Why can’t cats and dogs get on?

Cats and dogs do not always live in perfect harmony together, but this doesn’t have to be the case.

According to an article in Science Daily, one reason why cats and dogs often don’t get on together is because they misinterpret each other’s body language. For example, when cats are angry they usually lash their tails, but dogs growl and arch their backs. When a cat avert its head, it is a sign of aggression, but this signifies submission in dogs.

If cats and dogs are introduced to the same house when they’re young - under 6 months for cats and under a year for dogs, they can learn each another’s body language and are therefore less likely to fight and more likely to get along well together.

See http://www.omniglot.com/blog/2008/09/09/why-cant-cats-and-dogs-get-on

Develop Your Sense of Time

Some people are extremely adept at telling when intervals of time have passed or what time of day it is, while others find themselves losing track of entire hours. But if you weren't born with a finely honed sense of time, you can develop it. With the help of a handy tutorial at WikiHow and some free time you too can become a better judge of time. There are over half a dozen great tips in the tutorial, the following are tips that I inadvertently stumbled on while working the graveyard shift, a notorious time distorter:

Every time you think of it, guess to yourself what time it is. Check a clock or watch. Make a point of correcting yourself. Think or say to yourself something like "I thought it was 10:20, but it's actually 10:34. I was 14 minutes slow." This is your time sense gap.

When you work for 12 hours alone in a big building, you have a lot of time to play with the above guessing game. It sounds elementary but just like developing a gauge for anything else in life: distance walked, temperature outside, etc. having a measuring stick to gauge yourself against is critical.

When you start a task that has a specified time frame (like when cooking), set a timer for the upper end of the range given. For example, if you're to cook oatmeal for 3-5 minutes, set a timer for 5 minutes. Assign yourself the task of guessing when 3 or 4 minutes have passed. If you make a mistake, the timer will save you from having burnt oatmeal. But with practice, you'll develop a sense for how long to leave the oatmeal cooking, as many chefs learn to do with various dishes they cook often.

My graveyard shift was at a printer, which was filled with all sorts of things that had set intervals of time associated with them. The length of warm up, cool down, spool up, spool down, print time, finishing time, and so forth of all the machines became a constant reminder of time. It wasn't long before I'd find myself standing beside a machine mere seconds before it finished its run. Find things in your environment that have set intervals or use a timer to create your own intervals. Over a period of practice you'll find you can almost subconsciously determine the incremental spans of time. If you've got a handy trick for keeping track of time sans a stopwatch, share it in the comments below.

From http://lifehacker.com/5049314/develop-your-sense-of-time

The History of Paper Clips

Paper clips aren't usually something that cause a lot of controversy in offices, that is, unless they are being flung at people. They are one of the many unsung heroes that go unnoticed in day to day life but have you ever stopped to think about who invented them? The United States Patent Office states that Samuel Fay entered his paper clip design into their product catalog in 1867. Ten years later Erlman Wright introduced an ingenious deign for binding newspapers but it was far from being something that most consumers and office workers would find suitable for everyday use.

The paper clip that most people use today was based on "the gem"; a bent wire piece that loops around itself and can be used over and over until it stretches out of shape or warps. You have the British to thank for the Gem type design but this unique and highly functional design has never been patented so there is no true way to give any one person credit for it.

Why were paper clips even invented? Before the invention of the plastic loop tag system for fastening labels and price tags to clothing, this was done with pins. As you may imagine, this was a time consuming process that also involved more than a few people pricking their fingers. By using a paper clip, labels were fastened quicker, the clips didn't puncture the skin and there was less damage to the item being tagged.

Staples were patented in 1877 and gave paper clips a brief run for their money but just like the pin, it was too hard for consumers to remove safely and the idea was nixed shortly thereafter.

Today paper clips can be found in all shapes and sizes; they are made from plastic, basic steel, brass, recycled aluminum and my personal favorite, the plastic coated ones that seem to last forever. Variations of the clip are just as plentiful; the basic loop design, top end pick and quick slide and diamond mount are just a few of the shapes you can find clips in.

