Monday, April 24, 2006

Something New Everyday

Filed under Uncategorized //

We should learn something new everyday, I believe. :-)

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The tune for the “A-B-C” song is the same as “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.”

The ball on top of a flagpole is called the truck.

In every episode of Seinfeld there is a Superman somewhere.

The name Jeep came from the abbreviation used in the army for the “General Purpose” vehicle, G.P.

The little lump of flesh just forward of your ear canal, right next to your temple, is called a tragus.

Walt Disney’s autograph bears no resemblance to the famous Disney logo.

The correct response to the Irish greeting, “Top of the morning to you,” is “and the rest of the day to yourself.”

Giraffes have no vocal cords.

No word in the English language rhymes with month.

Clans of long ago that wanted to get rid of their unwanted people without killing them, so they used to burn their houses down - hence the expression “to get fired.”

Leonardo Da Vinci invented the scissors.

The dot over the letter ‘i’ is called a tittle.

The maximum weight for a golf ball is 1.62 oz.

Charlie Brown’s father was a barber.

When a film is in production, the last shot of the day is the “martini shot”, the next to last one is the “Abby Singer”.

If you lace your shoes from the inside to the outside the fit will be snugger around your big toe.

The expression “What in tarnation” comes from the original meaning: “What in eternal damnation”

The most common name in the world is Mohammed.

Michael Jordan makes more money from Nike annually than all of the Nike factory workers in Malaysia combined.

The term the “Boogey Man will get you” comes from the Boogey people, who still inhabit an area of Indonesia. These people still act as pirates today and attack ships that pass. Thus the term spread “if you don’t watch out the Boogey man will get you.”

Olympic Badminton rules say that the bird has to have exactly fourteen feathers

The only two days of the year in which there are no professional sports games (MLB, NBA, NHL, or NFL) are the day before and the day after the Major League Baseball All-Star Game.

“Speak of the Devil” is short for “Speak of the Devil and he shall come”. It was believed that if you spoke about the Devil it would attract his attention. That’s why when your talking about someone and they show up people say “Speak of the Devil”

The oldest word in the English language is “town”

2 Comments // Posted by Jillian at 5:25 pm

Saturday, April 22, 2006

Moment of Truth

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Let me recreate the scene for you:

Two weeks ago, I found out that if I didn’t pass this ITK 261 test, I would be failing the class basically. I would be retaking the first class in my life. I studied as hard as I could - knowing that if I gave it all I got and still failed, I knew I would have to retake the class no matter what I did - just with a different instructor.

I had three tests last week - one in Economics 105, which I ended up getting a C on along with 1,000 other people. One test in Politics 140, which I was kind of worried about because the class is dead easy but this last test was hard, and then the all-dreaded ITK 261 test.

Interesting.

Today I get online and figure out that I got a 74 percent on my Politics test. Okay, not bad. Since I got an 88 percent on the first test that just brought my grade down to a low “B”. If I pull off another B on a test, I’m good to go.

Now it is time. The Moment of Truth.

I get to my ITK 261 class after work - and Whitney, the only other girl in my class, walks in. We are the first one’s there. I was watching South Park on my iPod, but when I noticed that Whitney was trying to talk to me, I take out my earphones.

“What’d you say?” I ask her.

“Did you see what you got on your test?” She asks without hesitating.

Oh God.

“Um, no…oh crap…is it online already?!” I ask, pulling out my laptop with much enthusiasm.

“Oh yes they are posted.”

“Do you think we will be getting the test back today??” I ask, frantically pushing the power button. Now just as a side note, you might want to take notice that the ISU wireless network sucks when it comes to trying to connect to their Internet.

“Did you find out yet?” She asks, logging into her own computer.

“No not yet…” I say, impatient.

I wait…I wait…and…wait.

“DAMMIT!” I yell to no one in particular. Whitney turns around in her chair. We are sitting in a computer lab. D’OH! I push on the computer that I am sitting at.

“What did you get?” I ask, trying to be conversational and hoping that she got a high grade. She’s easily the smartest person in the class I am led to believe - if she got a B then I definitely failed. I put away my useless laptop back into my bookbag.

“No tell me first,” She says playfully, logging into the ITK 261 website.

I punch in my username and log into the computer I am sitting at. I get on the website. I’m about ready to log in and see my grade when I stop.

“What’s wrong?” Whitney asks.

“I…can’t look,” I say. I explain my situation to Whitney about passing this test. Now she really wants to know what I got. I rest my finger over the “Enter” button, not pressing it.

“Okay what did you get first?” I ask her.

“I got a 91 percent,” She says happily. “I thought I was going to fail it, seriously!”

Yeah, right Whitney. Good one.

I press the Enter key.

And…I got an 85 percent!

A B?!

Wholly crap!

Whoo-hoo!!

“Oh my God I’m so happy!” I say to Whitney, happily telling her my grade. Not only did I get a B but I got a middle-B. Not a low-B. Not a C. NOT AN F!!

“Wow, good job!” Whitney says enthusiastically.

After Dr. Beccue gets to class, she looks mildly pleased to see the layout of grades that she places on the board. Everyone apparently got either a B or an A.

She wrote on my test: “Good job on your improvement - Congratulations!” by my grade. Wholly crap - I better have improved from the last test, which I got a 56 percent on in case you forgot - an F - duh.

“I thought that the grades would be more spread out this time around,” Dr. Beccue explains during class. “But apparently they were nearer to the top of the chart.”

“There were some who went down on this test, and there were few who went up. Why I remember one who went up 30 more percent points on this test as compared to last test. Good job everyone!” She says, looking directly at me when she talks of a student who went up 30 percent between the first and second tests.

Yeah, that was me. :-)

1 Comment // Posted by Jillian at 8:38 pm

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