Oddities and Humor

I had squirrels in my walls until I sided the whole thing with concrete based siding.

Shoes worn by moonshiners during prohibition to fool "revenooers."

⚠️ Warning: Emergency! Officials In Texas Warn Schools Should Close For The Eclipse 🌑🏫🚨

Emergency! Emergency!
The eclipse is a once in a lifetime event. It's going to get dark in the middle of the day. That hasn't happened since, ah, last night.

So I guess you don't understand the difference between it getting dark last night, and it getting dark in the middle of the day.

April 8, 2022 is going to be the last chance in our lifetime, in Texas to see a total solar eclipse

Children shouldn't be in school to miss this once in their lifetime event.

It's pretty exciting. There's going to be an Extra million visitors that weekend in Austin alone, and it's estimated an additional Billion dollars will be spent within the eclipse path in Texas. Not small potatoes

Because of the short duration of the eclipse, I doubt if it will have a great effect if any effect at all on the behavior of animals except for people desparate for entertainment events.

On the other hand, just think of the effect that artificial or electric lights have had on the behavior of animals that are normally diurnal or nocturnal, specifically insects, which display very weird behavior when confronted with electric lights at night. You have to remember that before there were artificial lights the only lights at night were that from the stars and the Moon and the occasional wildfire. Electric lights every night virtually turn the night into day for many insects.

KAUFMAN County, TX
Kaufman County issues disaster declaration over total eclipse traffic worries
County officials say the population is expected to double on eclipse day and that gridlock is a major concern.

Officials in Kaufman County issued a disaster declaration Wednesday ahead of next month's total solar eclipse, saying they expect the county's population to double and for traffic to be a major issue.

A solar eclipse will occur over North Texas for several hours on April 8, 2024. The partial eclipse will begin at 12:23 p.m. and end at 3:02 p.m. Totality will last only minutes, from about 1:40 p.m. until 1:44 p.m., depending on location. The event is truly a rare occasion. Another total solar eclipse won't occur over the United States until 2044 and the National Weather Service says there won't be another in our region until 2317.

Kaufman County Judge Jakie Allen issued the disaster declaration for April 5-9 after projections indicated the county expected about 200,000 people to visit for the eclipse, about twice the county's normal population of about 100,000 people.

County officials noted the cities of Kaufman and Terrell are on the centerline of the eclipse and are expected to draw the most viewers who want to experience totality. The county said the chambers of commerce fielded requests from several states and countries around the world.

This dramatic increase in population, even for a short time, will greatly impact our Public Safety agencies, taxing their ability to respond to calls. Law enforcement, Fire, EMS, Emergency Management, and many other agencies have been meeting for several months to prepare for this event," the county said in a statement. "The single greatest concern is the traffic and potential gridlock as the eclipse ends."

The county said Allen also reached out to Gov. Greg Abbott (R) requesting a state disaster declaration which would make more state assets available if needed. While several other Texas counties in totality have also issued disaster declarations, so far there has been no statement from the governor's office on a wider declaration.

What does that have to do (or your 2nd post) with anything I said?

The state of Tx overall will earn a billion dollars in revenue over this event. My city, Austin, will see it's population double over that weekend, bringing in millions.

Any traffic restrictions is CYA, as it would only take 1 accident to produce a lawsuit over lack of preparedness.

Everyone who can should be able to watch it. My neighborhood has formed a gathering for everyone to get together

It's not odd, and it's not humorous

This isn't about ppl "desparate for entertainment". It's an important, once in a lifetime event. People are traveling the world over to be somewhere in the swath of the eclipse

As far as animals, birds will try to roost. It happened with the partial eclipse a few months back

If you're not interested in spectacular natural events, blow me

I was a witness to the total eclipse of the Sun on June 11, 1983 South or Southwest of Yogyakarta, Indonesia.

I was working in Jakarta, Indonesia at the time. We had telescopes, cameras and other gear with special lens for the adventure. We were on a soft, sandy beach on the Indian Ocean that runs for miles and miles either direction. We saw maybe 4 other people on the beach the whole time we were down there.

I am here to tell you, there was a tingling feeling in the air as the light started to dim. And, when it went totally dark - well, it was a feeling, a pop, a total body orgasm. I am not kidding.

Of course, the whole trip added to this finally. Indonesia is really another type of place. This was a long road trip; approximately 340 slow miles. No super highways, many small towns and lots of oxen in the roadways.

Plus, on the way down, we spent a few hours at the Borobdur Temple. The most fabulous man constructed site I have ever witnessed. What a trip!

From Wikipedia re: June 1, 1983 eclipse:

Restrictions of observation

To avoid blindness, Indonesian dictator president Suharto prohibited local people from observing the eclipse directly through then Information Minister Harmoko, only allowing foreigners to observe from faraway places. Besides the requirements of closing and draping over all windows and airshafts, children were asked to hide themselves in cupboards and below desks as the eclipsing sun's rays were said to be more dangerous to children than to adults. They were allowed to watch a live broadcast of the eclipse occurring over Borobudur Temple in Magelang, Central Java, on state-owned TV channel TVRI. Because of the difference in restriction's intensity between regions, some locals did observe it.

That sound incredibly amazing

For the actual event, I was thinking of going to where I swim. I know a lot of people there, and all the lifeguards are my buddies.

I sure hope it's a clear day

Fred Allen: “Jack, you couldn’t ad-lib a belch after a plate of Hungarian goulash!”
Jack Benny: “You wouldn’t say that if my writers were here.”

If you can't put a monetary value on nature, what's it worth?

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FORK CALLIGRAPHY

Cool,...........

iN CASE THE LINK DOESN'T WORK, IT'S A STORY ABOUT A FAMILY GETTING A PET OCTOPUS. iT HAD 50 babies and just about bankrupted them.
Excuse the caps. Not going to retype it.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13305727/pet-octopus-de

Lipstick was once made with lead. Rocking chairs were once strictly an outdoor item. Bubble wrap was first created as a wallpaper.

Antimony was used as eyeliner (Kohl) by the ancient Egyptians it causes long-term damage to the brain and kidneys.