A Horse's Tail

Does the statement,
"Because we've always done
it that way"... ring any bells?

The U.S. standard railroad gauge (the 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 spec and told we have always done it that way and wonder what horse's ass came up with that, 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, here's 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. 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.
Author Unknown

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Romans 12:2

Habits-Good and Bad

Zig Ziglar remarked, "People often say to me that motivation doesn't last. Well, neither does bathing...that's why we recommend it daily."

I had lunch today with a group of women.  Let me just say that there were two of us in the room younger than 60.  The majority of the room was closer to seventy-five or eighty years old.  The two honorees were twins who will be one hundred on Sunday.  These were two of the cutest people I've ever met!  One of the sisters does most of the speaking--only because the other can't get started quickly enough.  When asked if they lived together, the quiet sister quickly said, "No." 

I hope, when I get to be their age, I am just as spry and quick-witted as these gals.  They are an inspiration to us all.  As the other girls around the table were asking their secrets to a long life, we were surprised that there really weren't any.  They eat whatever they want to eat.  They don't necessarily exercise a lot.  They each have been married and have children.  They each have lost children and their spouses. 

What impressed me more than anything was their attitude.  They just take each day as it comes.  There isn't worry about what might be or what was.  They make the choice, every day, to accept the world as it comes to them, good or bad.  It is what it is, you deal with it and then you move on.  No big secret here, they said in various ways.  Every day is a new day, a do-over, a fresh start.  Use it!

These ladies have developed the habit of a positive attitude.  Habits are made of knowledge, attitude and skill.  They are learned over time.  Negative attitudes are just as dangerous to your health as smoking cigarettes and overeating because complaining, criticizing, comparing, competing and contending only lead to misery.  These are just symptoms of something much deeper happening.  People need to feel understood.  When they feel understood they don't have to be judge and critic, of themselves or anyone else.

These women understand that life is going to have its ups and downs.  Days like today are the times to relish and feel the joy.  They know that times will come when they will need to draw on these memories to get past the pain.  And they have chosen to view their world as more good than bad. 

One of the women at the luncheon asked me if I always had a smile on my face.  She said she'd never seen me without one.  I told her that I tried to.  I'm only a little over half the birthday girls' age but I have learned in that time that the smile is my choice.  Certainly there are days when the world is just too hard.  There are the days when it takes every ounce of energy I have to paste that smile on my face and head out, but I have made it a habit to put it on, along with my makeup, every morning.  And what I've discovered is that when I do this, my day is better.  It forces me to set aside whatever is not 'right' about my day, and focus on others.  I don't need to share my worries or fears with anyone else.  They have enough of their own.  So when I go out my door, the smile is in place and my goal is to make everyone's day a little brighter, even if it's just with a smile.

Attitude, positive or negative, is a habit that you develop.  Some of us have developed a habit of looking for the bad things and they will surely come, if that's what you're looking for.  Others have developed a habit of looking for, reaching for, the good things and we pull them to us like life vests.  These two beautiful women are such wonderful examples for all of us.  When I grow up, I want to be just like them!

Happy Birthday, Girls!

Mowers



Let me be clear, this is NOT my mower, but it sure looks like it would be fun!  As I sit here at my desk, I can hear two mowers running outside.  It is April and so perhaps a little early for mowing the yard, but as I look at my grass, it too will need to be mowed in a short period of time.  I don't mind mowing my yard, I really don't.  I still use the old push mower with the grass clippings blowing out the chute.  They tell me it's the best fertilizer you can use, so, unless the grass is exceptionally tall, I just leave it.  I don't really have much of a yard so it doesn't take long to do it and I really like to look out and know that I did it and it's all done...for now.

I also see, sitting here, that the neighbor's yard is full of those lovely little yellow flowers that children like to pick so much.  I sure hope he takes care of the dandelions so that they don't spread to my yard.  I don't mind looking at them over there and I always keep the ones little hands bring me (for a short time), but I don't really want them growing in my yard.  After all, they are weeds and I have enough of my own weeds, thank you very much!

I generally spend quite a bit of time in my yard, of course, this is a new yard.  When I moved here in the late fall, there wasn't much to do.  I mowed a couple of times and then it was cold and winter soon approached.  I love to landscape and create new areas of beauty; flowers, bushes, bird baths and feeders.  This year I will have a deck to work with too, lots of opportunities for creating new beauty here.  And I see the weeds are growing here as well.

Why is it that the weeds continue to grow when nothing else does?  It can be the driest year on record.  All the plants that you paid money for are barely surviving but the weeds are thriving.  Why is that?  What makes them so strong, stronger than the beautiful, expensive ones you've chosen? 

Isn't that the case with the 'weeds' in your life?  You work and work at correcting bad habits, but they just keep popping up!  Just when you think you've finally laid it to rest, it will pop right back up and blow all over your 'yard' again.  Someone asked me the other day why habits were so hard to break.  I've been thinking about that and I think it's because they are easy.  It takes no work to continue to do what you've always done.  You don't even have to think about it.  It's automatic.

