Was the 1973 oil embargo against the United States the reason we can now make a right turn at a red light?

Well, what do you know?

Next week we see the official beginning of fall!  That’s right, folks, on September 22 – that’s this coming Monday – at 2:19 p.m. EDT, autumn begins.  (I included the time for those of you who, like me, celebrate the change of seasons on the dot.  I live a very dull life.)

The leaves have already started to change their colors, as they do at this time of year.  And Labor Day was the unofficial end of summer anyway, but hey … celebrate with me.

Do what I do every fall – I trip and fall.

Meanwhile, enjoy the trivia!

Did you know …

… the invention of modern glitter was an accident?  In 1934, a New Jersey cattle rancher, Henry Ruschmann (1896-1974), was trying to find a way to cut plastic or mylar sheets into tiny pieces to dispose of them.  He developed a process to grind the plastic and mylar into those desired tiny pieces, and rather than dispose of the result, he found a fun use for it – and modern glitter was born.  (At least they’re not crushing pretty beetles, like the ancient Egyptians did!)

… penguins are able to drink sea water?  Well, not directly.  The birds have a special organ in their heads, just above their eyes, that converts sea water to fresh water.  (We, too, have such a special organ in the same place – though it only converts thoughts into whatever we do with them.)

… some people believe we are involved in a war with aliens?  Of course, it’s a “secret war,” as you would expect with the extraterrestrials.  As the story goes, there was a battle in 1979 in which sixty people died; it’s referred to as “The Alien-Human Battle of Dulce.”  The town of Dulce actually exists in New Mexico; Albuquerque businessman Paul Bennewitz (1927-2003) believed there was a plot by aliens to colonize Earth, and they were using Dulce as their headquarters.  More reasonable explanations for the stuff found near Dulce include underground missile installations from the Cold War.  Dulce residents have reported UFOs, moving lights, and other unexplained aerial phenomena, and in 2016 the town hosted the “Dulce Base UFO Conference” at the local casino.  (Some people will believe anything.)

…  the most popular name for a boat is Obsession?  (People are obsessed with that name.)

… a prank came back to bite a restaurant?  In 2002, the Panama City Beach, Florida outlet of the national restaurant chain Hooters™ promised a Toyota to the waitress who could sell the most beer in a month.  Many of the restaurant’s waitresses took the challenge, but none could compare with Jodee Berry (born 1975), who won the contest.  But Berry’s joy of winning was short-lived after she was presented with her prize – a “toy Yoda,” a plastic figure of the popular Star Wars Jedi master.  Everyone thought the purported April Fool’s joke was funny – everyone, that is, except Berry.  She immediately quit the restaurant and hired an attorney, taking the restaurant to court for breach of contract and fraudulent misrepresentation.  Faced with a huge amount of negative publicity and a backlash from customers, the restaurant quickly settled.  Berry’s attorney could not disclose the details of the settlement the restaurant reached with her, but he did admit one thing – Berry could now go pick the “new Toyota” she wanted from a local dealership.  (The Force was with her!)

… you can make a right turn at a red light because of an oil embargo?  In 1973, eleven members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, or OPEC, instituted an oil embargo against the United States in retaliation for the U.S. support of Israel.  This caused huge increases in the price of gasoline, and in response Congress passed in 1975 the Energy Policy and Conservation Act.  The law provided money to states that came up with energy efficiency plans, and one of the required parts of the plan had to be allowing drivers to turn right after coming to a full stop on red lights or stop signs.  The idea was to keep at least some drivers from wasting fuel idling at a stop light if they were going to turn right anyway.  The last state to allow a right turn on red was Massachusetts, and they had to be dragged into the idea kicking and screaming, grudgingly allowing the procedure in 1980.

… LEGO™ toys are in space?  In 2011, three LEGO figures – made to represent the Roman god Jupiter, the Roman goddess Juno, and real-life astronomer Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) – were launched into space aboard the Juno spacecraft, bound for Jupiter.  (Nice.  I like that.)

… your ranch dressing has titanium dioxide in it?  What’s titanium dioxide?  It’s a chemical that is found in body lotion and sunscreen, and also in some ranch dressing.  It gives the substance its white coloring.  (You probably didn’t really want to know that, did you?)

… what the collective term for a group of starling is?  It’s a murmuration.  (Which is a rather unwieldy term, and that’s why nobody talks much about groups of starlings.)

… a sequel to The Wizard of Oz has a very dark, disturbing story line?  In 1985, the movie Return to Oz was made, with actress Fairuza Balk (born 1974) taking on the role of Dorothy Gale, played in the 1939 original by Judy Garland (1922-1969).  The sequel begins six months after the original, and has a deeply depressed Dorothy taken to a mental hospital because she “won’t stop talking about some place that doesn’t exist” and nobody believing what happened.  Her trip back to Oz is pretty traumatic, too – the Oz she left is in ruins, the Yellow Brick Road dismantled, and her friends (Scarecrow, Tin Man and Cowardly Lion) turned to stone.  (Yep, just what that classic movie needed … a downer sequel.)

Now … you know!