Interesting Facts

According to the United States Fire Administration, in the USA there are 10,300 fires during the three-day period around Halloween.   These fires cause an estimated 25 deaths, 125 injuries and $83 million in property loss. (Most fires are down to the candles in jack-o-lanterns and costumes that aren't fire-retardent.)

Farmers are warning that there will be a shortage of pumpkins in the run up to Halloween. (Following the ideal growing conditions in August and September, the heavy rain of October has put a damper on everything by making the pumpkin skins soft, which means they get soggy and collapse before they can be harvested. In Germany there are lots of pumpkins, but they are smaller than usual, due to a shortage of rain.  Who'd want to be a farmer?)

We have already mentioned that not all nuts are created equal.  Some so called nuts are actually in disguise. So, today, in celebration of National Nut Day, instead of us telling you everything let's see if you can guess the names in this picture.  Which are real nuts, and which ones are imposters?

October 22nd Today is Nut Day

22nd October National nut day.  (We like nuts.)

20th October World Statistics Day 

According to a survey commissioned by broadband provider Plusnet, 1 in 10 people believe that it only takes a small thing to salvage a bad day. (The top 10 things that make us cheerful are:- Doing a good deed for somebody (47 per cent)  Random acts of kindness from strangers (44 per cent)  Stumbling across a bargain (42 per cent) Spontaneous hug (40 per cent) A compliment from a stranger (39 per cent) A car stopping so you can cross the road (36 per cent) Being greeted by a pet (35 per cent) Getting a hand written letter in the post (31 per cent) Your favourite song coming on the radio (31 per cent) A stranger saying hello (30 per cent) Make my day. Try to do / experience at least 5 of these things today.)

According to a survey conducted by OnePoll.com 70% of Brits admit to regularly sending text messages to the wrong person, and over 40% said they had been on the receiving end of a message clearly intended for someone else. (The survey revealed that people are most likely to send emails to the wrong people via text message, followed by desktop email, smartphone email, tablet email and WhatsApp. Some people have even lost their job by accidentally sending inappropriate stuff to their boss. One texter, ended up sending his driving instructor, 'a big, butch bloke' called Harry, a message thst was meant for his wife Hannah, saying that he loved him and discussing what they should have for dinner I've had people posting to my public forum page instead of in a private message - you know who you are. My advice? Slow down, and check before clicking "Send".)

13th October English Language Day - http://www.englishproject.org/ (In 2015 the focus is on punctuation.) It is also Yorkshire Pudding Day / No Bra Day / Train Your Brain Day and Face Your Fears Day.

A few years ago a survey confirmed what everyone already knew, that Monday is the most miserable day of the week in the UK, but a new survey, has pinned it down to a particular time. (The survey, commissioned by broadband provider Plusnet, found that 11:17am on Mondays is the most miserable time of the week. Even worse, less than a quarter of Brits feel happy before midday, but the good news is we have cheered up by 2.35pm. I have the perfect solution, move to a different time zone.)

7.6 billion plastic carrier bags are handed out in England every year. (That's 61,000 tonnes of plastic, and the equivalent of 140 bags per person. The government expects the English scheme to cut use of plastic carrier bags by up to 80% in supermarkets, and by 50% on the High Street. It is expected to save £60m in litter clean-up costs as well as generate £730m for good causes over the next decade. Let's hope we can learn to carry a reusable bag with us.)

October 5th Shoppers in England will have to pay 5p for a plastic bag from today.