is your refrigerator running?

Source details and larger version.

cell phones often don't work during disasters or other unusually high phone traffic. payphones are landlines, so they still work as long as they're not cut from their line.

this is also true for some remote areas: there's a reason people working on remote sites (camp sites, forestry, emergency responders, etc.) have landlines, especially in places with changeable weather that could affect radio/walkie talkies/cell service.

payphones are extra important if someone is being threatened or held against their will: a kidnapper or other nefarious person could take/break a cell phone, but the payphone is bolted to the ground, and it would look suspicious if they dragged a victim away from it. a while ago a lost kid used a payphone to call 911.

in a similar vein, many emergency systems haven't been updated to keep up with modern cell phones (we haven't even had maps on our phones for 10 years yet), so depending on where you live it can be difficult for dispatchers to figure out where you are if you're using a cell phone. since payphones don't move, dispatchers know exactly where they are and can send help faster.

when looking for your birthday, make sure to read the small grey italicized number, not the big orange numbers ; january 14, for example, is on the 25th day of the month of nivôse.

there are three months for each season ; if you're on mobile, you may need to scroll sideways to see the third one.

some birthdays in september are in a special section. that is because the first day of the year is september 22nd, and the last few days of the year before that are special holidays. see :

After almost a decade on this site, I found another Tumblr user in the wild. I stopped to tie my shoe with rainbow laces this morning outside the silversmith at Colonial Williamsburg, and I heard it.

“I like your shoelaces.”

Oh. Oh no.

I responded the only way I could. “Thanks.” And then I reluctantly added, “I stole them from the president…and if that makes sense to you, I’m very sorry.”

The poor man, in full Colonial dress, stared at me for a long moment. And then burst into laughter. And said, “I haven’t thought about that in YEARS and this has never happened to me before.”

Yeah. Me neither. Not until today.