Taking a Gander at Geese

Geese are interesting in looks, group traveling, and involvement in language. Two common goose types I'd run across during googling have been Canada goose (multicolor) and snow goose (predominantly white). Google results for "goose" yield numerous hits for Canada geese first, which surprised me, as I tend to think of the snow goose as my archetype—white body with orange bill and legs.

Ever see a formation of geese in flight? Such a v formation is a beautiful sight to behold. View flights on YouTube.

An Everyday Mysteries webpage explains why geese fly in formation—energy conservation and visual group member tracking. View "Why Do Geese Fly in a 'V' Formation? - Don't Be Dumb" for a video explanation.

Merriam-Webster shows various noun definitions, with two different plural forms, and use as transitive verb.

plural geese \'ges\

1. a : any of numerous large waterfowl (family Anatidae) that are intermediate between the swans and ducks and have long necks, feathered lores, and reticulate tarsi
   b : a female goose as distinguished from a gander
2. : SIMPLETON, DOLT
3. plural gooses : a tailor's smoothing iron with a gooseneck handle
4. plural gooses : a poke between the buttocks

Well, the definition sent me scurrying to looking up other terms pertaining to fowl—feathered lores and reticulate tarsi.

• From Birdspix (about white-winged parakeet)—
  feathered lores (the part of the face between the eye and the beak)
  
• From Glossary of Avian External Anatomy—
  Tarsi: plural of tarsus
  Tarsus: lowest segment of leg, before toes
  Reticulate: with small netlike scales (tarsus)

In Merriam-Webster's section for students, it included some information regarding physical features and size comparison—
"a waterbird with webbed feet that is related to the smaller duck and the larger swan"

Goose-featured Expressions
Merriam-Webster's page for "goose" shows a wealth of expressions

• cook someone's goose
• the golden goose
• the goose that lays the golden egg
• what's good for the goose is good for the gander
• what's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander
• wild goose chase

"Gander" is not a term as widely used as "goose". This is one instance that a female species noun "goose" (for better or worse) is more common than the adult male noun "gander". And the verb "gander" is not remotely related to the verb "goose"—"'take a gander' means to look".

Remember Jack and the Beanstalk? Remember if the fowl that lays golden eggs? The answer to whether the fowl that lays golden eggs is a goose or hen is in a Yahoo q/a. The best answer also includes information about "killing the goose that lays the golden eggs".

Additional sources of expressions with "goose", apparently widely used are as follows:

loosey goosey

very loose or relaxed

goose step/goosestep/goose-step

1 a marching step of some infantries in which the legs are swung high and kept straight and stiff.
2 a military exercise in which the body is balanced on one foot, without advancing, while the other foot is swung forward and back.

Related: A Wikihow websote includes instructions and images to properly goosestep, along with cautions when exercising. Interesting statement: "In the United States, Goosestepping is often associated with Nazism, which may offend some people. This association is usually not made in other countries".

I visualize "loosey goosey" and "goosestep" as contrasts in restful relaxation vs. rigidly rhythmic motion.

Goosebumps are skin features, but, additionally, a 2015 movie based on a series of books. Per Scientific American:

tiny elevations of the skin that resemble the skin of poultry after the feathers have been plucked. … caused by a contraction of miniature muscles that are attached to each hair

Gooseneck definitions depend on context and possible accompanying terms, as in the following examples:

• gooseneck: "a flexible metal pipe"
• gooseneck lamp: "an electric table lamp or desk lamp with a flexible shaft that permits control of the direction of the light"
• gooseneck trailer: "a truck trailer whose forward part is arched like a goose's neck and swiveled to the motor unit". View a short video about hitching a pickup truck to a gooseneck trailer.

Did you know that groups of geese have three different collective nouns? TheAlmightyGuru's Animal Collective Nouns webpage differentiates as follows:
Flock (General)
Skein (Flight)
Gaggle, Herd, Corps (Ground)

Weird Plurals—wonder why the plural of moose is not meese?
goose geese
moose moose

Visit Meme Center's Goose memes for goose phrases, accompanied by images and videos.

Mother Goose, Father Goose, and Granny Goose
Run across these named geese? Actually, Mother Goose is better known for many familiar children's rhymes, such as "Jack and Jill", "Baa, Baa, Black Sheep", and "Sing a Song of Sixpence". Father Goose was a 1964 Cary Grant movie. As for Granny Goose, the fame was in potato chips; the TV commercial lives on in YouTube.

Pizza Boxes Part 2

Last month, Pizza Boxes Part 1 focused mostly on non-pizza box use and Bahtinov masks for astronomy. The box needed to be sturdy and spacially efficient for an item that was round and shallow.

