Fascinating stuff

 

MARK HAYTER                              936-537-0918                            hayter.mark@gmail.com

 

Hayter’s article for May 15, 2022

Did you already know this stuff?

 

          This week, I did as much as I could to add to the wealth of information stored inside my noggin. My brain is a poor storehouse for knowledge because most of what I put in there is not retrievable when needed. It will only appear shortly in dreams.

          I can’t be sure of the half-life of the information I’m about to share, but I think it will stay with you longer than with me. At the moment I’ve written it all down. As soon as I find the tablet, I’ll begin. You might have time to grab a snack. – “O’ Sole Mio, and So are You…” —Ah, here it is.

          I think I’ll start with the clown fish. You know, Nemo? If you’ve yet to see the movie, I’ll wait for you. – Are they gone. Okay, what I didn’t know

about clown fish is that each of them is born male. That’s why none of them are pink. Each Nemo lives with a large group that has only one female. Where did she come from? -- Hold onto your socks. -- When the one female of a group of clown fish dies or swims away, one of the males starts thinking like a female. And, in a very short time, he develops the physical attributes of a clown fish mommy, complete with the ability to lay fish eggs. Hey, I’m was as shocked as you are.

          How does one of many male clown fish realize that it needs to turn into a mommy? You tell me, and I’ll share it with others. The folks at Disney didn’t know this or else the voice of Neo’s Dad would’ve been that of Gweneth Paltrow instead of Albert Brooks.

 

          Speaking of species! There are 160,000 species of moths! Look, I wrote it down right here. See? “Moth species --160,000”. There are 10 times more species of moths than butterflies. That’s crazy. I know some butterflies. Even helped Kay raise some. But moths? The only moth I can think of at the moment is the Rosy Maple Moth. I couldn’t find the person who came up with that name. With 160,000 species of moths, any one of you may have named one or two. 

The reason there are so many different moth species is a bit of a mystery to me. And I can live with that. I know that if all moths vanished tomorrow we’d probably be dead by Wednesday. But, I’ve got too much on my plate to worry about that.

          Speaking of things that fly, there would be fewer bats in our neighborhood, had not the first bat trained the others to scare off owls. When an owl comes near some hanging bats, the bats start making a “buzzing” noise. To me and an owl, the sound is that of a nest of wasps.  Owls aren’t fond of wasps. Hippos seem to be okay with ‘em? 

          You may have read recently about the history of the 9/10 of a cent tax on gasoline. If so, it bears repeating. States started taxing gasoline as early as 1919. Oregon was the first. Gasoline was around 10 cents a gallon at the time, so the Beaver State placed a penny tax on each gallon. By 1932, each state was taxing gas at various rates. This was during the Great Depression, so a state might come up with a three-and-a-half-cent tax. You’re living in hard times when you’re calculating in tenths of a cent. 

          In 1932 the Federal Government collected its first gasoline tax of one cent per gallon. It wasn’t much, but money was needed to pay for the material and jobs that went to constructing highways, parks, dams, and the San Jacinto Monument. As time moved along, each state ended the amount of the tax in fractions of a cent. One state might levy a 2.4 cents tax per gallon.

Today, in each state, the last digit in the price of a gallon of gasoline is “.9” cents. As of this writing, the price of gasoline around my location is $3.99.9. The few times I’m asked the price of gasoline, I include the nine-tenths of a cent. If you do the math, you realize that the cost is closer to $4 than to $3.99. That extra penny is lost in the minds of most consumers. I continue to add to the price so big oil will know that they’re not tricking me. That’ll bring them to knees when nothing else can. The state tax in Texas is 20 cents and the Federal tax is 18.4 cents.

          And while on the subject, it would be near impossible for me to find a gasoline station anywhere in the vicinity? I mentioned that a while back. “Service Stations” pretty much died out over the years because there was little profit in selling gasoline. The cost of stockpiling tires, and keeping a mechanic and parts on hand, was a huge undertaking. Now there are places all around town where you can get your oil changed, your tires replaced, your auto repaired.  Service Stations are no longer able to keep up with the competition. So now gasoline is sold at McDonald's, Burger King, Taco Bell, Chevron, Shell… each teamed up with a convenience store that sells warmed burritos, spicy nuts, coffee, beer, and cherry Icees. The coffee is generally good, too.

I never saw that coming, and I’m as pleased as I can be that I was alive to appreciate it. A vast improvement from the good ol’ days. 

          That’s it, students. Before leaving, do any of you remember the type of moth mentioned in today’s lesson? I’m shocked that I do. Maybe my brain is doing some synapse swapping. That can only help. – More on that another time. Perhaps. 

end

hayter.mark@gmail.com