November Archives - Standards Michigan

Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town”

Lively Arts 300

Remember how good National Geographic used to be? When I was a kid happening on a stack of these was like finding actual treasure. I used to read my grandpa's old ones, until one year I got a subscription for Christmas. It was like having the whole world at my fingertips. pic.twitter.com/RyDtDuxbnN

— Casey B. Head (@CaseyBHead) November 26, 2025

Preparing Your Garden for Winter

Standards Maine

Turkey Research

In the pursuit of Knowledge,
every day something is added.
In the practice of the Way,
every day something is dropped.

Less and less do you need to force things,
until finally you arrive at non-action.
When nothing is done,
nothing is left undone.
— Lao Tzu

“If you want to eat turkey on Thanksgiving you better go catch one”
– Me, to my two year old pic.twitter.com/Bd4mOgQHZj

— Ryan Leachman (@RG_Leachman) November 21, 2025

United States Department of Agriculture | Turkey Standards Country Report

Standards Pennsylvania

Breakfast Beer

…A Study of Beer and Brewing in 18th-Century England… | Bryan A. Guderian, 2001

The Pilgrims at the 1621 Plymouth harvest celebration almost certainly had a morning drink, and it was very likely beer. Here’s the evidence from primary sources and historical context:

Beer was the standard breakfast beverage for English people in the early 17th century, including the Pilgrims (many of whom were Separatists from Scrooby, England). Water was often unsafe or distrusted, especially in new settlements, so even children and pregnant women drank “small beer” (low-alcohol, around 1–3% ABV).
The Mayflower’s cargo manifest and passenger accounts show they brought large quantities of beer. Edward Winslow’s letter (December 1621) mentions they were running dangerously low on beer by late 1621, implying it was a daily staple they were rationing.
William Bradford (governor of Plymouth) wrote in Of Plymouth Plantation that when the Mayflower arrived, the crew was anxious to leave because their beer was nearly gone—they considered beer essential for health and survival.
On the day of the 1621 harvest celebration itself, the Wampanoag guests (90+ men) arrived unexpectedly. The English served what beverages they had, and surviving accounts suggest beer was among them (along with whatever distilled spirits or wine remained).

Standards Michigan | Drink

Meadowbrook Elementary School Kindergarten Thanksgiving Play
Hampden County Massachusettshttps://t.co/Fp44r9rrzU https://t.co/4ZhUXZSzdT pic.twitter.com/y7WV7exWlg

— Standards Michigan (@StandardsMich) November 25, 2025

The MIL-SPEC catalog and its evolution have had a significant impact on various industries beyond the military sector. Many civilian industries have adopted military standards as a benchmark for quality, reliability, and compatibility in their products and processes.

World War II Era:

The MIL-SPEC system traces its roots back to the World War II era when the U.S. military faced challenges in coordinating manufacturing efforts across multiple suppliers. To address these challenges, the military began developing specifications and standards that detailed the requirements for various equipment and materials, including dimensions, materials, performance criteria, and testing procedures.

Post-World War II:

After World War II, the MIL-SPEC catalog expanded significantly to cover a wide range of military equipment, ranging from electronics and aircraft components to clothing and food supplies. The standards were continuously updated and revised based on technological advancements, lessons learned, and evolving military needs.

Evolution into MIL-STD:

In the 1950s and 1960s, the MIL-SPEC system evolved into the Military Standard (MIL-STD) system to provide even more comprehensive and detailed specifications. MIL-STD documents incorporated a broader scope of requirements, including design criteria, quality control processes, and test methodologies. The MIL-STD system aimed to ensure consistent design and manufacturing practices across contractors and suppliers.

MIL-STD Transition to Commercial Standards:

Over time, the reliance on MIL-STDs started to decline, and there was a shift towards adopting commercial standards whenever possible. This transition allowed the military to benefit from the advancements and cost efficiencies of commercial technologies. However, certain critical military-specific standards, such as those related to security and specialized equipment, continued to be maintained within the MIL-STD framework.

DoD’s Transition to Performance-Based Specifications:

In recent years, the DoD has been moving away from prescriptive specifications (MIL-STDs) towards performance-based specifications. Performance-based specifications focus on defining the desired outcomes and performance requirements while allowing contractors greater flexibility in meeting those requirements. This approach encourages innovation, cost-effectiveness, and broader industry participation in military contracts.

Welding Standards

😬 pic.twitter.com/RQk2QOAFPn

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 4, 2024

“Adagio for Strings” Samuel Barber

Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings (1936) is a slow, lyrical orchestral piece adapted from the second movement of his String Quartet, Op. 11. Premiering in 1938 under Arturo Toscanini with the NBC Symphony Orchestra, it features a simple, ascending melodic line that builds through intensifying harmonies and dynamics, peaking in anguished dissonance before resolving into quiet resignation.

In Western classical music, the “Adagio” represents the pinnacle of 20th-century American romanticism amid modernism’s rise. Barber rejected avant-garde experimentation (e.g., serialism by Schoenberg), drawing instead from Bach, Brahms, and Sibelius for tonal accessibility and emotional directness.

Michigan Central | Oakland University School of Music, Theater and Dance

Barber’s Other Works:

Evensong “Knoxville: Summer of 1915”

S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald

This content is accessible to paid subscribers. To view it please enter your password below or send mike@standardsmichigan.com a request for subscription details.

