2010-02-04 - Superglue off of skin

Superglue is great - but also a pain to get off of your skin. I've done it a few times- usually I can avoid gluing things to my skin or gluing my fingers together...usually.

There are a few ways to get it off your skin. One of the best ways is to use nail polish remover. Make sure that it's acetone nail polish remover because anything else won't work. Soak the affected area in nail polish remover. If you can't really soak it, just keep applying the remover with a cotton ball, as it will evaporate over time. You don't really need to scrub it too much because the acetone automatically starts to break the glue down. It will take a few minutes but it will work.

One other suggestion I found was to mix the acetone with some WD-40 so it doesn't evaporate as quickly. And in addition to that you can mix it with vaseline to make sure it stays on the affected area.

Wikihow / eHow

2010-02-03 - Countries of North and Central America

I couldn't do just North America so I lumped them together.
Still working on the locations of some of the islands but I got the names at least.

Quiz to help learn: Sporcle



Fact: There are no landlocked countries among the twenty countries of Central America and the Caribbean.

2010-02-02 - Knots

Tying knots is another basic skill that everyone should have. Its very practical knowledge but can also be useful in more critical situations. Most people, including myself, will tie arbitrary loops and knots and crosses until it feels secure or strong enough. Usually it's sufficient but it would be a lot better to simply know a handful of real knots that you can trust not to fall apart. I found a useful page that covers 7 basic knots that will get you through most situations. Watch the video, it will be a lot more helpful than my comments.

Square knot, or Reef knot - It's like the knot you start tying your shoe with only you double it up. Not a really strong knot, but good for basic non-load-bearing tasks.
Right over left, left over right.

Bowline knot - Really strong - good for actually tying the bowline of a boat to a dock.
Rabbit hole with a tree. The tree is the standing end of the rope. Rabbit comes up out of the hole, goes around the tree, then back down the hole.

Two half hitches knot - Anchoring - securing a rope to a pole/tree/stake.

Taut line knot - Allows you to shorten or lengthen a rope while anchoring.

Clove hitch knot - Not as strong- can still be used for anchoring. One benefit is that it can be made in the middle of a rope, no end necessary. Good to know for lashing things together.

Figure 8 knot - stopper knot - knot at the end of a rope to keep things on the rope. Basic knot for tying into a climbing harness.

Sheet bend knot - tie two ropes of unequal size together.


Courtesy of these fine blokes: Art of Manliness

2010-02-01 - Important dates in U.S. history

There is a good chance I wouldn't have passed a citizenship exam. Here are a bunch of important dates in U.S. history, some of which I knew, all of which I know now. I know there are a lot more- please tell me what ones to add and I can revise the list.




1492 - Columbus finds the Americas
1587 - Roanoke Colony founded
1607 - Jamestown founded
1620 - Plymouth Rock
1630 - Massachusetts Bay Colony founded
1630 - 1732 - A bunch of other less important colonies are founded
1770 - Boston Massacre
1772 - 1786 - Revolutionary War
1773 - Boston Tea Party
1776 - Declaration of Independence
1787 - Constitution
1791 - Bill of Rights
1800 - Washington, DC becomes capital
1803 - Louisiana Purchase, Louis and Clark Expedition
1807 - Slave trade abolished
1812 - 1814 - War of 1812
1860 - South Carolina Secedes from the Union
1861 - 1865 - American Civil War
1917 - 1918 - World War I
1929 - Stock Market Crash
1941 - 1945 - World War II
1941 - December 7, Pearl Harbor
1944 - June 6 , D-Day, Invasion of Normandy
1945 - August 6, Bombing of Hiroshima, August 9, Bombing of Nagasaki
1950 - 1953 - Korean War
1961 - 1970 - Vietnam War
1969 - First man on the moon