Wednesday, April 05, 2006

Random Thoughts

I spent yesterday chaperoning my son's field trip to the state capital. Ok, all you trivia and history buffs, what is the current capital of Pennsylvania? Did we have any others before and if so, what were they? Four hours on a school bus allows for a number of thoughts to be jostled around in your head. Here are a few of mine.

  • School buses are sardine cans on wheels. I am 5'4" and a size 12, but I was wedged into a seat in such a way that my knees were smashed against the seat in front of me. How does a tall person cope with this? Also, I had to turn sideways going down the aisle unless I wanted both my hips banged on each seat. I am a size 12 people! That's hardly obese!
  • The suspension system of a school bus rivals only that of a Conestoga Wagon, which by the way, was developed in Lancaster County, PA. Betcha didn't know that didja?
  • Route 22 in PA has got to be the worst highway in the nation. (I've driven from PA to CA and back, remember). It has potholes that can swallow school buses, and they are periodically spaced just far enough to rattle the teeth out of your head.
  • When 4th graders go to the State Museum they will be more impressed by coprolites than any other exhibit. (coprolites are fossilized poop, another little nugget of trivia for you all)
  • The trilobite is the PA state fossil. I never knew we had one to be quite honest. If someone had asked I might have suggested it was Jack Palance who was born in Hazelton, PA.
  • When you watch the Representatives voting on various bills, 4th graders will wonder why the Reps are so rude by walking around the floor and talking to their neighbors instead of listening even though the 4th graders were busy poking each other and laughing about coprolite when the tour guide was explaining that the chandeliers in the Senate weigh two tons each.
  • Field trips are fun when you have a small and fun group of kids like I had. They will love it if you giggle about coprolite with them.
  • Your local State Representative will give your son a savings bond because he is impressed that the kid knows Philadelphia was the first state capital, Lancaster was for a day (when they were moving it to Harrisburg and couldn't make the trip in a single day), and Harrisburg has been the capital ever since.
  • Sometimes being a vast repository of useless knowledge pays off, especially when your kid demonstrates he has been listening. Way to go Isaac!

Happy Wednesday all. Give me some trivia on your state or province!


*Breazy, Logo, and Damasta have agreed to be interviewed. I am hoping to have Breazy's interview up by Friday or perhaps do a rare weekend post to put it up. Logo's and Damasta's will follow as I am able to complete them.

*As I am typing this at 7ish in the morning it is snowing. The ground is covered as are the trees. It is APRIL 5th for crying out loud! yeah, another little joy about life in PA, snow in April. ACK!

20 comments:

James Goodman said...

It is illegal to get fish drunk in Oklahoma.

Viking explorers visited eastern Oklahoma and left their mark near the town of Heavener in 1012 (They travelled up the Arkansas River).

Oklahoma's name is derived from two Choctaw words, "okla" meaning people, and "humma" meaning red; literally meaning "red people."

The Five Civilized Tribes attempted statehood in 1905 under the name Sequoyah.

Some cowboys live here, but most of them have never been on a horse.

Kelly said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Kelly said...

The history of Pennsylvania's capital is rich and dynamic. In the 1700's, Pennsylvania was not only molding and shaping its own statehood but also helping to shape the nation. During this period, Philadelphia was the first seat of government for Pennsylvania. During the first 47 years, Pennsylvania lacked a permanent meeting house for its officials. In 1729, Pennsylvania declared its first permanent meeting house, the building now known as Independence Hall.

In 1789, Pennsylvania's Assembly deemed Philadelphia was "an unfortunate location". Plans were being made to relocate the capital to a more suitable location. Lancaster and Harrisburg were two options along with Carlisle. In fact, Carlisle had the vote of the House but not the vote of the Senate. By 1799, Lancaster prevailed in its bid to hold Pennsylvania' s seat of government. On December 3, 1799, the Legislature held its first session in the Lancaster courthouse.

