Posts Tagged ‘England’
What You Can See and Where..
Monday, November 1st, 2010Railroad Tracks
Sunday, August 29th, 2010
Why was that gauge used? Because that’s the way
they built them in England , and English expatriates
designed the US railroads.
Why did the English build them like that?
Because the first rail lines were built by the same people
who built the pre-railroad tramways,
and that’s the gauge they used.
Why did ‘they’ use that gauge then?
Because the people who built the tramways used the same
jigs and tools that they had used for building wagons,
which used that wheel spacing.
Why did the wagons have that particular odd wheel spacing?
Well, if they tried to use any other spacing, the wagon wheels
would break on some of the old, long distance roads in
England , because that’s the spacing of the wheel ruts.
So who built those old rutted roads?
Imperial Rome built the first long distance roads
in Europe (including England ) for their legions.
Those roads have been used ever since.
And the ruts in the roads?
Roman war chariots formed the initial ruts,
which everyone else had to match for fear of
destroying their wagon wheels.
Since the chariots were made for Imperial
Rome , they were all alike in the matter of wheel spacing.
Therefore the United States standard railroad gauge
of 4 feet, 8.5 inches is derived from the original
specifications for an Imperial Roman war chariot.
Bureaucracies live forever.
So the next time you are handed a
specification/procedure/process and wonder
‘What horse’s ass came up with this?’, you may
be exactly right. Imperial Roman army chariots
were made just wide enough to accommodate the
rear ends of two war horses. (Two horses’ asses.)
Now, the twist to the story:
When you see a Space Shuttle sitting on its launch pad,
there are two big booster rockets attached to the sides
of the main fuel tank. These are solid rocket boosters,
or SRBs. The SRBs are made by
Thiokol at their factory in Utah
The engineers who designed the SRBs would have
preferred to make them a bit fatter, but the SRBs
had to be shipped by train from the factory to
the launch site. The railroad line from the factory
happens to run through a tunnel in the mountains,
and the SRBs had to fit through that tunnel.
The tunnel is slightly wider than the railroad track,
and the railroad track, as you now know,
is about as wide as two horses’ behinds.
So, a major Space Shuttle design feature
of what is arguably the world’s most advanced
transportation system was determined over
two thousand years ago by the width
of a horse’s ass. And you thought being a
horse’s ass wasn’t important?
Ancient horse’s asses control almost everything…
And CURRENT Horses Asses in Washington
are controlling everything else!
AT&T Advertisement
Thursday, June 10th, 2010Take a look at these great posters. Using just hands and a phone, American carrier recreates a popular idea of painting hands into the colors of different countries.
I Can’t Believe it IS Butter…
Thursday, March 25th, 2010Top Chef Creates Intricate Works of Art with Golden Spread
Mr Athukorale, 46, picked up two gold medals and a silver at the international Salon Culinary Awards in London last week.
Spread of brilliance: Vipula Athukorale with his Rolls-Royce sculpted from butter.
Creamy goodness: A scene from the Pied Piper is reinvented. Mr Athukorale uses pastry margarine instead of butter because it doesn’t melt so easily.
Mr Athukorale, who was born in Sri Lanka, has worked in top-class hotels in Greece, Iraq, Cyprus, Bahrain and England.
Britain has Talent
Sunday, December 6th, 2009Let Me See if I Understand All This…
Tuesday, November 10th, 2009
IF YOU CROSS THE NORTH KOREAN BORDER ILLEGALLY,
YOU GET 12 YEARS HARD LABOR.
IF YOU CROSS THE IRANIAN BORDER ILLEGALLY,
YOU ARE DETAINED INDEFINITELY….
IF YOU GO INTO CHINA ILLEGALLY,
YOU’RE CONSIDERED A SPY AND GET HARD PRISON TIME.
IF YOU GO INTO GERMANY ILLEGALLY,
YOU GET A HEFTY FINE, WORK IT OFF OR PAY IT OFF, THEN DEPORTED.
IF YOU GO INTO ENGLAND ILLEGALLY,
YOU ARE IMMEDIATELY JAILED AND DEPORTED…….
