Mandela Effect re: conversions, transfers, etc.

Today Alexander chose to do his science reading with a laptop open beside him so he could verify facts because in his book he read that baby hedgehogs were called hoglets and that didn't feel very true to him because while he's heard of piglets, he hasn't really heard of hoglets before. But the internet confirmed that baby hedgehogs are often called hoglets and he felt better about verifying that fact. 

Benjamin, meanwhile, was perplexed because in a math problem he solved a few days ago it said that $1 was equal to ¥90 and today a different math problem told him that $1 was equal to ¥80. We researched a bit about how exchange rates change (usually once per day) and what factors might affect that change. 

In fact, today $1 is worth approximately ¥147.

And recently I was surprised to find that 1 USD is now worth about 30 EGP! When we lived in Egypt it was always about 1 USD to 5 EGP. 

I grew up knowing all about exchange rates and how the fluctuate because we were always going back and forth across the Canadian/American border. Many of my relatives have now established bank accounts in both countries to avoid the headache of translating currency. They simply use their American bank account while in the states and their Canadian one while up north and then they just don't have to worry about exchange rates at all. 

Currently 1 USD is equivalent to 1.36 CAD.

Uncle Patrick will be interested to know that 1 USD is equivalent to 0.93 Euro. 

So that was a fun little rabbit hole to jump down during math. But since he's learning about conversions, it wasn't not useful. 

Another thing we explored was why pounds are abbreviated as lbs. In doing so, we found out that lbs is always technically incorrect. The abbreviation for pounds is lb, whether you are talking about 1 lb or 100 lb. I jumped down another rabbit hole over this because in my mind the abbreviation has always been lbs!

I checked grocery store websites (they say price per lb) and was just floored. Has my brain simply been tacking that s on all on its own?!

Birth announcements, on the other hand, tend to give the baby's weight in lbs. (with the s!) and ounces. 

So evidently colloquially we (as members of society) frequently abbreviate pounds as lbs. whether or not that's the technically correct way to abbreviate it. The mere fact that we use lb. as an abbreviation seems antiquated, anyway. Who among us has not incorrectly read that as "libs" at least once in their life? I remember doing so as a child (and I was then corrected because lb stands for pounds, not libs...when very technically, lb does stand for libs...or at least libra, which itself was short for libra pondo, which is where we get both the word "pound" and the abbreviation "lb" (or, in my head "lbs")). 

Children have been confused about this for a long time! 

Having no s makes sense, because, for example, we say 500g or 17oz, and not 500gs or 17ozs. But in my head it is lbs.

Lastly, Andrew went and registered our newest vehicle today. We are now the proud owners of three cars, which doesn't feel like something I would ever say, but here I am...saying it. 

Grandpa bought a much newer vehicle from a couple in our ward who recently left on a mission to Fiji. He decided he wanted to give his old car to Rachel (and eventually Miriam) and asked if that would be okay. Sometimes it's difficult for me to accept gifts like that, but my Uncle LeRon taught me long ago that when someone offers you a gift (even a big one), you should just accept it because if they didn't want to give it to you, they wouldn't offer.

When my cousin Michelle wanted a horse, her grandpa Torrie (my Uncle's Dad, who I grew up calling Grandpa Torrie along with all the Torrie cousins) offered to buy one for her. My Uncle LeRon said no because he could buy her a horse himself! His father didn't need to do that! 

So my uncle bought a horse for her—Pal! Pal was a wonderful, friendly horse. Pal was also rather old, and soon got an infection in his hoof, which led to his death. It was terribly disappointing to my cousin...and my uncle...and his father. 

When my uncle expressed his disappointment to his father, coupled with a bit of jealousy about the lovely young and healthy horses all the other cousins seemed to have, Grandpa Torrie said, "Well, LeRon, I decided years ago that I would buy a horse for any of my grandchildren who wanted one and so I had planned on buying Michelle a horse, but you wouldn't have it!"

Saying no to things makes you miss out on opportunities. I suppose the fact that my uncle bought a horse shouldn't have negated the offer (and it probably didn't—I'm sure Grandpa Torrie would have purchased a young and healthy horse for Michelle if she had still wanted one—but for whatever reason, there wasn't ever another horse at the Torrie's farm).

"Accept the horse," I told myself when Reid offered us his old car.

So, now we have three cars. Reid signed the title over to us early in November (but fewer than 30 days ago) and then things got a little busy. We had just finished putting our basement back together and then Andrew had to go out of town for a conference and we had company coming for Thanksgiving and...we thought we were fine because it says all over the title that you have thirty (30) days to transfer the tags. 

This title must be transferred immediately into the new owner's name. Caution: $100 fine or 30 days imprisonment for acceptance or delivery of each certificate of title assigned in blank. Tag registration must be transferred within 30 days or owner will be subject to fine of up to $100. New vehicles must be registered within 30 days fo the date of purchase. Owner must complete all spaces in full. Do not use red ink. Notice: Any alteration voids this title.

To be completed by the seller and delivered with the vehicle to the purchaser. Effective July 1, 2008, an application for new Certificate of Title must be made by purchaser on the application form and filed within 30 days of date of purchase to avoid $10.00 penalty...

Now, I don't quite understand the difference between transferring tag registration and applying for a new certificate of title, but a $100 fine seems like quite a bit more than a $10. Still, we wanted to avoid both fines and planned to complete our vehicle registration before 30 days had elapsed.

Then at dinner a little while ago we were talking about the car and Grandpa said, "You still haven't registered the car?! You have to do that within 7 days of purchase!!"

"Seven days!" I gasped. "What do you mean seven days?!"

Apparently he knew he was supposed to transfer the title and register the vehicle within 7 days, but I'm not sure how he knew. It doesn't say that on the form anywhere. 

It does say that on the Department of Revenue: Motor Vehicles Titles and Registration website if you navigate to the "when and where to register your vehicle" page. You would not find that information on the "register and title newly purchased vehicle" page, which is the more obvious place to look. 

Anyway, apparently new residents to Georgia have 30 days to change their tags, but "casual sales" must be transferred within 7 business days. Somehow Grandpa knew that, but we did not. 

Andrew registered the new car today, though, and they didn't charge him any extra fees (he was ready to argue that everything on the form said that he had 30 days) so apparently they aren't too strict about that rule. Seven days after a "casual" sale seems like awfully fast turn-around time (considering you have 30 days if you buy from a dealership). 

So, anyway, we're all registered now and are just waiting for Rachel to get her license, which feels fake.

My kids shouldn't be this old...

(Also, just so you know, in Georgia your vehicle registration renewal date is the birthday of the primary registrant. So even though the sticker on your car will say, for example, SEP, you do not have until the end of September to renew your tags and you will have to pay a fine for renewing late. Ask me how we know... (we made that mistake the first time we renewed our vehicles). I always think it would be funny to talk around with birthday cards and stick them on vehicles that I see were registered in...whatever month it is...just because...I dunno...do other states use birth month (or—more specifically—birthdays) as the registration date for vehicles?))