If you’re looking to save time on your morning commute, I wouldn’t recommend cutting through Yellowstone National Park. On the bright side, there are plenty of beautiful sights to look at while you don’t move. Read more: http://www.wimp.com/a-traffic-jam-in-yellowstone-national-park/
Jewelry can be a great way to express yourself and put a finishing touch on any outfit. But what happens when it gets tarnished and dingy? It just doesn’t seem to have the same effect. You could spend money on expensive jewelry cleaning devices or take it to a professional who will charge a pretty penny. Or you could just follow the advice of veteran cleaning expert Melissa Maker. Since 2011, Maker has been hosting a series of videos that explain the nitty-gritty of keeping things clean called Clean My Space. Before she made the jump to YouTube, she was already chock-full of hands-on experience, gained as the owner of an upscale housekeeping service in Toronto of the same name. Her journey to housekeeping, though, was not the usual one. Before starting her business, she was actually working in commercial banking … not exactly related fields! Maker graduated from the Schulich School of Business in Toronto with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in 2005. She easily found a job in banking and worked there for exactly a year before resigning to start Clean My Space. While working as a busy banker, she noticed a gap in the market when searching desperately for a trustworthy and reliable cleaning company. Since starting her company, Maker “has amassed (too much) knowledge about cleaning products, tools and how to create homemade versions and save money. Clients, friends and family kept asking for Melissa’s tips and secrets now that she was a veritable cleaning wizard. Rather than repeating the tips over and over … she started up a YouTube channel.” Her angle certainly seems to be working, too; her channel has over 350,000 subscribers and an incredibly impressive 40 million views! Now, if only she could just team up with our favorite canine cleaner … Read more: http://www.wimp.com/remove-tarnish-silver-jewelry-quick-easy-hack/
His Santa-like beard isn’t the only Christmas-y thing about the man everyone calls “Boonie.” There’s also his incredibly giving nature and well, his profession. Ralph “Boonie” Lethbridge is something of a local celebrity in his native Clarenville. He’s the go-to guy in pretty much the whole area when it comes to natural Christmas trees. He’s been cutting and selling trees each Christmas for nearly 40 years. He’s had his beard even longer. While he intends to keep chopping down 200 Christmas trees a year until he turns at least 90 (he’s currently 71), Boonie did the unthinkable recently and shaved his well-known facial hair. The whitish neck decoration was part Santa Claus, part lumberjack, and all Boonie. When asked what he thinks of his clean-shaven appearance, Boonie replied, “Oh I got an awful fright me son, I looked about 100 years old I think, holy dying jumpings … I like me beard, my son, I like me beard. I mean it looks a lot different, but I don’t care now sure. That’s not the goal. Another couple of years I tell you, if I’m alive, I’ll do it again, no trouble.” Yes, he really talks just like that. So if he prefers the beard (and so, apparently, does his wife), then why did he shave it off? For the best reason of all. To help others. His popularity coupled with this bold act helped to earn $51,000 for the ALS Society of Newfoundland and Labrador. His goal was to help his friends raise $5,000, so he was quite shocked, to say the least. As for his beard? Well, he’s going to start working on it fairly soon. As he told the CBC, “that’s the only thing I got for good looks; my beard, my teeth and my two blue eyes.” Read more: http://www.wimp.com/man-gives-up-forty-year-beard-charity/
In life, we seek out those with experiences similar to our own. Whether it’s someone who went to the same college as us, cheers for the same sports team, or grew up in the same hometown, we are naturally drawn to people with whom we have something in common. It’s this natural desire to be with someone similar that led two chimpanzees, Terry and Jeannie, together. When you look at their backgrounds, these two couldn’t seem more different. Jeannie is far older than Terry, and had spent the first 40 years of her life living in an animal research lab. At 18, Terry is much younger than Jeannie, but he was rescued from similar circumstances. He’d spent his life in a small zoo, where he experienced isolation similar to what Jeannie felt during her time in the lab. Jeannie was rescued by an organization called “Save the Chimps” in 2002. She’s spent the years since then living in their chimpanzee sanctuary and caring for young chimps. So, when Terry arrived not too long ago, it’s almost as though Jeannie sensed something in him that needed to be healed. She reached out, took hold of his hand, and welcomed him home. From the looks of things, neither of them will be letting go anytime soon. If you’re interested in learning more about Jeannie, Terry, or any other chimps currently living at the sanctuary, check out their website for full profiles as well as info on how you can help this great cause. H/T: Inside Edition Read more: http://www.wimp.com/rescued-chimpanzees-hold-hands-terry-jeannie/
Being an “original thinker” might sound like a daunting task – after all, there can only be so many Elon Musks, right? Well, organizational psychologist Adam Grant wants you to know that coming up with original ideas isn’t as difficult as you might think, and the habits it takes to get there may surprise you. Read more: http://www.wimp.com/3-surprising-habits-of-original-thinkers/
Dogs and leaf blowers. For centuries, or however long leaf blowers have existed, these two have engaged in a frustrating battle of wits and air. Dogs use every tool at their disposal in an attempt to defeat the mighty leaf blower. They bark, bite and dodge in hopes of bringing that foul machine down. And if not that, dogs at least want to figure out why in the world they can’t bite what’s coming out of it. The result of this epic struggle is the knowledge of how silly dogs look when they meet a leaf blower. If dogs could see how adorable they are while snapping at these things, then maybe they’d call a truce and end this pointless battle once and for all. Read more: http://www.wimp.com/battle-between-dogs-and-leaf-blowers/
What could be more American than this? Read more: http://www.wimp.com/musical-rumble-strips-on-route-66/
The concept of anamorphic images in artwork, or images that appear distorted until viewed at the correct angle, or through some sort of corrective mirror or lens, dates back to at least Leonardo Da Vinci, famed artist and scientist. It may even go all the way back to the cavemen days, but that’s up for debate. Optical illusions in art have been popular for literal ages, both as a means to achieving creative vision, and also to draw crowds. The masses always enjoy a trick of the eye, it gets their brains going in ways that traditional portraiture just can’t manage. Thomas Medicus has drawn on several scientific principles to make his “Emergence Lab” sculpture transform almost magically as it is rotated. Depending on how you look at this glass cube, you may see nothing at all, a muddled mess, or one of several detailed images, only viewable at precise angles. Read more: http://www.wimp.com/glass-cube-dimensional-art-emergence-medicus/
Personal space? Never heard of it… Read more: http://www.wimp.com/dont-take-the-subway-during-rush-hour-in-japan/
Nothing is more notoriously boring than an elevator ride. Often accompanied by bad music and awkward silence among fellow riders, elevators aren’t the highlight of anyone’s day. That’s why Rosetta, a creative agency out in San Francisco, decided to upgrade their elevator and make it a little less drab. Leave it to a creative agency to make an elevator that has us wanting to travel across the country to try it out. Even if it only lasts for a few seconds, fun things like this go a long way when it comes to keeping employees engaged and motivated. Now, if anyone knows someone in the San Francisco area, please invite us out there so we can experience “Disco Mode” for ourselves. Read more: http://www.wimp.com/crazy-elevator-choose-mode/