It Was Heaven!

Yesterday, I finally got the chance to pop over to the University to take a shower.  I live in a place where not everyone has running water and so the local city has lots of places to take showers. Even some of the employers in town have showers so folks can go to work early and clean up.  I do have running water but there is a leak in my hot water line, so until I figure out where it is and get it fixed, I have to shower elsewhere.

The nice thing about the University is that they have a nice hot sauna that is heated off of the hot water used to heat the pool.  The temperature is kept at around 175 degrees so its nice and warm.  I enjoy going in when I've put conditioner in my hair so it is better absorbed and leaves my hair really nice.  I can tell you, its just not quite the same as the one I get to take when I'm at work. 

The ones out where I work are actually small buildings with a changing area and a room heated by a 55 gallon stove that has volcanic rocks along the top side.  Next to the stove is a bucket of water although sometimes the owners have added a really nice heater so your water is heated from the burning wood.

The sauna part is nothing fancy, just the floor you lay a towel on and you sit on the towel.  Someone started the fire to warm everything about a half hour before you arrive.  Once there, you strip, grab a towel, cover your hair with a hat and wonder in to enjoy the hot dry air.  After a bit of conversation, someone grabs a ladle and pours water all over the hot stones.

As the water hits the stones, it boils, transforming into steam that fills the room.  All the sudden, you are hot and your sweat mingles with the steam in the room.  Sometimes it gets so hot that you roll over to present your back, other times, you lay flat on the floor, changing from side to side so you are evenly roasted on all sides.  You wait as long as you can and then run out to the changing room where you sit to cool off.

One time, I was taking a steam (that's what they call it out there) with some folks and as I ran out, one of the older ladies cried "I've been waiting for you to go out.  I didn't want to be the first one!"  We all laughed. 

As we cool off, we drink liquids to rehydrate our bodies before we wander in again.  This process gets repeated multiple times until everyone deems the temperature down low enough to wash our bodies and hair.  We have big bowls or those plastic containers you wash dishes in to put our bathing water in.  The first step is to wash hair and believe me you can do a good job.  You wet your hair, add a bit of shampoo and work on getting the hair all nice and lathery.  At this point, you squeeze as many suds from your hair as possible and then rinse. 

No you do not change water yet.  You scoop the suds off the top of the water and rise your hair again.  You actually scoop and rinse a couple of times before you put the conditioner on.  Its at this point, you use the remaining water with a bit of soap and rag to wash your body.  You rinse the soap from your body with the water and then empty it out.

Once you refill the bowl, rinse the conditioner from your hair so its done and then use the water to rinse the remaining soap from your body.  I usually take a third bowl to rinse hair and body one last time.  Just to let you know, my hair is around butt length and it ends up quite clean.  At this point, we dry off, dress, and head off for the night.

The thing about a steam is that it is that it is equivalent to a kaffeeklatch in that people talk a lot about this and that.  Its a wonderful social event and it leaves you so relaxed after two to three hours that you pour yourself into bed and fall to sleep immediately.

11 Facts About The 2016 Summer Olympics

  This years Summer Olympics is being held from August 5 - 21 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.  It is also known as the XXXI Olympics.  This particular Olympics is making history because it is the first one held in a South American country.  The first!!!!!!.

There are other interesting things to know about this Olympics that made me think and realize that somethings take a while. The torch began its journey on April 21st and is due to arrive in Rio on August 5th.  After running through and around Greece, the torch went to Switzerland and on to Brazil on May 3rd.  It is being taking all around Brazil, through 300 villages and cities, being carried by 12,000 people.  It begins in Brasilia and ends in Rio.

I honestly had been thinking the torch would be taken on board ship so it could make its way over, sort of like it might have been in the 30's but I woke up to the fact this is the 21st century so it traveled by plane.

More facts!
1. This is the first time the games are being held in South America.

2.  The torch began its journey on April 21, 2016.

3. The games expect 10,500 athletes from 206 countries to participate in 306 events.

4.  Rugby with seven players on a side is debuting at this Olympics - both men and women.  Apparently, the United States are the defending champions as we won the last game back in 1924 before it was eliminated and there were 15 players on a team then.

