It is not widely known but upper Bucks County, Pennsylvania is the world center for manufacturing small submarines. These aren’t the billion dollar babies built to launch nuclear weapons and destroy the world, but instead are used for recreation. (They don’t fire torpedos either. )
You can pick up one of these subs for under $5,000. They are great for deep lakes and can be used in the ocean, too. They only hold one person and can stay down for about two hours. The only problem is that you need a crane to put in the water, so a day underwater can be very pricey.
…
I’ve had a little down time lately and thought I’d start a new business. They say you should do what you love and I found the perfect business. I even came up with a catchy name.
A few years ago the old Mildford, NJ papermill was demolished. While not super historic, the mill did have some architectural features that people wanted preserved, in particular, the two brick chimneys.
The demo crews wanted to just blow them up but preservationists protested and blocked them. At great expense, the chimneys were carefully lifted intact and placed in a special truck to carry them to their new destination in Kearny, NJ.
Everything went exceedingly well up until the truck driver popped the clutch too hard and the stacks fell out and broke into a million bricks.
The overall demolition was quite a project with heavy equipment turning a once thriving papermill into a giant sandbox in just a few weeks.
Happy Thanksgiving! Everyday is a good day to give thanks and what better way than with a truckload of Santas?…
Three heavy oil-filled transformers sit atop a slightly bent wooden pole outside my studio window.
That’s a mess of wires. Add to that some good old fashion, landline telephone wires heading every which way plus some sloppy cable lines. And there’s a street light too. A sodium vapor light that casts a warm yellow light in the evening and shines right in my window.
All this hangs on this one slightly bent pole which has been bearing the weight for as long as I’ve been in town, over 13 years and probably longer. That’s one tough pole. I hope. What’s the lifespan of a telephone pole?
It’s a subtle insider message. Legionnaires know what it means. Unlike a tank or a anti-aircraft gun which are obvious war machines and adorn most American Legion chapters, this one picked a different symbol.
Sure, to the average viewer it’s just another decoration but the guys know what really means. It’s the place to go to be with your fellow vets and enjoy a few brews, in fact QUITE a few brews. They even take turns being designated drivers. …
Way back around around the second millenium B.C. God reportedly told Joshua to head over to what is now Palestine and kill everyone. Kind of harsh if you ask me.
I’m not a biblical scholar, of course. I’ve tried reading it, but just don’t get the old English writing. I don’t understand Shakespeare either. But I know how to Google stuff.
I wonder if this woman knows the story. Could be.…
Everybody gets them, some more than others. They suck and can be debilitating. Runners coming into the homestretch can suddenly be cripple by painful cramps. I’ve been woken up by a huge knot in my leg that has to be walked off until it loosens up.
And there are no cramps like the ones courageous women face when birthing us.
Remedies abound. Drink more water. Keep up your electrolytes, take supplements. But did you know there are special elixirs formulated to relieve us of these painful episodes? They are so effective and popular that there is a franchise specializing offering these elixirs.
If you get cramps, look for one of these stores opening up near you!…
Andrew takes his job seriously. He has worn out countless shoes pacing back and forth in front the the portal door, guarding it like he did guard duty during his days in the Army. Back then he was armed with an M16. These days he carries a finger buzzer.
While it sounds benign and perhaps a bit silly, Andrew’s finger buzzer is a weapon to be respected.
It draws it power from the portal behind the door. If threaten, Andrew can activate the buzzer and control its effect.
For merely annoying disturbances he can activated at it’s lowest setting. The annoying person, worm, can of Sprite or in-law is zapped back five minutes in time. This shocks and disorients them an usually they wander, roll or wriggle their way off and the annoyance is gone.
For more serious threats, like a bulldozer charging at him at 80 mph firing rockets and wads of dirt, Andrew can really buzz it, entirely vaporizing the threat and turning it into millions of down feathers that simply blow away.
Andrew plans to retire next month. He says he won’t mind saving on shoes but will miss his buzzer.…