Minnesota
Related: About this forumThe Story of Minnesota
May be old story for people here, but I just got it and really was rolling laughing.
THE STORY of MINNESOTA
Just in case you didn't know...
Minnesota became the 32nd state on May 11, 1858 and was originally settled by a lost tribe of Norwegians seeking refuge from the searing heat of Wisconsin's winters.
Minnesota gets it's name from the Sioux Indian word "mah-nee-soo-tah," meaning, "No, really... They eat fish soaked in lye (lutefisk)."
Note: No matter how it's prepared it's like chomping on cardboard... soaked in lye solution then repeatedly in fresh water to diffuse the lye... Yuck!!!
The state song of Minnesota is "Someday the Vikings will... Aw, never mind."
The Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota covers 9.5 million square feet and has enough space to hold 185,000 idiot teenagers yapping away on cell phones. Madison, Minnesota is known as "the lutefisk capital of the world."
Avoid this city at all costs.
"The Mary Tyler Moore Show" was set in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and was Mary's first real acting job since leaving the "Dick van Dyke Show. The show about a single woman's struggle to find happiness in the big city was originally titled "Life Without Dick," but that was changed for some reason.
Downtown Minneapolis has an enclosed skyway system covering 52 blocks, allowing people to live, work, eat, and sleep without ever going outside. The only downside to this is that a Norwegian occasionally turns up missing.
The Hormel Company of Austin, Minnesota produces 6 million cans of Spam a year, even though no one actually eats it. Spam is a prized food in Japan & Hawaii--Spam sushi!!
Minnesota license plates are blue & white and contain the phrase "Blizzards on the 4th of July - you get used to it."
Frank C. Mars, founder of the Mars Candy Co. was born in Newport, Minnesota. His 3 Musketeers candy bar originally contained three bars one wrapper, each filled with a different flavor of nougat - chocolate, Spam and lutefisk.
Some Tonka trucks continue to be manufactured in Minnetonka, Minnesota, despite the thousands of GI Joe dolls killed by them annually in rollover accidents. No airbags, no seat belts. These things are deathtraps, I tell ya!
Author Laura Ingalls Wilder was raised at Walnut Grove, Minnesota, and was famous for writing the "Little House" series of books, as well as inventing the "Spam diet" which consists of looking at a plate of Spam until you lose your appetite. Much like the "lutefisk diet."
The snowmobile was invented in Roseau, Minnesota so as to allow families a means of attending 4th of July picnics.
Minnesotans are almost indistinguishable from Wisconsinites. The only way to tell them apart is to ask if they voted for Mondale in '84.
Now... it's up to you to forward this to all your friends. If one of them does not forward it to others, he/she will be given an entrance pin to attend the Eelpout Festival in Walker, MN, February 21-23 2014.
Now, COLD is a relative thing:
65* outside
Arizonans turn on the heat.
People in Minnesota plant gardens.
60* outside
Californians shiver uncontrollably.
People in Minnesota sunbathe.
50* outside
Italian & English cars won't start.
People in Minnesota drive with the windows down.
40* outside
Georgians don coats, thermal underwear, gloves, wool hats.
People in Minnesota throw on a flannel shirt.
35* outside
New York landlords finally turn up the heat.
People in Minnesota have the last cookout before it gets cold.
20* outside
People in Miami all die.
Minnesotans close their windows.
Zero* outside
Californians fly away to Mexico.
People in Minnesota get out their winter coats.
10 below zero:
Hollywood disintegrates.
The Girl Scouts in Minnesota are selling cookies door to door.
20 below zero:
Washington DC runs out of hot air. (Ya think? Nah.).
People in Minnesota let their dogs sleep indoors.
30 below zero:
Santa Claus abandons the North Pole.
Minnesotans get upset because they can't start the snowmobile.
40 below zero:
ALL atomic motion stops.
People in Minnesota start saying..."Cold enough for ya?"
50 below zero: Hell freezes over. Minnesota public schools will open 2 hours late.
madaboutharry
(40,190 posts)question everything
(47,440 posts)I'll ask them whether it is in the public domain, or just written as free association. Some people are that talented..
Scuba
(53,475 posts)question everything
(47,440 posts)Lifelong Protester
(8,421 posts)She was born in my town in WI, where I just got done shoveling 3" of "partly cloudy" out of my driveway.
Anyhoo, the joke about the teens yapping on cell phones makes me want to re-think my once a year visit to the MOA.
Keep warm!
dflprincess
(28,072 posts)"The Long Winter".
Lifelong Protester
(8,421 posts)I was wondering this morning if I would have to twist 'hay sticks' to burn, like they do in the book.
dflprincess
(28,072 posts)bvar22
(39,909 posts)...and Garrison Keillor mentioned that most Minnesota Schools will be closed on Monday due to cold weather.
When schools close in Minnesota due to cold weather,
you KNOW it has GOT to be cold.
Starkraven & I lived in the Twin Cities from 1999 - 2006,
and I can't remember the schools ever being closed due to cold weather.
question everything
(47,440 posts)and... they are concerned about school buses starting.
Someone told me that one problem with the school buses is that they are privatized so if drivers don't feel like getting up when the windchill is -40, they just don't show up to work..
That it was different when the union was in charge.
Don't know one way or the other.
Thor_MN
(11,843 posts)One can debate "new" normal, but this winter is only a bit cold on a historical scale.
dflprincess
(28,072 posts)tomorrow will be the 3rd or 4th time this year that it's happened. Though Gov. Dayton only ordered all schools closed the first time it happened this year - now it's up to each school district.
The air temps will be bad enough, but the windchills are going to be brutal.
Lydia Leftcoast
(48,217 posts)which means that there are parents who have never outfitted a kid for subzero temperatures, especially if they moved in from elsewhere.
With a -40° wind chill, frostbite becomes a real danger.
dflprincess
(28,072 posts)after a cold snap like this they wind up seeing more cases of frostbite when the temp gets to 20 or 25 above. The reason being that it feels so warm people get careless about gloves and hats.