Why Moonie! I had no idea you wanted to screw me! :wink:

I learned how to make a better looking avatar in Photoshop - thank you Jen!

Eh... who doesn't?

I learned that by merely hanging out with NirvanaMan I can have engaging conversations about the auto industry with my bosses.

A modern diesel-electric locomotive can move one ton of freight an average of 202 miles n a gallon of diesel fuel. A modern 18-wheeler truck can only move a ton of freight 59 miles on the same gallon.



Courtesy of Modern Marvels on the History Channel.

Of course what that doesn't account for is that trucks are still needed to get that ton of freight to and from the train, plus whatever other energy and monetary costs are involved with supporting the loading and unloading of the freight from the train.

Not that that invalidates the efficiencies of trains, but it's important to keep in mind that comparing raw stats like that is not necessarily and accurate way to judge two different options. There's a balance point where the overhead of trains outweighs the raw fuel savings over trucks.

Oh, it misses a lot of details. How about the capital investment of a train? And the accompanying infrastructure? The much higher flexibility of delivery points of trucks?

I was just watching Modern Marvels while reading LoT and thought I would throw out a useless fact that I had learned.

You don't have to heat the cup of water before adding instant coffee. Stir your instant coffee into a cup of cold water, sweeten and lighten to taste, then microwave. Done. Why does Sanka want to make my life more complicated?

(Joe accidentally broke the carafe for our discontinued coffee grinder/maker and I don't know how to use the French press.)

I think the fun fact you should be learning today is how to use that french press! Sanka? ew.

Jim: scoop your coffee in first, then pour in the water. That way it's half mixed before you even touch a spoon.