Slitherine

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ORIGINAL: gladiatt

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ORIGINAL: AW1Steve

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ORIGINAL: Onime No Kyo

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ORIGINAL: AW1Steve

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ORIGINAL: Mynok

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ORIGINAL: AW1Steve

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ORIGINAL: Onime No Kyo

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ORIGINAL: Mynok


I wonder why he thinks we don't know what fondue is....

Its the French background. I dont care how many generations its been or what he says about Canada......

(Sorry Steve, I just couldnt pass it up )

Not French , Norman ! You know, vikings! I have some self respect (sorry to any French friends out there....especially Gladditt!).

Now you know, by the time they were considered Normans their Viking ways were a distant memory.

Go ahead! Destroy my last chance at self-respect!

So its French, then?

Well, I suppose it could be worse. My mother was half Irish......(sigh).......

Worse than French ? Impossible.
We are the worst on earth .

(BTW, i have some Vikings ancestry too....long family history is: fleing Danish kingdom in 13th century, get in Nederlands, and then in France at beginning of 20th century...).
So Steve and i could be related cousin

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ORIGINAL: Terminus

That's what a black guy calls a white guy.

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ORIGINAL: AW1Steve

Tithe....



And by the way , thank you to USS America, Terminus and Sprior (and anyone else that tried) for attempting to help me with my hotfix problem ..........I think the long term solution is to employ on standing retainer a junior high student to do all my computer updates for me. In the mean time, I'm just going to wait for the regular updates. Apologies to my PBEM opponents.

Mike

"Good times will set you free" - Jimmy Buffett

"They need more rum punch" - Me


Artwork by The Amazing Dixie

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ORIGINAL: Dixie

Everyone is back home now, little fella has returned to his usual routine of eat, poop, sleep.  BC was really plaesed to see him home, it's the most attention she's ever paid to him as she normally ignores him most of the time.

"Grown ups are what's left when skool is finished."
"History started badly and hav been geting steadily worse."
- Nigel Molesworth.

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ORIGINAL: USS America

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ORIGINAL: AW1Steve

Tithe....



And by the way , thank you to USS America, Terminus and Sprior (and anyone else that tried) for attempting to help me with my hotfix problem ..........I think the long term solution is to employ on standing retainer a junior high student to do all my computer updates for me. In the mean time, I'm just going to wait for the regular updates. Apologies to my PBEM opponents.

Steve, I can send my son up to fix you up. He works for food and hockey tickets.

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ORIGINAL: Dixie

Everyone is back home now, little fella has returned to his usual routine of eat, poop, sleep.  BC was really plaesed to see him home, it's the most attention she's ever paid to him as she normally ignores him most of the time.

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ORIGINAL: AW1Steve


My apologies to Gladditt and any other Frenchmen , or people of French extraction , that I may have recently offended with my recent comments. My lovely charming wife, with her kindly "former prosecuter cross exaimining you " way , has recently brought the problem to my attention , having looked over my shoulder when I wrote those rude comments.
"Ah Steve?". What language did you study in High school?". "Why Latin of course!" "Wasn't that at the suggestion of your French teacher?"....."err....well....yes". "And didn't you take Intro French 101 THREE TIMES?" ......"err...yes , but I can explain!" "And didn't you fail said course THREE TIMES?" "Err.....well yes...". " And don't you own both Berlitz and Rossetta Stone French courses , with which you have had absolutely NO SUCCESS!?" "ah...yes.." "PLEASE SPEAK UP ,I CAN"T HEAR YOU". "yes...wimper".
" What wine do you normally Drink?" "Ah , red?". "Isn't it true that you normally drink Pommerol and beaujolais?" "Ah....I like Pourtugese and Spanish too!". "Isn't it true that every year you wait till the third thursday of November to buy a case of Beaujolais Nouveau?"..."Well, it makes good Sangria!". "Ah ha....and isn't it true that this year you bought TWO CASES!?" "Hey...They were on sale!"......."Ah ha.....and these cook books...yours are all the French chef and Jauqes Pepin titles, aren't they"?. ...."Well yes , but.....". "And who had his family geneolgy researched?"...."me.." and who has a full size metal shield with his family crest painted on it?"....."But it looks SO COOL!"....
"Ah huh.......FACE IT STEVE , YOU ARE A FRANCO-PHILE! AND YOUR NOT WORTHY!"


