Sugary Frosted Flakes of Death

As posted on a website, somewhere...

The U.S. 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 the U.S. railroads were built by English expatriates.

Why did the English people 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.

Okay! Why did the wagons use that odd wheel spacing? Well, if they tried to use any other spacing the wagons would break on some of the old, long distance roads, because that's the spacing of the old wheel ruts.

So who built these old rutted roads? The first long distance roads in Europe were built by Imperial Rome for the benefit of their legions. The roads have been used ever since. And the ruts? The initial ruts, which everyone else had to match for fear of destroying their wagons, were first made by Roman war chariots. Since the chariots were made for or by Imperial Rome they were all alike in the matter of wheel spacing.

Thus, we have the answer to the original questions. The United States standard railroad gauge of 4 feet, 8.5 inches derives from the original specification (Military Spec) for an Imperial Roman army war chariot. Military specs and bureaucracies live forever. So, the next time you are handed a specification and wonder what horse's ass came up with it, you may be exactly right. Because the Imperial Roman chariots were made to be just wide enough to accommodate the back-ends of two war horses.

Busy Month...

The last few weeks have been pretty busy at work, at home, and elsewhere. The kids went back to school - Annie to High School, Jake to Junior High. Kris becomes addicted to Mario Golf. Vicious Kitty attacks are on the rise. And Lily and Jada put longterm napping to the extreme!

Work
Ah, where to start... I have been busy with multiple projects at work. The repair jobs have been streaming in steadily. I average 3-4 a week now that school has started back up. We're also working towards bring the wireless service online by October 1st with initial service offered to Eau Claire and an immediate expansions over the next few months.

School and Home
Andrea and Jacob went back to school this week. Jacob is starting to South Middle School, where he's a sixth grader. Andrea is off to Memorial, where she's a Freshman. I cringe at the thought of either, as I know there will be lots of homework for both of them. Jacob's grades improved dramatically last year, so hopefully, he'll do well this year. Andrea has a good attitude and seems to want to do well, but we'll see how that turns out.

Both of them have been obnoxious little a-holes the last few weeks, which resulted in a DOS from me - Denial of Service - meaning I cut their internet connection off. They are still networked, but cannot access the internet. THis was done because neither of them would do any chores and would either sit on the couch watching TV or sit on the computer playing around. Andrea was so pissed about her DOS, she spent the weekend at her grandparents' house.

Itsaaa meee, Marioooo!



Yeah. Kris is addicted to this game. She loves it and plays several rounds by herself or will coax me or the kids into playing. I actually enjoy playing it and try to make a point to cheer her on while doing so. She seems to love the little turtle character the most.



WE usually play three of four rounds together before bedtime. I try to let her win, but she actually is quite good and I actually have had to start trying. It has been a lot of fun.



Other:
I have another airsoft game coming up on the 23rd of the month. This game is going to continue the Tan vs. Green story line, but adds Mercenaries to the mix. Both sides must purchase Mercenaries to fight the other. I've already gotten several confrimations, so this may be a good game to play.