Did you know?

[Anthony]

Time for a bit of fun! :rubs hands together:

We have many intelligent people gathered together at this forum, and I'm betting that many have a plethora of pieces of interesting, if useless, trivia stashed away in their minds.

So this is an opportunity to post your most amazing, most mind bending, little known facts.

Members are quite welcome to disprove "facts" posted by other members if they are incorrect.

I'll get the ball rolling with a not very good one:

Did you know that the common brown hare (jackrabbit) is the fastest land animal in the UK? They can run at speeds of up to 45mph, which is faster than a racehorse, and I believe ranks them something like the 7th fastest land animal in the world.

I'm sure you lot can do better ;)

[tom haggen]

Hoofed animals are not native to Australia. Well this may be a well known fact elsewhere; a lot of my dumbass American friends don't know it.
Also, Fleas are arachnids.

[festergrump]

...that the phrase "The whole nine yards" was originally referring to the length of a Browning machinegun belt?

...the word "Cute" originally meant Bow-Legged? (of course, nowdays this would make Cutefix's name and Cute FTP program silly to think about). :eek:

...there is only ONE solar system in the entire vast universe? (the name of our sun is SOL, hence the word solar. All others are star systems. My teeth grind together when I hear a respectable astronomer mention a "solar system" out there in the vast beyond. His credibility goes to nil in my book and my dentist profits considerably). :(

I'm sure I can think of others later. Nice thread, Anthony. This should be more and more fun to read as the thread lengthens. :)

[EDIT: Another to add: The nursery rhyme "Ring Around the Rosies" was sung by children who feared the Bubonic Plague back in the day.

Ring aroung the rosies (dark rings around the eyes was one of the first signs of the infection).
Pockets full of posies (posies are a flower that was said to ward off the plague).
Ashes ashes (the bodies of the dead were burned to stop the plague from spreading further).
We all fall down (we all die).

Nice to think about, eh?]

[Skean Dhu]

73% of all statistics are made up on the spot ...its funny if you think about it.

Human beings are the only creatures to have mastered fire , yet be afraid of the dark.

If you fall into icey waters and pass out from lack of oxygen before you go into hypothermia, there is a chance you can be revived. Some little kid pulled something like that off after being sumerged for something like 5 hours. "your not dead 'till your warm and dead"

During World War II a russian pilot who was shot down, jumped out of his plane at 21,000 feet his plane was being chased by 12 messerschmidts so he decided to fall to 1000 feet before opening his chute, but he passed out , he landed in a snow filled ravine and survived w/ a concussion and fractured pelvis.

some stewardess beat him out in 1972 though, her DC-9 blew up at 33k feet and she survived.

[SweNMFan]

...that the phrase "The whole nine yards" was originally referring to the length of a Browning machinegun belt?

Hmm
from http://www.wordorigins.org/wordorw.htm

The explanation that is currently circulating around the internet most frequently is that nine yards was the length of a belt of machine gun ammunition carried by a WWII fighter plane. To "give it the whole nine yards" was to expend all of one's ammo. This explanation is almost certainly false. For one thing, the type of fighter varies with the teller, sometimes Spitfires in the Battle of Britain, sometimes varying American fighters in the South Pacific. Another reason to doubt it is that ammunition is either counted in rounds or by weight. It is never measured in length of a belt. Chapman points to an origin in the Army and Air Force, which fits in with the post-WWII-era origin, but is otherwise unexplained.

[~Phelixx~]

- The word "typewriter" is the longest word, made from only one row on the keyboard.
And the classic one:
- It is impossible to lick your elbow. And ofcourse, everyone has to try this out :)

[festergrump]

The explanation that is currently circulating around the internet most frequently is that nine yards was the length of a belt of machine gun ammunition carried by a WWII fighter plane.

