red750

Here is a photo of the "Tower Fuel Stop - Groom, Texas" Truck Stop on Route 66 with its unique Britten water tower. This water tower lies right alongside the former path of Route 66, which has since been paved over to create US Interstate 40. During the early and mid-20th century, passersby on the "Mother Road" were intrigued by the severe tilt of the tower, asking themselves what on Earth could have caused it.

   In reality, it was the work of a heavy-duty vehicle and a bulldozer. Ralph Britten, a man who wanted to start up a truck stop and restaurant off Route 66 in Groom, bought the water tower from the town of Lefors as an ingenious marketing technique to attract new visitors. He towed the enormous thing 34 miles to Groom, wrote “Britten USA” on top, and then, using a bulldozer, elevated two of its legs off the ground, dangling them in midair without support, so that the water tower made an 80-degree angle with the ground.

   This helped his business immeasurably. It would catch the eye of every passing motorist on the route for years, many of them becoming terrified that the tower was in the process of collapsing. This played right into Britten’s hand. Worried route-takers often swerved off the road and into his truck stop, shouting “Watch out! That tower’s about to fall!” Britten responded that it had been like that for years, and then asked them to sit down and buy food and a drink. 

   Britten’s manipulation of the tower did, however, require sufficient knowledge of physics. If the water tower were completely empty or completely full, its center of mass would be directly in the middle of the can, making it topple when slanted. So Britten filled it only partially so that the low level of water would place the can’s center of mass near its base, directly above the two supporting legs, keeping it aloft.

   Unfortunately, after many years of success, Britten’s truck stop burned down in a devastating fire in about the mid-1980s, closing down all sales. Despite this unfortunate event, the leaning water tower is still one of the most photographed oddities on the way out west.

   This photo is courtesy of 66postcards.

I'm a bit like rgmwa. I look at YT for Bigfoot videos and trail cam stuff, as well as the music videos. The guys at the Men's Shed rely on YT quite a bit.

26 minutes ago, facthunter said:

It had a very large boot which let water in sometimes.

I once read somewhere, don't know if it's true, that the boot could hold a 44 gallon drum.

Used to be known as the P38 - half a car.

News today that Murdoch's engagement is off, as he is not happy with her “outspoken evangelical views”. No-one knows if she will keep the $2.5 mill diamond ring.

Putin protection officer defects and reveals despot's intense paranoia

A protection officer who worked directly for Vladimir Putin has defected from Russia, labelling the Kremlin despot a 'war criminal' for his invasion of Ukraine. Gleb Karakulov (pictured), 35, is a captain in the Federal Guard Service, known as the FGS or FSO, who escaped Russia to the safety via Istanbul. Now, he has revealed in an interview that Putin is so paranoid about his personal security, assassination attempts and health and that he opts to stay 'in his bunker' rather than make regular trips across the country like he used to. Karakulov added that the Russian despot is 'mortally afraid' of Covid and is isolating for the fourth year, and that he never uses a mobile phone out of fear of being bugged by the West - instead taking a special communications box with him.

Read the full story.

Look at the age of the kid in the background.

Sick of the wall-to-wall blanket coverage of this clown. Live on every live channel. 

Yesterday, I had a 9:30 appointment with my doctor. Got there before 9:30 and sat in the waiting room. At 9:45 his consulting room door opened and he called in another chap who was in the waiting room when I arrived. I finally got called in at 10:12.  I told him about the above sign. 

He said, "That's why it's called a waiting room."

And even more Big....

Marriage counsellor to husband:  "Your wife says you don't buy her flowers."

Husband:  "To be honest, I didn't know she sold flowers."

Well-known Russian military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky was killed by a bomb blast in a St Petersburg cafe on Sunday in what appeared to be the second assassination on Russian soil of a figure closely associated with the war in Ukraine.

Russia's state Investigative Committee said it had opened a murder investigation. St Petersburg's governor said that 25 people were wounded and 19 of them were being treated in hospital.

Read more here.

Here's the latest stroke of WOKEness.

They are no longer Easter Eggs.  They are seasonal chocolates.

Let's send the kids on a seasonal chocolate hunt.

April Fools Day gag. A post on Facebook by Spirit of Tasmania.

Introducing the Spirit VI submarine - our first underwater ferry!  A sleek exterior is matched by state of the art design, features and facilities.

More sad news for John Farnham.

Keith Reid, one of the co-writers of "You're the Voice" has passed away. He died on March 2 aged 71, from colon cancer.

Don Jr?

Eric?

Ivanka?

Barron?

Jerry said:
"I was surprised that an outer eastern Melbourne seat would be held by the Libs"

My electorate, Deakin, is located next to Aston, and I was originally in Aston before redistribution. Our sitting Member is Liberal, Michael Sukkar, who retained the seat at the last election. He was a minister in the previous government and is the Shadow Minister for Housing and the NDIS.

The Division of Deakin consists of:

• Maroondah City Council, and
• part of the Whitehorse City Council.

9 hours ago, willedoo said:

It's possible he will still be fingerprinted and have his mugshot taken.

And a DNA sample.

Donald Trump launched into a furious rant on Truth Social after he became the first current or former president to ever be criminally indicted in the history of the US.

But his outrage over the matter seemed to prompt him to misspell the very word he wanted to emphasise – as he fumed that “Thugs and Radical Left Monsters” had “INDICATED” him on criminal charges.

“These Thugs and Radical Left Monsters have just INDICATED the 45th President of the United States of America, and the leading Republican Candidate, by far, for the 2024 Nomination for President,” he wrote.