After only two years in Lancaster, Pennsylvania lawmakers again began talking about relocating Pennsylvania's capital. Many felt the Susquehanna Valley was the best choice for the capital. John Harris campaigned aggressively to have the capital removed from Lancaster and located in Harrisburg. Interest in moving the capital weakened and all thoughts of moving the capital were forgotten for many years.

In 1809, the Senate again proposed moving the capital. In 1810, eight locations were considered as the ideal location for Pennsylvania's capital. Harrisburg won the honor. It was selected in large part because of the Susquehanna river which the would serve the capital area well. Land was purchase and plans were underway to build a permanent Capitol Building for Pennsylvania. In 1822 the first Capitol was built. This building was destroyed in a fire in 1897. A new Capitol building was built and still proudly serves Pennsylvania today.

S said...

Hey I live in California.....we've got a weird foreigner for a governer, there's all sorts of weirdness going on around here..I can't even begin to tell ya!

But yeah, I have to agree with you about poop...forget all the fancy stuff...just bring out the poop and the kids will be entertained for hours.

lime said...

james, now that is wild! vikings in oklahoma??? whoda thunk it?

myutopia, thanks for correcting my faulty history, lancaster was indeed capital for more than a day.

susie, yeah poop rules, doesn't it? lol

CozyMama said...

Hey girl, I hate school buses they are the worst!!!! I got a surprise on my site today!!!

Breazy said...

Hey Lime! Here are a few things about Tennessee !

1. When Tennessee became a state in 1796, the total population was 77,000.

2. Tennessee won its nickname as The Volunteer State during the War of 1812 when volunteer soldiers from Tennessee displayed marked valor in the Battle of New Orleans.

3. There were more National Guard soldiers deployed from the state for the Gulf War effort than any other state.

4. There are more horses per capita in Shelby County than any other county in the United States.(Shelby County is in Southwest Memphis.)

5. Davy Crockett was not born on a mountaintop in Tennessee, as the song says. He was born on the banks of Limestone Creek near Greeneville, where a replica of the Crockett's log cabin stands today.

6. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the most visited national park in the United States. The park was named for the smoke-like bluish haze that often envelops these fabled mountains.(I live about 25 minutes from the Great Smoky Mountain National Park)

7. Knoxville was home to the 1982 World's Fair. Attendance was recorded at 11,127,786 visitors.( I was fortunate enough to visit the World's Fair several times during it's time here and I live about 7 minutes South of Knoxville)

8. The name "Tennessee" originated from the old Yuchi Indian word, "Tana-see," meaning "The Meeting Place."


9. Tennessee ties with Missouri as the most neighborly state in the union. It is bordered by 8 states.

10. Coca-Cola was first bottle in 1899 at a plant on Patten Parkway in downtown Chattanooga after two local attorneys purchased the bottling rights to the drink for $l.00.

11. Tennessee has more than 3,800 documented caves(there are alot of small caves here that you can walk by and never even know it is there, one of these is on a hill close to Mr. Breazy's dads house)

12. Nashville's Grand Ole Opry is the longest continuously running live radio program in the world. It has broadcast every Friday and Saturday night since 1925.(my 14yr old started playing the fiddle a year ago . When we asked her why she wanted to play so bad her answer was " Because Allison Krauss has inspired me and one day I want to play on the Grand Ole Opry with her and I will"! I do believe this could very well happen since my daughter is like a "freak of nature" where the fiddle is concerned. She can "make it moan" so to speak.)

have a good day ! :)

David said...

What wonderful information I have learned today.

Bsoholic said...

Great info! I think breazy covered our states info for us. Nothing new I could report.

Anonymous said...

The area that came to be Washington state had its first European claim made by the Spanish, the Native population was not impressed or even aware. They later handed it to the British.
The area became part of the Oregon territory in 1846 thus we narrowly avoided becoming Canadians, eh.
We were the 42nd state to join the union, in 1889.
State insect is the Green Darner Dragonfly (no honey bee, ladybug or butterfly for us, no way!)
The state fossil is petrified wood.
The Washington town Pt. Roberts hold the distinction of being the one town in the state that can be reached only by boat or driving through Canada, that darn 49th parallel!