I never said that it was from a machinegun from a fighterplane. It was from the Browning machinegun (a tripod mounted ground weapon) used most extensively in WWII by American troops. This is the 1919 Browning which gave the .50 cal BMG (Browning Machine Gun) round it's name. It is an oversized .30-06 round made specifically for this weapon. (later they chambered this machinegun (and others) for the .30-06, as well.

[Anthony]

The Prophet of Islam Muhammad, aged 53 married a 9 year old girl and promptly bedded her!

Islam is also a faith which caters for sexual diversity. Everyone knows that matyrs are rewarded with 72 virgins upon reaching paradise, but the Koran states that these can be girls or boys, depending on your taste! The virgins are enternally so, and have been touched my neither man nor god.

The last words of Admiral Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar were: "drink, drink, fan, fan, rub, rub". Referring to his thirst, heat and chest pains.

An average car with good tyres and brakes, in good conditions, can decelerate at a rate of almost 1G. This equates to a linear rate of 20mph/sec.

A "clip" is not something which goes into a handgun. That is a magazine. A clip is completely different, and is a strip of metal which holds cartridges by the rim.

Anyone who's seen the quiz show "QI" should have plenty of ammo for this thread :)

[SweNMFan]

I never said that it was from a machinegun from a fighterplane. It was from the Browning machinegun (a tripod mounted ground weapon) used most extensively in WWII by American troops. This is the 1919 Browning which gave the .50 cal BMG (Browning Machine Gun) round it's name. It is an oversized .30-06 round made specifically for this weapon. (later they chambered this machinegun (and others) for the .30-06, as well.

I only quoted what the linguist at http://www.wordorigins.org/ thougt and since they only could trace back the expression to the 1960's.. and as they say..

In summary, this is just one of those idiomatic phrases that defy explanation. This may not be satisfying, but it is not uncommon in English.

[SweNMFan]

G.I.
The original meaning of this term for American soldiers and their gear is somewhat obscure. It is commonly thought to stand for Government Issue or General Issue. In fact, it originally stood for Galvanized Iron. A G.I. can was a metal trash can. During WWI, German artillery shells were called G.I. cans.

Sometime during the 1930s, the idea that G.I. stood for government or general issue sprang up. During WWII, this idea took hold among the general populace and became a reference to anything having to do with the American military--especially common soldiers.

But while the origin may originally be galvanized iron, that origin lacks the humorous punch that propelled the phrase to stardom. The sardonic idea that soldiers were issued by the government instead of being born is what made the idea catch on.

[VX]

Coca cola DOES have cocain in it....

It is made from the coca plant, in times gone by this was fine, nowedays the cocaine is romoved from the plant chemicaly. However, no chemical process is 100% efficient and minute levels of cocaine remain.

[Corona]

“The Prophet of Islam Muhammad, aged 53 married a 9 year old girl and promptly bedded her!”

Ages on record are approximate and not accurate since the arabs of those days didn’t keep such records. According to different traditions “Ayesha” was at least 9 and at the most 17, 18. Nobody knows for sure, though many islamic scholars (specially Shiite) are fond of quoting the lower age, because it turns them on or something, thinking about it.


“Islam is also a faith which caters for sexual diversity. Everyone knows that martyrs are rewarded with 72 virgins..”

Slight correction… That’s *at least* 72 virgins *and* 80,000 servants. There is no upper limit… you can be given a billion people to screw if you deserve it. The number 70 or 72, or whatever, is for the very lowly. And this number is *not* mentioned in the Koran. It seems to be from a saying of Mohamed (which may or may not be authentic... there are many which don't match with the Koran and are therefore suspect).

Which brings me to a fact about “Martyrs” in Islam. Apart from people dead in wars and stuff, “Martyrs” also include people who

1.Die of protracted illness;

2.Who get squished under a bus while they were on their way to do a good deed;

3.People who die on the job… any job. (how many forum members qualify, I wonder?)

4.People who have lost body parts while doing their job. (Kurt Saxon and his fingers for example... he gets 72 virgins for sure).

