Long month; many new ideas, thoughts, trivia, and items of interest for you.

1. Old coffee grounds do NOT act as fertilizer; instead, the caffeine (yes, even in used grounds) acts as an herbicide. (I read this in a science magazine.) This could explain the poor growth in the planting bed by my front porch. . . 24 years of using an herbicide instead of fertilizer. . . oy vey.

2. The creature that I was certain is a vole is almost certainly a gopher, according to Trail Guy. None of the animal reference books at the cabin have gophers in them, so how was I to know? By asking Trail Guy instead of consulting the books, of course.

3. Have you heard the saying “Someone got a wild hair” to describe random or risky behavior? Turns out that the saying is “wild hare”; I wonder why an untamed rabbit causes people to go rogue.

4. Did you know that very few people value their hubcaps? I’m certain there must be a study, a poll, or a survey that confirms this. I have sent photos of the found hubcaps to the place where Mineral King folks get their news, and NO ONE CARES. They recently went into the trash.

5. A friend of mine is frugal almost to the point of absurdity; I have learned many things from her through the years. (The Queen of Cheapa) A recent adventure in frugality was fixing her own tooth when a crown fell off. She bought dental cement online, rinsed with peroxide, dried the tooth, and reapplied her own crown. I wonder how long it will last; if I hear more, I will include it on another Learned List for you.

6. Enzyme cleaners in tablet form for contact lenses have become impossible to find. ‘Tis a mystery.

7. Everything is a process. Want insurance? Start making phone calls, working through “phone trees”, leaving messages, waiting. Want to do something with your phone? Start making phone calls, leaving messages, listening to robots lying to you about “your call is very important to us”. Need a medical appointment? Be prepared to be on hold, to hear multiple reassuring messages about how much “we care about your health”, and then plan on getting multiple phone calls to “preregister”, to “verify”, to “confirm”, and to “prepare”. My opinion is that everyone is overloaded with precautions that waste everyone’s time, all in the hopes of not getting sued. It all comes down to lawyers and insurance. Further, big companies are difficult to deal with.

8. If you switch cell phone providers, you have to get a A. transfer PIN, B. account number (which account #??), C. unlock your phone from the previous provider. I emboldened C because the new provider neglected to mention this and many hours were wasted on the phone with the new provider trying to establish the reason for the new phone’s inability to work. The phones are still locked after more wasted time with the old provider, our old nemesis Huge & Rude (and incomprehensible).(See #7 and then find our new vocabulary word on #10)

9. The Clover Creek Bridge in Sequoia National Park was NOT built by the Civilian Conservation Corps; it was built by a construction company before the CCCs came into the Park. Additionally there is another one like it that most people just fly over without actually seeing: the Marble Fork Bridge (the creek after it runs through Lodgepole campground). You can learn more about these bridges on Tulare County Treasures.

10. A friend sent me this most excellent new word: “ineptocracy”. (see item #7) Look at the definition, and see if you can relate:  Ineptocracy (in-ep-toc’-ra-cy) – a system of government where the least capable to lead, are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed, are rewarded with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a diminishing number of producers.

11. Here is a little gift of a link to a very touching story on Tim Cotton Writes: The Last Impala.

Perhaps you could use a peaceful seasonal image after all that information. I am happy to oblige.