6 October 2025

What does “SOS” stand for?

Here is one of the interesting things I learned while picking up Morse code. I can’t believe I have lived all my life without realizing this.

What does the term “SOS” stand for? Growing up, I always thought that it stood for “Save Our Souls”. I believe I first heard this while reading about the story of the Titanic. Some think of it as “Save Our Ship”.

It turns out that “SOS” is not an abbreviation at all. About 75 years after Morse code was created, around the start of the 1900s, the Germans helped set a universal distress code: SOS. They chose it because its Morse pattern [… — …] was easy to recognize. Before SOS, other distress signals were used, with “CQD” being the most common.

So, SOS does not stand for any English phrase. And even if it did stand for something, it would have been very likely a German phrase!

Did you know that?

Category: Puzzles | LEAVE A COMMENT
5 October 2025

Earned my next badge of honor in biking

I had been barely out for 15 minutes or so on my bike. Huffing and puffing as I pushed my way up hill in one lonely stretch of road, I was busy mentally mapping out in my mind the route I was going to take. With my head down, slowly inching upwards, I thought I saw some brown and metallic on the road barely a foot away. I did not have much time to react.

I was able to barely save the front wheel. The rear wheel was not so lucky. I heard a clanging, followed by an unmistakable hissing noise. I quickly got off and pulled the bike to the sidewalk. Within about thirty seconds, the tire was flat as a pancake.

Realizing I didn’t have many options, I walked back home for three miles, dragging the bike with me. Well, at least I got some exercise done!

Category: Biking | LEAVE A COMMENT
4 October 2025

4 miles today

I started my run in cool, cloudy weather with long sleeves on. I was enjoying the wooden walkway so much that I decided to keep going a bit farther. When I hit the 2-mile mark and turned around, the sun was out and it suddenly felt really hot. I also noticed that running on concrete hurts my feet more than it used to, so now I try to stick to the wooden paths.

Category: Running | LEAVE A COMMENT