For those of you aware of the fact that my family is currently vacationing in Japan, rest assured: we missed the stronger one completely, because we were in the northern part of the island, and this morning's was too weak to even wake up the kids. It reminded us of the gentle rocking motion of the cruise ship we went on in May; altogether, a not ( Read more... )

While over at a friend's house yesterday, I had lunch together with his wife and almost-teenager son. We discussed the recent theft of _MWife_'s luggage and the hassle of getting all the papers back. This led the son to suggest, rather brilliantly, that suitcases should have security devices that would start complaining if they were moved away from their ( Read more... )

Just in case you missed it, a recent article in the NY Times suggests that the Titanic suffered from uneven quality of rivets, which contributed to the enormous loss of life in the disaster.

As pleased as I am that Tanya Rider was finally found in what seems to be reasonably stable condition after 8 days in her carwreck, I am less excited about the wrong conclusions that people will draw about the appropriateness of wearing a seatbelt.

According to the article, the car was lodged in a 20 foot ravine by the side of the road. "Her ( Read more... )