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Lord Cold-emort? Clearopathra? Wichita takes punny snowplow naming to the next level

The city has 79 snow plows, each with its own name—and you can watch them move around the city on a real-time map.

Meteorologist Kevin Lighty/Facebook

Wichita's snow plow map shows which plows are out and where they are in the city.

If you live somewhere that doesn't get snow, you may lament it or you may thank your lucky stars. The fluffy white stuff isn't everyone's cup of tea, for sure, and even those of us who like snowy winters can get tired of it once we've revelled in the peaceful beauty of the first few fresh snowfalls.

Having a sense of humor about the weather is one way people handle the winter without devolving into a miserable mess, and nowhere is this coping mechanism clearer than in the naming of snow plows. Over the past several years, more and more jurisdictions have made a game out of naming their street-clearing fleets. But Wichita, Kansas, and its 79 uniquely named plows are making extra waves through the dad-joke-lover crowd.

The snow plow names draw from movies, music, literature, historical and pop culture figures and more. A few of the best? Lord Cold-emort. Darth Blader. Snowba Fett. Peppy La Plow. Blizzard of Oz. Betty Whiteout. The Big LePlowski. William Scrape-speare. The Fast and the Flurriest.

And that's only a handful of them.

Wichita is one of many cities to name plows, but there's an additional element to its snow plow practices that has people roped in. Not only did Wichita name every one of its plows, but you can track them live on the city's Public Works website.

For some reason, that ability is delighting people everywhere. As someone who has never been to Wichita, do I care what streets are being plowed there at any given moment? Not even a little bit. But do I care to see where Plowy McPlowface, F. Salt Fitzgerald and Lil Snow Peep are plugging along, doing their important work for the people who live there? Apparently and inexplicably, yes I do.

Anthropomorphizing snow plows by naming them may be an objectively silly thing to do, but bringing joy to people's dreary winter days is a valuable service. Judging by people's reactions, that's exactly what Wichita is doing:

"Love this! This would make a great 1000 piece puzzle!"

"Plowabunga for the win!! That's awesome!"

"Whoever their PR person is deserves a raise or two."

"This is great way to make a sometimes thankless job more fun. Be careful out there Snow Funnies."

"Awe, almost makes me want to move to a snowy region of the country! ....ALMOST!"

"I live in Wichita so this obviously popped up… we all absolutely love the plows!!!! The names make us all smile and laugh."

Many cities have begun holding snow plow naming contests each year, and the names often come from school children—a great way to get kids creatively engaged with the civil servants of their community and to appreciate the workers who keep things running smoothly.

Want to know what all 79 names are? Here's the list of snow plows from the Wichita Public Works & Utilities page (where you can also check out the real-time map to see who's out and about):

Aaron Brrrr
Auntie Arctica
Baby Snowda
Betty WhiteOut
Blizzard of Oz
Blizzard Wizard
Bohemian Rhapsnowd
Brine and Dandy
Catch My Drift
Chill Bill
Chilly Dog
Clearing Present Danger
Clearopathra
Ctrl Salt Delete
Darth Blader
Don't Flurry Be Happy
Edgar Allen Snow
Edward Blizzardhands
EisenPlower
Every day I'm Shovelin
F. Salt Fitzgerald
Frost Responder
Great and Plowerful Oz
Henry David Thor-Snow
Hipplowpotomus
Ice Breaker
I Came, I Thaw, I Conquered
I Can Street Clearly Now
I Snow You Can do It
Ice Force One
Ice fought the Thaw and the Thaw Won
Ice of Life
Ice to See You
Ice-Stein Theory of Relativity
Icy-T
It's Snow Problem
License to Chill
Lil Snow Peep
Lord Cold-emort
Mission Implowsible
Mr. Plow
Mr. Sandman
No Business Like Snow Business
No More Mr. Ice Guy
Not Snow Fast
Only Have Ice for You
Ope, Just Gonna Plow Right Past Ya
Peppy La Plow
Plow Bunyan
Plowabunga
Plowasaurus Rex
Plower Ranger
Plowthagorean Theorem
Plowy McPlowface
Point of Snow Return
Sand and Deliver
Saltimus Brine
Shock and Thaw
Slush Puppy
Snow and Tell
Snow Diggity
Snow Force 1
Snow More Mr. Ice Guy
Snow Place Like Home
Snowba Fett
Snowbi One Kenobi
Snowbody Like You
Snow Worries
Sweet Caro-brine
Squall Bunyan
Thaw Enforcement
Wichi-Thawesome
The Big LePlowski
The Fast and the Flurriest
The Scrape Gatsby
To Brine Ownself Be True
William Scrape-speare
Wolfgang Amadeus Snowzart
You're Killin Me Squalls

Which are your faves?