Now for a fact from the top of my head… The first time ever F-16s saw real combat was with the Pakistan Airforce against the Soviets over the airspace bordering Afghanistan. (Soviets came out second best, of course).

[SweNMFan]

Now for a fact from the top of my head… The first time ever F-16s saw real combat was with the Pakistan Airforce against the Soviets over the airspace bordering Afghanistan. (Soviets came out second best, of course).

The first combat use of the F-16 was by the Israelis in 1981.. PAF didn't get them untill 1983.. The pakistanis lost a F-16 over Afganistan 1987-04-29 when they engaged a flight of Mig-23s .. (And the Soviet jets didn't carry any AA missiles.. :confused: )

http://vayu-sena.tripod.com/1980s-f16kill1.html

The IAF also was the first to use the F-15 in combat.. also in 1981.. IAF used F-16s and F-15s to bomb and destroy the reactor in Iraq..
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/History/Osirak.html

[Corona]

Oops! Forgot the IAF....

Anyway, for more on kills by the F-16 (PAF) see here:

http://www.pakdef.info/pakmilitary/airforce/war/indexafghanwar.html


"The pakistanis lost a F-16 over Afganistan 1987-04-29"

If this is the same plane I think it is (we only lost one as far as I know) then no, the Russkies didn't shoot the poor fellow.


The first USAF kill by an F-16 was made in the first Gulf War. That was also the first BVR (beyond visual range) kill.

[tmp]

The license plates on cars used by most U.S. government agencies
are prefixed with the letters "GI" followed by a number. I'm sure this
means "Government Issue" despite any previous definitions of "GI".

P.S. SweNMFan, love part of your sig - "pee on on the electric fence",
OH, MY ACHING BALLS !

[Skean Dhu]

An israeli F-15 got its right wing sheared off while in a dog fight, it was able to fly back to the airstrip and land. go here for the cool picture. http://www.40th-bomb-wing.com/contrail-5.html

The jugular is not on either side of the neck, but rather directly below the chin in the crook where the two colar bones meet. I don't know how many times I hear people and movies talk about jugular hits when they actually are talking about carotid vein/artery(depending on the side of the neck) hits. It annoys me to no end when people make this mistake. I was watching Black Hawk down and started flipping out when they made thie mistake.....the movie was doing rather well in the accuracey department too.

[zeocrash]

how about this for some trivia then.
santa clause used to traditionally have green and brown clothes, but these were changed to red and white by the coca cola corporation at the begining of the 20th century to promote coca cola.

[nbk2000]

I just licked my elbow, so there's another 'Impossiblity' I've overcome. :p (helps to have a Gene Simons' like tongue, so maybe I'm blessed? ;))

DYK?...an acre is the size of an american football field, minus the endzones? Much easier to visualize it that way, huh?

[Flake2m]

The lethal DOse for Heroin is ~170mg-200mg. However hardened junkies have been known to survive overdoes of 1800-2000mg!

[Hobbit Porn]

VX : do you have a source to back up that coca-cola does have cocaine in it still? I've read that these days that it is no longer made with E. Coca, but another Erythroxylum, which has either none, or extremely low amounts of cocaine in it.


FLake2M : that statment is misleading...as a junkie normally would not be buying pure heroin...alot of the dosage would just be filler.

[Anthony]

santa clause used to traditionally have green and brown clothes, but these were changed to red and white by the coca cola corporation at the begining of the 20th century to promote coca cola.

Apparently not :) http://www.snopes.com/cokelore/santa.asp


Your DYK about coke containing cocaine got me googling and I found this page:http://www.snopes.com/cokelore/ quite interesting.

I do wonder how much cocaine would be a modern can of coke. The "facts" say coke was "completely cocaine free" by 1929. By 1902 they had reduced the amount to a trace (they wanted to keep some in to gaurd the coca-cola name). Best estimates say that "trace" was about 1 part in 50 million. Or about six-hundredths of an ounce in an years supply of ~25 million gallons of coke syrup.

