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WITandWISDOM(tm) - June 14, 2001 ~~~~~~~ THOUGHTS: I have learned silence from the talkative, toleration from the intolerant, and kindness from the unkind. - Kahlil Gibran Source: Bits & Pieces, September 17, 1992, Copyright (c) Economic Press, Inc., http://www.epinc.com ~~~~~~~ SPECIAL THOUGHTS: In 1948 Edward L. Kramer lived in St. Louis, Missouri. He asked his three children to deliberately look each day for the good in at least three people, people to whom they could be thankful. "It can be in your playmates, your teachers - anyone with whom you come in contact," he told them. Each evening, after dinner, Kramer would sit down with his children and ask them for an accounting of the good they had found in people that day. Then postcards, expressing their appreciation, were mailed to those individuals. At first the children found the job difficult. But as they began to train themselves to look for acts of kindness, trust, generosity, they found it easier and easier to do. After a time their thoughtfulness, their gratitude, was returned to them tenfold in the warmth and thankfulness of the people who received the cards. The family found themselves mailing so many they designed their own card. It was patterned after the yellow telegram of Western Union. They called it a Thank-U-Gram. Others heard of the family project and liked the idea so much that Kramer decided to offer a two weeks' free supply to anyone who requested them. During the next fifteen years or so, Kramer supplied people all over the country with millions of Thank-U-Crams. Such diverse people as President Eisenhower, Robert Frost, Leonard Bernstein, Bob Hope, Walt Disney, Henry Ford II, Jack Benny, and thousands upon thousands of others, both great and small, used Kramer's Thank-U-Grams - an idea that grew out of a father's desire to teach his children a moral principle about life. Source: Bits & Pieces, July 25, 1992, Copyright (c) Economic Press, Inc., http://www.epinc.com ~~~~~~~ THIS & THAT: THE TEN BEST TOOLS OF ALL TIME Part 2 of 2 [June 13, 14] Forget the Snap-On Tools truck; it's never there when you need it. Besides, there are only ten things in this world you need to fix any car, any place, any time. 6. PLASTIC ZIP TIES: After twenty years of lashing down stray hoses and wired with old bread ties, some genius brought a slightly slicked up version to the auto parts market. Fifteen zip ties can transform a hulking mass of amateur-quality rewiring from a working model of the Brazilian rain forest into something remotely resembling a wiring harness. Of course, it works both ways. When buying used cars, subtract $100.00 for each zip tie under the hood. 7. RIDICULOUSLY LARGE STANDARD SCREWDRIVER WITH LIFETIME GUARANTEE: Let's admit it. There's nothing better for prying, chiseling, lifting, breaking, splitting, or mutilating than a huge flat-bladed screwdriver, particularly when wielded with gusto and a big hammer. This is also the tool of choice for oil filters so insanely located they can only be removed by driving a stake in one side and out the other. If you break the screwdriver - and you will, just like Dad or your shop teacher said - who cares? It's guaranteed. 8. BAILING WIRE: Commonly known as MG muffler brackets, bailing wire holds anything that's too hot for tape or ties. Like duct tape, it's not recommended for concourse contenders since it works so well you'll never replace it with the right thing again. Bailing wire is a sentimental favorite in some circles, particularly with MG, Triumph, and flathead Ford set. It is not generally common knowledge that bailing wire may be purchased at many hardware and auto stores under the heading "mechanics wire." However, this commercial reproduction is generally considered not as reliable as the original rusty and bent version. 9. BONKING STICK: This monstrous tuning fork with threatening pointy ends is technically known as a tie-rod- end separator, but how often do you separate tie-ends? Once every decade, if you're lucky. Other than medieval combat, its real use is the all purpose application of undue force, not unlike that of the huge flat-bladed screwdriver. Nature doesn't know a bent metal panel or frozen exhaust pipe that can stand up to a good bonking stick. (Can also be used to separate tie-rod ends in a pinch, of course, but does a lousy job of it). 10. A Quarter and a Phone Booth: (See #1 above.) Source: Sermon Fodder, http://www.yahoogroups.com/subscribe.cgi/Sermon_Fodder ~~~~~~~ KEEP SMILING: A simple guide to household tools: You only need two tools: WD-40 and Duct Tape. If it doesn't move and it should, use WD-40. If it moves and it shouldn't, use Duct Tape. Source: Clean Laugh, http://www.cybersalt.org/lists.htm ~~~~~~~ TRIVIA: For twenty-five years Fred Schwartzwalder's hobby had been collecting rocks. Weekend after weekend he had roamed the Rockies, bringing home new samples for his collection. After his basement was filled to capacity he started building a rock cairn in his backyard, which grew larger and larger with each passing year. Then came 1950 and the growing public interest in radioactive minerals. Amateur geologist Schwartzwalder bought a Geiger counter for $100, after months of hard saving from his earnings as a high school janitor. "The day he brought his counter home," says "Time" magazine, "he poked it around his backyard rock pile. Immediately, the Geiger counter began to jitter excitedly, but when Fred located the radioactive rock and dug it out, he could not remember where he had found it. For three months he retraced his steps through the hills until at last, on a Sunday afternoon, he discovered the spot where he had broken off the sample from an outcropping on Indian Head Mountain." That was a memorable afternoon. The Geiger counter went wild and the happy explorer felt sure he had found a major source of uranium. He had. After many difficulties he managed to transport several tons of the ore to the government processing plant in Salt Lake City. Three weeks later he learned from the AEC that he had hit upon "one of the most significant hydrothermal-type deposits" in the United States. Schwartzwalder's uranium has already brought him $125,000 (this was in 1955), with prospects of millions more. That long-forgotten rock in his back yard has made him wealthy beyond his wildest dreams. By Arthur S. Maxwell Source: Signs of the Times, Copyright (c) January 11, 1955, Pacific Press, http://www.pacificpress.com/signs Submitted by Dale Galusha More facts about Schwartzwalder's uranium mine: The Schwartzwalder Mine, Colorado Cotter Corporation acquired the Schwartzwalder mine in 1965. The property was developed as a multi-level, hard rock underground mine. Uranium mineralization occurs in steeply-dipping veins within Precambrian gneisses and schists. Total production from the Schwartzwalder has been approximately 17 million pounds U3O8 (6,500 mtU), with additional resources of 16 million pounds U3O8 (6,150 mtU) identified. Based on long-term forecasts for a weak uranium market, the decision has been made to place the mine on temporary standby and begin reclamation of the property. http://www.cotterusa.com/ |