Despite the icy wind on that January day in 1962, Walter Johnson, chief drivetrain engineer for GM's secret Prometheus division, was sweating. The heavy load on his right arm was becoming almost unbearable as he approached the security gate. He knew that this was it -- one last hurdle before he reached his car and he had made it. He forced himself to look casual as he nodded a greeting to Fred, the security guard.
"What's in the case, Mr. Johnson?" Fred asked.
"It's that new set of barbells that I made up in the shop -- my wife wants me to lose my paunch!" Walter answered. Both men laughed.
"Mind if I have a look?" Fred asked.
"It's really nothing to look at," Walter answered, "I'm kind of embarrassed at my workmanship, to be honest."
"Don't worry about that, Mr. Johnson, my lips are sealed. Just gotta take a quick peek inside, you know how management is around here."
Just then, Amy Pilford, the company's friendly receptionist, appeared from the building. Walter knew that Fred had a big crush on Amy. He had timed things perfectly.
"You know what, I trust you Mr. Johnson -- have a great night," Fred said, waving Walter on. He turned towards Amy with a big smile, the case completely forgotten.
Walter headed for his car, forcing himself to move slowly, although his mind was screaming for him to run. He lifted the heavy case into his trunk, started his car, and drove away. He had made it.
They aren't going to shut this thing down now, he thought. All his hard work, all his dreams, had borne fruit, the Prometheus Drive actually worked, and GM wanted to bury it. He couldn't let that happen -- the world needed to know that zero-point energy could be harnessed and used. And in half an hour, the world's press would be getting a first hand look.
Rehearsing his demonstration in his mind, Walter didn't notice the big truck edging closer to him. At the last moment, he saw it swerve towards his car, but it was too late. His car was forced into the guardrail. The trunk popped open and the case bounced out. It burst open, and Walter caught one last look at the Prometheus Drive as it dropped towards the river, before he too was falling through space. It was the last thing he ever saw.
One of my classmates and I decided once to make a pipe bomb -- just so we could see if it worked. So we found an iron pipe that was lying around, and spent most of an afternoon cutting the heads off of matches and gently stuffing the pipe with them. We crimped and folded the ends of the pipe and made a recess under a big rock to set it off.
Unfortunately the explosion was totally anticlimactic. It just when "phut." Turns out the pipe had a seam up its length that was very weak, so it just burst along the seam.
We weren't willing to let it go at that, of course, so another day we got some steel water pipe, cut threads at each end and capped it with steel pipe caps. We put it under the same rock, lit the fuse and hid behind a wall. When it went off, it was so loud it left our ears ringing, split the rock into a number of big pieces, some of which flew about 100 metres away. Needless to say we ran like hell! Never got caught for it either. :)
I don't think it takes a professional photographers’ organization to help figure out how her image wound up in Prague. My guess? Somebody did a Google image search for large-size "happy family" pictures and thought nobody would notice the copyright infringement.
"What's in the case, Mr. Johnson?" Fred asked.
"It's that new set of barbells that I made up in the shop -- my wife wants me to lose my paunch!" Walter answered. Both men laughed.
"Mind if I have a look?" Fred asked.
"It's really nothing to look at," Walter answered, "I'm kind of embarrassed at my workmanship, to be honest."
"Don't worry about that, Mr. Johnson, my lips are sealed. Just gotta take a quick peek inside, you know how management is around here."
Just then, Amy Pilford, the company's friendly receptionist, appeared from the building. Walter knew that Fred had a big crush on Amy. He had timed things perfectly.
"You know what, I trust you Mr. Johnson -- have a great night," Fred said, waving Walter on. He turned towards Amy with a big smile, the case completely forgotten.
Walter headed for his car, forcing himself to move slowly, although his mind was screaming for him to run. He lifted the heavy case into his trunk, started his car, and drove away. He had made it.
They aren't going to shut this thing down now, he thought. All his hard work, all his dreams, had borne fruit, the Prometheus Drive actually worked, and GM wanted to bury it. He couldn't let that happen -- the world needed to know that zero-point energy could be harnessed and used. And in half an hour, the world's press would be getting a first hand look.
Rehearsing his demonstration in his mind, Walter didn't notice the big truck edging closer to him. At the last moment, he saw it swerve towards his car, but it was too late. His car was forced into the guardrail. The trunk popped open and the case bounced out. It burst open, and Walter caught one last look at the Prometheus Drive as it dropped towards the river, before he too was falling through space. It was the last thing he ever saw.
[Love Machine, M, Black please :)]
Unfortunately the explosion was totally anticlimactic. It just when "phut." Turns out the pipe had a seam up its length that was very weak, so it just burst along the seam.
We weren't willing to let it go at that, of course, so another day we got some steel water pipe, cut threads at each end and capped it with steel pipe caps. We put it under the same rock, lit the fuse and hid behind a wall. When it went off, it was so loud it left our ears ringing, split the rock into a number of big pieces, some of which flew about 100 metres away. Needless to say we ran like hell! Never got caught for it either. :)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yonge_Street#Yonge_Street_as_the_.22Longest_Street_in_the_World.22