I'm guessing that nowadays it's probably going to be in the PPB range :)

DYK: During WW2 an avid pigeon fancier submitted to the MoD a working prototype of a pigeon-guided missile - and it worked!

DYK: If you could count the number of times a cricket chirps in one minute, divide by 2, add 9 and divide by 2 again, you would have the correct temperature in celcius degrees.

DKY: The Earth is not round - it is flattened at the poles.

DYK: If the statue of a person on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle; if the horse has one front leg in the air, the person died as a result of wounds recieved in battle; if the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes.

DYK: A dissproportionate number of murderers are left handed.

[SweNMFan]

DYK: During WW2 an avid pigeon fancier submitted to the MoD a working prototype of a pigeon-guided missile - and it worked!

Think it was the RAF that had tested using pigeons on their SAR helos in a small compartment in the nose. The compartment had 3 food dispensers, left right and in front of the pigeon. So when the pigeon saw the orange lifejacket it started picking on the dispenser in that direction.. and a light lit up in the cockpit telling the pilot witch way to fly.. FLPV (Forward Looking Pigeon Vision) poor mans FLIR :D

And during WW2 Swedish navy trained pigeons to land on the periscope of submarines.. :D

And about Coca-Cola.. In Sweden CC Company got tired of not being the most selling softdrink around X-mas.. (They are loosing badly to "Julmust" (a rootbeer kinda drink)) so they decides to start making "julmust" themselves this year..

[VX]

Hobbit Porn: http://members.lycos.co.uk/thomassheils/faq.htm

[Chris The Great]

And the classic one:
- It is impossible to lick your elbow. And ofcourse, everyone has to try this out :)
It is possible, I can do it and know three other people who can. It is somewhat unpleasant to do, as it crushes the muscle when pulled back that far without dislocating, but it can be done.

Obviously, I can't post a picture of me doing it though :p

[Hobbit Porn]

Anthony.. RE the number of hooves in the air in a statue. According to snopes.com that is false. http://www.snopes.com/military/statue.htm

[Anthony]

Arseholes! :D Should have double-checked that one!

Ok, better try to redeem myself. DYK:

"Buffalo Bill" was a complete misnomer - there weren't any buffalos in America, only bison :)

[festergrump]

Wow, Anthony, that's a new one on me. I've been telling tales for a long time then. I'll adjust accordingly: "Mexicans are living proof the Indians fucked the BISON!". :D

I simply couldn't resist.

[Jacks Complete]

Name the most northerly, easterly, westerly and southerly states of the USA.

















Alaska, Alaska, Alaska and Hawaii!
Basically, a bit of Alaska crosses the date line. ;)

[festergrump]

Wouldn't Maine be the most easterly?

(Edit: The date line. Took me awhile, but I got it. I even busted my globe out of the dark recesses of a closet...lol...I'm a sucker...). :rolleyes: :)

My turn: DYK that beer was brewed long before wine was ever fermented?

[knowledgehungry]