I'm going to slither off somewhere....and take a long shower....wimper.....

She got me!

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ORIGINAL: Dixie

Everyone is back home now, little fella has returned to his usual routine of eat, poop, sleep.  BC was really plaesed to see him home, it's the most attention she's ever paid to him as she normally ignores him most of the time.

Prior Preparation & Planning Prevents Pathetically Poor Performance!

A & B: WitW, WitE, WbtS, GGWaW, GGWaW2-AWD, HttR, CotA, BftB, CF
P: UV, WitP, WitP-AE

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The Space Shuttle and the Horse's Rear End

Say friend, did you know that the US Standard railroad gauge (distance between the rails) is 4 feet, 8 1/2 inches.

That's an exceedingly odd number. Why was that gauge used?

Because that's the way they built them in England, and the US railroads were built by English expatriates.

I see, but why did the English build them like that?

Because the first railway lines were built by the same people who built the pre-railroad tramways, and that's the gauge they used.

Well, why did they use that gauge in England?

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 their wagons use that odd wheel spacing?

Because, if they tried to use any other spacing the wagon wheels 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 Roman roads have been used ever since.

And the ruts?

The original ruts, which everyone else had to match for fear of destroying their wagons, were first made by the wheels of 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 question. The United States standard railroad gauge of 4 feet, 8 1/2 inches derives from the original specification for an Imperial Roman army war chariot.

And the motto of the story is Specifications 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.

So, just what does this have to do with the exploration of space?

Well, there's an interesting extension of the story about railroad gauge and horses' behinds. When we see a Space Shuttle sitting on the launch pad, there are two big booster rockets attached to the sides of the main fuel tank. These are the solid rocket boosters, or SRBs. The SRBs are made by Thiokol at a factory in Utah. The engineers who designed the SRBs might 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 from the factory runs through a tunnel in the mountains. The SRBs had to fit through that tunnel. The tunnel is slightly wider than a railroad track, and the railroad track is about as wide as two horses' behinds.

So a major design feature of what is arguably the world's most advanced transportation system was originally determined by the width of a horse's ass.

Prior Preparation & Planning Prevents Pathetically Poor Performance!

A & B: WitW, WitE, WbtS, GGWaW, GGWaW2-AWD, HttR, CotA, BftB, CF
P: UV, WitP, WitP-AE

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ORIGINAL: sprior

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ORIGINAL: Dixie

Everyone is back home now, little fella has returned to his usual routine of eat, poop, sleep.  BC was really plaesed to see him home, it's the most attention she's ever paid to him as she normally ignores him most of the time.

Good to hear. I assumed things were going well when I got the BoB turn in my inbox.

Bigger boys stole my sig

(in reply to sprior)

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ORIGINAL: Apollo11

Hi all,

Just before I leave... is thts true or false (i.e. hoax)...

quote:


The Space Shuttle and the Horse's Rear End

Say friend, did you know that the US Standard railroad gauge (distance between the rails) is 4 feet, 8 1/2 inches.

That's an exceedingly odd number. Why was that gauge used?

Because that's the way they built them in England, and the US railroads were built by English expatriates.

I see, but why did the English build them like that?

Because the first railway lines were built by the same people who built the pre-railroad tramways, and that's the gauge they used.

Well, why did they use that gauge in England?

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 their wagons use that odd wheel spacing?

Because, if they tried to use any other spacing the wagon wheels 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 Roman roads have been used ever since.

And the ruts?

The original ruts, which everyone else had to match for fear of destroying their wagons, were first made by the wheels of 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 question. The United States standard railroad gauge of 4 feet, 8 1/2 inches derives from the original specification for an Imperial Roman army war chariot.

And the motto of the story is Specifications 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.

So, just what does this have to do with the exploration of space?

