January 14, 2011-- Random thoughts while driving...

Today I had to drive up to Jackman to pick up my son who's come down to visit over the long weekend. I was alone in the car, unable to find anything to listen to on the radio, so I just kind of let my mind drift while I drove the 75 miles north. I love driving by myself; all that emptiness in the car doesn't need to be filled with conversation, or listening to music the other person puts on, or wondering if something is wrong because the person with you is so quiet. It's just you behind the wheel and driving, and the occasional logging or pulp truck to contend with. At least around here anyway. So,  I settled into my seat and these are some of the random thoughts I had...

Has anyone studied whether giving teddy bears to elderly patients in nursing homes, especially those with Alzheimer's, makes them feel better? After all, if small children benefit from a cuddly friend to hold, then wouldn't these people who have unfortunately regressed to a childlike state benefit as well? Or would it be considered demeaning to give an adult a teddy bear?

If our solar panels get charged a tiny bit even on cloudy days because of the ambient light coming through the clouds, do they also receive a slight charge when the moon is bright, especially at the full moon?

I came across a website the other day for a virtual piano keyboard. Once it is downloaded, you type on your computer and this presses the keys on the piano, producing a sound. So, I wonder what typing in a phrase like "the quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog" would sound like or say, one of Shakespeare's sonnets and conversely, what kind of message one would receive if you played a Mozart piano concerto and wrote down the letters that each note corresponded to.. then I wondered whether the notes a,b,c,d,e,f and g would correspond to the same letters on the computer or if they would be different...and what the most frequently used note in music is, like the letter "e" is the most used letter...

If your chances of  getting struck by lightning twice are greater than your chances of winning the lottery, then where does that leave me as I have already been struck by lightning once--does that mean I have a better chance of winning the lottery now or a better chance of being struck by lightning  again...