Tips For Moving Day

Tips to pack your house on moving day

1 - Plan ahead - start gathering boxes from local stores and when you see others putting them out in the trash. Check your local community board for people offering free boxes after their own move. The organization called Freecycle is a wonderful resource for services, news, used merchandise and stuff no one wants anymore but still has some value. The web address is www.freecycle.org  Many cities and small communities have at least one Freecycle board.

Freecycle is a great free resource for useful items that you
can't bring yourself to throw away AND to get free items for your home.

2 - Recycle your moving boxes when you’re finished unpacking. You can offer your boxes to others who are moving soon by putting them on Freecycle, put up an index card on a local bulletin board (supermarket, community center) or you can flatten them to recycle in a cardboard disposal unit.  

Give your moving boxes away or flatten them for recycling

3 - Save your money by not buying bubble wrap. Instead, wrap your delicate items in bath and kitchen towels. After you move, toss them in the washer with some liquid fabric softener and you'll eliminate the smell of the moving boxes.

wrap dishes in bath towels 

4 - Use your travel luggage to pack your off-season clothing.  That way you don't have to unpack them immediately; you can unpack them at your leisure.  When you are moving bedroom furniture, don't pack your bed clothing either. Leave them in the drawers and either tape them shut or move the drawers separately.

   

Use luggage to transport clothes

5 - Use your laundry baskets to move heavy bottles and boxes of liquid laundry soap, dish soap, and other cleaning products. This way when you unpack your cleaning products, you can see them at a glance.

Use laundry baskets to move your laundry detergents,
fabric softeners and other bottles which will stand up very nicely.

5a - As you are packing, don't move unnecessary items to your new home. Set aside what you want to donate or sell at yard sale. Now is the time to donate your outgrown clothing to Salvation Army or Goodwill and take a tax deduction.  

Stay organized with labeling boxes

6 - If you sold your home and are leaving it partly furnished, you might want to help your new owners by leaving some useful items for them. Otherwise, keep a list handy of what you want to sell at a yard sale and a separate list for donations. Many establishments will come to your residence and pick up furniture and clothing if they feel it is worth the trip. Make sure you get a receipt from the driver.

Donate to the Salvation Army and get receipts!

7 - Forward all mail to your new residence. Be sure to fill out change of address cards. The post office keeps them on file for one year at which time you will have to fill out new ones if you haven't gotten all your mail rerouted yet. If you expect your move to be especially traumatic or hectic, you might want to ask your post office to hold your mail for a week so you can get settled in.

Change your address with post office about a week in advance

8 -  When you are changing locks in your new residence, consider having one key for all the doors and extra buildings (shed, garage, etc.). That's what we do at our home.  This eliminates fishing through your key ring looking for the right key. You will have one key and never have to question what it is for.

Ask him to make all doors in the house to fit one key. It will eliminate carrying around multiple house keys.

9 - If your present financial institution doesn't have a branch near your new residence, consider setting up your accounts at a new local bank. Order checks with your new address on it so when the bills come in, you are ready to pay them with your new checks.

Conduct your bank business about one week in advance

10 - It might seem like a no brainer, but you are going to need cash money on hand.  Go to the bank and withdraw at least $100 a day for the first week, so you can cover take out food, pay helpers and pay for incidentals so you aren't sharing your credit card information for small purchases.

Keep small amounts of cash for incidentals.
This way you aren't spreading 
around your credit card information.

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Interesting Facts About Gone With The Wind

The Novel Gone With The Wind
by Margaret Mitchell

While there were 1400 actresses who were interviewed, only 400 were actually chosen to perform readings for the part of Scarlett O'Hara. 

The movie Gone With the Wind is a historical romance adapted from Margaret Mitchell’s novel which tells the story of the American Civil War and its aftermath from the viewpoint of a Southern family. It was directed by Victor Fleming and produced by David O. Selznick of Selznick International Pictures in 1939.

Producer David O Selznick knew this was going to be an epic movie for all time. Big movies were expensive, not just for the production but also for the salaries. He needed to spend his money on the best actors and actresses for each role.

DVD version of Gone With The Wind

Many actresses were screened for the role of Scarlett O'Hara because Selznick couldn’t decide who would be best to play Scarlett. With no actress signed to the role, he used a person to physically stand-in so he could start filming because the tremendous “Burning of Atlanta” scene was one of the first scenes to be filmed.

