QUARANTINE BLOG # 191

October 7, 2020 On this day in 1913, Henry Ford’s Highland Park, Michigan automobile factory revolutionized industrial technology when its continuously moving assembly line went into operation. A motor and rope pulled the chassis (the frame) past workers and parts on the factory floor, cutting the man-hours required to complete one “Model T” from 12-1/2 hours to six.

Within a year, further assembly line improvements reduced the time required to 93 man-minutes. The increase in productivity allowed Ford to drastically reduce the cost of the Model T, thereby accomplishing his dream of making the car affordable to ordinary consumers. The Model T sold for $850, and according to Ford, you could have any color you wanted, “as long as it’s black.” Between 1913 and 1927, Ford factories produced more than 15 million Model Ts. 

👉  Venice is a city reclaimed from a lagoon. It’s been called a floating city because it is built on pylons driven into the mud and then the buildings are built on the layers which are added. It makes the city one of the most incredible in the world, but also one more vulnerable to high tides and storms than almost any other city. 

In 1984 the MOSE project (MOdulo Sperimentale Elettromeccanico or Experimental Electromechanical Module) was started with the intent to protect Venice from acqua alta, the seasonal high water which can flood the first floors of buildings with several inches of water. Because of inefficiency and government corruption the system was just used for the first time last week, 36 years later and $2 billion over budget.  

San Marco Piazza

San Marco Piazza during November acqua alta

Now if we can just conquer coronavirus so Bonnie and I (and other people, too) can go back! 

👉   Cruise Lines International Association, the industry’s leading trade group, announced that cruise lines around the world with the capacity to carry 250 or more persons have committed to testing every passenger and crew member for COVID-19 before anyone is allowed to board. The cruise industry is the first in the travel and tourism sector to commit to worldwide pre-embarkation testing of all passengers and crew. Several airlines have announced testing initiatives, but not on an industry-wide basis. 

👉  A Florida woman who won $1,000 in a second chance drawing on July 29 isn’t getting her prize because the certified letter she sent to the Florida Lottery’s headquarters never arrived. The second chance lottery prize gives winners limited time to turn in a ticket to claim the prize from a drawing of all entries received. The tracking information shows the ticket arrived at a Tallahassee post office at 7:12 a.m. on August 12. If the package arrives, lottery officials told the station they would bend the rules and pay the $1,000 if the letter was postmarked by the original deadline. The postal service offered an apology to the woman for any “inconvenience.” 

👉  There must be something in the water: here is another strange one from Florida. A neighbor called sheriff’s deputies on some rabid Tampa Bay Lightning fans who were screaming “shoot! shoot!” as they watched a televised Stanley Cup game. In the first period, the trio began screaming for a goal, prompting the 911 call. Police laughed the incident off, when one of the fans explained, “I was screaming ‘Shoot!’ as in ‘Shoot the puck.’” 

👉  I know it’s 79 days until Christmas, but if you are looking for a gift for someone who has everything (including a box to put it in) I have a suggestion – a tiny but playable Rubik’s Cube, so little it fits on your fingertip, on sale in Japan for $1,900, with delivery starting in December. Billed as a “super-small” Rubik’s Cube, it was created to mark the 40th anniversary of when the original 3-D puzzle first went on sale in Japan. The cube measures 1/3 inch on a side and weighs less than a tenth of an ounce. 

👉  Here’s a trio from our “People Have More Fun Than Anybody Department.” 

If Disney remade their movies with Star Wars themes

👉  A different close today. Today is National Forgiveness Day which celebrates unconditional love. Armed with this love and with forgiveness, people take the time and put in the effort that is needed to repair damaged relationships. People are encouraged to ask for forgiveness and to forgive each other. The day fosters awareness for and understanding of the power of love, the joy of forgiveness, and the peace of humility. Sponsored by Robert Moyers and the Worldwide Forgiveness Alliance, its ultimate goal is “to do the will of God each day and to love one another as God loves us.” 

 The day’s architects came up with the “Prayer of Forgiveness.” 

 “Dear Lord. Please forgive them. Help me to forgive them. Please forgive me. Help me to forgive myself. Please remove my bitterness and unforgiveness. Please restore my joy. Thank you. Amen!” 

 This needs to be every day, not just one day a year. But it’s a start. 

 -30-