5.  Golf is returning after a 112 year absence.  It was last an Olympic sport in 1904.

6. A team of refugee athletes will be competing under the Olympic flag for the first time.

7.  There are 7.5 million tickets being sold.  They range in price from $40 for some swimming events to $3000 for the best seats of the Opening ceremony.

8.  The kitchen staff will be providing 60,000 meals per day to the athletes.

9. There will be 33 different venues in four different districts of Rio.

10.  Some of the football games will be held in cities other than Rio.  Note that football in this case is probably soccer.

11.  The Olympic Village covers 185 acres with space for 17,700 beds in almost 9500 apartments in almost 50 buildings.  Each apartment has three to four bedrooms.

21 Facts About The Olympics

In less than a month, the summer Olympics begin down in Rio de Janiero, Brazil or the Olympiad XXXI as it is also known.  It begins on August 5th and runs through the 21st.  Do you remember when both the summer and winter Olympics were held in the same year?  Do you remember from your history classes when Jesse Owens blasted the Germans at the one held in Germany? Do you remember the movie "Chariots of Fire" about the man who refused to run on a Sunday due to his faith?

The modern Olympics has a long history beginning in 1894 when the first Olympic committee was formed to plan for the very first Olympic meet to be held in Greece in 1896.  Except for a couple of Wars, games have happened every 4 years.  Of course there are some interesting things that occurred over the 120 years its happened.

The very first Olympic meet had 280 competitors from 13 different nations who competed in 43 different events and they were all men.  A few competitors were visitors who stumbled across the event. By 1924 there were over 3000 competitors from 44 nations and over 100 athletes were female.

What about other interesting facts?

1.  London holds the record of any city for hosting 3 Olympic meets.

2.  The youngest competitor was a Greek gymnast who competed in the first Olympics at the age of 10 years and 218 days.  He won a bronze for his event.

3.  The oldest competitor was a Swedish shooter who won his first medal in 1908 at the age of 60 and won his last, a silver, at the age of 72 in Antwerp.

4.  The 1936 Berlin games were the first to be televised but it was only broadcast in Germany.  The pictures were just black and white with lots of snow but it was better than the radio or newspapers.

5.  Gold medals are not made of gold but are a gold plated silver.  Gold medals have not been made of pure gold since 1912.

6.  The Olympic games have only ever been cancelled three times due to War.  The 1916 Olympics scheduled to be held in Berlin was instead cancelled due to World War I.  The other two, the 1940 in Helsinki and the 1944 in London were cancelled due to World War II.

7.  The opening ceremony started in 1908 at the games in London.

8.  The first Winter Olympics actually didn't start until 1924 when it began as an "International Winter Sports Week" hosted by France.

9.  The first global broadcasting of the Olympics occurred in 1960 when CBS broadcast the summer games from Rome but in 1994 the Olympics changed from two in one year to the summer and winter games being on a staggered schedule to help corporations pay for them.  Advertising dollars are one way the Olympic committee makes money.

10. The Olympic Torch relay began with the 1936 Berlin Olympics.  It began as a Nazi Propaganda tool to show the world their superiority.

11.  The reason the particular colors were chosen for the Olympic Rings is that at least one of these colors appear in every flag in the world. In addition, each ring represents a region of the world.

12.  Drug testing did not come into use until the 1968 when an athlete was suspended for the use of alcohol.

13.  Africa, Antarctic, and South America have never hosted an Olympic games until this year. Rio de Janeiro is the first country in South America to hold one. Furthermore, no country in the southern hemisphere has hosted a winter games.

14.  Figure skating and ice hockey were part of the summer Olympics until 1924.

15.  The first few games lasted up to 188 days beginning in the spring and going to through to the fall rather than running for two weeks of today.

16.  The basket ball court at the 1936 summer Olympics were outside and made of clay and sand.  During the gold medal round between the United States and Canada, it rained turning the court into a muddy mess.  It was impossible to dribble the ball so they spent time just passing the ball.  The United States won 19 to 8.

