Union Products of Leominster, Massachusettes, is closing its plant November 1, a victim of recent economy trends. Unfortunately this means that, after 49 years, the production of those pink plastic flamingos for the yard has come to a close. Once a way for people all over the country to bring a little of Sunny Florida to their own yards, then reviled symbol of bad taste, then pop culture icon, the flamingos will now be consigned to the history books. Kitsch or not, it's always a sad day when tradition is broken or lost. Apparently there are individuals looking to find a new manufacturer to save the birds from extinction, but until then, we mourn the flamingo.

People tell jokes that if you can't see a Starbucks from where you are, just turn around... Except it's not a joke! Launi Skinner, senior vice president in charge of Starbucks' store development, says it is called "infill" - the process of adding more stores where Starbucks is already common... The idea is to open enough stores so that the wait time at any given store is not too long... If that means opening a store across the street, than so be it... "Going to the other side of the street can be a barrier," Skinner said, adding that a common complaint from customers is still that the stores are not convenient enough! Which is kind of amazing when you consider:

• New York city has two Starbucks in a single Macy's store... Plus another two in the Marriott Marquis hotel...
• Seattle, Washington, has two in the Bank of America Tower and a third across the street from it...

Murphy's Technology Law #1: You can never tell which way the train went by looking at the track.

Murphy's Technology Law #2: Logic is a systematic method of coming to the wrong conclusion with confidence.

Murphy's Technology Law #3: Technology is dominated by those who manage what they do not understand.

Murphy's Technology Law #4: If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker that came along would destroy civilization.

Murphy's Technology Law #5: An expert is one who knows more and more about less and less until he/she knows absolutely everything about nothing.

Murphy's Technology Law #6: Tell a man there are 300 billion stars in the universe, and he'll believe you. Tell him a bench has wet paint on it, and he'll have to touch to be sure.

Murphy's Technology Law #7: All great discoveries are made by mistake.

Murphy's Technology Law #8: Nothing ever gets built on schedule or within budget.

Murphy's Technology Law #9: All's well that ends . . . period.

Murphy's Technology Law #10: A meeting is an event at which minutes are kept and hours are lost.

Murphy's Technology Law #11: The first myth of management is that it exists.

Murphy's Technology Law #12: A failure will not appear until a unit has passed final inspection.

Murphy's Technology Law #13: New systems generate new problems.

Murphy's Technology Law #14: To err is human, but to really foul things up requires a computer.

Murphy's Technology Law #15: We don't know one-millionth of one percent about anything.

Murphy's Technology Law #16: Any given program, when running, is obsolete.

Murphy's Technology Law #17: A computer makes as many mistakes in two seconds as 20 men working 20 years make.

Your standard of living improves when you go camping.
Your prenuptial agreement mentions chickens.
You have jacked up your home to look for a dog.
There is a belch on your answering machine greeting.
None of the tires on your van are the same size.
You hold the hood of your car with your head while you work on it.
Your town put the new garbage truck in the Christmas parade.
Your local beauty salon also fixes cars.
Your doghouse and your living room have the same shag carpet.
You've ever slow danced in the Waffle House.
Starting your car involves popping the hood.
Your garbage man is confused about what goes and what stays.
You whistle at women in church.
You actually wear shoes your dog brought home.
You've been in a fistfight at a yard sale.
You carry a fly swatter in the front seat of the car so you can reach the kids in the backseat.
You think people who have cell phones and e-mail are uppity.

What do you do when your fishing plans are foiled? How about start a competition that will run for years and even crown World Champions? That's what the people of Ashton, Northamptonshire, England did. Today they held the 42nd World Conker Championships! (For those who may not be in the know, a conker is horse chestnut. The nuts usually ripen in September and October, and the games may begin!) Two opponents are armed with a conker, strung with a lace through the center, and take turns hitting the opponent's nut. When one nut is smashed, the winner is declared. There were 310 contestants this year - Congratulations to the winners and to all who raised funds for charity through the competition!

The next time someone invites you to participate in, or the next time you think about doing a 5K walk or a 10K run, think twice. You can't. Really! It's impossible. K is an abbreviation for a unit of measurement... but it's Kelvin! A "5K" race would be a race run at 5 degrees Kelvin. That's -450.67 degrees Fahrenheit (-268.15 degrees C)! Even if you think you'd like to tackle a marathon, a marathon is only 42.195"K", and that would still only be -383.719 Fahrenheit (-230.95 degrees C). You'd be frozen solid, and then walking, even running, would be out of the question. (You have to get to about 275 Kelvin just to make it above freezing, and 275 "K" is a long walk!) So wait until your friend invites you to a 5km walk or you think about that 10km run...! And feel free to promote accuracy in units!