Friday, Aug. 8, 2025: Daily Dirt
This marks the end of DR FUNN’s reign. Welcome to The Daily Dirt’s Vol. 1,367: Three Thoughts for Today.
1. Sometimes greatness finds you, instead of the other way around.
Earlier this week, I spotted an intriguing license plate on a car parked across the street as I was backing out of my driveway. An excellent license plate was used by a guest of one of our neighbors. What a fantastic license plate.
The WHOA plate immediately caught my attention, indicating that there will be a new medal leader in this week’s Great Plate Debate IV. The Great Plate Board of Control unanimously chose WHOA to succeed DR FUNN as the current gold medalist. That plate had retained the gold for ten weeks, but it is no longer there, to DR FUNN’s credit. As a matter of fact, DR FUNN fell all the way to third place. The Board of Control believed that BUZ N RND, another recent discovery, merited the silver award as well. Here is how the most recent standings compare:
WHOA gold medal
Medal for silver: BUZ N RND
Bronze: Dr. Funn
The best of the rest
- 1 MO GRL
- FLAM
- BUSY B 2
- 4 ZOMBE
- QY 1QCY
- ILLCUFF
- UPBEERS
- 6RUHZ
- 2KATS B
- 6MONKY 11
2. Did you know (Part 451)
- That there are roughly 9.7 million vanity license plates in the nation, according to the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administration (AAMVA). Virginia has the highest U.S. vanity plate percentage (16.2), followed by New Hampshire (13.9) and Illinois (13.4). Texas has the lowest percentage of vanity plates at 0.5.
- That all states that issue vanity plates have what they term a blue list of banned words, phrases or particular letter/number combinations. The blue list is not definitive, and the agent processing a vanity plate application may reject the request if it is deemed offensive, even if the phrase does not match a banned word exactly.
- Pennsylvania was the first state to authorize a vanity plate, way back in 1931.
- All but three states today have their license plates made in correctional facilities. (The three that don t? Alaska, Hawaii and Oregon.)
- New York was the first state to require vehicles to have license plates. That occurred in 1901.
3. Appalachian Word of the Day: Miniature.
The next day, something occurs and you’re not the one on top of the world.
Steve’s Daily ThoughtHow many people are aware that the word “nap” actually refers to the Necessary Adult Pause, as in a pleasant afternoon nap?
Every day, Steve Eighinger contributes to Muddy River News. The Woodside Home Owners Association is not in the vicinity of the WHOA license plate.
