Are YOU Smarter than the Average American?

How many of you have caught the series "Are you smarter than a fifth grader?" well I think FOX should come up with a similar series but titled "Are you smarter than the average American?" I was listening to the radio, as I usually do on my drive into DC each morning, when I heard the DJ of the Kane Show on Hot 99.5FM refer to a recent research study in which it was reported that 46% of Americans did not know the answers to some basic science questions. Ok, I know that their geography is not all that fantastic but Science as well??...hhmmmm...so how difficult were these questions that almost half the population of adults in the United States of America flunked. Me being me, one of the first things I did was to google this up.

I've listed the questions, which were a true/false set except for two, for you below. Take the quiz (created by the National Science Foundation) to test your science savvy and see if your better or equally as bad ;0) I got all 10 right and seriously it's really not much of a stretch either!! I've added the answers at the end...so c'mon then let's see if you are a geek (10/11 answers correct) ; if you will be receiving a chemistry set anytime soon (8/9 answers correct); if you will be needing to bring an (Newtonian?) apple to bribe the teacher (7/6 answers correct) ; or like a scientist knows, its good to learn from your mistakes (6 or less answers correct)....

1. The center of the Earth is very hot.
2. All radioactivity is man-made.
3. It is the father’s gene that decides whether the baby is a boy or a girl.
4. Lasers work by focusing sound waves.
5. Electrons are smaller than atoms.
6. Antibiotics kill viruses as well as bacteria.
7. The universe began with a huge explosion.
8. The continents on which we live have been moving their location for millions of years and will continue to move in the future.
9. Human beings, as we know them today, developed from earlier species of animals.
10. Does the Earth go around the Sun, or does the Sun go around the Earth?
11. How long does it take for the Earth to go around the sun?

.
.
.
.
.
1. True
2. False
3. True
4. False
5. True
6. False
7. True
8. True
9. True
10. Earth around Sun
11. One year

So how did you fair? Do tell....

An instance where full disclosure is NOT needed...

It's been a while since i wrote I know but work has just been so unbelievably busy what with the performance management reviews and discussions around the corner...a whole bunch of stuff needs to go into its preparation on top of my usual day-to-day firefighting and well, there's just not been anything that stupendously exciting happening in my life that I'd wanna blog about until today :)

So tell me how many of you actually hit the gym?  I've been religiously working out for the past month and a bit during my lunch hour at the Bank's gym.  Am planning on running the half marathon after summer but that is a different story as to how i got conned into doing so (Thanks Karungari!)

I normally try to squirrel out of the office around 12.30 with either Ana or Vilma, my gym partners and team mates, so that we miss the 1pm rush.  Yes there are rush and peak hours even at the gym! Unfortunately both could not make it and I was caught on the phone with the country manager of Dominican Republic (i swear that German dude just does not know when to let up!).  I rush over to the gym which happens to be located in one of our other office buildings but get there after 1pm.  OK why am i not crazy about this? Not only is the locker room packed with women in various states of undress in various shapes and sizes but you get to see a helluva lot more which u don't really wanna, at least not me.

I'm not used to the locker room culture.  In the past weeks it's been maybe a handful of women when we get there and prior to that when i was a member of a private gym, I'd go from home so never had the issue of having to use the lockers for showers etc... I was truly jarred today into noticing how women really did not care.  Towels were dropped haphazardly, if towels were even used in the first place, legs were hiked onto the benches or they sat akimbo on the benches while talking to another person. 

I'm the kind who would say "hold up a bit while i go into the stall to change" coz for the life of me i cannot drop my clothes in front of two dozen or so strangers (or friends for that matter...even worse!).  I feel the blood rush to my cheeks coz I'm truly embarrassed.  I have my head bent and my eyes fixed solely on my locker with full concentration on getting ready at warp speed and hitting the machines. So there i am squatting on the floor, head down, eyes on tying my shoelaces when i notice a pair of legs in front of me...the lady using the locker next to mine. She says "Hi Chermaine, nice to see that you take time off to workout the stress at the gym!" That is when i make the mistake of looking up....there in all her glory, not a stitch on her is one of my clients...i don't think i have to paint a clearer picture for u other than to say...me squatting on the floor looking up, she standing stark naked abt a foot away from my face!!!!!!

I could barely get a "I'm late gotta run, see ya later" before tripping over myself hightailing it outta there.  My CLIENT for goodness sake.  Come next week I will have to sit in on meetings with her, etc and I can tell u now itself that I will not be able to look her in the eye.  Call me conservative but I'm darn well going to make sure I'm at the gym either 20 mins before or after the hour. I don't think i can take seeing any more of my clients in their b'day suits and in questionable stances :) 

This would be one of the occasions that if i was a Hindu, I'd close my eyes, cross my hands on my cheeks 3 times and say "tappu, tappu, tappu"....hahaha