From http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/252413/the_history_of_paper_clips.html

Britains Finest! True Quiz Show Answers

DANNY KELLY SHOW (RADIO WM)
Kelly: Which French Mediterranean town hosts a famous film festival every year?
Contestant: I don't know, I need a clue.
Kelly: OK. What do beans come in?
Contestant: Cartons?

BEG, BORROW OR STEAL (BBC2)
Jamie Theakston: Where do you think Cambridge University is?
Contestant: Geography isn't my strong point.
Theakston: There's a clue in the title.
Contestant: Leicester.

BBC NORFOLK
Stewart White: Who had a worldwide hit with What A Wonderful World?
Contestant: I don't know.
White: I'll give you some clues: what do you call the part between your hand and your elbow?
Contestant: Arm.
White: Correct. And if you're not weak, you're...?
Contestant: Strong.
White: Correct - and what was Lord Mountbatten's first name?
Contestant: Louis.
White: Well, there we are then. So who had a worldwide hit with the song
What A Wonderful World?
Contestant: Frank Sinatra?

LATE SHOW (BBC MIDLANDS)
Alex Trelinski: What is the capital of Italy?
Contestant: France.
Trelinski: France is another country. Try again.
Contestant: Oh, um, Benidorm.
Trelinski: Wrong, sorry, let's try another question. In which country is the Parthenon?
Contestant: Sorry, I don't know.
Trelinski: Just guess a country then.
Contestant: Paris.

UNIVERSITY CHALLENGE (BBC2)
Jeremy Paxman: What is another name for 'cherrypickers' and 'cheesemongers'?
Contestant: Homosexuals.
Paxman: No. They're regiments in the British Army who will be very upset with you.

THE WEAKEST LINK (BBC2)
Anne Robinson: Oscar Wilde, Adolf Hitler and Jeffrey Archer have all written books about their experiences in what: prison, or the Conservative Party?
Contestant: The Conservative Party.

BEACON RADIO (WOLVERHAMPTON)
DJ Mark: For Pounds 10, what is the nationality of the Pope?
Ruth from Rowley Regis: I think I know that one. Is it Jewish?

THE WEAKEST LINK
Anne Robinson: In traffic, what 'J' is where two roads meet?
Contestant: Jool carriageway?

UNIVERSITY CHALLENGE
Bamber Gascoigne: What was Gandhi's first name?
Contestant: Goosey?

GWR FM (Bristol)
Presenter: What happened in Dallas on November 22, 1963?
Contestant: I don't know, I wasn't watching it then.

RTE RADIO 2FM (IRELAND)
Presenter: What is the name of the long- running TV comedy show about pensioners: Last Of The ..?
Caller: Mohicans.

QUIZMANIA
Greg Scott: We're looking for a word that goes in front of 'clock'.
Contestant: Grandfather.
Scott: Grandfather clock is already up there, say something else.
Contestant: Panda.

PHIL WOOD SHOW (BBC RADIO MANCHESTER)
Phil: What's 11 squared?
Contestant: I don't know.
Phil: I'll give you a clue. It's two ones with a two in the middle.
Contestant: Is it five?

RICHARD AND JUDY
Q: Which American actor is married to Nicole Kidman?
A: Forrest Gump.

RICHARD AND JUDY
Leslie: On which street did Sherlock Holmes live?
Contestant: Er . . .
Leslie: He makes bread . .
Contestant: Er . .
Leslie: He makes cakes . . .
Contestant: Kipling Street?

MAGIC 52 (NORTHEAST ENGLAND)
Presenter: In what year was President Kennedy assassinated?
Contestant: Erm . . .
Presenter: Well, let's put it this way - he didn't see 1964.
Contestant: 1965?

SIMPLY THE BEST (ITV)
Phil Tufnell: How many Olympic Games have been held?
Contestant: Six.
Tufnell: Higher!
Contestant: Five.

FORT BOYARD (CHALLENGE TV)
Jodie Marsh: Arrange these two groups of letters to form a word - CHED and PIT.
Team: Chedpit.

LINCS FM PHONE-IN
Presenter: Which is the largest Spanish-speaking country in the world?
Contestant: Barcelona.
Presenter: I was really after the name of a country.
Contestant: I'm sorry, I don't know the names of any countries in Spain.