BUT IF YOU CROSS THE U.S. BORDER ILLEGALLY,
YOU GET:
1. A DRIVER’S LICENSE
2. A SOCIAL SECURITY CARD
3. WELFARE
4. FOOD STAMPS AND
5. FREE HEALTH CARE?
I guess I still don’t understand… maybe we need to VOTE OUT OUR LAWMAKERS.
*GO GREEN! RECYCLE CONGRESS!*
Dining Out in the World
Tuesday, October 27th, 2009Railroad tracks
Wednesday, August 19th, 2009This is fascinating.
The US standard railroad gauge (distance between the rails) is 4 feet, 8.5 inches. That’s an exceedingly odd number.
*Why was that gauge used? Because that’s the way they built them in England, and English expatriates designed the US railroads.
*Why did the English build them like that? Because the first rail lines were built by the same people who built the pre-railroad tramways, and that’s the gauge they used.
*Why did ‘they’ use that gauge then? Because the people who built the tramways used the same jigs and tools that they had used for building wagons, which used that wheel spacing.
*Why did the wagons have that particular odd wheel spacing? Well, if they tried to use any other spacing, the wagon wheels would break on some of the old, long distance roads in England, because that’s the spacing of the wheel ruts.
So who built those old rutted roads? Imperial Rome built the first long distance roads in Europe (including England) for their legions. Those roads have been used ever since.
And the ruts in the roads? Roman war chariots formed the initial ruts, which everyone else had to match for fear of destroying their wagon wheels. Since the chariots were made for Imperial Rome, they were all alike in the matter of wheel spacing. Therefore the United States standard railroad gauge of 4 feet, 8.5 inches is derived from the original specifications for an Imperial Roman war chariot. Bureaucracies live forever.
So the next time you are handed a specification/ procedure/process and wonder ‘What horse’s ass came up with this?’, you may be exactly right. Imperial Roman army chariots were made just wide enough to accommodate the rear ends of two war horses. (Two horses’ asses.) Now, the twist to the story:
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When you see a Space Shuttle sitting on its launch pad, there are two big booster rockets attached to the sides of the main fuel tank. These are solid rocket boosters, or SRBs. The SRBs are made by Thiokol at their factory in Utah The engineers who designed the SRBs would have preferred to make them a bit fatter, but the SRBs had to be shipped by train from the factory to the launch site. The railroad line from the factory happens to run through a tunnel in the mountains, and the SRBs had to fit through that tunnel. The tunnel is slightly wider than the railroad track, and the railroad track, as you now know, is about as wide as two horses’ behinds.
So, a major Space Shuttle design feature of what is arguably the world’s most advanced transportation system was determined over two thousand years ago by the width of a horse’s ass. And you thought being a horse’s ass wasn’t important? Ancient horse’s asses control almost everything… and…
CURRENT Horses Asses are controlling everything else.
Peel – Smallest Car in the World
Wednesday, July 8th, 2009
True or Not, This is Interesting…
Monday, July 6th, 2009Outside the Bristol Zoo, in England , there is a parking lot for 150 cars and 8 coaches, or buses.
It was manned by a very pleasant attendant with a ticket machine charging cars £1 (about $1.40) and coaches £5 (about $7).
This parking attendant worked there solid for all of 25 years. Then, one day, he just didn’t turn up for work.
“Oh well”, said Bristol Zoo Management – “we’d better phone up the City Council and get them to send a new parking attendant . .. . ”
“Err . . . no”, said the Council, “that parking lot is your responsibility.”
“Err . . . no”, said Bristol Zoo Management, “the attendant was employed by the City Council, wasn’t he?”
“Err . . . no!” insisted the Council.
Sitting in his villa somewhere on the coast of Spain (presumably), is a man who had been taking the parking lot fees, estimated at £400 (about $560) per day at Bristol Zoo for the last 25 years. Assuming 7 days a week, this amounts to just over £3.6 million ($7 million – or $280,000 every year for 25 years)!
And no one even knows his name.
