TNT:

Mot:  To emphasize his point he said to another guest; "You're a teacher, Bonnie ---

The dinner guests were sitting around the table discussing life. One man, a CEO, decided to explain the problem with education. He argued, “What’s a kid going to learn from someone who decided his best option in life was to become a teacher?”

He reminded the other dinner guests what they say about teachers, “Those who can, do. Those who can’t, teach.”

To emphasize his point he said to another guest; “You’re a teacher, Bonnie. Be honest. What do you make?” Bonnie, who had a reputation for honesty and frankness replied, “You want to know what I make?” She paused for a second, then began

“Well, I make kids work harder than they ever thought they could. I make a C+ feel like the Congressional Medal of Honor.”

“I make kids sit through 40 minutes of class time when their parents can't make them sit for five minutes without an iPod, Game Cube or movie rental.” She paused again and looked at each and every person at the table, and continued, “You want to know what I make?”

“I make kids wonder.”

“I make them question.”

“I make them apologize and mean it.”

“I make them have respect and take responsibility for their actions.”

“I teach them to write and then I make them write. Keyboarding isn’t everything.”

“I make them read, read, read.”

“I make them show all their work in math. They use their God-given brain, not the man-made calculator.”

“I make my students from other countries learn everything they need to know in English while preserving their unique cultural identity.”

“I make my classroom a place where all my students feel safe.”

“I make my students stand, placing their hand over their heart to say the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag, one nation under God, because we live in the United States of America.”

“I make them understand that if they use the gifts they were given, work hard, and follow their hearts, they can succeed in life.”

Pausing one last time, Bonnie continued, “Then, when people try to judge me by what I make, with me knowing money isn’t everything, I can hold my head up high and pay no attention because they are ignorant. You want to know what I make?”

“I make a difference.”

“What do you make, Mr. CEO?”

Mot:  Yet Another!! --- Now You KNows!! ~~~ from Mot of Course!! ~~~

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?

Well, because that's the way they built them in England, and English engineers designed the first US railroads.

Why did the English build them like that?

Because the first rail lines were built by the same people who built the wagon tramways, and that's the gauge they used.

So, why did 'they' use that gauge then?

Because the people who built the tramways used the same jigs and tools that they had used for building wagons, which used that same 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 more often on some of the old, long distance roads in England . You see, 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 (including England ) for their legions. Those roads have been used ever since.

And what about the ruts in the roads?

Roman war chariots formed the initial ruts, which everyone else had to match or run the risk 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 are handed a specification/procedure/process and wonder 'What horse's ass came up with this?', 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......