Fuel Temperature Correction

Today I learned that when oil is delivered to your house, it is required that they adjust the temperature of the oil before filling your tank. Because the oil expands when it's heated and contracts when it's cooled, this process is necessary. Here's a word from Hess:

"Industry standards require that it be priced at "net gallons" or the volume it would occupy at 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Temperature correction is the amount #6 oil is adjusted to equal its volume at 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Temperature correction safeguards you by ensuring that you receive the amount of oil you pay for."

What did you learn today?

Super Mario

Today I learned that no matter which gaming system they come out with next, the old Nintendo games, well Super Nintendo, will always be my favorite! We received some Christmas money from my generous grandfather-in-law (Thank you Pep!) and decided that we would like to purchase a Wii. So my husband braved the blizzard this morning and waited in line at Best Buy to purchase one because they are in demand and stores only receive so many every week. He arrived there at 6:45 a.m. and was 40th in line!! The store didn't even open until 9, but they were nice enough to hand out numbered tickets and let everyone go sit in their cars to wait it out. We are now the happy owners of a Wii, and lucky me, I am able to download all my old favorite Nintendo games and play them through the Wii! Super Mario 3, here I come!

By the way, we received about 11 inches of snow today!

What did you learn today?

Snapping what?

Today I went to the doctor and learned that I have something called Snapping Hip Syndrome. What did I do to get that? No clue!

Snapping hip syndrome is a condition in which you feel a snap on the outside portion of your hip as you walk or run. In my case, I just felt pain and didn't notice the snapping until I actually stopped to listen and feel it. Several groups of muscles cross the hip as they pass from the thigh bone to the pelvis, so the snapping usually occurs because of tightness in a muscle called the iliopsoas or tightness in a muscle called the tensor fascia lata. Since this problem usually occurs because some muscles are too tight and some muscles are to loose, the remedy is to perform exercises that both strengthen and stretch the hip and thigh muscles. So lucky me, I get to do silly exercises every night. I just hope it's not a sign of getting old!

What did you learn today?

Italian Wedding Soup

Today I learned that I can trust the broth of my Italian Wedding Soup to cook the meatballs in no time! Of course I didn't believe this until a phone call to Mom. It's true, the raw meatballs will cook in 10 to 15 minutes no problem! About the time it takes to cook the orzo pasta for the soup. Though you do need to undercook the orzo a bit if you don't want it to end up mushy. It probably wouldn't be fair to my Italian grandfather to share the entire family soup recipe, but I will tell you at least some ingredients thrown in for the little meatballs. Ground beef (I use ground turkey when trying to cut down on the fat), parmesan cheese, egg, basil and parsely. The meatball recipe stays fairly simple since they will pick up the broth flavor while cooking. And there are still so many family recipes I have to learn! Sorry for not taking a picture of my own soup, but it already went into the fridge! I like to leave italian stewed tomatoes in mine, so it has more of a reddish tint to it. Yum! This is my favorite soup ever!

What did you learn today?

Mondays

Today I learned that Mondays will always feel like Mondays... the only exception to this seems to be when you're on vacation!


This postcard, sent in 1907 and captioned "Monday Morning in N. Y. City", reflects the tradition of Monday as a day for clothes washing.

Birthday Fun

Today I learned that gift giving to children can be so much more enjoyable than between adults. You work so hard to choose the perfect gift and then watch carefully to see the spark of interest in the eyes of a 1-year old. Young children go through a span of time when they have not learned to lie. When they enjoy something, they genuinely enjoy it, not "this is great, thanks".

Today at my godson's birthday party, I think his favorite gift was the little cake planet his mom made special just for him! And though the little guy might not care much yet for the hat we bought him, it was rewarding to watch his parents and family smile and enjoy it when he did wear it!

What did you learn today?

Razors

Today I was reminded how to take better care of my shaving razors. After each use, or even if the razor blades became wet from the shower, I make sure to dry the blades of my razor to prevent any rusting. I buy Venus razors, because they last the longest and the razor burn is minimal, so it is worth trying to take care of them since they cost SO much.

In a store, you typically pay around $2 each for these blades. I wanted to try and find these blades for cheaper and came across the website, RazorsDirect.com. Here you can get 8 for $13.99 so about $1.75/razor. OR if you want to buy them 24 at a time, it's $34.99, which comes out to about $1.45/razor. I believe there are some options in between as well. And regular shipping from this website is FREE. :o)

What did you learn today?

