Benjamin Wright

Wright died this week in 1842 - He was an American engineer who directed the construction of the Erie Canal that links the waters of Lake Erie in the west to the Hudson River in the east. It was completed in 1825

Wright made the Erie Canal project a school of engineering. Until mid-century, almost every civil engineer in the U.S. had trained with, or been trained by someone who had worked under Wright. Because he trained so many engineers on that project, Wright has been called the "father of American civil engineering." He was also the first Chief Engineer of the Erie Railroad.

Top Jokes from BBC

These were submitted in a contest for the best joke Aug 23, 2009.

Hedgehogs - why can't they just share the hedge?

I was watching the London Marathon and saw one runner dressed as a chicken and another runner dressed as an egg. I thought, 'This could be interesting'.

I had my boobs measured and bought a new bra. Now I call them Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes because they're up where they belong.

I'm sure wherever my dad is; he's looking down on us. He's not dead, just very condescending.

Going to Starbucks for coffee is like going to prison for sex. You know you're going to get it, but it's going to be rough.

To the people who have iPhones: you just bought one, you didn't invent it!

And considered the worst -

I'm not doing any Michael Jackson jokes, because they always involve puns about his songs. And that's bad."

I phoned the swine flu hotline and all I got was crackling.

Michael Jackson only invented the moonwalk so he could sneak up on children.

Highest Paid CEOs, 2008

Interesting that none of them, other than the first one, are from Wall Street or Banks. The first one includes 700 million dollars from his stock received at the IPO of his company, so it is not really pay. Most are from the energy sector. Hmmm!

Name	Company	Compensation
Stephen Schwarzman	Blackstone Group	$702,440,573
Lawrence Ellison	Oracle Corp.	$556,976,600
Ray Irani	Occidental Petroleum Corp.	$222,639,705
John Hess	Hess Corp.	$159,566,940
Michael Watford	Ultra Petroleum Corp.	$116,929,392
Aubrey McClendon	Chesapeake Energy Corp.	$114,286,867
Bob Simpson	XTO Energy Inc.	$103,485,972
Mark Papa	EOG Resources, Inc.	$90,471,784
Eugene Isenberg	Nabors Industries Ltd.	$79,333,079
Michael Jeffries	Abercrombie & Fitch Co.	$71,795,744

Quotable

There will always be death and taxes; however, death doesn’t get worse every year.

Today in Science

This site has lifted a number of quotes from various books of mine and added them to its web site. I suppose I should be honored that someone lifted quotes from me, that I lifted. Sample - "No sense being pessimistic, it probably wouldn't work anyway." from 'Greatest Jokes of the Century Book 2'.

I didn't find any of my personal quotes though. Guess I haven't been dead long enough for that. At least they give me attribution.

Science Fiction

Science-fiction film -
Boy meets girl.
Boy loses girl.
Boy builds girl.

School Books on Your Phone

US and Canadian college students can pack textbooks into their pockets instead of spine-bending backpacks. A northern California supplier of electronic textbooks on Tuesday released free software that makes digitized forms of college textbooks available on Apple's iPhone or iPod devices.

Instead of lugging old-fashioned ink and paper books to classes, students can use iPhones or iPod Touch devices to access textbooks online for reference during classes.

The company (Courtsmart) began offering eTextbooks in 2007 and as of Tuesday had reportedly sold copies to students in more than 5,900 schools and works with a dozen major textbook publishers to stay current with electronic versions mandated by professors for classes. It claims its prices are typically about half that of print versions. Wow, half price with no publishing costs. They probably make more than the authors.

History Lesson

“The budget should be balanced, the Treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt. People must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance.” Cicero, 55 BC

Quotable

Those who do not learn the lessons of history are bound to repeat them.

Burger Franchise

It is not what you think. Packaging up urgent care services like a Burger King and selling franchises across the country is the new American dream.

Maryland physician, Dr. Scott Burger and his partners have run an urgent-care center, named Doctors Express, for three years. Now, Burger wants to blanket the US with Doctors Express franchises. He and his partners hope to open 3,000 such centers around the country during the coming years.

His first franchisees will open their doors in Temple, TX, (of course Texas) with about two dozen more locations set for future launches in Georgia, New Jersey, South Carolina, North Carolina, Colorado and Virginia.

The model will have a physician on duty during all of its hours of operation. Doctors Express locations will also have digital X-ray equipment, a lab, and a pharmacy on location. In addition to providing urgent treatment, the centers will also conduct drug screenings, do pre-employment physicals, and provide vaccinations. Want fries with that xray?

Quotable

Insure your success by doing common things uncommonly well.

Jack Daniel's

Jasper Newton “Jack” Daniel of Tennessee whiskey fame was the descendant of Welsh settlers who came to the United States in the early 19th century. He was born about 1846 and was one of 13 children. By 1866 he was distilling whiskey in Lynchburg, Tennessee.

One morning in 1911 Daniel showed up for work early and couldn’t get his safe open. His temper got the best of him and he kicked the offending strongbox. The kick was so ferocious that Daniel injured his toe, which became infected. The infection soon became the blood poisoning that killed ol' Jack.

Do you know why the JD bottle also has Lem Motlow listed as the distillery’s proprietor? Daniel’s busy life of distilling kept him from finding a wife and siring an heir, so in 1907 he gave the distillery to his nephew Lem Motlow, who had come to work for him as a bookkeeper.

Quotable

Men want the same thing from their underwear that they want from their women, a little support and a little freedom.

Profound Thoughts Book 2

Profound Thoughts Book 2
Chapter 1 from my second book in a series of great thoughts from great minds. This book is about Friendship, Kindness, Happiness, and Laughter.