Welcome to Susan Rainey's Home Page

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Susan Rainey
srainey [at] yorku [dot] ca
Department of Mathematics and Statistics
N522 Ross Bldg, York University
4700 Keele Street
North York, Ontario
M3J 1P3
(416) 736-5250 ext.22555 -- fax: (416) 736-5757

Some links to browse through:

Nature/Environment

Health

Ontario, eh?

Entertainment

News

Geneology

Stuff

And last but certainly not least ... Hoaxes! Check here before you forward that message that's too good to be true or that virus that will shut the world down

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The Country Club Critters

In Memory of those I have lost ...

  • Please visit The Pet Loss Grief Support site and The Catkin Willow Fund for Stray Cats.
  • Please also visit the Animal Rescue Site. Every free click helps an animal in need. back to the top of the page

    Family Tree Pleas

    I'm trying to complete my Family Tree(s).

    The Rainey connection has been traced back to 1837 when John Rainey and his wife, Jane Wilson, immigrated from Ireland to Canada and settled in Newton-Robinson,Ontario, Canada.

    I'm also trying to find any connection to the Stitson name. The only knowledge I have is with my grandparents, William and Mary, who settled in Tottenham, Ontario, Canada at the turn of the 20th century from England. And that's Tot'nam, NOT Tot-in-ham. Misprouncation of the name is a big pet peeve with me.

    Information on the Dodds family, who settled in Schomberg, Ontario, Canada, would be appreciated as well. My branch of the Dodds family were Pennsylvannia Dutch Quakers and came to Canada in the early 1800s.

    If anyone thinks they might have information relating to the Rainey, Stitson and/or Dodds families please contact me.

    Thank you.

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    Words to Live By ...


    One-Liners, Quotes, Bumper Stickers, Facts, Truisms:


    The wisdom of the wise, and the experience of ages, may be preserved by quotations. ~Isaac D'israeli back to the top of the page

    Excuses for lost books:

    • I have lost my Herodotus; I'm afraid it's history.
    • Your Principia Mathematica? It's days were numbered.
    • I mislaid The Egg and I.
    • The Love of a Good Woman is hard to find.
    • Being and Nothingness was here a moment ago, but it's disappeared.
    • I lent Peyton Place to a friend who is sleeping with a neighbour who gave it to his wife's boss who passed it on to the accountant's mistress who's denying the affair.
    • O.K., so I lost Much Ado About Nothing. What's the big deal?
    • My best friend talked me out of my copy of Persuasion.
    • Orlando's in Florida, I think.
    • I don't know where the hell I left Dante's Inferno.
    • I had Oliver Twist in my pocket just a moment ago.
    • I just put A Brief History of Time down for a moment, and Bang! -- it was gone.
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    Dictionary of Useful Research Phrases:

    • "It has long been known ..." I didn't look up the original reference.
    • "A definite trend is evident ..." These data are practically meaningless.
    • "Of great theoretical and practical importance ..." Interesting to me.
    • "While it has not been possible to provide definite answers to these questions ..." This was an unsuccessful experiment, but I still hope to get it published.
    • "Three of the samples were chosen for detailed study." The others made no sense.
    • "Typical results are shown." The best results are shown.
    • "The most reliable results are those obtained by Jones." He was my grad assistant.
    • "It is believed that ..." I think.
    • "It is generally believed that ..." A couple of other guys think so, too.
    • "It is clear that much additional work will be required before a complete understanding of the phenomenon is possible." I don't understand it.
    • "Correct within an order of magnitude." Wrong.
    • "It is hoped that this study will stimulate more work in this field." This is a lousy paper, but so are the others in this crummy field.
    • "Thanks are due to Joe Blotz for assistance with the experimental work and to George Frink for valuable discussions." Blotz did the work, and Frink explained to me what it meant.
    • "A careful analysis of obtainable data ..." Three pages of notes were obliterated when I knocked over a glass of beer.
    • "A statistically oriented projection of the findings ..." Wild guess.
    • "A highly significant area for exploratory study ..." A totally useless topic suggested by my committee.
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    Points to Ponder or More Useless Information:

    • If you yelled for 8 years, 7 months and 6 days, you would have produced enough sound energy to heat one cup of coffee.
    • Banging your head against a wall uses 150 calories an hour.
    • Humans and Dolphins are the only species that have sex for pleasure.
    • On average people fear spiders more than they do death.
    • You can't kill yourself by holding your breath.
    • The strongest muscle in the body is the tongue.
    • Every time you lick a stamp, you're consuming 1/10 of a calorie.
    • Did you know that you are more likely to be killed by a champagne cork than by a poisonous spider?
    • Right-handed people live, on average, nine years longer than left-handed people do.
    • A crocodile cannot stick its tongue out.
    • Polar bears are left handed.
    • The catfish has over 27,000 taste buds, more than any other creature on earth.
    • The flea can jump 350 times its body length, that is like a human jumping the length of a football field.
    • A cockroach will live nine days without it's head, before it starves to death.
    • A cat's urine glows under the blacklight.
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    Why I'm so tired!

      For a couple years I've been blaming it on lack of sleep and too much pressure from my job, but now I found out the real reason: I'm tired because I'm overworked.

      The population of this country is 237 million. 104 million are retired. That leaves 133 million to do the work. There are 85 million in school, which leaves 48 million to do the work. Of this there are 29 million employed by the federal government, leaving 19 million to do the work. 2.8 Million are in the Armed Forces, which leaves 16.2 million to do the work. Take from the total the 14,800,000 people who work for State and City Governments and that leaves 1.4 million to do the work. At any given time there are 188,000 people in hospitals, leaving 1,212,000 to do the work. Now, there are 1,211,998 people in prisons. That leaves just two people to do the work. You and me. And you're sitting at your computer reading jokes.

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    In case you needed further proof that the human race is doomed through stupidity, here are some actual label instructions on consumer goods:

    • On Sears hairdryer: Do not use while sleeping.
    • On a bag of Fritos: You could be a winner! No purchase necessary. Details inside.
    • On a bar of Dial soap: Directions: Use like regular soap.
    • On some Swann frozen dinners: Serving suggestion: Defrost.
    • On Tesco's Tiramisu dessert: Do not turn upside down (printed on bottom of the box)
    • On Marks & Spencer Bread Pudding: Product will be hot after heating.
    • On packaging for a Rowenta iron: Do not iron clothes on body.
    • On Boot's Children's cough medicine: Do not drive car or operate machinery.
    • On Nytol sleep aid: Warning: may cause drowsiness.
    • On a Korean kitchen knife: Warning keep out of children.
    • On a string of Chinese-made Christmas lights: For indoor or outdoor use only.
    • On a Japanese food processor: Not to be used for the other use.
    • On Sainsbury's peanuts: Warning: contains nuts.
    • On an American Airlines packet of nuts: Instructions: open packet, eat nuts.
    • On a Swedish chainsaw: Do not attempt to stop chain with your hands or genitals.
    • On a childs superman costume: Wearing of this garment does not enable you to fly.

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    Last revised: August 23, 2010

    "I live where the land meets the sky, where the eagle and the raven fly free" ~Frank Fencepost

    "I'm his neighbour" ~Silas Crow
    ~ From one of my favourite movies "Dance Me Outside".