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THESE ARE ACTUAL COMPLAINTS RECEIVED BY "THOMAS COOK VACATIONS" FROM DISSATISFIED CUSTOMERS: 1. "They should not allow topless sunbathing on the beach. It was very distrating for my husband who just wanted to relax." 2. "On my holiday to Goa in India, I was disgusted to find that almost every restaurant served curry. I don't like spicy food." 3. "We went on holiday to Spain and had a problm with the taxi drivers as they were all Spanish." 4. "We booked an excursion to a water park but no-one told us we had to bring our own swimsuts and towels. We assumed it would be included in the price." 5. "The beach was too sandy. We had to clean everything when we returned to our room." 6. "We found the sand was not like the sand in the brochure. Your brochure shows the sand as white but it was more yellow." 7. "It's lazy of the local shopkepers in Puerto Vallartato close in the afternoons. I often needed to buy things during 'siesta' time -- this should be banned." 8. "No-one told us there would be fish in the water. The children were scared." 9. "Although the brochure said that there was a fully equiped kitchen, there was no egg-slicer in the drawers." 10. "I think it should be explained in the brochure that the local convenience store does not sell proper biscuts like custard creams or ginger nuts." 11. "The roads were uneven and bumpy, so we could not read the local guide book during the bus ride to the resort. Because of this, we were unaware of many things that would have made our holiday more fun." 12. "It took us nine hours to fly home from Jamaica to England. It took the Americans only three hours to get home. This sems unfair." 13. "I compared the size of our one-bedroom suite to our friends' three-bedroom and ours was significantly smaller." 14. "The brochure stated: 'No hairdressers at the resort.' We're trainee hairdresers and we think they knew and made us wait longer for service." 15. "When we were in Spain, there were too many Spanish people there. The receptionist spoke Spanish, the food was Spanish. No one told us that there would be so many foreigners." 16. "We had to line up outside to catch the boat and there was no air-conditioning." 17. "It is your duty as a tour operator to advise us of noisy or unruly guests before we travel." 18. "I was bitten by a mosquito. The brochure did not mention mosquitoes." 19. "My fiancée and I requsted twin-beds when we booked, but insted we were placed in a room with a king bed. We now hold you responsible and want to be re-reimbursed for the fact that I became pregnant. This would not have hapened if you had put us in the room that we booked." Source: Peter Dickinson

“The Expense Account” by Norman Rockwell (1957) To enhance his illustrations, Rockwell used lots of ready props. His numerous business trips to New York and his 1955 round-the-world trip for Pan American Airlines provided him with lots of ticket stubs, receipts, and nightclub ephemera. Post readers reacted to the cover with the usual assortment of feelings. A man from Norfolk, Virginia, said it was "far from funny a moral tragedy," but a Cleveland reader, called it "superb," and said he did a lot of traveling and well appreciated the character's dilemma.

Mycenaean daggers made of silver and gold were found in shaft graves 4-7 in Grave Circle A, dating back to 1550-1500 B.C. These daggers give us valuable insights into the craftsmanship and artistic skills of the Mycenaean civilization. Their use of precious metals in creating these weapons highlights the significance of daggers in their society. The discovery of these daggers also contributes to our understanding of burial practices and the status of the individuals buried in these graves.

Michael Crichton gave up studying English at Harvard University, having become disillusioned with the teaching standards--the final straw came when he submitted an essay by George Orwell that was given a "B-." After giving up English and spending a year in Europe, Michael returned to Boston, Massachusetts, and attended Havard Medical School to train as a doctor. Several times, he was persuaded not to quit the course but did so after qualifying in 1969. During his medical-student days, he wrote novels secretly mainly under the pseudonym of John Lange in reference to his almost 6' 9" height (Lange in German means 'long'). One novel, "A Case of Need," written under the pseudonym Jeffery Hudson, (Sir Jeffrey Hudson was a famous 17th century dwarf) contained references to people at Harvard Medical School, but he couldn't hide his identity when the novel won an award that had to be collected in person. After giving up medicine, Michael moved to Hollywood, California, in the early 1970s and began directing movies based on his books, his first big break being "Westworld" (1973). Crichton has related the story of his first visit to a movie studio, Universal, which was about to produce "The Andromeda Strain" (1971). A young novice director named Steven Spielberg was assigned the task of giving him a tour of the studio. It was almost 20 years later that he was contacted by Spielberg for a potential project that was dropped in favor of another of his stories, "Jurassic Park" (1993). "I went to a museum and they had this sideshow. There was a little boy who couldn't have been more than six. His feet didn't even touch the ground. Each time they showed a dinosaur he would shout, 'Tyrannosaurus!' "'Stegosaurus!' He did that for an hour and I thought, 'What is it about dinosaurs that's so fascinating?' That's when I decided to write 'Jurassic Park.'" After the success of "Jurassic Park", "Rising Sun" (1993), "Disclosure" (1994) and "Congo" (1995) (all adaptations of Crichton's novels), he was paid a substantial amount for the movie rights of his future bestseller "Airframe" before it was even published. Sigourney Weaver, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Demi Moore were reportedly linked to the project. However, the movie adaptation was permanently shelved when Crichton could not agree on a screenplay that he liked, after which he returned the money. Of all the film adaptations made from his novels, Crichton said that the best was "Jurassic Park," and the worst was "The Terminal Man" (1974).

