Rowing

I just started reading "The Boys in the Boat" by Daniel James Brown.  It's about the University of Washington crew that wins the Olympic gold in Berlin in 1936.  Mostly so far it's just making me really wish I hadn't quit crew in college but here's an interesting tidbit. "A well-conditioned oarsman... must be able to take in and consume as much as eight liters of oxygen per minute; an average male is capable of taking in roughly four or five liters at most. Pound for pound, Olympic oarsmen may take in and process as much oxygen as a thoroughbred racehorse."

I just rowed at a not very vigorous pace for an hour and burned, according to my rowing machine, 612 calories. That's more than a seventh of a pound. Just think about how much college rowers would need to eat!

Communists in Washington

Today I learned that the communists purposefully settled in several towns in Washington. All of them failed. I had some other interesting things about this that I learned from Farthest Reach, which I just finished, but I don't remember anymore.

Grand Coulee Dam and Mount Rainier

Today I learned that Grand Coulee Dam, in addition to having the highest output of any dam in the United States, is three times the size of the largest Egyptian pyramid, and has enough concrete to make two four-lane transcontinental highways.

I also learned that The Supreme Court (I think?) ruled that Mount Rainier's name should be changed back to Tacoma in 1924, but the change got held up bureaucratically and never actually happened.