DYK:
A cat has 32 muscles in each ear.
A crocodile cannot stick out its tongue.
A dragonfly has a life span of 24 hours.
A goldfish has a memory span of three seconds.
A "jiffy" is an actual unit of time for 1/100th of a second.
A shark is the only fish that can blink with both eyes.
A snail can sleep for three years.
AlCapone's business card said he was a used furniture dealer.
All 50 states are listed across the top of the Lincoln Memorial on the back of the $5 bill.
Almonds are a member of the peach family.
An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain.
Babies are born without kneecaps. They don't appear until the child reaches 2 to 6 years of age.
Butterflies taste with their feet.
Cats have over one hundred vocal sounds. Dogs only have about 10.
"Dreamt" is the only English word that ends in the letters "mt".
February 1865 is the only month in recorded history not to have a full moon.
In the last 4,000 years, no new animals have been domesticated.
If the population of China walked past you, in single file, the line would never end because of the rate of reproduction.
If you are an average American, in your whole life, you will spend an average of 6 months waiting at red lights.
It's impossible to sneeze with your eyes open.
LeonardoDa Vinci invented the scissors.
Maine is the only state whose name is just one syllable.
No word in the English language rhymes with month, orange, silver, or purple.
On a Canadian two dollar bill, the flag flying over the Parliament building is an American flag.
Our eyes are always the same size from birth, but our nose and ears never stop growing.
Peanuts are one of the ingredients of dynamite. (Any verification of this?)
Rubber bands last longer when refrigerated.
"Stewardesses" is the longest word typed with only the left hand and
"lollipop" with your right.
The average person's left hand does 56% of the typing.
The cruise liner, QE2, moves only six inches for each gallon of diesel that
it burns.
The microwave was invented after a researcher walked by a radar tube and a
chocolate bar melted in his pocket.
The sentence: "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" uses every letter
of the alphabet.
The winter of 1932 was so cold that Niagara Falls froze completely solid.
There are 293 ways to make change for a dollar.
There are more chickens than people in the world.
There are only four words in the English language which end in "dous":
tremendous, horrendous, stupendous, and hazardous
There are two words in the English language that have all five vowels in
order: "abstemious" and "facetious."
There's no BettyRubble in the FlintstonesChewables Vitamins.
Tigers have striped skin, not just striped fur.
Winston Churchill was born in a ladies' room during a dance.
Women blink nearly twice as much as men.
Your stomach has to produce a new layer of mucus every two weeks; otherwise it will digest itself.


How is that for useless?



-------

[Joeychemist]

WOW! that is useless :D


Dyk; That the Bangladesh government is the most corrupt in the world.

[kingspaz]

http://www.pnl.gov/pals/resource_cards/Dragonflies.stm

knowledgehundry, dragonflies can live from 2 weeks up to 2 months...

mayflies however only live about 24 hr as their mouth parts are non functional :eek:

http://www.ent.iastate.edu/dept/courses/ent201/diversity/ephemeroptera/090lifespan.html

[Mr.Azo]

knowledgehungry: "A goldfish has a memory span of three seconds. "
According to Discovery Channel`s "Mythbusters", a goldfish seems to have a memory span that exceeds 3 seconds. Tests were not performed by scientists though..

Damn, I knew I was right, he always changes his face expression when I enter the room.. :-)

[Anthony]

As many pond owners will tell you, goldfish know what time of day their meals arrive (if regular), and recognise a human at the edge of the pond, at these times means food!

"It's impossible to sneeze with your eyes open"

I assume this means without holding them open with your fingers? As I have done this, and no, your eyeballs don't pop out :)

DKY: The cocaine industry is worth more anually than Microsoft or GM motors?

[Joeychemist]

Dyk;
that the word shrapnel is derived from the name of Henry Shrapnel, an English artillery officer.

In 1784 Lieutenant Shrapnel began developing, on his own time and at his own expense, an antipersonnel weapon composed of a hollow spherical projectile filled with shot and an explosive charge. It was designed to detonate in midair, scattering the shot and shell fragments.
Before Shrapnel's invention was adopted, artillery attacked infantry or cavalry with ("canister or case") a tin container filled with iron balls. When the gun fired the container burst open at the muzzle. Up to 300 metres it caused heavy casualties. At longer ranges, common shell, hollow cast iron spheres filled with gunpowder were used, but their fragmentation was poor.

Shrapnel's shells, filled with musket balls, released them above the target, allowing them to carry on with the "remaining velocity" of the shell. If the point on the trajectory at which the shells burst was well-chosen the balls would reach the target with lethal velocity. They were simply hollow cast-iron spheres filled with a mixture of balls and powder, with a crude time fuse, but they increased the effective range of case from 300 to about 1100 meters.

