Forward From Behind

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The following was sent to me by an office mate. I don't send forwards b/c I think they are in poor taste and no one is really going to read it no matter how much you beg, threaten years of their luck or begin the forward by saying, "I normally don't forward emails, but..."

That being said, this is worth a read. Enjoy to whatever extent!

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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 built 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 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 (and England) for their legions. The 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 a re handed a Specification/ Procedure/ Process and wonder "What horse's ass came up with it?" 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 are controlling everything else!!

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Ah politics!

Now, I do my best to keep my facts straight and attempt to filter truth from lies. I know many men of God who forward like it's hot and don't realize they are promoting falsities. I always check Snopes.com for the verity of any email information and/or story told by any storyteller. This is where I ask a rhetorical question: Does that mean one should trust all internet content?

This article provides some answers to the previous story. Short of the long is, while entertaining, it's only somewhat true.

Overarching theme? Always test your "facts." Always!

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a few thoughts...

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Question: How many blogs have you abandoned? This is the beginning of number five for myself. One was more political ranting in hopes of educating the masses and yet I found that the "masses" I was educating numbered in single digits. The other four were personal in nature, though I can only locate two.

I frequently go back to read them in hopes of remembering what the deuce I was stammering on about. They are embarrassing for the most part. Who really enjoys their own poetry anyway right? The sheer naivety at times can cause one to rougee, though I find it refreshing to see how somethings change and somethings remain. My poetry is still rubbish.

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I'm a former sticker junkie. I had one vehicle w/ at least 20 stickers on windows, bumpers and trunk lids. I've recovered to a state of normalcy upon realization that even billboards have a word limit and no one should be straining to read your car whilst driving. This is just one issue.

I removed my Mike Huckabee 2008 bumper sticker on Sunday. I was termed a fair-weather supporter. Tisk, tisk. I have my personal convictions people. There are still people driving around displaying their Kerry/Edwards or the local GOP senate loser. Does this lack of removal display a general soreness about the loss of their candidate or just sheer laziness on the part of the driver? There has to be order in the bumper sticker community.

Also, if you are still sporting bumper wear of W'04 or Sportsman for Bush '04, I'm speaking to you too. No one likes a braggart. Anyone interested in a Bush '08 sticker?

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Watching Life

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Jaclyn Derreberry - David  Derreberry

This was originally a story about how these two and their family survived a tornado lashing. This blogpost was written well before these two ignorant savages committed a most horrible, egregious crime. When I originally wrote this post, I had hope that this event would shock them back into reality. We all know now this is far from the truth.

I no longer blog here, however, I kept recieving email alerts that people were posting comments here. I have removed the post because the kind words spoken so long ago are bitter swords to those most effected. I left this here to serve as a placeholder of my "official" comment on this matter.

There is nothing I can say to the family who lost their father, grandfather, brother, friend. I can only express my deepest sympathy for their loss.

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The donation, its effect and being fearless.

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"Jesus is fearless!" My mom singed that in her email to me yesterday. It can mean a lot of things to different folk but one thing never changes and that's the truth of it.

I have two friends in surgery as we speak for a kidney transplant. Husband giving to the wife.

I have a co-worker under the knife at this very moment for a hip replacement.

Yet another co-worker was diagnosed with ALS late last year. She has a five-year-old daughter and two-year-old triplets. One of her friends read her this quote "...the donation of your life matters more than the duration of your life."

Jesus is fearless! I know people who take great comfort in that this very moment.

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...or to look at it another way.

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"If you're a sinner, then God hates you!"

How great it is that statement is false. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Mankind has been a problem from day one. That's the all-inclusive "man" I speak of, if any ladies ever read this and think too highly of themselves.

This thought ran through my mind today. God hates no one. God hates not one member of the human race. So do people sit and ponder this point when faced w/ the guilt of their sin? When they realize, 'God doesn't hate me,' do they start living as if God grades sin on a scale or degree? Is it, God doesn't hate me, therefore he doesn't hate my sin? Am I even sinning? Does sin become acceptable at that point for that person?

A homosexual or an alcoholic, do they feel fully accepted and not condemned in God's eyes b/c of his love for them? Does the "un-churched" sinner view God by the actions of his believers?

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We've got a lot of snow today. I did not grow up shoveling snow and I enjoy it. I had lots of outdoor chores, i.e., chopping wood, hauling "mis-placed" rock, etc.. These days I've gotten lazy what with the central air/heat system and the sod. Shoveling seems to be my greatest outdoor exercise event in the winter. Still, I think the novelty is wearing off.

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