It’s Saturday, and that means it is time to clear out the accumulated links. This week’s stew is an even more tasty jambalaya than usual, as I accumulated a lot of links that never themed out to the minimum of three:
- Travel Ain’t What It’s Cracked Up To Be. Yesterday, I mentioned an interesting article on how flying actually was in the 1950s and 1960s. I had originally planned to pair that up with this article about the workhorse of Africa — the Peugeot 304 — and how it is finally starting to fade away. As Peugeot closed its assembly plant in Nigeria some years ago, and as “Africa’s growing middle-class” has shifted out of Peugeot sedans and into Toyota Land Cruisers as status symbols, the Peugeot is being seen less and less.
- Books to Wyoming. I wasn’t sure where this one would fit… perhaps in an article on changing times. The article is about two women who 13 years ago escaped Denver for the wilds of Wyoming, taking their 70,000 books and bookstore with them. They are doing what they want in the middle of nowhere — running a thriving scholarly oasis with a touch of oddball rural charm. Their eccentric Mad Dog and the Pilgrim bookstore offers 70,000 used and antiquarian texts — more books than the average Barnes and Noble — from a lonely wind-swept crossroads with a population between three and five, depending on the season.
- Tortilla Cartel. I had no idea where to put this one: an article with five reasons to avoid the largest producer of tortillas and masa in America. However, for those who care about the types of companies that produce the food we eat, it is a valid concern.
- Pad Kid Poured Curd Pulled Cod. That, my friends, is supposedly the trickiest tongue twister ever. I always thought it was “Bugs Black Blood”, but what do I know. Speaking of twists of language, a few days ago was Pythagoras Day, as noted in this article titled “Sum Squares Sum Squares“.
- The Power of Google. I had two Google-related items, but couldn’t find a third. In the first, Google has now announced a way for you to export and take away your email and calendar — that’s right, you can download it. In the other item, Google has amped up holiday pictures by adding snowflakes falling when there is snow in the background, and twinkles when there are lights. Just what you needed, right?
- You Don’t Want Me Anymore. I had two articles about things going away because they weren’t wanted anymore. In the first, unwanted pets from Las Vegas were being flown to… Canada. It seems Vegas had loads of excess and abandoned pets (due to foreclosures), and Canada needed pets due to spay and neuter laws. In the other Sears has decided that it no longer wants Lands End.
- And Lastly… a Las Vegas-based Facebook has been established to let plus-size women know they are beautiful. They could have just asked me 🙂
Just as well-Sears took Lands End from a retailer of well-made sturdy basic clothing that was mostly natural fibers (except for the fleeces) and came in women’s plus sizes that actually fit me, to a fast-fashion ripoff full of polyester blends in poorly constructed, ugly styles. They’re more like a boring overpriced copy of H&M now. Maybe the split will result in a return to previous form.