RADIO 1 EARLY MORNING SHOW
Presenter: How many toes would three people have in total?
Contestant: 23.

NOTTS AND CROSSES QUIZ (BBC RADIO NOTTINGHAM)
Jeff Owen: In which country is Mount Everest?
Contestant (long pause): Er, it's not in Scotland, is it?

THE MICK GIRDLER SHOW (BBC RADIO SOLENT)
Girdler: I'm looking for an island in the Atlantic whose name includes the letter 'e'.
Contestant: Ghana.
Girdler: No, listen. It's an island in the Atlantic Ocean.
Contestant: New Zealand.

NATIONAL LOTTERY (BBC1)
Question: What is the world's largest continent?
Contestant: The Pacific

ROCK FM (PRESTON)
Presenter: Name a film starring Bob Hoskins that is also the name of a famous painting by Leonardo Da Vinci.
Contestant: Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

THE BIGGEST GAME IN TOWN (ITV)
Steve Le Fevre: What was signed to bring World War I to an end in 1918?
Contestant: Magna Carta.

JAMES O'BRIEN SHOW (LBC)
O'Brien: How many kings of England have been called Henry?
Contestant: Er, well, I know there was a Henry the Eighth ... er ... er ... three?

NATIONAL LOTTERY
Eamonn Holmes: There are three states of matter: solid, liquid and what?
Contestant: Jelly.

RICHARD ALLINSON SHOW (RADIO 2)
Allinson: What international brand shares its name with the Greek goddess of victory?
Contestant (after long deliberation): Erm, Kellogg's?

BLIND DATE (ITV)
Girl: Name a book written by Jane Austen.
Boy: Charlotte Bronte.

CHRIS SEARLE SHOW (BBC RADIO BRISTOL)
Searle: In which European country is Mount Etna?
Caller: Japan.
Searle: I did say which European country, so in case you didn't hear that, I can let you try again.
Caller: Er .. Mexico?

DOG EAT DOG (BBC1)
Ulrika Jonsson: Who wrote Lord of the Rings?
Contestant: Enid Blyton

PAUL WAPPAT (BBC RADIO NEWCASTLE)
Paul Wappat: How long did the Six-Day War between Egypt and Israel last?
Contestant (after long pause): Fourteen days.

NATIONAL LOTTERY
Eamonn Holmes: Dizzy Gillespie is famous for playing what?
Contestant: Basketball.

NOTTS AND CROSSES QUIZ
Jeff Owen: Where did the D-Day landings take place?
Contestant (after pause): Pearl Harbour?

DARYL DENHAM'S DRIVETIME (VIRGIN RADIO)
Daryl Denham: In which country would you spend shekels?
Contestant: Holland?
Denham: Try the next letter of the alphabet.
Contestant: Iceland? Ireland?
Denham (helpfully): It's a bad line. Did you say Israel?
Contestant: No.

PHIL WOOD SHOW (BBC GMR)
Wood: What 'K' could be described as the Islamic Bible?
Contestant: Er . . .
Wood: It's got two syllables . . . Kor . . .
Contestant: Blimey?
Wood: Ha ha ha ha, no. The past participle of run . . .
Contestant: (Silence)
Wood: OK, try it another way. Today I run, yesterday I . . .
Contestant: Walked?

NATIONAL LOTTERY
Dale Winton: Skegness is a seaside resort on the coast of which sea:a) Irish Sea, b) English Channel, c) North Sea?
Contestant: Oh, I know that, you can start writing out the cheque now, Dale. It's on the east coast, so it must be the Irish Sea.

THE VAULT
Melanie Sykes: What is the name given to the condition where the sufferer can fall asleep at any time?
Contestant: Nostalgia.

LUNCHTIME SHOW (BRMB)
Presenter: What religion was Guy Fawkes?
Contestant: Jewish.
Presenter: That's close enough.

BREAKFAST SHOW, RADIO 1
Chris Moyles: Which 'S' is a kind of whale that can grow up to 80 tonnes?
Contestant: Ummm . .
Moyles: It begins with 'S' and rhymes with 'perm'.
Contestant: Shark.