Well, there's an interesting extension of the story about railroad gauge and horses' behinds. When we see a Space Shuttle sitting on the launch pad, there are two big booster rockets attached to the sides of the main fuel tank. These are the solid rocket boosters, or SRBs. The SRBs are made by Thiokol at a factory in Utah. The engineers who designed the SRBs might 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 from the factory runs through a tunnel in the mountains. The SRBs had to fit through that tunnel. The tunnel is slightly wider than a railroad track, and the railroad track is about as wide as two horses' behinds.

So a major design feature of what is arguably the world's most advanced transportation system was originally determined by the width of a horse's ass.

Leo "Apollo11"

Mike

"Good times will set you free" - Jimmy Buffett

"They need more rum punch" - Me


Artwork by The Amazing Dixie

quote:

ORIGINAL: Dixie

Everyone is back home now, little fella has returned to his usual routine of eat, poop, sleep.  BC was really plaesed to see him home, it's the most attention she's ever paid to him as she normally ignores him most of the time.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Apollo11

Hi all,

Just before I leave... is thts true or false (i.e. hoax)...

quote:


The Space Shuttle and the Horse's Rear End

Say friend, did you know that the US Standard railroad gauge (distance between the rails) is 4 feet, 8 1/2 inches.

That's an exceedingly odd number. Why was that gauge used?

Because that's the way they built them in England, and the US railroads were built by English expatriates.

I see, but why did the English build them like that?

Because the first railway lines were built by the same people who built the pre-railroad tramways, and that's the gauge they used.

Well, why did they use that gauge in England?

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 their wagons use that odd wheel spacing?

Because, if they tried to use any other spacing the wagon wheels 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 Roman roads have been used ever since.

And the ruts?

The original ruts, which everyone else had to match for fear of destroying their wagons, were first made by the wheels of 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 question. The United States standard railroad gauge of 4 feet, 8 1/2 inches derives from the original specification for an Imperial Roman army war chariot.

And the motto of the story is Specifications 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.

So, just what does this have to do with the exploration of space?

Well, there's an interesting extension of the story about railroad gauge and horses' behinds. When we see a Space Shuttle sitting on the launch pad, there are two big booster rockets attached to the sides of the main fuel tank. These are the solid rocket boosters, or SRBs. The SRBs are made by Thiokol at a factory in Utah. The engineers who designed the SRBs might 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 from the factory runs through a tunnel in the mountains. The SRBs had to fit through that tunnel. The tunnel is slightly wider than a railroad track, and the railroad track is about as wide as two horses' behinds.

So a major design feature of what is arguably the world's most advanced transportation system was originally determined by the width of a horse's ass.

Leo "Apollo11"

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ORIGINAL: Chickenboy

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ORIGINAL: Dixie

Everyone is back home now, little fella has returned to his usual routine of eat, poop, sleep.  BC was really plaesed to see him home, it's the most attention she's ever paid to him as she normally ignores him most of the time.

Glad to hear it. Will he be going back in for suture removal / bandage care or is he under 'home care' at your direction at this point?

Bigger boys stole my sig

(in reply to Chickenboy)

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ORIGINAL: Apollo11

Hi all,

Another gray day tithe... 2 degrees Centigrade...




Leo "Apollo11"

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ORIGINAL: Dixie
it's probably quite large to a baby.

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ORIGINAL: Mynok

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ORIGINAL: Dixie
it's probably quite large to a baby.

Depends on where it is....

Bigger boys stole my sig

(in reply to Mynok)

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ORIGINAL: Dixie

If the hospital visit has proven one thing, it's that young ladies love children.  He's had plenty of attention from all the nurses, it's a shame that Mrs Dixie was there the whole time.  One of the student nurses was really very pretty 

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ORIGINAL: Chickenboy

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ORIGINAL: Dixie

If the hospital visit has proven one thing, it's that young ladies love children.  He's had plenty of attention from all the nurses, it's a shame that Mrs Dixie was there the whole time.  One of the student nurses was really very pretty 

Trust me on this one Dixie...they couldn't possibly care less about you-it's the cute baby they're fawning over. I recommend familiarizing yourself with your newfound irrelevance to pretty ladies.

Bigger boys stole my sig

(in reply to Chickenboy)