Fraud alert

Today I learned that there are some really good scams out there. My boss sat us down for a meeting to give us the heads up on a new credit card scam. Apparently there are people that have your credit card number, your name and address. They call posing as the credit card company and ask you to verify the information they already have on you, then tell you they are calling because they suspect fraudulent activity on your account. They ask if you made a purchase at "so and so jeweler" for example and then you say No. They explain that they will credit your account during the next statement period for the fraudulent purchase. At some point in the conversation they will try to get the CVC code from your credit card as well since that is the only the information they are missing.

So you decide to check your statement and see that you have a charge from "so and so jeweler" and assume that is the fraudulent charge you were told would be credited and don't do anything about it since you think it's taken care of. But really it was the scammers charging your card at the store they told you about on the phone. See why this is trouble? So don't take the phone call, and check your credit card online, or call your credit card company yourself.

Reporting credit card fraud - Wikipedia

If you lose or have had your credit card stolen, you should immediately report it to your card issuer. Once you report the incident, you are no longer responsible for unauthorized charges made on your card.
In the US, credit card fraud can be reported to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and to local and regional authorities. It is the standing policy of the FTC not to investigate reports where the value of fraud does not exceed $2000. Local law enforcement may or may not further investigate a credit card fraud, depending on the amount, type of fraud, and where the fraud originated from.

What did you learn today?

Yesterday

Yesterday I learned how my Mom always knew when I was getting sick. When I was younger, sometimes Mom would look at me and say, "you're getting sick, aren't you?" And I always felt fine at the time and didn't know what she was talking about, yet I always seemed to have a cold the very next day. Well yesterday when I was washing my hands I looked up into the mirror and noticed these huge purple circles under my eyes, and finally realized what Mom had seen for all those years. (Did I never look in a mirror??) Anyway, I'm glad to say I have been drinking my OJ and taking my vitamin, I think I'll pull through this time!

The Economic Cost of the Common Cold - From Wikipedia

"In the USA alone, the common cold leads to 75 to 100 million physician visits annually at a conservative cost estimate of $7.7 billion per year. Americans spend $2.9 billion on over-the-counter drugs and another $400 million on prescription medicines for symptomatic relief. More than one-third of patients who saw a doctor received an antibiotic prescription, which not only contributes to unnecessary costs ($1.1 billion annually on an estimated 41 million antibiotic prescriptions in the United States), but also has implications for antibiotic resistance from overuse of such drugs.
An estimated 22 to 189 million school days are missed annually due to a cold. As a result, parents missed 126 million workdays to stay home to care for their children. When added to the 150 million workdays missed by employees suffering from a cold, the total economic impact of cold-related work loss exceeds $20 billion"

What did you learn today (or yesterday)?

Jingle Bells

Today I learned that when the Salvation Army rings their little bell outside my office window for 9 hours a day, all I hear while trying to fall asleep at night is that darn little bell, it won't shut off!

By the way, "Jingle bells are produced from a single piece of sheet metal bent into a roughly spherical shape to contain a small ball bearing or short piece of metal rod. This method of production results in the classic two- or four-leaved shape."

What did you learn today?

My Christmas Tree

Just needed to share a picture of the xmas tree for friends and family! I also created this fragrant little centerpiece from the trimmings!

Welcome to Daily Learnings by Manda

Do you remember when you were a kid and your parents would always ask, "So...what did you learn today?" And as a young kid you were pretty excited to babble on for hours, but as you got older, maybe this simply became a shrug of the shoulders. As an adult I am still asked this question by my husband (he loves to learn new things!), but now being out of an Academic setting I'm not as quick to answer. Being at work 8 to 10 hours a day makes it easy to quickly answer about something job-related (if it's interesting I'll post it), but I'd like to look beyond my office time and observe the limited hours of the day when life can become another routine.

So this blog is not only for learning fun and useless facts, it's about taking the time to notice things in life and take a moment to learn something about them. You never know when it will come in handy!

Oh and by the way, today I learned that you can adhere powder-coating to aluminum by sending an electric charge through it (electrostatically!).

What did you learn today?