17. Art was considered a part of the Olympics from 1912 to 1948 where you could win a medal in painting, sculpture, architecture, music, and literature but the pieces were required to be inspired by sports.  It was decided after the 1948 Olympics that artists were professional and that violated the spirit of the Olympics so it was discontinued.

18. In 1904, one of the athletes with a wooden leg won three gold, two silver and a bronze medal.

19. The first American woman to win an Olympic event didn't know she was competing in the Olympics.  She was studying art in Paris, saw an advertisement, and entered.  She won a porcelain bowl but didn't realize the tournament was part of the Olympic games held in 1900.

20.  Although Melbourne hosted the 1956 summer Olympics, the equestrian events had to be held in Sweden due to Australia's quarantine rules.

21.  The tradition of awarding gold, silver, and bronze medals did not start until 1904.  France gave out artwork as prizes in the 1900 Olympics while the 1896 games awarded a silver metal and olive branch to first place winners and a bronze medal to second place.

Fancy Fences

First Panel of a decorated fence. 

I was down visiting my family back in June to see two nephews graduate from high school.  They are the last two and it was great seeing both of them finish high school.  Now it will be like 14 years before the next generation hits that time in their lives.  As I stated in other entries, I always walk around town because I love seeing what people are doing art wise in their yards.



On the main road, opposite the high school part of the school property (all three are in the same lot), is this cool fence with a general pattern alternating with landmarks.  The first panel has the statue of liberty in relief against the sunset as you can see above. I've never seen it in person but it was a gift to us from France.

The second panel.

 The second panel continues the general pattern of white, dark blue, light blue, on a yellow background.  it has a nice relief of the Seattle Space Needle against a sky/water looking background.

It is a beautifully done drawing and looks awesome.  I've seen the Space Needle but I've never actually been on it.


The third panel shows the Golden Gate Bridge which goes from San Francisco to Marin county and was started in 1933 and completed in 1937.  The relief is beautiful and looks like it was created on a day when the sky was a deep blue.

The third panel.

 I've been across the Golden Gate Bridge a couple of times.  All I remember was the traffic on the bridge, way more than I like.

I do love the art on this fence.

The fourth panel

The final panel.

These five panels make up the whole fence of someones yard.  I don't know who but it was such a nice panorama that I wanted to take pictures of the whole thing.  Its almost like a trip through the United States to see the important monuments.

I hope you enjoyed the trip down the street.

Legos In Space!!!!!!

I don't know how closely you've been following the space program but in the past few months we've received photos of Pluto and just the other day, NASA got a space craft to Jupiter!

I got a new app that gives me news on space and astronomy and it had a cute article with interesting details of the spacecraft that is now orbiting Jupiter.  There are three Lego people on the flight to celebrate the mythology and science of the planet.

These are not your everyday Lego figures they are special in more than one way.

First, these ones have been constructed out of a special space grade aluminum so they fit in the ship just like any instrument. They are together with a plaque provided by Italy.  So who do these figures represent?

One represents Jupiter who the planet was named after.  Jupiter was reputed to be able to draw the clouds around him to hide his misdeeds.  He is the Roman equivalent to Zeus and his figure carries a thunder bolt.  The second figure is Juno, his wife, who could look through the clouds to reveal Jupiter's true nature so her character has a magnifying glass.  The spacecraft Juno will be peering below the clouds to see Jupiter's geologic structure and history.  The last figure is Galileo because he is the one who discovered four of Jupiter's moon using his telescope.  His character has a telescope in honor of his discoveries.

It is obvious that there was thought put into choosing the figures.  There is also a very small 2.8 by 2 inch plaque on the propulsion pay to celebrate Galileo by having his picture and a quote of his observations of Jupiter.

The plaque is made of special grade aluminum and its bonded to the spacecraft with a space grade glue.  What is most fascinating about the quote is that it is in Galileo's own hand and was sent from Italy to commemorate his contributions.

By the way, this is not the first trip Lego has send figures aboard.  They have already been on the space shuttle, visited the space station, and been to Mars, so these toys are well traveled.