Vivien Leigh

When the very popular Britsh actress Vivien Leigh expressed interest in the part, she was called for a screen test immediately. However, her British accent almost lost her the part when she gave her first informal reading. She had to hide the accent and learn how to talk with a Southern drawl in order to get the part.

Left to right, Vivien Leigh as Scarlett, Gone With The Wind Poster,
Rhett Butler with Scarlett O'Hara, and Katherine Hepburn
who was considered for the role of Scarlett

When it was decided that Vivien Leigh was going to play Scarlett, the Ocala Florida chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy was greatly offended that a British actress had been chosen to play the role.

Katherine Hepburn

However, when they found out that the role could have gone to a Yankee like Katharine Hepburn, as the only other actress given serious consideration, then they stopped their protest. They thought that it was better for Scarlett to be played by a British woman than by a Yankee!

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Oldest Stone Tools Discovered in Kenya

Long before humans walked the Earth, someone began chipping away at a rock by the side of a river. Eventually, this chipping formed the rock into a tool which was used to prepare meat and other foods. 

3.3 million-year-old artifacts predate human genus

An analysis of the finding was published in the May 2015 edition of Nature Magazine and it said that 3.3 million years ago, before humans were on Earth, someone made a variety of tools by chipping away at a rock to form a sharp edge and used them as hammers and cutting instruments, as knives and spears to perform daily tasks and to prepare food. 


It is the oldest set of stone tools ever discovered.  Though it is unknown who made the tools, this archaeological find is the latest and most convincing evidence that toolmaking began before any humans ever walked the Earth.




Before this find, the earliest evidence of stone tools came from a 2.6-million-year-old site in Ethiopia. Evidence suggests that an early human ancestor called Homo habilis likely created the tools.   




The common assumption has always been that as Africa’s climate changed around 2.8 million years ago, that early hominins became diversified and the Homo genus emerged —that is the species that would eventually produce modern humans.   




As new environments developed, new food sources were found and there was a need to create tools to process those foods.  

Excavations at the Lomekwi 3 site in 2012

 149 artifacts that were eventually excavated from the site showed magnetic minerals and volcanic ash tufts embedded in the local rocks which dates the age of the stones at 3.3 million years.


Source: Smithsonianmag.com



Click the link below if you are interested in more history about this set of stone tools.


https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/oldest-known-stone-tools-unearthed-kenya-180955341/

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Medal Of Honor Benefits

Medal of Honor recipients are entitled to much more than the medal.

As of 2016, Medal of Honor recipients receive the following privileges and special benefits:

-- A Special Medal of Honor pension of $1,329.58 per month (as of 2016) -- which is above and beyond any military pensions or other benefits for which they may be eligible.

-- Special entitlements to Space “A” air transportation. Enlisted recipients are entitled to a supplemental uniform allowance.


-- Commissary and exchange privileges (includes eligible dependents).


-- Admission to the United States military academies for qualified children of recipients – without nomination and quota requirements.

-- A 10 percent increase in retired pay.

-- A Medal of Honor Flag.

-- Allowed to wear the uniform at anytime as long as the standard restrictions are observed.

-- Many states offer Medal of Honor automobile license plates.

-- Interment at Arlington National Cemetery if not otherwise eligible.

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The Origin of the Nobel Prize

Alfred Nobel (1833-1896) was a successful inventor, chemist and arms manufacturer who had over 350 patents to his name for his inventions. 

But he is best known as the inventor of dynamite and the creator of the Nobel Prize.

Alfred Nobel and the coin commemorating
the Nobel Prize

It is interesting how the prize came about.  Had it not been for the death of his brother, his benevolence might have taken a different direction.

Short Bio
Alfred Nobel

In 1888, his brother Ludvig suddenly died while on holiday in France.  The local newspaper accidentally printed an obituary naming Alfred Nobel instead of Ludvig. 

While his brother's accomplishments would have made for a very short death notice, when Alfred read the obit that was supposed to be extolling his own virtues, he was very disappointed.  

Indeed, if he didn't have more accomplishments, then he was not going to be remembered well at all.  

Any obituary that opens with "The merchant of death is dead" doesn't bode well especially if it happens to be your own obituary. "Dr. Alfred Nobel, who became rich by finding ways to kill more people faster than ever before, died yesterday."