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Humor

Adults are spoofing college acceptance reactions & proving you don't need a reason to celebrate

This is me waiting for the coffee maker to finish brewing in the morning.

khimburlie/TikTok & rachel_defore/TikTok

One of the more heart-warming genres of social media video you're likely to find is the college acceptance reaction video. Hopeful teenagers opening up college acceptance or rejection letters used to be a private, emotion-packed moment for families. Now it's common to film it and put it up on Instagram or TikTok — and people love them. Some of the videos are really amazing and emotional to watch; you can see the exact moment someone's biggest dream comes true.

Because this is the Internet we're talking about, people are now spoofing these videos. The trend started with people doing fake reaction videos in the vein of "Pretending I got into Harvard because I'm bored." But the spoof trend quickly took an interesting turn.

The newest trend on TikTok is gathering your friends and family around you so you can all react together to the most silly, mundane bits of positive news imaginable.

That's right, people are making up reasons to celebrate and we're all for it.

One family posted their 'reaction' to looking up their local Mexican restaurant online and finding that it's open on Christmas Eve.

Not only does everyone get to show off their acting chops (keep an eye on the brother, who weeps tears of joy in an Oscar-worthy performance), commenters had to admit the faux joy was contagious.

"Same reaction when they brought out the large queso in a gallon sized bowl" commented one user.

"why am i crying for you guys" said another.

Congratulations to Rachel and her family for this amazing turn of good fortune.

@rachel_defore

Please watch everyone separately😭#merrychristmas #fyp #christmaseve

Another family wept tears of joy when the Domino's pizza tracker indicated their order was in the oven.

This viral video even got the attention of Dominos, who wrote "I'm so proud of you, you’ve worked so hard for this moment"

Commenters on this one had their own ideas for achievements that might get them to celebrate like this:

Me, when my package says out for delivery

Me but “dasher has picked up your order”

I once read that the key to happiness is to always be waiting on a package. The excitement, the anticipation. It makes getting out of bed in the morning worth it. This video? Same vibes.

@khimburlie

we’re a family of big backs #fyp #siblings #pizza #dominos #collegeacceptance

This woman gathered her friends to watch her reveal her first flan cake, sparking a huge reaction when it turned out!

The build up is epic. And so is the cake.

@queen_bee_mari_mar

My first strawberry flan cake #chocoflan #collegerevealparody #collegeacceptance #firstflan #flan


One noteworthy observation about the trendy videos? They're mostly being made by adults who have left college acceptances behind.

Adults have been bemoaning the lack of holidays and celebrations in their lives for years. Once you've graduated college, gotten married, and maybe had a couple of kids, there really aren't a lot of occasions where your whole family gathers around to celebrate you. Birthdays lose their luster as you get older and your social circle shrinks; they can even make you sad because you're afraid of getting older or feeling bad that you haven't achieved more. It's called the birthday blues. Your Christmas presents get more and more boring with every passing year (tools and kitchen gadgets, anyone?)

In short, the older we get, the fewer reasons we have to celebrate. (And most of us never got to film our own college acceptance reaction because video cameras had to be shoulder-mounted). I know this TikTok trend started as a spoof and is mostly for laughs, but I like that it bucks the tradition of feeling like there are no exciting, anticipation-fueled moments in adulthood. I like that people are creating those moments for themselves, even if they are ridiculous.

I can't help but think of the ending of the movie Sideways, where the main character has been saving an incredibly nice bottle of wine to open on a special occasion. Someone tells him that the day he opens it, that's the real occasion. In the end, he opens the wine and drinks it out of a paper cup at a fast food restaurant, signaling his willingness to start finding joy in them mundanity of day to day life.

Or maybe I'm just reading too much into some silly TikTok videos, but either way, you should watch a few — you'll definitely enjoy the laughs.

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Joy

7th graders are asked what 30-year-olds want for Christmas and their answers are hysterical

Who doesn't love soup?

@7thgradechronicles/TikTok

According to 7th graders, 30-year-olds want soup for Christmas.

Seventh grade teacher Mr. Frakes routinely asks his students to give their observations on various aspects of adulthood to post on his TikTok.—everything from “things parents love to say” to reactions to old school songs to guessing the “worst parts about adulting." The answers are always hilarious…if not a little brutal to us olds. His Christmas edition is no different. Mr. Frakes asked his students “what do you buy someone in their 30s for the holidays?” And the adults who saw the video can’t help but commend the accuracy.

The list is as follows, verbatim.

“Measuring cups…bwahaha.”“

"Signs that say ‘Bless The Home.’”

“A Dyson vacuum.”

“A bottle of wine and hip implants.”

“Panera bread gift card. People in their 30s love soup!”

“Bingo cards.”

“You give them Bath & Body Works stuff. That’s what my mom wants!”

“Expensive meats.”

“Hard Candies.”

“Candy Crush Premium.”

“You get them old people candles that smell like ‘home’ or ‘back then.’”

“T.J. Maxx gift card.”

“The wrinkle creams.”

“Heated blanket cause their muscles be hurtin.”