To do something better, to do it differently, takes thought, but more than thought, it takes action.  That's several steps to make a change.  It doesn't mean that it's impossible.  It just means that you have to work at it.  Like my yard, it takes time and patience.  Kill those weeds!  A little bit every day will make a big difference.  If you think about it and then take action on it, every day, then you will gradually create a new, better habit; one that will make you feel better about yourself.  You've thought enough of yourself to give yourself this gift!  And won't your new 'yard' look nice!

Happy mowing!

Life Without a Computer



Good Morning, World!  It is good to be back amongst the computer-living again!  I opened a bad email the other day and got one of the nastiest viruses my computer tech had seen, so for three days I've been without a computer.  I didn't know what to do with myself!

It's just amazing how dependent we become on these silly machines.  I thought I'd send a birthday card to my cousin...his address was on my computer.  I thought I'd check a recipe...on my computer.  I thought I could work on some assignments I've given myself....notes were on my computer.  My goodness!  With nothing else to do, I cleaned my house and decorated for Easter.  Once that was done I wandered around like a lost puppy.  I was just lost without my "friend."

Once I began to make the adjustment I found things to do.  I read not one, but two, good books.  I sorted through some old clothes.  I just sat and watched the snow fall.  I don't know when I've given myself permission to do nothing like that.  It felt good!

You know, these machines are wonderful.  They allow us to connect to friends and family across the globe and to access information at the speed of light, but I wonder about being so very dependent on them.  Is it really necessary to be that attached?  Or is it simply that we've allowed it to become a habit:  get up in the morning-just check the emails,  after breakfast-check facebook and update blog, after lunch-check both again then do some research to work on assignments, just before the evening meal-check one more time.

Being connected is a good thing.  We know that people who are able to visit with others are happier and healthier.  When people can't get out due to weather or health or age, this tool is wonderful but it is just that...a tool.  It's how we choose to use it that really matters.  I know friends that are accessing their accounts, and they have several of them, all day long on the phones.  Even at work, they are chatting with me and sending messages.  Not really a good thing to be doing! 

I think it's important to be careful that we don't allow this 'tool' to use us instead of the other way around.  I really did enjoy the time away from it after I adjusted.  I'm also glad to be back but I think I'll try to manage my time a little differently now.  I'll do my best to remember that this computer is something I enjoy having.  It saves a lot of time.  It is something that makes managing my life easier, but it is not something that manages me.  I will enjoy it, now that it is back, and I will enjoy shutting it off a little more often to do something else.  It's perfect timing; the weather will be getting warmer so I'll enjoy the deck more.  I'll enjoy the yard more.  I'll enjoy being away from the desk more.

I do so appreciate having my friends back!  I missed you all very much but I'm signing off for today!  Have a good one!

A Warm Cup of Tea

Is there anything better than a warm cup of tea to heat you up and soothe your spirits?  OK, yes, there might be.  I have a card here on my desk from a friend that says, "The best times are often made of nothing more than good friends and hot coffee."  She's the coffee drinker and I have been known to drink a cup or two myself, as long as it's flavored with a little something stronger.  I've just never acquired the taste for plain coffee.  To me it leaves a bitter taste in your mouth and, while I used to love the smell of it in the mornings, I can't even say that I like that anymore.  I remember trying to drink a cup of coffee at Grandma's house one time.  She gave me a little cup and I filled it full of sugar and cream.  Even then I couldn't understand why anyone would drink it. My grandpa always drank hot water...plain, hot water.  Of course the water had to be from the well, not the kitchen faucet where the city water was.  I never quite developed a taste for plain, hot water either.  Then there's the orange juice commercial where they're sitting around the table and the man/woman is being told about the day's events (bad, of course) while he/she drinks a glass of juice.  I like a glass of juice once in a while, but it doesn't replace my cup of tea.

Some people would say that tea, hot or otherwise, isn't anything more than colored water and, depending on your choice of tea and how you brew it, they might be right.  When I first started drinking tea, the bag only sat in the hot water a minute-just long enough to color the water, before it was strong enough for me.  Now, I just leave the bag in it until the drink is all gone.  I want every drop of tea from that bag.  Every morning I have a cup of green tea followed by a cup of regular, decaffeinated tea.  After that, I might have anything to drink, but the day always begins in the same way.

Aren't we funny little creatures of habit?  If I don't have my morning tea, the day is just 'off' a little bit.  My friend has to have her morning cup(s) of coffee.  Others I know have to have that morning soft drink.  Still others start their day with juice.   Maybe it's the caffeine they're reaching for, or maybe it's just the routine, the habit.  

Habits are good and bad.  I don't see that what you drink in the morning is either good or bad, unless it becomes excessive.  Like anything, when we must have it to complete our day, then it becomes a bad thing.  Do I really need that cup of tea?  No, I certainly could get through the day without it and I have.  I think it's more about what I do while I'm drinking that first cup of tea.  It's the time I take every morning to get settled for the day.  That's the prayer time and the planning time.  It's the quiet time I allow myself before the world starts knocking at the door and all of life's 'special' moments become a part of my day.  It's the time that I hear the birds singing outside and watch the sun rise with all its glorious colors.  

It's a new day.  It's a good cup of tea.  All is right with the world...at least for a little while.