The British artillery adopted his invention in 1803 with universal enthusiasm. The Duke of Wellington used it beginning in 1808 against Napoleon, including the Battle of Waterloo, and wrote admiringly of its effectiveness. Since then the word shrapnel has been adotped by the english langeuge.

[cursed-flesh]

On average 100 people die from choking on "bic" ballpoint pens every year

My friend in grade 1 (he's 22 now) shoved a smartie up his nose and sneezed. It somehow retrojected up his nasal passage and managed to lodge itself into the bottom of his frontal lobe and couldn't be removed. I still don't know how the hell that could happen.

Heinz ketchup in the glass bottles when turned upside down, travel on average 25 miles per year.

Santa Claus is dead
http://www.chaosmatrix.org/library/humor/calpoly.html

[Desmikes]

The lowest point in the world is the shoreline of the Dead Sea in Israel, which is 430m below sea level.

Africa has the shortest coastline of all the continents.

The expression "Gesundheit" (German), "God bless you" (English) began in the Middle Ages when bubonic plague was ravaging Europe. In the final stages of the disease, the afflicted had fits of sneezing, so people were "blessing" them on to afterlife.

Blind people (from birth) "feel" and "hear" their dreams, people who loose sight "see" fewer and fewer dreams.

From creationist and from evolutionist logic the chicken comes before the egg. (let me know if you care for explanation)

[Skean Dhu]

The lowest point in the world is not in isreal, but rather in the mariana trench of the coast of Japan The deepest part of the ocean is believed to be the Mariana Trench, located southeast of Japan. This trench reaches a depth of 11035 m (36204 ft), which can be compared to the height of Mount Everest at 8848 m (29028 ft).
, http://oceanlink.island.net/ask/deepsea.html#anchor98352
That Having been said, the dead sea is the lowest dry-land point on earth.

Also I would care for the Chicken/egg explanation

[draco aster]

DYK that if an ostrich looks up when it is raining and is hit in the eye with a drop, that it will fall over and die.

[Silentnite]

From creationist and from evolutionist logic the chicken comes before the egg. (let me know if you care for explanation)

"Chicken and egg are laying in bed and it's obvious they've just had sex. The Chicken is laying there smoking a cigarrette with a satisfied look on his face. The egg looks over and observes 'I guess that answers THAT question' "
Meanwhile...

*Einstein couldn't speak fluently when he was nine. His parents thought he might be retarded.
*In 1983, a Japanese artist made a copy of the Mona Lisa completely out of toast.
*In 1984, a Canadian farmer began renting ad space on his cows.
*An average person laughs about 15 times a day.
*The average person is about a quarter of an inch taller at night.
*The condom - made originally of linen - was invented in the early 1500s.
*The first-known contraceptive was crocodile dung, used by Egyptians in 2000 B.C.
*America's first nudist organization was founded in 1929, by 3 men.
*A Saudi Arabian woman can get a divorce if her husband doesn't give her coffee.
*The Neanderthal's brain was bigger than yours is.
*The average bank teller loses about $250 every year.
*Every person has a unique tongue print.
*Women's hearts beat faster than men's.
*Only 55% of all Americans know that the sun is a star.
*Most American car horns honk in the key of F.
*About 70% of Americans who go to college do it just to make more money. [The rest of us are avoiding reality for four more years.]
*Sigmund Freud had a morbid fear of ferns.
*Most lipstick contains fish scales.
*Hypnotism is banned by public schools in San Diego.
*The three best-known western names in China: Jesus Christ, Richard Nixon, and Elvis Presley.
*27% of U.S. male college students believe life is "a meaningless existential hell."
*Thomas Edison was afraid of the dark.
*"Kemo Sabe" means "soggy shrub" in Navajo.

[Hobbit Porn]

DYK The Filming of the TV series MASH lasted longer then the Korean War in which it was based.

