5/21/25 - NORM!, Flying Cars, and Pruning
- bribriny
- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
Wednesday 5/21/25
Celebrate:
American Red Cross Founder's Day
Emergency Medical Services for Children Day
I Need a Patch for That Day
International Tea Day
National Juice Slush Day
National Memo Day
National Strawberries and Cream Day
National Waiters and Waitresses Day
Rapture Party Day
Sister Maria Hummel Day
Turn Beauty Inside Out Day
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George Wendt, who bellied up to the bar to portray the beer-quaffing everyman Norm Peterson for all 11 seasons of the fabled NBC sitcom Cheers, has died. He was 76.
Wendt’s guy-next-door persona and easy delivery won him appreciation from fans and castmates as he played the lovable lug Norm, an accountant by trade, on every installment of Cheers during its 1982-93 run.
Interesting fact, Ted Danson and Rhea Perlman were the only other actors not to miss an episode.
He received Emmy nominations for outstanding supporting actor in a comedy series for six consecutive years (1984-89, from the second season to the seventh, but lost out to Pat Harrington Jr. of One Day at a Time in 1984, to John Larroquette of Night Court from 1985-88 and to castmate Woody Harrelson in 1989.
His never seen Cheers wife, Vera was actually voiced by his real wife Bernadette.
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The first mass-produced flying car will go on sale early next year. But even if you get a good deal on financing, it's got a hefty price tag.
A company in Slovakia called Klein Vision says its new "AirCar" will cost a very reasonable $800,000. Up to a million if you add upgrades.
It's basically just a sports car with retractable wings and a propeller in back. So, you can't lift off in traffic. You still need a runway, and a pilot's license.
It transforms into an airplane in under two minutes . . . has a range of 621 miles . . . and a top cruising speed of 155 miles an hour at 18,000 feet.
They'll hit the sky in early 2026, at least in Europe. They're hoping to get them approved in the U.S. this fall.
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Is someone spying on you through your phone?
Modern spyware hides in the background, so it's not always obvious. Here are five signs your significant other . . . or someone else . . . might be spying on you.
1. Your battery drains really fast. It could be a sign they're tracking your location with GPS . . . or, your phone might just be old.
2. Your phone heats up. If it's running GPS or other apps in the background, it can tax your phone's processor. Some heat is normal, especially in summer. But it's a red flag if it stays hot when you're not even using it.
3. Increased data usage. Check it out in your settings and see if you're using more data than expected. A lot of people with spyware on their phone only find out when they get a data limit warning from their cell phone company.
4. Strange texts or notifications. The expert says to "watch for text messages containing random characters or codes." Some of the cheaper spyware apps control your phone with SMS commands. Then the texts quickly disappear.
5. Your screen randomly turns on. Like it lights up when it's sitting on the table and you're not touching it. It could be a sign someone's tracking your location, or even listening in.
If you do think someone's spying on you, run security software to check for suspicious apps. Or do a factory reset, but only as a last resort.
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Reader's Digest put together a list of the 30 "best" movies to commemorate Memorial Day. Some on the list
"Hacksaw Ridge" (2016)
"Glory" (1990)
"Apocalypse Now" (1979)
"Saving Private Ryan" (1998)
"Top Gun" / "Top Gun: Maverick" (1986 / 2022)
"M*A*S*H" (1970)
"Born on the Fourth of July" (1989)
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You know that when you are in water too long your fingers "prune" up! It's actually to help you with grip.
Now there's a new study that found that a person's fingers wrinkle in the same pattern . . . every time they're in water too long.
The wrinkles are caused by blood vessels under the skin contracting when immersed in water for a period of time. That was already known.
But researchers at Binghamton University looked into where they form, and determined that it's virtually always the same . . . mostly because those blood vessels don't move much over time.
They also discovered that the wrinkles don't form in people with "median nerve damage in their fingers."
So does this . . . matter? Probably not for any health reasons. But the researchers think it could have real-world applications in fingerprinting and forensics, like at crime scenes.
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In a poll, 40% of people say they've "never" sent food back at a restaurant. 49% have, but "rarely" . . . and 7% say they have sent food back "many times."
Going forward, what about if you technically got what you ordered, but it tasted bad? 28% wouldn't send it back. 51% would. And 22% aren't sure.
What about if you got something slightly different than what you ordered? 39% wouldn't send it back. 32% would. And 29% aren't sure.
What if you got something COMPLETELY different than what you ordered? 80% would send it back. 8% wouldn't. And 12% aren't sure.
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Today's Useless Fact of the Day - If 1.2 million mosquitoes bit you at the same time, they'd drain all of your blood.
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