New Spruce

 

In 1945, Ali Ahmed Aslam was born in a small town in what is now Pakistan. Before he was a teenager, Ali’s family moved to Glasgow. His father opened the Green Gates, Scotland’s first Indian restaurant. In 1964, Ali opened his own restaurant, the Shish Mahal. Sometime in the 1970’s, a customer complained about their chicken tikka, saying, “I’d take some sauce with that; this is a bit dry.” So, Ali whipped up a sauce using canned tomato soup, yogurt, cream, and garam masala. Chicken tikka masala is about as Indian as chop suey and fortune cookies are Chinese. But Ali wasn’t cooking for Indians. Having grown up in Great Britain, he knew exactly how to suit British palates. His recipe very quickly became Britain’s favorite curry. Ali died in 2022 at the age of 77. He is fondly remembered for his love of Glasgow, for his charity work, and for his most famous recipe.

Blue String Block

 

Take a good look at the nearest zipper. Chances are, the zipper pull is engraved with the letters YKK. YKK stands for Yoshida Kogyo Kabushikikaisha which roughly translates to Yoshida Company Limited. hen Todao Yoshida was twenty, he worked for a trading company that went bankrupt. The owner gave Todao the remains of the business, which included a small concern that manufactured zippers. After visiting his zipper factory, Todao came up with several ways to improve the process. He began designing his own zipper construction machines. In 1938 Todao built a larger zipper factory in Tokyo. After WWII, YKK began producing zippers and other fasteners like snaps and buttons overseas. As the company grew, it brought every step of manufacturing in-house, including smelting brass and dyeing cloth. Today, YKK is the largest zipper manufacturer in the world. Todao Yoshida believed that no one prospers without rendering benefit to others, and his company still reflects those values. 

Whirling Pinwheel

 

There once were seven siblings from Casarsa in northern Italy: Giocondo, Frank, Rachele, Candido, Joseph, Gelindo and Valeriano. Their last name was Iacuzzi, but when two brothers emigrated to the U.S. in 1907, an immigration clerk accidentally changed their name to Jacuzzi. By 1910, all seven siblings (and other relatives) had come over from Italy. They formed a machining company, and made propellers for American aircraft in World War I. In the 40’s, Candido Jacuzzi had a son who suffered from rheumatoid arthritis. One treatment that seemed to help was a hydrotherapy tank at the Herrick Hospital in Berkeley, California. To give his son relief between hospital visits, Candido developed a portable pump that could turn any bathtub into a spa. In 1968, Roy, a third-generation Jacuzzi, invented a whirlpool bath with jets to mix air and water. I can testify these spas work better on R.A. than any pill. And the only side effect is pruney fingers.

Bowdacious

 

Having a routine is a comfort. It can help you feel in control and reduce stress. Routines are important for all of us, but especially for individuals with Down Syndrome. For Christina Cavanaugh, a young Pocatello woman with Down Syndrome, renting from the local video store has been part of her routine for more than fifteen years. Christina’s almost nonverbal, but she loves to select a film – usually a Disney – take it home to watch it, and return it. But video rental shops have all disappeared, driven out of business by streaming services. The last one, Video Stop, shut down last month. The owner, David Kraning, liquidated most of the videos, but kept the ones Christina loves most. You can find them in a quiet corner of his adjacent convenience store, K & B Kwik Stop. Christina’s mother is beyond grateful. “How can your heart not melt when you see people in the community taking care of each other?”

Mexicali Rose

 

The following ad appeared in the Atlanta Journal: "SINGLE BLACK FEMALE seeks male companionship. Ethnicity not important. I'm a very good looking girl who LOVES to play. I love long walks in the woods, riding in your pickup truck, hunting, camping and fishing trips, and cozy nights lying by the fire. Candlelight dinners will have me eating out of your hand. When you get home from work, I'll be at the door wearing only what nature gave me. Call (404) 555-XXXX and ask for Daisy." Over 1500 men called and found themselves talking to the Atlanta Humane Society about an eight-week-old Labrador Retriever.

UPDATE: The Atlanta Humane Society says they've been  getting calls about this ad nearly every week for years. Katherine Christensen, their public relations manager, says, "We never placed that ad." 

Forty-Nine Diversions

 

“Obstacles will come. Let us not wait for things to get hard before turning to God. Let us not wait until the end of our mortal lives to truly repent. Instead, let us now, no matter which part of the covenant path we are on, focus on the redemptive power of Jesus Christ and on Heavenly Father’s desire for us to return to Him. The Lord’s house, His holy scriptures, His holy prophets and apostles inspire us to strive towards personal holiness through the doctrine of Christ. And Nephi said: ‘And now, behold, my beloved brethren, this is the way; and there is none other way nor name given under heaven whereby man [and woman] can be saved in the kingdom of God. And now, behold, this is the doctrine of Christ, and the only and true doctrine of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.’” – Elder Jorge M. Alvarado

Grandmother's Choice

 

If you’ve ever grown carrots, you know what comes out of the ground looks nothing like what’s in the store. Some carrots will be stubby, and some will be broken. Some have two or three “legs.” Some twist around each other. If you grow ugly carrots, you eat ugly carrots. They taste fine. But no one BUYS ugly carrots. Store carrots are pretty because all the ugly ones were thrown away. Mike Yurosek, a California carrot farmer, hated to see up to 70% of his crop going to waste because it wasn’t pretty. So, Mike repurposed a bean-cutting machine to chop his ugly carrots into two-inch pieces. He peeled them with a rough stone roller and polished them with a smooth stone roller, and packaged them as Bunny Luv Baby Carrots. That was 1986. A year later, U.S. carrot consumption had increased by 30%. Today, baby carrots account for more than 70% of all carrot sales.