Roads… nothing really crazy to report today, despite promises from many weather prognosticators that the snow would begin YESTERDAY and keep piling up until mid-week. I think I even heard one say that we’d become a community of mole people, tunneling from place to place, eventually losing our ability to see, or handle sunlight. Instead, while it’s slightly below freezing out there, instead of snow there are stars; instead of ice, it’s nice. The fog visibility is 10 million light years, winds are gusting at zero F’MPH, and rocks are acting like they are not even alive.
Okay, there IS still the possibility of ice on the road, especially in areas that get water runoff, like snowmelt or drainage or leaking pipes. So, watch out for the dark spots in particular… there COULD be ice. My investigative journalism even led me to find a few places this morning where I was able to break the bonds of boring ol’ traction, and git a little sideways…. Ye-HAW! I get, however, that most commuters do not share my affinity for the unconventional angles of forward momentum, so my advice to you is to exercise caution this morning… ESPECIALLY in places where the road looks wet. Oh, and everywhere else, too.
Dang. Short weekend. We lost a whole dang ol’ freakin’ hour. I’m tired… so tired. Oh, maybe that’s just because I’m old. Old and tired. But especially old and tired on the days after THIS time change. Why we still perform this clock manipulation thing is utterly beyond me.
Brand new word: dragged. At least, in this context, I think it’s new, as I never heard it used this way until just a few days ago… Friday, March 8, to be precise… and on that day, it was observed being used by multiple “writers.” (yes, that term—“writers”—is used very loosely). “Dragged” is now used to describe calling somebody out publicly, bringing shame upon somebody. I’m hoping that since the kids who think they are cool have found “being dragged” to be the urban slang term du jour, that they’ll stop clapping back, throwing shade, or even dissin’ a fool…. no matter how sick they think it is.
So… on to today’s random trivia. Now, as a disclaimer, I will say that I have not been able to confirm which one of these explanations is correct, and at least ONE of them must be wrong since they contradict each other, even though they do have some similarities.
The LESS likely story is this: During WWII, U.S. Army vehicles had stars on them. For example, Jeeps had a star on the hood, which aided aircraft in identifying them. These stars were part of the manufacturer’s paint job… in other words, the stars were already painted on when the military took possession of the vehicles. However, in the years leading up to WWII, U.S. manufacturers had also sold thousands of these vehicles, with stars painted on them, to other countries for use in their militaries… including some enemies. This prompted the U.S. Army to add a circle around the stars on its vehicles, for the purposes of differentiating them from enemy vehicles. The new design was called a “Battle Star,” for obvious reasons.
However… the following appears to be the more likely story (since I find citations of this explanation from a greater number, and more reliable, sources): In the fog of war, the confusion of battle, the chaos of combat, the haze of the fight… the white star on the olive drab background could be mistaken for the German cross. American soldiers already had enough people shooting at them and did not need additional “friendly fire,” so a circle was added, and the “Battle Star,” was born. Of course there were regulations (the Army has regulations for EVERYTHING… trust me on this) regarding the appearance of the added circle, but these were not always adhered to with great precision, given the constraints of wartime and the urgency to get the vehicles into action. Thus, circles so large in diameter that they come nowhere near touching the actual star, to circles which appeared like webbing between the legs of a starfish, may be found. Some are white, some are yellow, and there may have been other hues employed as well. When stencils were used to paint the circles, “blank spots” would be left, which regulations required to be filled in to form a complete circle. However, many photos of these stars belie the fact that this was not always done, leaving many a circle consisting merely of a few arcs.
Okay, here’s an additional bit of related trivia, and this IS solid intel: there is no specific shade of “olive drab green,” often called, “OD green,” for military vehicles. The Army has no regulation defining its shade. Wait a second… something doesn’t feel right here. Dang, I used to think that the Army had regulations for EVERYTHING… whatever. When the paint comes from the factory, each batch is a little different, some being a little more brown, some a little more green; some are lighter, some are darker. I have a sneaking suspicion that OD green paint sold to the military just comes from a huge vat of “returned paint” consisting of every color of the palette all mixed together into a greenish-brownish goo. Now, the paint must ALWAYS be flat… no gloss is ever permitted, for obvious camouflogical reasons. But as far as shade, well, whatever is in the can is what goes on the vehicle. As long as it’s not pink, hunter orange, or neon colored, it’s good to go. Okay, THAT’S a little exaggerated, but really, the shade and hue can vary significantly from batch to batch, can to can, vehicle to vehicle.
Finally, Mrs. Kdog told me today that she and the kids worship me. That’s seemed a little over the top, but, hey, I am not above taking laud and compliments. And, of course… it’s easy for me to understand why they’d think this way. But then I looked online this morning, and discovered that is National Worship of Tools day. Oh, deflation.
Enjoy your Monday, your week, your first full 24-hour day in the last couple of days.