264 At the White's House

This Week at the White's House

Hello, my friends. Nothing much of import happened at our house this week, but thought the title maybe catch your attention. [Just being my usual smart-aleck self!] 

Anyway, our week’s highlights: we do have a new motor on the attic exhaust fan, new tie rods on the truck, and some part for the Jeep that mixes fuel and air so that it runs smoothly--something to do with a throttle which I thought was only on antique cars.

So, we spent money, continue to isolate ourselves, and try to be patient with one another. One of the best ways for me not to bother dear husband is to play on the computer with my friend Google. Dear husband retreats to his “man cave” TV for old westerns and sports. 

I asked friend Google what the top queries were for the week. You all know that I love “top 10” type lists. Here is what I found out. [Excuse me for digressing for a moment – but Google can do all kinds of things with their lists: make recommendations for greater usage, tell you how many hits for individual searches v. major sites, etc., etc., etc. I wish I understood their algorithms. The internet world is just fascinating!] 

THE TOP TEN from Google
1.  Facebook. 151,500,000--(and “they” say it’s only for the middle age and older--I check mine about twice a week and rarely post anything) 

2.  youtube. 142,200,000--(I admit to listening to songs or checking for funny short clips)

3.  Amazon.  84,700,000--(yes, they have me hooked – from books to toilet paper to little gifts for the granddaughter)

4.  Gmail. 71,240,000--(yep, we have Gmail accounts!)

5.  Google.  63,840,000--(that’s a lot of questions and some of them are mine)

6.  Weather channels (as a group). 43,400,000 (looking at the temperature, humidity and following Isaias)

7.  Ebay.  41,010,000--(even if you’re not buying, it’s a great place to check values/prices)

8.  Yahoo.  39,170,000--(I didn’t realize Yahoo was still so popular)

9.  Walmart.  31,970,000--(if you didn’t find it on Amazon, I guess you try Walmart, plus they have the grocery shopping)

10. Yahoo mail.  31,880,000--(again, I am surprised--I looked and I have only one yahoo mail in my address book)
As I scrolled down among the following 40 searches of the top 50, I found some surprises – or, at least to me – surprises.

18.  news - (thought it would be higher)

20.  calculator

25.  maps

36.  twitter – (would have guessed it would have been higher)

46.  Donald Trump

48.  Roblox – (well, I didn’t even know what it was!) According to their website it is a game platform for amateur gamers to put their games on the internet. It is recommended for children 13 and up but apparently Roblox has had to add many parental controls because age 7 has become the popular starting age for kids to look for a new free game. I fear this is a little scary!

50.  Traductor – (since I don’t speak Spanish, I didn’t know this was the word for translate.) I looked at the site and it’s a really easy way to see the English equivalent of a word or phrase. There are many translation sites, but this one looks solid. It is sponsored by Merriam-Webster (now owned by Encyclopedia Britannica) and it also has pronunciations and little quizzes and a word of the day. AND, it is easy to use.

So, there you have it and I learned a couple of new things: Roblox and Traductor. Hmm--time well spent?? My pal Google and I are signing off to play a little online duplicate bridge.

Stay safe, my friends! 

Savvy, Glenne