What did you learn today TIL

[purpleshoes]

Today I learned how much things have changed in the last 100 years.

During some genealogy work, I had occasion to view an original marriage license application one of my female relatives filled out in 1921 (Benton County, Indiana).

There were 27 questions for men and 23 questions for women.

The last question in both sections read, and I quote verbatim,

"Is (he/she) an imbecile, feeble-minded, idiotic, insane, or is (he/she) under guardianship as a person of unsound mind?"

[Writers Bloque]

Got a call today, trouble at the Camp.

Relatives decided to stay the weekend during the holidays, and my dad went this past weekend to remove some dead fallen trees out of the slough, and woke up Sunday morning with his arms covered in weird bites. He did some snooping, and found a bed bug infestation in the master bedroom of the trailer. Not a major one, the exterminator said it was localized to that room, mostly due to its the only room other than the kitchen and bathroom, and living room that is mostly inhabited. Fortunately for the living room its a god damned lilac and lavender scented hell, thanks to some of my more annoying family members. The exterminator did not even have to use chemicals, heating the whole trailer to over 190 degrees for eight hours two times since then. Dad said the exterminator will return in a week or two to check it out.

What I learned today:

Bed bugs do not have normal bug sex. The male just crawls on top of the female and rams his sharp tool right into her back, and fills her up. Mother nature, why? i forgot the name of this type of breeding. 

[Potnoodles]

What I learned today:

Bed bugs do not have normal bug sex. The male just crawls on top of the female and rams his sharp tool right into her back, and fills her up. Mother nature, why? i forgot the name of this type of breeding.

Frank Sinatra used to do it like bed bugs ; he sang about it ............................." I did it.......M I T E...way.."

[I'll leave now ]

Nicky x

[msslave]

Learned lots yesterday about Loons, a large diving bird at a talk yesterday. See WMMD post.

In addition to lots of other information another new thing I learned applies to several other species of birds like Eagles, Swans, Geese, Loons and other birds that are said to mate for life.

When these birds are done raising their young they don't migrate together. In the spring when it's times to raise new chicks they head back to the nest or the area they head their nest or nesting area. If the same two birds come back to the same area fine, Otherwise they may settle for a different mate.

TILT
In short, the fidelity is to the nest, not the couple.

[watcher1]

Speaking of loons, I can remember waking to their distinctive sound and we would go down to the shore and, in the fog, barely make out the loons "dancing" in a circle, the eerie sounds they were making echoing off the forests that surrounded the lake. Something I never forgot.

[msslave]

Their calls.are haunting. The United States is the only place they are called Loons. Other countries have other names usually involving their diving abilities.

[ObiDongKenobi]

Known in the UK as "great northern diver", unfortunately never seen or heard one myself.

[watcher1]

As it nears St Patrick's Day, I learned that the infamous Che Guevara had Irish blood in him.

Ernesto Raphael Guevara de la Serna, better known to the world as the revolutionary Ché Guevara, was born on June 14, 1928. His father, Ernesto Guevara Lynch, has been quoted as saying, "The first thing to note is that in my son’s veins flowed the blood of the Irish rebels."1.

Ché Guevara’s Irish connection traces back to his great-great-great-great-grandfather, Patrick Lynch, who emigrated from Ireland to what is now Argentina in the 1700s. Patrick Lynch settled in the area near the estuary of the Río De La Plata, which is now Buenos Aires. Five generations separate Ché Guevara from this Irish immigrant ancestor.

[msslave]

Thanks for that info Rick.

Somewhere I once read that Che was a very inept rebel. As he moved through various Latin American countries trying to start revolutions the CIA kept close watch on him. If the country he was in got close to capturing him the CIA would step in and, without Che's knowledge, interven to keep him safe.

Finally one of the little banana republics caught him and executed him before our country could intervene.

Sorry I can't remember where I read this. It's stayed with me because at the time the Che t-shirts, posters etc.were popular with young people. I'd chuckle when I saw someone wearing a Che shirt and think, If they only knew."

[MissBarbara]

Thanks for that info Rick.

Somewhere I once read that Che was a very inept rebel. As he moved through various Latin American countries trying to start revolutions the CIA kept close watch on him. If the country he was in got close to capturing him the CIA would step in and, without Che's knowledge, interven to keep him safe.

Finally one of the little banana republics caught him and executed him before our country could intervene.

Sorry I can't remember where I read this. It's stayed with me because at the time the Che t-shirts, posters etc.were popular with young people. I'd chuckle when I saw someone wearing a Che shirt and think, If they only knew."

Several years ago I was in a park in a wealthy neighborhood, and I saw a mom with a little boy whom she had dressed in a Che t-shirt.

My first thought was that Che thought that people like you should be executed.

"If they only knew..."

[watcher1]

Che died at the hands of the Bolivian government in 1967, which, as it so happens, was where Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid met their death in 1908, not going out in a blaze of glory, as depicted in the movie, but by murder/suicide after being surrounded by soldiers of the Bolivian army.

[watcher1]

Yesterday, our neighbor came over to tell us he has seen squirrels, with mouthful of leaves, going inside our chimney cap.  The cap is made of heavy duty aluminum.  Worried that a nest will block the flue and gases from our water heater may not vent properly, I went up onto the roof and checked out the chimney cap.  Under "What did I learn today", I learned that squirrels can chew through heavy duty aluminum. And Toe's joke about how to get rid of squirrels came to mind.     

Due to inclement weather, the squirrels will have a short reprieve.

[msslave]

Have fun Watcher. We had them chew a hole under the eave and work their way above our ceiling. We'd been feeding birds and of course that attracted the tree rats.

Had to call an exterminator. Wife didn't want them killed just moved out. The company that did that charged twice as much as the company that gassed em. Guess what bad Bob chose. To this day wife sill tells people that the squirrels trapped were hauled away and released.

[watcher1]

Unless squirrels can fly, I, with the help of a couple of grandsons, were able to trim any and all branches away from the chimney at a distance of at least six feet. This necessitated pruning our beautiful magnolia tree. I did check out the chimney cap. It is built in such a way that the squirrels would have to completely stuff the inside before it began to hinder the flow of escaping gases. After removing twigs and leaves, I am pretty satisfied they will just have to make a nest in one of our trees now. 

[Pornhubby]

[Potnoodles]

Our house here was left abandoned for 30 years before we bought it. When we moved in lots of "critters" moved out , however we had [and still have] a persistent scratchy bugger who lives in the loft. I sent Rob up there to "deal" with him . 20 mins later he came back down and said that the lodger is SO cute he can stay forever !!!!

                                                                                               

                                                                                                                             You can see why

[msslave]

Cute... but when you see one there's!!!

I know, I'd have a problem dealing with that furry guy too.

[watcher1]

Nothing cute about them when they dig up flower pots and grass to plant nuts. They are getting so bold that when we go out onto the deck, they would be sitting up, staring at us, chomping away, not moving until we stomp our feet.

[Pornhubby]

Man has had a difficult relationship with rodents for 1000’s of years.  They may be bright eyed and bushy tailed, but squirrels are basically cute rats. You don’t want to live with them.

[msslave]

I'd read that rodents are what led to cats making friends with humans. Egyptians has big stores of grain that drew swarms of rodents. Small jungle cats poked their heads out of the jungle and saw this great food source.

Soon man and cat came together in a mutual help agreement (unspoken or meowed), but understood. That's how cats came to be worshiped in Egypt.
THEY STILL REMEMBER!!!