What I Learned This Week - 12/14/12

1.  When walking in a parking lot or into a store, I have a habit of watching the shadows of people behind me, fully expecting to see the raised hand holding a knife, gun or chainsaw. Sadly, most of those shadows belong to family members, so I usually see little bunny foo-foo or a palm tree.
2. Scientists have developed an actual medical tricorder. Why they named it "Scanadu Scout" instead of "tricorder" is beyond me. Probably because it's only $150.
3. When the weatherman states, "You're going to need a little extra time due to weather conditions", it means that I'm already pretty late.
4. There is a limit to the amount of latkes one can cook in a weekend before you get sick of latkes and that limit is 337. 
5. There was a short period of time last week when I thought I was the only person that hadn't seen an NHL game yet.
6. I have no idea why I didn't invent the bubble fog machine. It is even cooler than I expected.
7. My headphone cables are no longer flexible in temperatures below 20F, making morning walks from my car an interesting tango of, "How do I tilt my head to prevent this poking my eye".
8. There is no such thing as a Brontosaurus - it was just a misclassified Apatosaurus. Explain that to Fred Flintstone and his favorite "Bronto-Burger" meal.
9. In England and Wales, a recent census conducted revealed that "Jedi knight" was the seventh most popular faith. That makes me sad yet slightly happy at the same time.
10. In morning meetings where I haven't had coffee and a good night sleep I become Homer Simpson, "Can you repeat the part of the stuff where you said all about the things?"
11. In a cooking emergency, my dogs pose as decent hand towels.
12. Every kid loves the dreidel game - especially once they learn the gold coins are made of chocolate.
13. Watching a vegetarian eat a piece of prime rib for the first time in 30 years is far more rewarding than I expected. Unexpectedly, there seems to be a universal "meat cheer" when that vegetarian does it the middle of a party.
14. The No. 1 Google search in 2012 was "Whitney Houston". I really had no idea what I expected it to be, but that wasn't it.
15. I'm not complaining, but I don't understand why the Hobbit needs to be three movies. It was once book - the other books of Tolkien received one movie per book and had a lot more to explore.
16. There is a specialty woodworking company that will turn your favorite board game into a formal decorative coffee table. 
17. Pollen is basically the reproductive "stuff" of plants, therefore hay fever is a STD. I'm not sure where I stand on the whole "plant rape" argument since one does not normally willing ingest pollen.
18. The new Blu-Ray version of Return of the Jedi has never before seen footage of female Jedi pilots in action (vs. just being observed in the briefing room). The reason they were omitted originally? A: Post production editing error. It took them 30 years to figure it out - or more likely for a nerd to point it out. I was not that nerd.
19. My heart rate monitor plays a mean trick when the batteries are fading. It shows my heart rate 30 bpm higher than max...so if I wasn't actually having a heart attack, I am now.
20. There are two things my car alarm does: (1) wakes my family in my early morning fumbling for my keys and (b) scares the crap out of me when I stick my keys in my pocket.
21. Scientists have discovered that cells present in urine can be used and reprogrammed as brain cells and any other cell in the body raising new ethical questions about the naming of a "bathroom" to "laboratory".