For the first time since November, NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft is returning usable data about the health and status of its onboard engineering systems. The next step is to enable the spacecraft to begin returning science data again. The probe and its twin, Voyager 2, are the only spacecraft to ever fly in interstellar space. https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasas-voyager-1-resumes-sending-engineering-updates-to-earth

JOSHUA's DIVISION GOING TO MT. EBAL "And the youth spies went in, and brought out Rahab, and ... all her kindred, and left them outside the camp of Israel. And they burnt the city with fire, and all that was therein: only the silver, and the gold, and the vessels of bronze and of iron, they put into the treasury of the house of YHWH. And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot alive, and her father's household, and all that she had; and she dwells in Israel even unto this day; because she hid the messengers, whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho. And Joshua adjured them at that time, saying, Cursed be the man before YHWH, that rises up and build this city Jericho: he shall lay the foundation thereof in his firstborn, and in his youngest son shall he set up the gates of it." -Joshua 6:23-26 Between the transition of Late Bronze Age Collapsed - Iron Age IA and of king Ahab's time, Jericho was abandoned as Joshua uttered a curse against those who would rebuild the city. The target of their division would be Mt. Ebal to fulfill the order of Moses. Joshua further divided his troop: those located in Adam city (Damieh), another group was located in Tel el-Baghlat (which might have gone to Kibbutz Gilgal, to Yafit and also in Masu'a). In the group of Joshua going to Jericho, they divided themselves into two groups: the Levites under Eleazar and the people under Joshua. Whether the Zimri division (which was formerly under Zimri ben Sallu) became the group in Yafit or not, we don't know. Heap of earth piled across the river between Adam city and Zaretan, cutting the water, which flows down to the Dead Sea. "That the waters which came down from above stood and rose up upon an heap very far from the city Adam, that is beside Zaretan: and those that came down toward the sea of the plain, even the Salt Sea, failed, and were cut off: and the people passed over right against Jericho." -Joshua 3:16 Officers came to Joshua to give instruction when to cross the Jordan river. "And it came to pass after three days, that the officers went through the host" -Joshua 3:2 When the river was cut in Adam city area, groups there down to the group of Joshua enabled to cross the river. And the sign that they stopped in a particular place is a sandal-shaped enclosure. Jericho, a 13th century BCE toponym, this time was not as great as the former Ruha in the 14th, 15th or 16th century BCE. The new settlers in this 13th century BCE settlement were poor people. A strong quake that happened in Adam city had occurred too in Jericho after several days, after the seven-day Jericho march. Based on their mark, their troop built sandal-shaped enclosure in Sha'ab Rumani in Rimonim. The troop from Adam city built also such enclosure in Bedhat esh-Sha'ab in Argaman before going to el-'Unuq. From el-'Unuq they went to Mt. Gerizim in Nablus and some to Mt. Ebal, uttering blessings and curses, respectively. All of these sandal-shaped enclosures are built in the Iron Age I (1200-1000 BCE), in the time that even poor people in Jericho had iron vessels. The Bible has positively claimed that the curse had Joshua uttered over Jericho was fulfilled in the days of king Ahab, there was a gap from 1150 to 850 BCE. "And Ahab made a grove; and ... In his days did Hiel the Bethelite build Jericho: he laid the foundation thereof in Abiram his firstborn, and set up the gates thereof in his youngest son Segub, according to the word of YHWH, which He spoke by Joshua the son of Nun." -1 Kings 16:33-34 YHWH secures the evidence of these events. God is great.

