Random Thoughts Thread

[trinacriabob]

II was sad to see this news, but it was to be expected.  The S.S. United States will not be having a traditional retirement home, as most beloved and historical ocean liners do.

Instead, she will be moving to the Florida Panhandle, where they will sink her to create the world's largest underwater artificial reef.  There will be a visitor center and museum in Destin, from which she will be offshore.

For being 990 feet long, she doesn't weigh as much as that length would suggest.  She has a very low profile, which accentuates her oversized and rounded funnels.  This might have also helped her capacity for speed.  Converted into miles per hour, the S.S. United States once sped across the Atlantic at about 41 mph to make the crossing in 3 days, 10 hours, and 40 minutes.  That is insanely fast, so, the ship is the very last to earn the Blue Riband, with no other ocean liner winning it since.

I guess it's good that it isn't being scrapped.  However, this artificial reef solution is what penciled out.  She was the greatest of American ocean liners and had a designation as a historical place ... plus, I can't go visit a sunken ship.

So, a sad Philadelphia turned out on the banks of the Delaware River to see the ship sail out after being moored there for about 30 years.

[Robert Hall]

It was a sad remnant of a bygone era.   I'm amazed the Queen Mary is still afloat..stayed there several times in the last decade, took the tour...so much rust and decay. 

[A Horse With No Name]

20 hours ago, trinacriabob said:

One of the "perks" of being American

Like roller derby, but with no skating ability required 

Ohio is essentially three big cities that start with the letter C and the remaining 90 percent is a giant rural meth lab. No human on earth can intelligently disagree with this sentiment. 

20 hours ago, trinacriabob said:

One of the "perks" of being American

Like roller derby, but with no skating ability required 

Ohio is essentially three big cities that start with the letter C and the remaining 90 percent is a giant rural meth lab. No human on earth can intelligently disagree with this sentiment. 

20 hours ago, trinacriabob said:

One of the "perks" of being American

Like roller derby, but with no skating ability required 

Ohio is essentially three big cities that start with the letter C and the remaining 90 percent is a giant rural meth lab. No human on earth can intelligently disagree with this sentiment. 

[A Horse With No Name]

20 hours ago, trinacriabob said:

One of the "perks" of being American

Like roller derby, but with no skating ability required 

Ohio is essentially three big cities that start with the letter C and the remaining 90 percent is a giant rural meth lab. No human on earth can intelligently disagree with this sentiment. 

20 hours ago, trinacriabob said:

One of the "perks" of being American

Like roller derby, but with no skating ability required 

Ohio is essentially three cities that are large and start with the letter C, the remaining 90 percent is a giant rural meth lab. This fits our state perfectly. 

I have no idea why this posts five times without my ability to delete four of them. 

I guess I really wanted you to know about the meth addicts of Ohio!

[A Horse With No Name]

16 hours ago, trinacriabob said:

II was sad to see this news, but it was to be expected.  The S.S. United States will not be having a traditional retirement home, as most beloved and historical ocean liners do.

Instead, she will be moving to the Florida Panhandle, where they will sink her to create the world's largest underwater artificial reef.  There will be a visitor center and museum in Destin, from which she will be offshore.

For being 990 feet long, she doesn't weigh as much as that length would suggest.  She has a very low profile, which accentuates her oversized and rounded funnels.  This might have also helped her capacity for speed.  Converted into miles per hour, the S.S. United States once sped across the Atlantic at about 41 mph to make the crossing in 3 days, 10 hours, and 40 minutes.  That is insanely fast, so, the ship is the very last to earn the Blue Riband, with no other ocean liner winning it since.

I guess it's good that it isn't being scrapped.  However, this artificial reef solution is what penciled out.  She was the greatest of American ocean liners and had a designation as a historical place ... plus, I can't go visit a sunken ship.

So, a sad Philadelphia turned out on the banks of the Delaware River to see the ship sail out after being moored there for about 30 years.

Its the best use of this, by far. restoring it is impractical. Just like the 60's and 70's land yachts that end up in demo derbies...

[A Horse With No Name]

 

And on the positive side...

 

Neat short clip...

 

And deep thinking for this morning, with apologies to the Greeks among us...

 

[A Horse With No Name]

Watch this video, there are some great American women but none of us here is married to a "traditional" American woman who has "traditional" (by this, I mean part of the toxic current American culture) values. 

Toxicity runs so deep in American modern society, and it goes way beyond politics....

 

[A Horse With No Name]

Instead of deporting aliens, we should give them their citizenship if they kill 5 child predators. We could call the program "Alien Vs. Predator..."

[A Horse With No Name]

I agree with Drew, from a political standpoint, no, from a nature standpoint, yes. Thinking Belize or Costa Rica might be a better use of my time and money than Florida. 

[Robert Hall]

49 minutes ago, A Horse With No Name said:

I agree with Drew, from a political standpoint, no, from a nature standpoint, yes. Thinking Belize or Costa Rica might be a better use of my time and money than Florida. 

I still like the Keys..at least the 1985 version I grew up in....  I still think Big Pine Key would be a great place to spend the winters..  my sister has been looking into Puerto Rico as a winter getaway for next year...Myrtle Beach was too cold and snowy this year.  She just drove back to CLE a couple days ago, straight through in about 10 hrs. 

1 hour ago, A Horse With No Name said:

 

Ohio is essentially three big cities that start with the letter C and the remaining 90 percent is a giant rural meth lab. No human on earth can intelligently disagree with this sentiment. 

Sad but true.. as a native Ohioan I have no desire to live in the rural areas I grew up in.  Too many rednecks and MAGAts.   But there is a lot of great scenery and state parks in rural Ohio. 

Edited 2 hours ago by Robert Hall

[A Horse With No Name]

1 hour ago, Robert Hall said:

I still like the Keys..at least the 1985 version I grew up in....  I still think Big Pine Key would be a great place to spend the winters..  my sister has been looking into Puerto Rico as a winter getaway for next year...Myrtle Beach was too cold and snowy this year.  She just drove back to CLE a couple days ago, straight through in about 10 hrs. 

Sad but true.. as a native Ohioan I have no desire to live in the rural areas I grew up in.  Too many rednecks and MAGAts.   But there is a lot of great scenery and state parks in rural Ohio. 

It has been an amazing state for me to raise a family in. Despite my cynicism, I really like it here in a lot of ways. 

 

[trinacriabob]

5 hours ago, Robert Hall said:

It was a sad remnant of a bygone era.   I'm amazed the Queen Mary is still afloat..stayed there several times in the last decade, took the tour...so much rust and decay. 

The City of LB had a big decision to make:  let her go or pay for structural and aesthetic repairs.  It's a hotel, a renowned brunch, a tour destination,  and people get married and have proms there.  All that stuff.  What would it look like without the QM there? I believe it's staying. In less than 3 years, it will have been there 60 years.  It IS Long Beach through and through.