[SweNMFan]

The new buzz here DPPP also means Disabled People Parking Permit in Canada

[SoulShadow]

when riding a motorcycle at moderate to high speeds, turning the handlebars left will cause you to turn right and vice versa (dont believe me on it.....try it, I build the fuckin things)

[festergrump]

I can definitely back you up on that, SoulShadow. I had to take a motorcycle riding course back in '86 to get my class M license before the age of 18 and they drilled it through our heads. It works great because it puts you automatically in the proper lean for the curve related to your speed.

DYK... That the airbrakes test when testing for a commercial drivers license is the second most failed test? (It's second only to HAZMAT, which is not required to get a CDL but most companies whos drivers drive Over The Road [ie: longhaul] are required to have this endorsement).

DYK... That airbrakes do not respond even half as quickly when applied as hydraulic brakes? They are used on heavy commercial vehicles for their power and not for responce time, also for the obvious problems of combination vehicles (tractor/trailer combinations). (Hydraulic brake lines would need to be bled every time a gladhand is uncoupled and coupled to a new trailer). Something to think about next time you look in your rearview mirror and see a tractor-trailor right behind you. (In the USA, fully loaded to limit and not requiring an overload permit they can weigh a gross total of just over 80,000 lbs.

DYK... Statistically, trucks hauling hanging meat turn over more than any other due to weigh tranfer from side to side (they call this "flipping burgers")? Tanker trucks hauling liquid foodstuffs rearend more cars than any other due to the smoothbore tank (without baffles) surging forward and pushing the entire truck forward despite braking action (right through intersections, even, especially when road conditions are not ideal)?

DYK... In the US, a driver having two logbook pages in his possession or in his truck having the same driver name and date has committed a felony offense unless one of the pages has VOID written across it boldly?

DYK... Currently in the state of Virginia if caught in any motor vehicle with a radar detector you will not only be subject to a fine but also made to chock your radar detector under a wheel of your motor vehicle and run over it? This has happened to me and several of my driver friends, unfortunately. (mine was a week old) :(

[tmp]

Festergrump, being a commercial driver myself I can back you up on what
you said about air brakes. Last week I took a trainee for his CDL tests
and surprisingly he passed the air brake portion but failed to inspect some
other important aspects of the vehicle. At least he won't have to do the
air brakes when he retests. As for air brake "lag" it seems to depend upon
the system. My buses react almost instantly. I can't say the same for the
trucks however.

DYK, that if you apply or renew a HAZMAT endorsement, you have to fill
out paperwork and be investigated under the Patriot Act ?

Most American car horns honk in the key of F ? Does it mean "Get the
FUCK out of my way !" ?

As for crushing your own radar detector, I'm sure it puts a smile on the
face of Deputy Dog !

[festergrump]

Tmp, I wasn't aware that I'd be investigated... only that I have to take this test over again when I renew my license in November. This is the only test I will have to take over, though, and everyone has to retake it just in case things have changed since they last passed it.

I had my fun with driving and now I'm back to cabinetry. (Home sweet home). Never know, though. I might want to spread my wings again and get back out there and see the country once more. The outfit I was with bounced me around the NE more than I care to remember, though... tolls, tolls tolls, and only two seasons: Winter and Road Construction... :rolleyes:

I notice you are from Maryland. Is beer the only thing cheap up there? I've been layed over in Jessup at the TA many times and the only thing I liked about it was the cheap beer and the danger. It's a rather unruly place. Lots of shit goes on after dark at the TA. CB on channel 19 is the comedy channel there, it seems... One good thing, there was a bar/liquor store down the street and I used to drop my trailer at the TA and bobtail down there for a bit of fun. A 30 pack of Bud was only $15 to carry out. (they don't even sell 30 packs here in Georgia yet. A case will run you $19 here). :o (guess we're behind the times, eh?).

