Wow. The old guard is falling even faster and harder than I thought they would. How much longer can real losers like Rachel Maddox hold on?
Anderson Cooper's practiced facade of cool composure has been cracking, too.
And what's up with all the dogs? Kingsmen? Code? Something's up. Can't wait to find out what it is.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A Rolling File Cabinet...
... with a 6 litre/366 cubic-inch, twin-turbo, 621 HP, 738 pound-foot, V12 engine?!
Just for comparison, the fairly typical, 80 ton, British Challenger 2 tank has a 1,200 HP, 26.1 litre diesel engine, a 350 gallon tank, and a 340 mile range ... on road. 160 miles off road. That equates to just under 1 MPG on road, and just under half a mile per gallon off road.
I mention this only because there's really little else to compare it to. I mean, the latest semis can get better fuel efficiency than this Daimler tank does, and they can weigh 40 tons, half what that British tank weighs, but TWELVE times as much as that 3-ton G65.
And that brings us to another metric that Doug never more than alludes to: Miles per Gallon per Pound (technically Pound-Miles/Gallon, or PMPG), a much more meaningful expression of fuel-efficiency. And, by that metric, the 18-wheeler unsurprisingly beats all at a whopping average 560,000 PMPG. Even the tank turns in a respectable 152,000 PMPG, 50% better even than your average automobile at 3,500 pounds and 30 MPG (105,000 PMPG). Last, and least, the G65 nets a mere 66,000 PMPG.
Doug is right: This thing is a rolling monument to crazy.
Even more amazing than the fact that some schmo like me used to work there (and even on the older version of this vehicle, no less) (they used to have terrible steering joint boot failure problems that were only finally solved by modeling on a Tektronix that I helped program) has to be that I still admit to it when they do things like this.
On the other hand, if you can throw money like that around, you're already crazy. What's a little more?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Work
Believe it or not, I do work. In fact, I'll be spending the second week of June in my childhood stomping grounds around Ft. Meade, Maryland just for work.
And I'm feeling pretty proud of my work today, so much so, that I'm even going to mention it here on this otherwise very NON-work-related site.
What did I do?
Suffice it to say that, from now on, I can wow prospective clients with what I've done for past clients. I mean, every other artist has a portfolio to show. The best most programmers can do is offer their code. I can show mine in action ... on the system it was written for.
And that's all I have to say about that.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SI Sold for a mere $110M?!
Raise of hands ... Who's surprised?
Given some of their recent swimsuit shoot decisions, not me.
Not that I'm any fan of a lot of what passes for swimwear (I'd disown any child of mine stepping out on a public beach wearing only 3 eye-patches), but those burkinis might as well be a weight-belt on a scuba diver.
Besides, let's face it, all they're really worried about is getting some sun. That's why Latin and Asian girls so often amble about under parasols in LA, while everyone else is trying to catch some rays.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is the best answer to the why so far.
Well, for the most part. There still remain some details, such as why here? Was there more? Or just these walls? And, if so, why? And who? And when?
Most of all, the means by which these walls were built remains among the greatest mysteries on earth, and, I can't help feeling, deeply rooted in our own religion and science. And that's why I'll keep searching and thinking about this.
This is why I'm so enthusiastic about the internet. I can't imagine that I would have even found anything like this 30 years ago. And I should know. I was famous among my in-laws, and with my wife, for being drawn to book stores. I used to hang out in libraries and Borders. (Remember them?) Back before Google, a colleague from WordPerfect ran into me at Borders, and asked me where he could find a catalog of internet sites. I not only knew which aisle, but the name and even the color of the cover. My wife just shook her head and went to find a fashion magazine.
The point is, I was very familiar with bookstores and libraries, and they never had the breadth of selection that the web now offers me.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~