STEVE WRIGHT IN THE AFTERNOON (BBC RADIO 2)
Wright: Johnny Weissmuller died on this day. Which jungle-swinging character clad only in a loincloth did he play?
Contestant: Jesus.

from uk.rec.humour

BiblioGeek (Book Geek) Test

Score 1 point for ever yes answer.

Have you ever deliberately bought another copy because it had a different cover than the one you have?
Have you ever spent your grocery money on books?
Have you ever bought extra copies just so you could give them away?
Have you ever bought 2 or more copies of a book, so you could read one and save the other?
Have you ever bought a 2nd copy of a book you loved in case you wear out the 1st one?
Have you ever spent more than 20.00 to replace a book you read as a kid?
Have you ever brought books with you to the store to sell, just so you could by a book you couldn't afford?
Have you ever not read a series until you had every book in it?
Have you ever pre-ordered a book as soon as it was humanly possible?
Do you avoid getting your favorite author from the library because they expect you to give them back?
Have you ever maxed out your library card?
Do you erase other peoples writing in library books as you read them?
Have you ever repaired a library book you didn't damage before you returned it.
Have you ever kept a library book and claimed to have lost it?
Do you donate books to the library that you think they should have on the shelf?
Have you ever borrowed a book from a friend and forgotten to give it back? on purpose?
Have you ever tried to acquire absolutely everything an author has ever written including, text books, liner notes and book jacket blurbs?
Can you sense whether there are books at a yard sale or a flea market booth before you get there?
When you're shopping with friends do they try to rush you past the books and then groan audibly when you stop?
Have you ever not heard your named called in a bookstore on purpose?
Have you ever ended an acquaintance with someone after you realized they didn't read?
Have you ever been asked to leave a bookstore because it was 10 minutes past closing?
Do you scan all the titles at the grocery store even though you KNOW there isn't anything you are going to want.
Do you fix mis-shelved books in bookstores.
Do you check the prices in stores of books you already own?
Do you help customers find books in stores you don't work in?
Have you ever stood outside a bookstore waiting for it to open?
Do you shop for children's books for yourself?
Have you ever gone into a bookstore to kill time?
Have you ever lost track of the time inside a bookstore?
Have you ever left skid marks stopping at a bookstore you hadn't seen before?
How far out of your way will you drive to see a new bookstore? less than 10, more than 10, more than 50?
Do you prebuy your tickets to bookfairs?
Do you save bookmarks from bookstores like some people save matchbooks?
Do you make lists of books you have read?
Do you make lists of books you want to read?
Do you make lists of books that are like other books?
Have you ever scribbled a recommended book title on the back of your checkbook register or deposit slip?
Do you read anything your eye falls on cereal boxes, milk cartons, tabloid headers?
Have you ever unplugged the phone to read?
Have you ever canceled real world plans to read a book?
Have you ever made up fake plans so you could read undisturbed?
Have you ever stayed up all night to finish a book and then called in late the next morning?
Have you ever started reading a book at the store and bought it so you could finish?
Have you ever finished a book you didn't like just because you bought it?
Have you ever flung a book you didn't like across the room?
Do you have a basketball hoop over the trash for books you don't like?
Have you ever written a scathing letter to the author about a book that was less that expected?
Have you ever sent a book back to the publisher that was less that expected.
Do you turn magazines sideways so you can read the book titles in the picture backgrounds.
Do you surreptitiously try to get the titles off the books people are reading on the subway?
Do you wonder why the people on TV don't have more bookcases in their homes?
Have you ever given bookbags as holiday gifts?
Have you ever pre-read a book you were giving as a gift?
Do people give you books that you promptly exchange for other books?
Have people stopped giving you books all together?
Has anyone in your household encouraged you to open a bookstore so you can sell all the books cluttering up the place?
Have you ever wished you had a nickle every time asked "have you read all those?"
Have you ever bought a book you didn't like, just in case it went up in value?
Have you ever kept buying an author's books even after you stopped reading them?
Have you ever made a book out of loose-leaf paper to amuse a child?
Have you ever used something for a bookmark that was important and forgotten what book it was in?
Have you ever sat in the car in the driveway while listening to an audio book?
Have you ever sat in the car in the driveway reading a real book?
Do you keep a book in the car for emergencies?
Do you take more books on vacation that you could read in three vacations?
Do you ignore all the books you brought on vacation in favor of something you found in the airline terminal?
Do you have more bookcases in your bedroom than other furniture?
Is there room for more books on them?
Are your bookcases double stacked? triple?
Have you ever built a bookcase between two other bookcases?
Do you have more than 4 unread books on your bedside table? more than 10? more than 25?
Do you have no bedside table, just a pile of books?
Do you have a bookshelf of books about books? an entire case?
Did you spend more than 15 minutes buying your desk chair?
Did you go to more than one store looking for the perfect reading chair?
Have you ever taken a light bulb from a ceiling light to replace the one in the reading lamp.
Do you have boxes of books that haven't been unpacked in more than 8 years?
Have you ever resorted books by color just for fun?
Have you ever sold a collection off as a lot because it hurt too much to break it up?
Have you ever fantasized about a 10 minute bookshopping spree?
Have you ever made a desert island booklist? for real?
Do you know the dimensions of a quarto? an octavo? Do you know why?
Do you know the home city of all the major publishers by heart?
Do you know an imprint's parent company by heart?
Do you know any publisher's isbn pre-fix code by heart?
Do you own a bookpress?
Can you find the tools you need to fix a book, faster that the ones to fix anything else?
Do you buy mylar dust jacket covers by the roll?
Do you save loose endpapers in a file sorted by width, color & texture?
Have you ever referred to the other side of a sheet of paper as it's verso?
Do you have a pile of books labeled not good enough to sell, but too good to throw away?
Do the workers at the donation center all take their break at the same time when they see you?
Have you ever bought a box of books without looking at them?
Have you ever opened a box of books that you forgot you had?
Have you ever given away boxes of books without double checking inside?
Do you feel a sense of loss when a book you like gets sold?
Have you ever maxed the price to dissuade someone from buying a book you want to keep around?
Do you drive by buildings and analyze it as a possible bookstore location?
Have you ever stood around talking books with a store owner for over an hour after closing?

