Ah taxes! In case you have not been paying attention, they are due today!
This year Tax Freedom Day is April 16th, 105 days into the year. What is Tax Freedom Day? It represents how long Americans as a whole have to work in order to pay the nation’s tax burden. Think of it as the number of days each year you work for the feds, state, and city to pay them off! For California, Tax Freedom Day comes April 20! Click below for more info on this interesting topic!
Check out this retro looking map showing the top five most plastic polluting rivers in the world. The map uses stacks of Asian Elephants (about 4 tonnes each) to represent daily amounts of plastic. Descriptive text is included so you don’t have to count elephants!
Spoiler alert, no high output rivers from the US. Stop focusing on those straws California!
You can find out more about the map from here. Also there is a story map you can check out. Map is based on data from a study you can find here.
Mad about robocalls? It seems to be increasing on my cell phone every year. In 2018, a record 48 billion robocalls were placed to phones in the US. That works out to 1,500 robocalls per second! Check out this map on robocalls and read the Consumer Reports article about it and how you can start the wave to stop it.
Most countries drive on the right hand side of the road. Why do some countries drive on the left hand side? The historical account is that most countries which were British colonies kept to the left hand side of the road. British horseback riders used to ride on the left hand side, thus keeping their right arm free to offer greetings or draw their sword. Similarly, the USA teamsters used to sit on the left hand horse while driving a wagon and therefore kept their right hand free for whipping the other horses, however, later they decided to start driving on the right so that they could see the passing wheels of other wagons and avoid collisions.
Another fun fact, Sweden changed from the left to right hand side in 1967.
Check out these satellite photos of the super bloom in Walker Canyon near Lake Elsinore:
Have a craving for one of those Shamrock Shakes for St. Patrick’s Day? They will be around until March 24, so hurry and go find one using the Shamrock Shake Locator!
Once again “Daylight Saving” is upon us. I put that in quotes because nothing is being saved … more like stolen!
You heard the expression “robbing Peter to pay Paul”? That is what Daylight Saving Time does, it pushes your state into the time zone to the east, so California moves into the Mountain Time Zone. But nature does not care, the sun will rise and set as usual, however because you shifted your clock to the east it GIVES THE ILLUSION of setting later in the day … and rising later as well! If you are a morning person, dealing with that extra darkness in the morning really sucks!
