My birthday is coming, so I’m getting ready to blow out a lot of birthday candles on my funfetti cake. (Hey, I may be getting old but I’m still a kid at heart). But the question arises: why do we even put candles on a cake & blow them out to celebrate our birthday? I…
On Wednesday (Sept. 28), Hurricane Ian pounded Florida’s western coast. Streets flooded…houses were swept away…Waffle Houses closed. But why do Waffle Houses matter amidst all of this? Well, because of “The Waffle House Index”! What is “The Waffle House Index”? I’m glad you asked! FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, has loads of tools &…
Yesterday marked the start of a new season. But which one? Was it the beginning of Fall? Or the start of Autumn? Which is correct (or, at worst, most correct)? What you call the season we’re now in actually depends on where in the world you’re from and/or whom you ask. In The United Kingdom,…
One of the most disappointing things in the world is to rip into a bag of chips only to find an empty air pocket where your snack should be. Why does it always seem like chip bags are half empty? Well, there’s actually a reason that that extra space is left open in the package.…
The first sign of fall isn’t always colorful leaves or a nip in the air. No, the first sign of fall nowadays is seeing fun-sized candies in black-and-orange wrappers going on sale in stores, up to a month before their holiday’s actual start date. Why do stores start selling Halloween candy so far ahead of…
Funky smells are everywhere around us, from rough body odor to whatever your pet might’ve gotten into & tracked into your house. And rather than wait for the smell to fade on its own, some people reach for products like Febreze to neutralize the odors. But does that actually get rid of the smell, or…
Leaving work, you might not have paid too much attention to your usual routine: you sit down in your car, turn on the radio to WFRE, adjust the AC, drop your wallet into that aggravating space between the seat & the center console, curse, dig out your wallet, then prepare to drive off. One thing…
For International Beer Day (8/05/22), let’s celebrate by debunking four of the biggest myths about beer: 1. Drinking a lot of beer gives you a beer belly. Beer on its own doesn’t cause a belly. It’s a combination of too many calories in general & a sedentary lifestyle. 2. Dark beers are stronger than light…
My ex-wife’s uncle always left his butter out on the kitchen table. I never understood that! (He also left his mayonnaise out on the table, too, but…well, one issue at a time.) The butter on the table always bothered me because…well, room temperature butter would be kind of risky, health-wise, right? I mean, shouldn’t butter…
For most of adults, the sight of a big brown UPS truck, with its all-brown-clad driver, pulling into the driveway of your home is about as exciting as it would be for a kid to see an ice cream truck rolling down his or her street. “What can brown do for you?” Well, most of…