Bonfire

“The prettiest sight I know,

Worth all your roses and snow,

Is the blaze of light on a Saturday night”

– E. Nesbit, ‘Saturday Song’

“Under Construction” State of the University Letter 2025

2021 International Fire Code

NFPA 1 Fire Code

Center for Campus Fire Safety

The Princeton Bonfire (a cherished campus tradition celebrating a sweep of football victories over Big Three rivals Harvard and Yale) has not yet occurred in 2025, as it depends on the outcomes of those games. The relevant schedule is:

vs. Harvard: October 25, 2025 (home game at Princeton Stadium)
vs. Yale: November 15, 2025 (home game at Princeton Stadium)

If Princeton wins both (securing the “Big Three” title), the bonfire is traditionally lit on the Sunday evening immediately following the Yale game—that is, November 16, 2025, around 7 p.m. on Cannon Green. It would feature student-built stacks of wood, speeches, the Princeton University Band, and communal festivities.

Voting Precincts

Today is an “off-year” federal election but there are many appeals to voters for more money to build new, or expand or maintain educational settlements. We may have to pick through a few bond offerings. We maintain an ongoing concern for the security of polling places; many which are located in schools, colleges and universities.

In the United States, polling places can be located in a variety of public and private facilities, not just in public schools. While public schools are commonly used as polling places due to their widespread distribution and accessibility, they are not necessarily the largest proportion of polling places nationwide. The specific locations of polling places can vary by jurisdiction and are determined by local election officials. Other common polling place locations include community centers, churches, libraries, government buildings, and private residences.

The selection of polling places is based on factors like accessibility, convenience, and the need to accommodate a specific number of voters within a given precinct or district. The goal is to ensure that voters have reasonable access to cast their ballots on election day. The use of public schools as polling places is widespread but not universal, and the distribution of polling places across various types of facilities can vary from one region to another.

2024 International Building Code Appendix E: Supplementary Accessibility Requirements

NFPA 730 Guide to Premises Security: 2026 First Draft Report | Consultation closes January 3, 2025

“Election Day” 1944″ Norman Rockwell

The political party that claims that “democracy is at stake” today’s election is the same political party that seeks to federalize state election laws, pack the Supreme Court, remove the Electoral College, remove US national borders and abolish voter identification will be voting in today’s off-year elections. In other words: it wants to abolish democracy. Its partisans have long since metastasized in education communities where polling places for students, faculty, staff and nearby residents are hosted.

Join us in post-irony America today when we focus only on the safety and environmental condition of these polling places. Where there is closer agreement. Catalogs, titles, chapters, sections and passages that inform best practice on this topic:

Can Voters Detect Malicious Manipulation of Ballot Marking Devices?

International Code Council

International Building Code

A117 Accessible and Useable Buildings and Facilities

National Fire Protection Association

Life Safety Code

Premises Security

ASHRAE International

Thermal Environmental Conditions for Human Occupancy

Illumination Engineering Society

Designing Lighting for People and Buildings

Security 100

Sacramento County: Polling Place and Vote Center Management

Daylight Saving Time

North American Time Zone Map

Standard Time Act of 1918 | 18th November 1883 “The Day of Two Noons”

Donkey Years

Homage to Salvador Dalí’s famous painting “The Persistence of Memory (1931)”

The time shift results in sunrise and sunset occurring approximately one hour later on the clock than the day before, providing more daylight in the evening and less in the morning.

Start Date: Daylight Saving Time begins on Sunday, March 9, 2025. This is the second Sunday in March, following the schedule established by theEnergy Policy Act of 2005.

Time Change: At 2:00 a.m. local standard time, clocks are set forward one hour to 3:00 a.m. local daylight time. This is often referred to as “springing forward.”

Geographic Scope: Most of the United States observes DST, except for Hawaii and most of Arizona (with the exception of the Navajo Nation, which does observe DST). U.S. territories such as American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands do not participate in DST.

Legal Basis: The rules are governed by the Uniform Time Act of 1966, as amended by the Energy Policy Act of 2005. The U.S. Department of Transportation oversees the implementation, while states and territories have the option to opt out of DST but cannot independently choose to make it permanent without federal approval.

Ovid “The Metamorphoses”

Superseded: Daylight Saving Time Rules

“Time After Time” 1947 Frank Sinatra

Indiana University | Monroe County

“Time After Time (Cindy Lauper Cover) | University of Delaware

https://youtu.be/bgcZjADSRTk?si=mwbvNFphUOSbKkHG

University of Wisconsin Eau Clair

The U.S. power grid operates on a synchronized frequency of 60 Hz, maintained across three major interconnections: Eastern, Western, and Texas. During the Daylight Saving Time (DST) switch—typically at 2:00 AM local time on the second Sunday in March (spring forward) or the first Sunday in November (fall back)—the grid’s synchronization is unaffected because it relies on Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), not local time. Grid operators, coordinated by entities like the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), ensure frequency stability through automatic generation control (AGC) systems, which adjust power output to match demand in real time.

Ω

The DST shift doesn’t disrupt this process. When clocks spring forward (e.g., 2:00 AM becomes 3:00 AM), demand may briefly drop as human activity adjusts, but AGC systems respond instantly, balancing generation and load. In the fall, when clocks fall back (e.g., 2:00 AM repeats), a temporary demand spike might occur, but the grid’s inertial stability—provided by large rotating generators—and real-time monitoring prevent desynchronization. Operators may pre-schedule minor adjustments, but the system’s design, rooted in UTC-based frequency regulation, ensures seamless operation. Thus, while local time shifts, the grid’s 60 Hz hum remains steady across the transition.

Campus Clocks

Tag Archives: November