New Year greetings from the San Andreas Fault in southern California. Some scientific evidence seems to point to a higher incidence of earthquakes when the moon is full and the ground is saturated with water deeply underground. December 31 provided a Full Moon and December 30 provided the rain. It also brought a quake just over the Mexican border, so maybe the geologists have come up with a tectonic rule of thumb.
If you like rules of thumb, there is a fun website that specializes in them. So, start the New Year out with really useful information...I don't know if the full moon/deep water rule is valid, but enjoy the following from Rules of Thumb from http://www.rulesofthumb.org/ accessed 12/30 and 12/31/2009.
1. To succeed against all possible odds, count on at least 1 in 4 things going wrong. In other words, you need a 33 percent margin of safety. If you have to have 30 of something, plan to make 40. Stanley J. Goodman, How to Manage a Turnaround
2. Three out of five people hang up on answering machines. Betty Merritt, Florist, R.R. Springville, Iowa, USA
3. Genuine emotion is always expressed with the entire body. When uncertain of a person's sincerity, watch their shoulders. You should doubt anyone who is speaking with strong emotion and relaxed shoulders. D. Klein, painter, Brooklyn, New York
4. Liars touch and scratch their nose, lean forward, and use words like would not or could not rather than contractions like wouldn't or couldn't. Scott Parker
5. One elephant will provide as much meat as 100 antelopes. Pygmy hunters in the Ituri forest of Zaire, from NOVA
6. When placed in a bowl of water, a fresh egg will sink and lie on its side. An egg that's not fresh but still edible will sink and stand partially erect on its tapered end. A rotten egg will float. David Hechler, writer, Rockport, Texas
7. If you need to locate a stud in a stick-framed wall, remember that most electricians are right handed. Find an outlet, and tap the wall directly to its left. The odds are in your favor that the stud will be there, and you can measure away from it in 16-inch increments to find other studs. Art McAfee, in Fine Homebuilding, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
8. An igloo should be built in an area where the snow is packed just loose enough to make a footprint, but not so loose that a footprint blows away in a high wind. Dennis Eskow, science editor, Popular Mechanics
9. Spraying is fast but is the least durable, rolling on paint is better but, if you want the job to last, the best is the good old paint brush. Dick Gehring, Consultant, NY
10. Water weighs roughly 8 lbs per gallon, as does milk and other similarly watery substances. Craig, University professor
11a. When taking a test: 1.Think long--think wrong. 2. Nine out of ten times, your first answer was the correct answer. 3. When in doubt, pick answer "C." Robert Hastings, Master Chief Petty Officer, United States Coast Guard
11b. When taking a test #2: Don't change your first guess on a multiple choice question when checking over your answers. The first guess is always the best. William H. Smith, Cincinnati, Ohio
Rules about Rules-of-Thumb: Rules-of-thumb help you estimate something quickly. On average, there'll be about two good rules-of-thumb out of the eleven or so proposed on a page. They're the ones which contain or refer to numbers. The rest are tips and sayings that, like fingers, are useful but not for the same reason. Charlie Kufs, Statistician, Willow Grove, Pa, US
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