The mask measured 10.5" diameter. I wondered if a box for a 10" pizza would be big enough. In researching pizza boxes, I found lots of available pizza box sizes, constructions, quantity purchase options, and dimensions. Couponabox box dimensions show a consistent 1/8" extra for length and width—example, 10" (26cm) box measures 10 1/8 x 10 1/8 x 1 1/4. Thus, a box for a 10" pizza would too small for the mask.

Pizza Box Terminology and Considerations

• Couponabox provides extensive information about box sizes, standard container paper availability, corrugated-cardboard construction (E and B “flutes”), boxcar shipping container lots, and bulk packaging over various sizes and quantities.
• Argrov Box provides extensive basics about boxes—measurements, construction, and styles. Illustrations enhance the terms and descriptions.
• Talk Packaging goes into great detail about mechanical designs, box strengths, and dimensions.

Brown Kraft and White Standard Boxes

Green Packaging Group states that two standard colors come with corrugated cardboard—“white and natural Kraft which is essentially brown”.

More details from Talk Packaging:

Fourdrinier Kraft Liner – “Fourdrinier” is the name of the man who invented the machine on which the liner is made. “Kraft”, the German word for strength, is attributed to the strength applied to pulp, paper, or paperboard produced from wood fibers by the sulfate process. The Kraft liner is produced from a high percentage of pinewood (softwood) fibers which imparts toughness as softwood fibers are longer in length than hardwood fibers and allows for a greater interlocking effect.

Corrugated (Cardboard) Flutes

RSD Creative Packs explains corrugated cardboard construction for strength—use of arches. “Generally the larger flute profiles give greater vertical strength and cushioning. The smaller flutes help enhance graphic capabilities while providing greater structural integrity.” Couponabox’s standard pizza boxes table shows that smallest boxes use only E flutes, largest boxes use only B flutes, and “middle” sizes have both flute configurations available.

Argrov Box provides additional details about the role of flutes for strength in its Box Strength topic and illustration:

A corrugated sheet consists of two major components - linerboard and medium. Linerboard is the flat paper that covers both sides of the sheet and the medium is the “fluted” or arched paper found between both liners. The flute, when anchored to the linerboards with a starched-based adhesive, resists bending and pressure from all directions. When placed vertically on its ends, the flutes form vertical columns, capable of supporting considerable amounts of weight.

Pizza Box Ordering, from Small Scale to Boxcar Shipping Containers

Uline’s pizza boxes webpage shows options to buy bundles of 50 boxes (flat, unfolded) a pack.

For massive buys, Couponabox lists 20 ft and 40 ft HQ for their pizza box boxcar shipping containers. The SOE Source Transport Information topic shows tables and illustrations for boxcar shipment options. The table layout makes it easy to compare dimensional differences among 20 ft, 40 ft, 40 ft HQ, and 45 ft HQ boxcars.

The SOE site also lists “FCL” (full container load). How to Export Import explains FCL and LCL (less container load), which pertain to cargo loads and are commonly used terms in the export/import business.

Regarding FCL,

If an exporter has goods to accommodate in one full container load, he books an FCL Difference between LCL and FCL copy (Full Container Load) to stuff his cargo. In an FCL cargo, the complete goods in the said container owns by one shipper. …

Under an LCL cargo, where in a shipper does not have enough goods to accommodate in one full container, he books cargo with a consolidator to console his goods along with goods of other shippers. It’s possible that US does not need to import pizza boxes, the terminology and definitions were of interest as I landed on various webpages about pizza boxes.

Pizza Items of Interest

Pizza Statistics

Total number of pizza’s sold in the U.S. each year 3 billion
Total number of pizza’s sold worldwide each year 5 billion

Pizza Fun Facts

top 5 pizza sales days are:
Super Bowl Sunday, New Year's Eve, Halloween, The night before Thanksgiving, & New Year's Day

Super Bowl 50: By the numbers - the wagers, the people, the wings and pizza

4.4 million: Pizzas ordered from Dominos, Pizza Hut and Papa John's during the big game

Pi Day 2016: History of the mathematical day and how it is celebrated

Pi Day is largely observed in the US on 14 March to celebrate the mathematical constant π (pi) since 3, 1, and 4 are the first three significant digits – which also represent the 14thday of the third month. Celebrations of the day coincide with Albert Einstein's birthday.

That Plastic Thing Inside Your Pizza Box Was Invented 30 Years Ago

WebStaurantStore Pizza Boxes, including the three-legged plastic stacker

Paper Box Chemicals No Longer Considered Safe by FDA for Contact With Food

FDA said it was going to ban three specific perfluoroalkyl ethyl types. … The perfluoroalkyl ethyl is used in food contact substances (FCSs) that act as oil and water repellants for paper and paperboard, which comes in contact with aqueous and fatty foods.

Pizza box YouTube videos

• How It's Made Cardboard Boxes
• RockTenn Making Pizza Boxes
• Pizza Box, making a gift box that resembles a small-scale pizza box

Silly Songs with Larry- Pizza Angel (do-wop singing style)