Posts filed under ‘Despite Popular Belief’
Australian Toilets Do Not Flush in the Opposite Direction
Despite what you may believe, being in the secret business is not glamorous. Nothing in school prepares you for this many late afternoons, drinking whipped cream topped drinks at Starbucks.
Actually, college did prepare me for that, but it’s still not glamorous. Take my word for it. Just the other day I was sitting by the pool thinking, “what am I going to write about for tomorrow?” I couldn’t come up with anything at all.
For inspiration, I moved to the hot tub — maybe some bubbles would help. You wouldn’t believe it, I still couldn’t come up with an idea! It usually comes naturally and the hardest part of my day is answering repetitive questions like, “what is it like to be such a handsome and successful blogger?”
I’m kidding of course, except about the lack of glamor, not that you really expected it to be glamorous anyway. The truth is, I don’t sit by any pool or hot tub and I rarely drink whipped cream topped drinks at Starbucks. I work a normal day job and write this blog at night.
It’s probably a lot more work than you may realize; even before I start writing I spend a lot of time digging for ideas and accurate sources to come up with something I think you’ll find interesting, and sometimes really helpful. The most common real question I get is, “where do you get all of your ideas?” There are two main sources. (more…)
The History of St. Patrick’s Day
March 17th is the big day. I’m giving you some notice so you can dig to the bottom of your laundry pile, find your green shirt from last year and put it in the washing machine.
If you can’t find a green shirt, go with a blue one instead. According to historians, blue was the original color associated with Saint Patrick. In fact, the 1912 dress code for Lord Chamberlain specified that the household of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland should wear St. Patrick’s blue.
The 1924 Irish Olympic football team wore St Patrick’s blue and the Northern Ireland team (known then as the “Ireland association football team”) wore St. Patrick’s blue jerseys from 1882 until 1931, when they switched to green.
Let me tell you why… (more…)
Dishwasher Detergent Has Bleach In It
I learned it the hard way.
A couple weeks ago, I popped the cap off the dishwasher detergent and some splattered on me. I didn’t think much of it, but a couple hours later I noticed one of my favorite t-shirts had pink spots on it.
It surprised me, but I knew immediately what caused it. Just to be sure, I checked the dishwasher detergent ingredients and there it was, “Chlorine Bleach.” I knew we had another brand, so I checked that one too — same thing!
That was news to me and I asked a few other people if they knew dishwasher detergent contained bleach and it was news to them too. The question is why?
Big Mac Sauce is Not Just Thousand Island Dressing
There is no shortage of McDonald’s secrets. In a previous post, I talked about the secret markings on McDonald’s cups that indicate proper ice and soda levels.
Now, I want to talk about the Big Mac. It was invented by Jim Delligatti, one of the earliest McDonald’s franchisees. It was so popular at his restaurants, McDonald’s made it a national menu item in 1967. (more…)
Warm Your Car Up Faster
My friend Todd told me about this secret many years ago. He has rebuilt more cars in his suburban home garage than anyone I know.
I met Todd at my first part time job, we used to work early weekend mornings during high school. I was too young to have a driver’s license, so my dedicated parents would always drive me.
That was before remote starters, so I would usually start the car a few minutes before leaving. Actually, that’s not true — my Dad was usually the one starting the car a few minutes before I was ready to leave, which was about 10 minutes after I told him I would be ready to leave.
It didn’t make much difference to the car — it was still cold for at least half the trip. On the rare occasion that I started the car, I would turn the heater to its hottest setting and turn the fan to full blast. That’s actually the slowest way to warm the car, so lets talk more about the fastest way. (more…)
Peanuts Are Not Actually Nuts
Sorry, this is not about Charlie Brown. I’m talking about the peanuts that some of us love to eat and others are deathly allergic to. Those peanuts are seeds and they belong to the legume family, along with beans, peas, alfalfa, lentils and others.
In fact, many things we typically consider nuts, do not meet the botanical definition of a nut. Try to pick out the non-nuts from this list:
- Almonds
- Brazil Nuts
- Cashews
- Coconuts
- Macadamia Nuts
- Pine Nuts
- Pistachios
- Walnuts
You probably guessed that coconuts are not actually nuts, and you’re right. If you guessed any of the others are not nuts, you’re right too — none of them are real nuts!