1-25 poseur
26-50 wannabe
51-75 minor leaguer
76-100 true blue book geek

From http://bibliophilebullpen.blogspot.com/2008/08/geek-to-geek.html

Skew-whiff

Turned or twisted toward one side

Eg "his wig was, as the British say, skew-whiff"

See http://www.wordwebonline.com/en/SKEWWHIFF

Grandparents

What Is A Grandparent?

(taken from papers written by a class of 8-year-olds)

Grandparents are a lady and a man who have no little children of their own. They like other people's.

A grandfather is a man & a grandmother is a lady!

Grandparents don't have to do anything except be there when we come to see them. They are so old they shouldn't play hard or run. It is good if they drive us to the shops and give us money.

When they take us for walks, they slow down past things like pretty leaves and caterpillars.

They show us and talk to us about the colours of the flowers and also why we shouldn't step on 'cracks.'

They don't say, 'Hurry up.'

Usually grandmothers are fat but not too fat to tie your shoes.

They wear glasses and funny underwear.

They can take  their teeth and gums out.

Grandparents don't have to be clever.

They have to answer questions like 'Why isn't God married?' and 'How come dogs chase cats?'

When they read to us, they don't skip. They don't mind if we ask for the same story over again.

Everybody should try to have a grandmother, especially if you don't have television because they are the only grownups who like to spend time with us.

They know we should have biscuits before bedtime and they say prayers with us and kiss us even when we've been naughty..

A 6 year old was asked where Grandmothers live. ''oh,'' he said, ''she lives at the airport and when we want her we just go & get her. then when we've finished having her stay, we take her back to the airport.''

Granddad is the cleverest man on earth! he teaches me good things but i don't get to see him enough to get as clever as him!

It's funny when they bend over, you hear them blow off and they blame their dog.'

from uk.rec.humour