johnnyx's New Writeups

dottle (thing)

2003-01-06T19:30:54Z

After one has smoked a pipe, relishing the sweet haze of tobacco smoke, and imagining oneself as Sherlock Holmes or perhaps J. R. "Bob" Dobbs, there will be something left in the bowl. This substance, made up of ash, carbon and unburnt tobacco, is known as dottle.

Dottle can be removed by gently shaking one's pipe, or if stubborn, holding the bowl in one hand while gently tapping the bottom with the other. Do not hold a pipe by the stem and bang it on a hard surface to remove the dottle. This is a very bad thing.

Donald Trump (person)

2002-11-21T17:59:23Z

Donald John Trump (1946 - )

"The Donald". His name conjures up visions of the 1980s, greed, huge deals, and pompous billionaires. Recognized by 98% of the American public, Donald Trump's penchant for putting his name on everything he owns, and for owning some very impressive things, has made him the envy of millions. His willingness to put aside the little people in pursuit of his goals has made him hated by many. And his ability to come brazenly back from a crushing bankruptcy is cause to admire his resiliance.

Trump was born in New York City on June 14, 1946 to Fred and Mary Trump, the fourth of five children.

After military school he attended the Wharton School of Business. Upon graduation, Donald came back to New York to make (and lose, and make again) his fortune in real estate. His signature deals were large, very expensive, heavily leveraged projects with his name emblazoned all over. Trump Tower is probably…

Resort Condominiums International (thing)

2002-11-14T05:55:35Z

Resort Condominiums International, a timeshare exchange company. Acting as a broker between owners of weeks at approximately 3,700 resorts, RCI enables people to exchange their week for a week at a different resort for an exchange fee.

RCI was founded in 1974 by John and Christel DeHaan of Indianapolis, Indiana as a way for American timeshare owners to add flexibility to their ownership. RCI is currently a subsidiary of Cendant Corporation.

Their only serious competitor in the industry is Interval International(II). II has fewer resorts affiliated, but is thought to have generally nicer ones.

timeshare (thing)

2002-11-09T05:57:04Z

Invented in the French Alps in the 1960s, timeshare allows one to own a portion of a resort. The basic concept is like a condo, but for only a week every year.

For example:
Say you found a nice resort in Orlando. You could buy a week in a condo at that resort so you could see the rat every year. That week would either be fixed, e.g. week 23, or floating, e.g. summertime. Every year you could go back to that resort for your week.

If you didn't want to go to your resort, you could exchange your week with someone else at another resort. Exchange companies like RCI and II facilitate this trading.

international trade (idea)

2002-10-31T17:13:45Z

To be more accurate, international trade is the exchange of goods and services across national borders. This is seldom if ever an exchange between countries, but rather between individuals or companies.

International trade is made more complex than intranational trade by factors like cultural differences, currency exchange, and tariffs.

Bombay Sapphire (thing)

2002-10-31T16:43:04Z

In addition to the number of botanicals (ten) that leads to its complex flavor, a distinguishing factor of Sapphire is the method by which said botanicals are infused into the spirit.

Rather than boiling the botanicals in the spirit, during the distillation process the spirit vapors are passed through a copper basket containing the botanicals. This more gentle infusion maintains the subtleties of each flavor.

Mmm, Sapphire.