A little bit of this and a little bit of that

The next time you’re on a weeklong bike trip in cooler weather, never end the day at an inn that’s on high ground. Beginning downhill on a cold morning will leave you doubly frozen. Far better to start each day on an uphill so you can warm up.

I gave that advice to someone the other day, not because I’m an expert; I learned it years ago in an interview.

And it struck me that in this odd profession of mine, I’ve accumulated a lot of compelling details from folks who have been through things that I haven’t.

Today, I thought I’d pass some of them on:

UStandards are so strict on room-inspection day at the Naval Academy Prep School in Newport, R.I., that you get a demerit if there is trash in your trash can.

UThe Army has a hyper-caffeinated culture, and when troops are deployed in the field, coffee is seen as one of the most crucial supplies.

UThough there are swashbuckling man-against-sea moments, the real test of being a solo trans-Atlantic sailor is having the perseverance to get through long, slogging, solitary days.

UFar more than women, men who retire and don’t find an active pursuit go into decline.

UBefore going to bed, priests often leave a vessel of healing oil for the sick or injured by their car keys in case they’re called out in the middle of the night.

UWhen racing motorcyclists wipe out at high speed, their lives are often saved by 20-pound leather suits reinforced with bulletproof Kevlar.

UThere are still rainbows of oil on the surface of Pearl Harbor trickling up from the ships that were sunk there 66 years ago.

UPerhaps the most prominent face-in-the-crowd in the Beatles’ iconic Sgt. Pepper’s album photo — a mustached man in the back row above Stan Laurel and next to Fred Astaire — is a painter named Richard Merkin, who spent most of his career in Providence, R.I., where he was known for his fashionable flair.

UBecause of the accelerating loss of World War II and Korean War vets, among the busiest squads in the local military are the teams that perform honors at veterans’ funerals.

UAlmost two-thirds of divorces are requested by the wives.

UThe most dangerous time for deep-sea fishing trawlers in winter is not far out in the ocean, but closer to shore, where colder land temperatures can cause spray to freeze on riggings, putting a badly weighted boat in danger of keeling over if a crew doesn’t work fast to knock off the ice with crowbars and baseball bats.

UThe battle for Iwo Jima continued for weeks after the famous picture was taken of soldiers planting a flag on Mount Suribachi, and supplies were so low for U.S. soldiers that many chose not to wash wounds with the little water they had left so they could save it for drinking.

UIn Providence’s traffic court, recent immigrants have a few times fallen to their knees and bowed their heads before the judge before quickly being helped to their feet and told we don’t do that in America.

UYou really can be married — or renew vows — in front of a preacher dressed as Elvis in Las Vegas, and almost every day, people do.

UBefore the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, communism had led to such economic deprivation in East Berlin that many buildings still had bullet marks from World War II, and instead of revolving doors, shops hung blankets a few feet inside their entryways to keep out the cold.

X Mark Patinkin writes for the Providence Journal. Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, .