A nut is a hard shelled fruit that comes from a plant whose fruit does not open to release its seed. A nut is a composite of the fruit and seed, some examples of true nuts are: acorns, beechnuts, chestnuts and hazelnuts.
Some people avoid nuts because they are high in fat, but that’s actually the reason nuts are such a nutritious fruit. The Omega 3 fatty acids in nuts are believed to lower lipid levels (the “bad cholesterol”). Nuts also contain linoleic and linolenic acids, which are important for healthy growth, hair, skin, blood pressure, and immunological response. They are also rich in protein, folate, fiber, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, copper and selenium.
So, if you’ve been avoiding them, forget about it!
Go nuts.
Broken Secrets
Written By: Chad Upton
[available on Kindle]
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Sources: Nuts, Dehiscence
Idling a Cold Engine Is GOOD For The Environment
You may notice when you start a cold vehicle, its exhaust is visible at first and disappears after a few minutes. Here’s why.
Technically, modern vehicles do not require much warm up time before you can drive them; advanced lubricants and materials allow the vehicles to be driven shortly after a cold weather start. Of course, you may want to warm your car for your comfort and surprisingly, to reduce emissions.
This is not intuitive, unless you understand the emission control systems on modern vehicles.
The first system is called Exhaust Gas Recirculation, and it’s probably obvious from the name: it routes exhaust gases back into the engine. The vehicle computer system monitors and controls this process to lower the amount of Nitrogen Oxides, precursors to smog and acid rain, that are created in the engine and then expelled from the tailpipe. Depending on your vehicle, this system will not operate in certain conditions, for example: low engine temperatures.
Vehicles also have a component in their exhaust system that converts various pollutants into less harmful gases with various catalysts. That conversion occurs in the catalytic converter, and that chemical reaction doesn’t happen when the catalytic converter is cold.
According to WP, some catalytic converters can take up to thirty-minutes to reach ideal operating temperature. That isn’t to suggest you should wait that long before driving your car — there are countermeasures in many cars that make it effective long before that.
When your car is at idle, it uses less gas and releases less pollution than when you are driving it. Getting your emission system to an effective point before driving it helps reduce overall emissions. For my car, it take about 3-5 minutes before the exhaust is invisible and that’s about how long it takes to clear the snow anyway. It’s not an exact science and it varies by car and by temperature.
BrokenSecrets.com
Photo: steveyb (Creative Commons)
One Side of Toilet Paper is Softer Than the Other
This is important, because most people are pretty adamant about the proper orientation of toilet paper. There are two ways you can put toilet paper on a roll. According to the following video, there is a right way and a wrong way.
They believe the over method is the right way, because it’s easier to find the end of the roll. I agree, it is easier to find the end of the roll using the over method.
Based on a poll at families.com, the over method is most popular. However, from reading the comments it looks fairly even, perhaps even more people are in favor of the under method.
For most of my life, I thought over was the correct method. But one day, someone on the under side revealed a secret: one side is softer than the other, and if you use the over method you’re probably not using the soft side.
I was in disbelief. There was no way I could be wrong on this issue. Why would anyone intentionally hang toilet paper in any way other than the way that is easiest to find the end of the roll?
I checked my toilet paper immediately. I rubbed each side on the back of my hand and it was clear, one side was much softer than the other. Then I roll played.
I acted out how I normally unroll toilet paper. It was true, I was not using the soft side!
I instantly changed my preference from over to under. It wasn’t until later that I started to think about how long I had been using the rough side.
The really cheap and thin commercial toilet paper is torture on both sides, but if you have anything but that stuff then it’s most likely softer on one side. Check it out for yourself.
People with cats often prefer the under method because it’s much more difficult for cats to get it off the roll. It’s a good thing we’re smarter and more dexterous than cats.
BrokenSecrets.com
Photos (creative commons): Aaron Landry | s e l v i n
You CAN Use Foil in the Microwave
Foil can be used in your microwave and I’ll bet you’ve already done it without knowing.
Continue Reading November 19, 2009 at 4:45 am Chad Upton 25 comments
Broken Secrets 