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 (nobody)...and 258 guests Last 5 registered Oplandisks nothingstar N_loop yipe foxtrotromeo Browse members... |
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Members 8025Messages 2613455 Today 1 Topics 127500 |
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Does the statement, "We've always done it that way" ring any bells?... read to the end. 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. Okay! 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. The United States standard railroad gauge of 4 feet, 8.5 inches is derived from the original specifications for an Imperial Roman war chariot. And bureaucracies live forever. So the next time you are handed a specification and wonder what horse's behind came up with it, you may be exactly right, because the Imperial Roman war chariots were made just wide enough to accommodate the back ends of two war horses. 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. |
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Ironlung, guess what!!! I've quit smoking! It's my third day without a cigarette!!!!! |
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Right on my friend....That is way cool...Keep it up man, just keep thinkin of ALL the $ your saving =) |
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How much does a pack of cig's cost in the states? Here it's like 3-4 bucks. |
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Sorry i got a bit off-topic btw, but i just had to tell ya =D Hmm, I really do I'll make it..... I really don't wanna smoke anymore. |
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Yeah man right now I am paying 4 bucks.... 4 X 5 packs a week = 20 20 X 4 = 80...and so on and so on...I just hate to think about it man...LOL...But that is WAY cool, I am happy to hear that...Honestly. I hope to one day, when I am READY, to quit. |
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Well, I was able to quit because of the fact that i got REALLY sick this week... Well, I got a fever and something weird happened to my throat that I almost wasn't able to breathe... and it was like that for some time and it was simply impossible to take a cig without coughing myself to death. Then I got tired of it and well, here I am. I hope you'll manage to get rid of them some day also.... The trick is to get sick first... =D |
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Yeah man, that was just the kick in the arse is sounds like you needed...=).... Cheers...Now Ill just buy you a drink my friend...=) |
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