The Stars at Night are Big and Bright

There is a cartoon I saw today.  It was a class full of people and one of the students had a smaller head.  The caption, "Mr. Osborne can I be excused, my brain is full?"   There are days I feel like that so I've decided to empty some of the useless knowledge I've gained over the past five or so decades.


First, how do you tell a star from a planet?  Stars twinkle (just like in the song), planets don't.


50% of the earths atmosphere is between the surface and 18,000 feet.


The real North pole is not the same place as your compass points to.  I think it is all a plot by Santa Claus to keep us from finding his home.


The shortest distance between two points is a great circle route.


East is least and West is Best, is the mnemonic we use to remember to add or subtract variation from a magnetic heading to get the true heading.


If you can fly above 60,000 feet the FAA says you can go wherever you want and they don't care.  Which leads me to a favorite story, one day Fort Worth Center is talking with an airplane.  The airplane call sign Hustler 51 asks for clearance to flight level 600 (60,000 feet).  The controller chuckles and says, "Hustler 51 if you can make FL 600 you are cleared!"  Hustler 51 says "Roger, descending"


If you want to know what time it is go to Time

Sea snakes are more poisonous than land snakes.


There are restaurants in Germany where you can take your dog, but not your children.  From what I've seen of some children this isn't a bad idea.