles. In fact, these lakes are so big that they have six quadrillion gallons of it. That’s so much water that if you spilled the entire contents of the Great Lakes throughout the Lower 48, the entire contiguous U.S. would be submerged in nearly 10 feet of water.” (https://www.interestingfacts.com/fact/62bb1e0d06ba3e0007541cf9?)
Finally, a simple question. Would you like to be taller this summer? The good news is there is a way to make this happen. All you have to do is become an astronaut. “Space agencies have been studying how microgravity and zero gravity affect the human body. They’ve discovered that astronauts grow about three percent taller because their spines, free from the constant pressure of gravity, slowly relax and lengthen.” (https://www.interestingfacts.com/fact/62689c340c52620007258154)
The bad news is that after a few months you'll shrink down to your original size. The consolation is between now and Labor Day you'll have a loftier point of view.
Jim Neff is a local columnist. Read Neff Zone columns online at CadillacNews.com and NeffZone.com/cadillacnews.