In 1939, Bob Kane was a freelance artist with a small studio of artists to assist/ghost pencil his work. Among these young comic creators was the writer of the group, Bill Finger. They were hired by Kane, not National and all work to come out of the studio was credited to Bob Kane. When National Comics (eventually DC Comics) editor Vin Sullivan asked him to create the next "Superman,", he created "The Batman," who he drew in a red outfit, a mask in the style of Zorro, and a glider based on a sketch by Leonardo Da Vinci and the film "The Bat Whispers" (1930). He asked Finger for advice. It was Finger who suggested giving Batman a scalloped cape and an eared cowl, and he changed the costume from red to gray. He also introduced the detective aspect to Batman's character. He wrote the first "Batman" comic and many more. However, he died poor and uncredited. Years later, Kane expressed regret over this, yet he never allowed Finger to be credited as a co-creator. "Bill Finger was a contributing force on "Batman" right from the beginning. He wrote most of the great stories and was influential in setting the style and genre other writers could emulate. I made Batman a superhero-vigilante when I first created him. Bill turned him into a scientific detective." "Now that my longtime friend and collaborator is gone, I must admit that Bill never received the fame and recognition he deserved. He was an unsung hero. I often tell my wife, if I could go back fifteen years, before he died, I would like to say, 'I'll put your name on it now. You deserve it.'" Kane was set to have a cameo in Tim Burton's "Batman" (1989), but had to back out due to poor health. He sketched the picture of the man-bat shown to Alexander Knox (Robert Wuhl) that appears in the film.

Here for the first time is an actual picture of Scotlands’ most closely guarded secret bunker! At this top secret location, guarded by state of the art technology is The National Vault of Scotland. It reputedly contains irreplaceable and priceless national Scottish treasures. Deep in its rocky underground vault are, amongst other things, Bonnie Prince Charlie's favourite haggis recipe which was, so the story goes, stuffed into Flora MacDonald’s old nighty. There’s a frozen dish of haggis neeps and tatties, and for dessert there’s even a cryogenically preserved fried Mars bar. Stores in the vault include the first ever known can of Baxter's Cock-A-Leekie soup plus an early bottle of intact and undrunk Irn Brew. I’m told by sources that Rabbie Burns old quill and ink are in there, with John Logie Baird's wide screen telly along with a street Map of the legendary, but ever so real, village of Brigadoon. Just ask Gene Kelly. Another source said that contrary to popular opinion the Stone of Destiny (the real one) may also be housed there. Due to the fact it MIGHT contain Robert the Bruce’s still living wee spider and a little hatchery for midges (in case of the imminent extinction that the Scottish tourist board so hopes for) the government has continually refused pressure to grant access to the public. PS dinnae even think of trying to find it because naturally, being located in a mountain fastness, it’s guarded by the dragon Nessie who is VERY occasionally allowed to play out at Loch Ness. Thanks to Innes Lynn for inspiring me!

The H-blocks at Puma Punku are truly captivating! Their massive size and intricate shapes ignite the imagination. These deliberate cuts in the stone definitely hint at a deeper purpose. Archaeologists are still unraveling the mysteries behind them, but here are some interesting possibilities: Engineering Marvels: Perhaps the H-blocks were key components of an advanced architectural system. Their precise cuts might have allowed them to interlock perfectly, creating incredibly strong and stable structures. Symbolic Significance: The H-shape could hold symbolic meaning for the civilization that built Puma Punku. It might represent a specific deity, natural element, or concept. Astronomical Alignment: Some theories propose the H-blocks were positioned to align with celestial bodies, serving as a giant calendar or observatory. The true meaning behind the H-blocks remains a compelling puzzle, but their presence adds to the wonder of Puma Punku.

Iconic Houses: Winchester Mystery House San Jose, CA A staircase that dead-ends at the ceiling. A door that opens into thin air. The number 13 hidden throughout the home. The list of oddities goes on… This sprawling 24,000-square-foot, 160-room Victorian mansion in San Jose, CA was built by mysterious recluse Sarah Winchester – heiress to the Winchester Rifle fortune. Her only child, a daughter, Anne, died at 6-weeks old and her husband passed away shortly after, leaving Sarah a widow at age 41 and in sole possession of the $20 million Winchester fortune (roughly close to $500 million today). Sarah believed her life was cursed and she was haunted by the spirits of those killed by the firearms made by her family. She began construction on the Winchester House in 1886 and never stopped building. She hired laborers to work on the house 24 hours a day, 7 days a week until her death in 1922. Sarah believed that in order to keep the angry spirits from finding her and killing her, she had to keep them continuously “lost” inside the house. She had the construction crews design elaborate schemes to trick the spirits and keep them trapped or confused, including false staircases, trap doors, windows that lead to nowhere, and rooms with no entry or exit. Today, the house is a tourist attraction and is visited by thousands each year. Many say they have heard ghostly footsteps on the 3rd floor and have even seen an apparition in the basement. It’s no surprise that Sarah’s tormented spirit itself remains trapped inside her mystery labyrinth of twisted architecture. #iconichouses #winchesterrifle #winchesterhouse #WinchesterMysteryHouse #haunted #hauntedhouse #hauntedplaces #famoushouses #weirdfacts