EXPLOSION this time, not Implosion

http://www.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs.cmu.edu/user/jhancock/www/story/whale.html

If you have the time (and bandwidth) the video is great. I thought I'd point out that they used around 2300 pds of explosive to bring down Trojan's cooling tower. 499 feet of steel, concrete and rebar.

For the whale they used around 1000 pounds of explosive. And people said the 70's were full of hippies and pot smokers. Wait.....maybe they WERE stoned!!...

I see this as a great example of what happens when no one asks WHY....Someone had a good idea (seemingly), Tim 'The Tool Man' Taylor's brother said he could make it work, and no one stopped to ask why......

So the next time you have your own whale in your life to take care of, ask yourself why first....

Otherwise, your last words could be.....

HEY............WATCH THIS!!!!!!!!!!

End of an era(s)

Trojan Cooling Tower Toppled
Over a Ton of Explosives Used to Drop Tower
RAINIER, Ore. -- The cooling tower at the Trojan nuclear plant is gone. Demolition crews destroyed the 499-foot cooling tower at Oregon's only commercial nuclear power plant just after seven Sunday morning. With a rumble, the tower leaned to the side and collapsed upon itself - leaving a cloud of dust and a pile of rubble. It took less than ten seconds and roughly a ton of explosives to complete. Portland General Electric ordered the tower destroyed as part of the Trojan decommissioning. The only nuclear plant in Oregon is located about 40 miles north of Portland along the Columbia River.

Yes, I watched them build it, so it was fitting that at 7am, Sunday, I watched them (via TV) destroy it. I remember camping near it in the 70's in the Boy Scouts (that might explain my mutation). Hiking up to the fences to see it up close. I remember the fears in later years about what if Chernobyl happened here, and I remember all the voting to close it for good, to remove the waste producer from 'green' Oregon (well, we did ship the waste WA, and now the rest is bound for NV).

Did you know the tower was built 499 feet tall? Because at 500 feet they would have had to paint it, hence the reason for 499 and budget restrictions.

Homer Simpson works at a nuclear plant (what a happy coincedence) and MANY Simpson references can be found throughout Portland. Ain't it great to have the creator from here?

Live well Portlanders, we now can focus on more pertinent issues...like why DIDN'T the McMenamins buy Trojan and turn it into a brewpub?

I still laugh at this

http://www.ebaumsworld.com/videos/waterbed.html

This was sent to me by a friend a looong time ago, and yet I can still chuckle at this when watching.

I love practical jokes that don't really 'harm' anyone. So of course, I start thinking of some of the other fun ones that I have done in the past.

Making Ex-Lax brownines, and cutting out the logo and placing at the bottom of the plate, so they can find it when they are almost done with them.

Saran wrap in the bathroom.

Subsituting canned dog food for 'stew' for unsuspecting roomates.

Calling managers to non-existent aisles in grocery stores for sales assistance.

Calling courtesy clerks to non-existent aisles for 'wet' clean ups.

Creating 'fake' press releases for April Fools Day announcing company shutdowns. (They work...just ask Diana Hunt...lol)

Setting stereo in living room to go off (loud) in the 2am-3am time, placing packing tape across roomates door (sticky side to him) about chest/face hi....always good fun.

Signing friends (lol..okay..maybe FORMER friends) up for AARP/Hearing Aid/etc and requesting phone calls for more information.

And my favorite still, giving people wrong driving directions when stopped on street. I will usually send them in the most opposite direction I can.

How bout you guys? Any favorites?

Is anybody in there?

http://www.itsawonderfulinternet.com/

I know it's sunny out, no snow (at least here), but hey, it's a good yarn.

So now of course today's ponderings are (eeek) about life outside of the box (IBM of course).

How reliant have we become on these items for our entertainment and information? I know I personally catch myself become hooked, using the dual screens to look up news on both screens. Or playing WoW on one while surfing on the other...how much longer until we can truly get chip implanted to hook it straight to our brains (and release those wonnnnderful endorphins)?

From from a rookie blogger to suggest, but here I go.

Turn off the box, go outside and DO something. Sports, yardwork, walking, water-ballon fights...heck if you must, do a live-action WoW fight (I'll find that link, again, someday..but at least those geeks were outside)...

Inside will always be there, Outside is where it's at.....

Perspectives

Below is a 'view' section from a friend of mine. It's scary, because there's kernels of truth in it. And it's your job to determine what truth you find. As we move on in our lives, perspective takes on new meanings with each passing day/month/year, life events, and world events. I remember when gas hit $1.00 for the first time, now we whine about $2.80 being never seen again. I remember when the US was a 'superpower' to be feared and not to be trifled with. Now we apparently will send our troops in, but not allow them to fight to win with the full resources available to them.

Enjoy~~~~~~~


~ Now that food has replaced sex in my life, I can't even get into my own pants.

~ Marriage changes passion. Suddenly you're in bed with a relative.

~ I saw a woman wearing a sweat shirt with "Guess" on it.So I said "Implants?" She hit me.

~ How come we choose from just two people to run forpresident and over fifty for Miss America?

~ A good friend will come and bail you out of jail...but, a true friend will be sitting next to you saying, "Wow...that was fun!"

~ I signed up for an exercise class and was told to wear loose-fitting clothing. If I HAD any loose-fitting clothing, I wouldn't have signed up in the first place!

~ When I was young we used to go "skinny dipping," now I just "chunky dunk."

~ Don't argue with an idiot; people watching may not be able to tell the difference.

~ Wouldn't it be nice if whenever we messed up our life we could simply press 'Ctrl Alt Delete' and start all over? AMEN, AMEN !!

~ Why is it that our children can't read a Bible in school, but they can in prison?

~ Wouldn't you know it...Brain cells come and brain cells go, but FATcells live forever.

~ Why do I have to swear on the Bible in court when the Ten Commandments cannot be displayed outside?

~ Bumper sticker of the year:"If you can read this, thank a teacher -and, since it's in English, thank a soldier"

And just remember....Life is like a roll of toilet paper. The closer you are to the end, the faster it goes!

DOH!!!

http://portlandtribune.com/simpsons/

As MANY of you know, I am a Simpson's Geek. Love em, I feel they are a more accurate photo-shot of the average American family vs. the Huxtable and Waltons combined. They fight, yell, and break things. But in the end, Dad's loveable and they usually will eat together. I do have the first 6 seasons on DVD, will get the 7th soon. My boys love them, want to watch them over and over. So there is hope for the next generation.

I am also a SG-1 fan, so I'll leave it at that for those who have NO idea what I'm talking about, (only have 5 seasons of that one).

Other than those, my TV viewing is pretty limited to news (have to pretend to know what's going on) and various sports (usually on in background).

Oh...and I'm a WoW near-fanatic. Can easily lose hours there, then wonder why I'm so hungry and my eyes hurt.