If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!When Did They Start Putting Game Consoles in Airports? At most airport gates, you see people reading, knitting, talking on their cell phones, working on their laptops, watching an overhead television newscast, or people watching. Delta/Sky West CRJ900 number N804SK at San Francisco International Airport, USA (Photo credit: Wikipedia) On a recent trip I took, people waiting at the gate for a plane were playing on game consoles. They looked just like the little mini-jukeboxes that Silver Diner has recreated at tableside. And,... (Read More ...)

When Did They Start Putting Electrical Outlets in Bars? We were waiting for a connecting flight at LaGuardia Airport in New York. Mobile phone evolution (Photo credit: Wikipedia) We sat down to have lunch in a bar near our gate. “How long have you had electrical outlets along the bar?” I asked the bartender. About every two feet there was an outlet so people could recharge computers or cell phones. “I don’t know. Probably about two years. Ever since I’ve been here,” the bartender replied. Sure, this is New York, a major transportation hub. But, outlets for recharging electronic devices... (Read More ...)

Do Your Ties Have Zippers? Our six-year-old grandson was all dressed up for an outdoor event – dress shoes, dress shirt, blazer and tie. This image was selected as a picture of the week on the Czech Wikipedia for th week, 2007. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) After a few hours, he started getting restless and hot. He started to take his tie off, but his Dad, wearing a tie in the heat himself, objected. “You have to keep your tie on, Buddy,” he told him. That’s when I spotted a cord that looked like part of a zipper. “Do you have a zipper on your tie?” I asked him. He proudly showed me the... (Read More ...)

scrabble board game full 100 tile set (Photo credit: Wikipedia) How Many Games of Online Scrabble Do You Have Going? Several years ago, I tried to develop a Scrabble-like game using phonetic spelling. I wrote a 300-page dictionary of phonetically-spelled one-syllable words, knowing there would need to be a dictionary to settle disputes and that normal dictionaries only spell phonetically with special characters. I learned that English does not need a “Q,” an “X,” or a “C.” We have other letters that can be used to spell those sounds. They are historical anomalies. I... (Read More ...)

When Does Mommy Become Mom? Grandma (Photo credit: Wikipedia) Do you remember when you stopped calling your Mom “Mommy” or your Dad “Daddy”? I don’t either. What Do We Learn from Older Kids? But, my six-year-old granddaughter had a recent encounter at school around this subject. A 7-year-old at her school told my granddaughter that only 7-year-olds can call their mother “Mom.” Six-year-olds weren’t old enough. Not one to ignore such a challenge, she tried it for a couple of weeks, then, quietly abandoned it. I would love to know her thinking when she dropped it. Did it just... (Read More ...)