“A coffee mug that says ‘don’t talk to me til I’ve had my coffee’ because they’re all coffee obsessed millennials.”

“A lawyer for the divorce attorney. (fight for the kids).”

@7thgradechronicles Its me. I’m 30s. 😂🫣😬#teachersoftiktok #teacher #teacherlife #teachertok #middleschool #middleschoolteacher #middleschoolteacher #middleschoollife #dyson #panerabread #tjmaxx ♬ Holly Jolly Christmas - Michael Bublé

Obviously, adults who saw this joked about feeling personally attacked. But also seen.

Case and point: one person wrote, “Okay the ‘they’re all coffee obsessed millennials’ was personal” as another admitted, “I watched this while drinking coffee out of my ‘dont’ talk to me til I’ve had my coffee’ mug.”

Meanwhile, another added, “ But are they wrong? Because I honestly love soup and candles. I’m 36.”

Echoing that sentiment, someone commented, “not me thinking all those gifts sound amazing.”

And of course, everyone was eyeing that Dyson vacuum.

Growing older might mean muscles that “be hurtin’” and some judgement from the younger generation, but it clearly also comes with a deep felt appreciation for the simple, practical things in life, as indicated by this list. Nothing wrong with that.

(After all, the young ones might balk now, but it won’t be long til they become coffee obsessed as well.)

May we all get a bit of holiday joy this year, in whatever form we can.


This article originally appeared two years ago.

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Science

People just realized the Calculator app keeps history & share their most embarrassing calculations

It's OK, we can all be idiots together.

jeffersonjohn14/TikTok & Unsplash

We've all done it in secret when we think no one's looking. We inconspicuously pull out our phone, give one more sideways glance to make sure no one can see our screen, and then we open up our Calculator app just to make sure 6 plus 3 really does equal 9 before confidently announcing it out loud. You can never be too sure.

It's OK! No one has to know that we don't have faith in ourselves to do even simple arithmetic that comes second-nature to most elementary schoolers. Those moments of self-doubt are our little secret. Or, at least we thought they were.

A viral TikTok, however, just announced a major development: The Calculator app on iPhone keeps track of your history.

It's been hiding in plain sight this entire time, and suffice it to say, but people are shook.

"Yall please remember to clear your CALCULATOR history every once in a while," user jeffersonjohn14 captioned. "My bf just saw mine and would have rather him gone thru my internet history."

In the text caption to the post, the user wrote "3+8??????" implying that at some point they had to be extra sure they could properly add to 11, and were mortified by the idea that someone might find out.

I had to double check to confirm that this is true, and unfortunately, it is. If you're an iPhone user and you look at the upper left hand corner of your Calculator app, there's a small hamburger menu that you probably never bothered noticing before. Open it up and you'll see your calculations from the last 30 days or so. Why does the Calculator app save all your formulas for a month? Who knows — but this is your warning to go in there and delete anything egregious before someone you respect sees it.


If you have embarrassing calculations in your Calculator history, it's OK: You're not the only one.

Not only were viewers of the now-viral TikTok flabbergasted to know the truth, many of them seemed surprised at what they found in their own histories.

Here are some of the best responses:

1x10.. it was a difficult day!

3+3 the other day

Nah why I got 35-1 in mine

Damn mine really said 18-3

5x2 😆 what the heck was I doing

I just checked mine and the last one was 15 x 2 🤣 why am I like this


calculator app on phone sitting on top of documents Photo by Jakub Żerdzicki on Unsplash

And if you're someone who doubts the intelligence of the average TikTok user, how about this comment from someone who should definitely be above using an app for simple calculations:

As a math major, having 100x2 in my calculator history is just embarrassing

It seems that people of all ages and backgrounds fall victim to the same phenomenon: We know the answer to basic addition and subtraction questions, but sometimes we just want to be extra sure.

It could be chalked up to a fear of being wrong (announcing the wrong answer to a group), or maybe it's a lack of practice with basic arithmetic that makes us doubt ourselves. Maybe it's deeper than that, where we want to really see something with our own eyes to before we believe that it's true, like the way we look for other people to confirm or even shape our thoughts and opinions.

Whatever the reason, I found it reassuring and heartwarming just how many people chimed in to share their own calculator fails. We really are all in this together!

And if you do regularly use a calculator for basic addition and subtraction that you know how to do in your head? There's no shame in that.

In fact, some educators argue that kids should be allowed to use calculators more often in school so that, instead of drilling computation over and over, they can spend more time on critical thinking and problem solving skills. Calculators can allow you to solve problems on your own and even explore numbers creatively (ever randomly wonder what 38239 * 77771223 is? Now you can find out!) They also, obviously, allow us to get the right answer, and sometimes it's better to be accurate than to protect your ego. After all, your waiter at the restaurant would prefer you leave a good tip — even if you need to use your phone to double check what 20% of 100 is.

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