Volcanos

Two weeks ago, few in the world had ever heard of the Eyjafjallajokull (ay-yah-FYAH-lah-yer-kuhl) volcano. Now, hardly a news hour goes by without some mention of it. Who knew that a pesky volcano in Iceland could wreak such havoc?

I have a co-worker who's been trying to get back from Egypt for days now. Last I heard, he was in Jordan. Hopefully, things will be better today, and he can catch a flight home.

But here's the thing -- Eyjafjallajokull is the "little" volcano in the area. It has a bigger neighbor named Katla, and if the Katla volcano erupts, the eruption would be 10 times stronger and shoot higher and larger plumes of ash into the air than the Eyjafjallajokull volcano. (Much easier to pronounce, but much deadlier.) So, things could get worse.

According to the AP, Katla is showing no signs of activity at this time, but each of the last three times Eyjafjallajokull erupted, so did Katla. So, don't say I didn't warn you.

Today's word challenge: How many words can you make using the letters from Eyjafjallajokull? (For example, "fall" and "joke" are two.)

Bosu, Bosu, Why Art Thou Bosu?

So, I decide that it's time to get rid of my couch potato status, starting out with some core exercises. My doctor suggested that I get a Bosu. Stupidly, I listened.
In my excitement, I also purchase a workout DVD that combines yoga, Pilates, and the Bosu. Yeah. There's a good idea. Let's take someone with a weak core and balance issues, plant her on a thing that looks like half an exercise ball with a lid slapped on it and get her to do balancing exercises.

Not pretty. I look like someone in a log rolling contest. But the nice lady leading me through the torture, I mean, exercises, assures me that I'll get stronger and more stable. She makes no promises about not looking stupid in the meantime. So, if you drive by my house and think you see someone waving her arms like a windmill, that's probably just me on the Bosu.

Today's random time waster is to see how many words it takes to get from "Bosu" to "pain" by changing one letter at a time. (For example, to get from "cup" to "sat," it takes three words -- "cap," "sap," "sat.") It took me ten.

Have fun!

Bosu, by the way, stands for "Both Sides Up."

There's Gold in Them Thar Hills

Today's bit of randomness:

1. An ounce of gold can be stretched into a filament 35 miles long.

2. The specific gravity of gold is 19.3, which means that a quart of gold weighs 19.3 times as much as a quart of water.

3. The Periodic Table symbol for gold is Au, which comes from the Latin word "aurum," which not surprisingly means "gold."

"Gold" is the subject of today's bit of randomness because I'm suffering from the Post-Winter Olympic blues. Sure, I'm getting more sleep. Sure, I've spent a lot less time in front of the TV since the games ended. But come on -- how often is curling televised in Texas? When else am I going to get to watch cross-country ski racing? I live in a place where we all freak out over "hard freezes," and we really only have two seasons - hot and hotter.

But I digress.

We were talking about gold. So, here's a word challenge for you -- changing only one letter at a time, how many words does it take you to get from "gold" to "bent?" (For example, to get from "cup" to "sat," it takes three words -- "cap," "sap," "sat.") I can get from "gold" to "bent" in four words. How about you?

While you're working on that, I'll be searching for curling on YouTube . . .