That is when he decided that when his time came, the obituary for Alfred Nobel was going to look better in print. 

All his life, Alfred Nobel literally threw himself into his work.  Having never married or had children, it wasn't because he never tried.  His brothers had families of their own, and they made no secret that they expected large bequeaths upon his death. 

However, they were in for a surprise.  

Alfred also had three love interests, which are documented by love letters which were sealed until 1955, at which time they were released but they were heavily redacted to reveal only biographical information.  His last love relationship ended in 1894, two years before his death.

While Nobel was well known for his inventions, his obituary would not have looked very good if he had died before 1891 because that is when he was  accused of high treason against the country of France for selling explosives to Italy.

Quote by Alfred Nobel

At age 57, Nobel moved from Paris and Italy .  Five years later, he died of a stroke at age 63.  His brothers and other family members had no idea that most of his vast wealth was put in trust, with them receiving mere tokens compared to the great bequeaths that they expected. 

They soon learned that Alfred Nobel didn't believe in bequeathing money to relatives just because they were related. 

He believed that inherited money should provide children with a good education and the basics of life, and not create lazy adults. He also believed that anyone who accumulated great wealth in their lifetime should give it back to society in some way to benefit others.

And that's how the Nobel Prize came about.

Alfred Nobel quote

You can continue reading about Alfred Nobel and his inventions here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Nobel


Love letters
https://www.haaretz.com/world-news/europe/.premium-alfred-nobel-s-letters-reveal-his-anti-semitic-chauvinistic-side-1.6271819


Nobel's inventions
https://www.famousscientists.org/alfred-nobel/


A biography
http://www.rsc.org/diversity/175-faces/all-faces/alfred-nobel-0/

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Cat Nose Prints

A cat's nose print is as unique as a human fingerprint.

A cat's nose print is like a fingerprint

If you look at your cat's nose, you will notice little bumps and ridges.  Dogs have this same unique trait and since a dog's nose is bigger than a cat's nose, it is easier to see on a dog.  The prints are different on each animal and can be used for identification, just like your own fingerprints can.

Nose prints are different on each animal

Presently, the method used for identifying our pets is a microchip implant which can  dislodge or malfunction, thus becoming useless.

Pet ID tracker

But nose prints, like our fingerprints, will always be there.  Someday microchips will be replaced with nose scanners.  Noses of cats and dogs could be scanned when they are adopted and kept on file for comparison if the pet should ever become lost or stolen. This would be less costly than the microchip, and less painful as well.  It is as easy as getting fingerprints taken.  

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Scanning noseprints would have quite an impact on the numbers of animals who could be returned to their proper owners, particularly after hurricanes and other cataclysmic disasters.

Every cat has a different nose print

A cat’s sense of smell is more than 14 times as sensitive as a human's sense of smell.   Can you imagine walking around all day smelling 14 times better than you can now?

Cat's sense of smell is very sensitive

Cats also have a unique scent mechanism on the roof of their mouth, just behind their incisors, called a vomeronasal organ (VMO) or Jacobson’s organ. Scientists believe the VMO is used primarily for detecting pheromones. 



A cat parts her mouth slightly to open the ducts leading to the VMO, then gently inhales which passes air and scent molecules over the VMO. 



This act is often accompanied by nose lifting, eye squinting and sometimes a flattening of the ears that make the cat look as if she is grimacing. This posture is called the “Flehmen response”, from the German flehmen, which means ‘to curl the upper lip.’




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The Gift Of The Severed Mummified Hand

This is supposedly the severed mummified hand of an unnamed Egyptian princess which was a gift that was presented to Secretary of the Library Company of Philadelphia in 1767 by Benjamin West (1738-1820). This was a full ten years before the signing of the Declaration of Independence.  West was an artist who was born and raised in Philadelphia but lived in London in his later years when he gifted the mummified hand.  There was no documentation accompanying the hand.





Over the years, The Library Company collected a massive number of similar artifacts. While specimens were stored in their possession (pickled animals, animal skins and bones, fossils), many developed an offensive odor.  The dilemma of what to do with them was solved when the Librarian was given permission to dispose of all those where the odor had become offensive.  This greatly reduced the number of artifacts they kept on hand.




Source: Library Company’s Artifact Collection

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