Random Learnings #9

Yesterday (July 28, 2023), a threatening storm went through Central Iowa. The storm had everything: winds, lightening, ominous clouds, rain potential, and storm warnings. Coralville was hosting fifty thousand RAGBRAI…

Outside-The-Box School Mascots

A large majority of secondary and post-secondary schools in the United States offer interscholastic athletics for their students, though even those who don't may still find (subversive) ways to participate.…

Random Learnings #8

Timezones are frustrating and confusing for most people, whether you're traveling or just trying to schedule meetings for work. And how often I see software where the time is persisted…

Random Learnings #7

In the United States, most team-based sports in high school, college, and professional have The playing of our national anthem precede the start of the match/game/whatever. With the recent influx…

Random Learnings #6

General Mills had supply chain problems during the height of the COVID pandemic that required reformulating Totino's Frozen Pizza 25 times in 26 weeks. It does to questions about the…

Las Vegas A’s?

My mother and her boyfriend moved my siblings and me from Brooklyn, NY to Green Island, IA in 1972, Iowa being my home from second grade through college graduation. When…

Random Learnings #4

I first saw a reference to Sütterlinschrift while reading Fatherhood: A Memoir of War, Conscience, and Family Secrets by Burkhard Bilger. The author was researching his grandfather's military service in…

Games vs. Losses Behind

Most US-based sports show their standings as Games Behind (GB) which purports to show how far behind the leader your favorite team. The formula to calculate is: ((leading-team-win-count - your-team-win-count)…