[xyz]

Make a radar detector with a reinforced box like a black box flight recorder (although it needn't be THAT strong).

Then you can run backwards and forwards over it all the piggie likes :p

If mag lites can be run over without being damaged, then why not radar detectors?

[Anthony]

I don't see any way they can legally make you destroy your radar detector. If they have the power to confiscate it, then so be it. But running over it would be criminal damage, littering, risk of damage to tyres, as well as abuse of police power and intimidation.

I assume it's just their "bit of fun", with no legal grounding. However, should you refuse they'd hassle you elseways (e.g. spend 2 hours inspecting your car for "defects". :rolleyes:

Are radar detectors specifically banned? In the UK, they used to be illegal, until someone challenged the prosecution. The offence was not specifically of using a detector, but of intercepting a police transmission (i.e recieving the radar signal from their emitter). it was sucessfully objected that the transmission contained by data, and therefore, you could illegally intercept it.

Better add a DYK:

Did you know that Roguesci is great? :)

[Cyclonite]

You almost can't turn a motorcycle with handle bars at high speeds, its all about leaning. If you were to give the bars a good jerk to the left you would go down left right and up......keep the rubber down

[festergrump]

It's a slight movement. You don't jerk the handlebars at all.

Picture yourself riding for a moment. You are coming up on a gradual curve to the left. With your left hand you push the handlebar away from you (thus, in effect turning the front wheel to the RIGHT slightly). This will put you in the precise lean neccesary for you to roll on the throttle and continue thru the curve to your left. Of course once you are in the lean you let up on your left hand pressure on the handlebars and all is well). It's a very natural and fluid motion. Try it sometime, even on a bicycle it works so long as your going at least 10 or 15 mph.

Anthony, I'm sure you are right. It's probably one of those things that the piggies in Virginia like to do for fun. I have no idea of the actual law in that state but it is common practice for them to do this. They probably used to run them over with their own patrol car while you were made to watch until some joker got tired of fines and replacing his RD and decided to fill the void in the casing with a couple of nails or some AP. LOL. That would have been a sight! I know for sure that I didn't want this piggie holding me up for any longer than neccesary, though. A thorough search of my sleeper berth might have made me late for my appointment... among other things. ;) BTW, as far as I know or have heard of, Virginia is the only state where radar detectors are illegal to have in yor vehicle.

XYZ, That's a truly great idea... Whistler needs to come out with a "Virginia 2000" model... :D

DYK... That Jimi Hendrix almost joined the band Emerson, Lake, and Palmer? This would have made the band HELP instead of ELP. (I was lucky enough to see ELP in 1987 [I think it was], though it was Cozy Powell sitting in for Carl Palmer. Damned the luck! One of the best shows I've seen to date, though.)

[tmp]

DYK: Radar detectors are illegal in the District Of Columbia also ?

Festergrump, the beer is about the only that's cheap in Maryland. Just
about everything else is overpriced. Maryland is also one the highest
taxing states in the U.S.. You said that sometimes you layed over in
Jessup ? I'll assume that's in the area of Interstate 95 and Route 175.

As for requirements on HAZMAT endorsements, I had to fill out a special
form for the Patriot Act as well as retake the law test when I renewed
my CDL in 2002.

[Zimbabwe!]

I'll be getting my CDL again very soon. After 13 years of different employment experiences, I decided to go back to the road and relax. I was just informed by my future employer that now they actually send your prints to the FBI and do a complete background check when you apply for the HAZMAT license. I am going to save $35 and get my CCW permit at the same time since they do the same FBI check. Should be easy since it is issued by the local sheriff and she really likes me after I nabbed a tweaking B&E dirtbag trying to break into a neighbor's house last May and she cleared 11 cases because of me. I'm Da Man in her eyes. :cool:


And for my contribution:
DYN that a 44 Magnum isn't a .44 caliber. It's actually only .429 but I guess 43 Magnum just doesn't sound quite as impressive.