Callie said...

Snow here too - yuck!!

Maine was originally part of Massachusetts.

Melissa said...

Sweet!! So the 1st person to answer your lil history question is actually a Canadian. mwuahahahaaa!
Ok, ummm.. I'm about to show you how nerdy-- erm, I mean REALLY COOL I am.
I'm a major history buff lol and I actually knew that Harrisburg was the 4th capital city.. but I had to look up the dates so I could really wow with my info.. haha!!

So, the original Capital city, was Chester from 1681-1683, Philadelphia from 1683-1799, Lancaster from 1799-1812 and then Harrisburg since 1812.

I also know other tidbits like Harrisburg wasn't always named Harrisburg and where the state name Pennsylvania came from and why its known as the keystone state.

*sigh*
I'm such a dork.

I'd love to go back to Pennsylvania and other eastern states. I went there on a family trip yeeeeeeears ago. My dad is a real history buff as well so we were terribly nerdy and tossing back information the entire trip.
My mom and sister thought it was terribly boring. Me, its one of my favorite memories. :D

Melissa said...

d'oh.. for some stupid reason I didn't see myutopias posting. sorry. lol ok, so I'm the 2nd to know hehe

lime said...

jodes, my ass hates school buses for sure

breazy, awesome list! i learned all sorts of stuff there. i always wondered about the volunteer state nickname, thanks!

david, you and me both

bs, total cop out. i expect an essay about your stat'es founding fathers to be on my desk tomorrow morning.

logo, very cool. PA state insect is the firefly.

callie, it just ain't right this time of year is it?

miss lissa, welcome to the dork club. i read encyclopedias, dictionaries, phone books and gazeteers for entertainment. how dorky is that?

Gary said...

Here's a bit of trivia for you. Did you know that the scientific name for poop is neocoprolytes? (not really. I just made that up)

BTW, I didn't know there was a current capital of Pennsylvania. I didn't even realize currents were grown in Pennsylvania.

BTExpress said...

New York
1. The Fashion Institute of Technology in Manhattan is the only school in the world offering a Bachelor of Science Degree with a Major in Cosmetics and Fragrance Marketing.
2. Dairying is New York's most important farming activity with over 18,000 cattle and or calves farms.
3. Oneida has the world's smallest church with the dimensions of 3.5' X 6'.
4. The first railroad in America ran a distance of 11 miles between Albany and Schenectady.
5. The first capital of the United States was New York City. In 1789 George Washington took his oath as president on the balcony at Federal Hall.
6. Hartsdale has a pet cemetery established in 1896 and containing 12,000 plots.
7. Gennaro Lombardi opened the first United States pizzeria in 1895 in New York City.
8. The oldest cattle ranch in the US was started in 1747 at Montauk on Long Island.
9. In 1836, approximately 187 Texan revolutionaries died at the Alamo Mission in San Antonio, eight of these men were from New York. Ironically, General Santa Anna, commander of the Mexican forces at the Alamo, was later overthrown from his dictatorship and exiled from Mexico to Staten Island, NY.
10. The first public brewery in America was established by Peter Minuit at the Market (Marckvelt) field in lower Manhattan.

Phain said...

ok - you brought back a funny memory.... back in the day, I was in a band joined expressly for the purposes of embarrassing ourselves at a company picnic - it was an environmental engineering firm and we joked about all the geologists being "rock lickers." Any hoo - the name of our band? "Buffy and the Coprolites" - sad, so sad, I was Buffy.... you may disown me now and remove my link *hangs head in shame*

lime said...

gary, it is a little known fact that we are the curren tcapital and also the origin of the humbolt current and the jet stream

btexpress, i am most impressed. go to the head of the class.

le chat, au contraire, i would never delink youfor that, in fact, i'df probably ask to join the group or at the very least design the logo or costumes. rock on!

Anonymous said...

I've never understood why schoolbuses don't have seatbelts.

~Tim said...

On a completely different note, do you know the difference between a school bus and a cactus?

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A cactus has all the little pricks on the outside.