Category: General

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Thomas Crapper: Remembered From the Bowels of History

Thomas Crapper toilet at the Victor Horta Museum, Brussels. Photo by Oxyman (2007). Victor Horta Museum. PD-GNU Free Documentation License. Wikimedia Commons.
Thomas Crapper toilet at the Victor Horta Museum, Brussels. Photo by Oxyman (2007). Victor Horta Museum. PD-GNU Free Documentation License. Wikimedia Commons.

Whom and what can you believe these days? Today it’s known as “False or Fake News” and during the Reagan era, it was called “Spin.” A headline (or social media) is where it all starts. I should know. Remember my blog called Cindy Lauper and the Naked Princess? That one got a lot of attention. I recently read a BBC History Magazine article entitled The Legend of Thomas Crapper: Five Myths. It appears as though there has been a fair amount of false news perpetuated about Mr. Crapper over the past century. I suppose it’s all a bunch of crap.

Meet Thomas Crapper

Portrait of Thomas Crapper. Photo by anonymous (c. 19th-century). PD-70+. Wikimedia Commons.
Portrait of Thomas Crapper. Photo by anonymous (c. 19th-century). PD-70+. Wikimedia Commons.

Thomas Crapper (1836−1910) is fondly remembered as the inventor of the toilet or if you will, the flushing toilet. However, is this really true? No, it’s not as we’ll see in a moment. Thomas was seventeen when he apprenticed under his brother George, a master plumber. By the time Thomas was twenty-five, he had gone out on his own and started a brass foundry and plumbing shop near Chelsea (now an affluent section of West London and my nephew’s favorite English Premier League team). Read More Thomas Crapper: Remembered From the Bowels of History

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They Listened to What I Said

The United States government finally listened to what I had to say.

Worth $100,000 in mint condition!
Inverted Jenny – 1918. Photo by SabreCEO (2006). PD-USGOV. Wikimedia Commons.

Effective 10 April 2016, the Post Office reduced its rate on first class mail from 49 cents to 47 cents. This was the first time they lowered the cost of a stamp in 100 years. Why? I have no clue. Seems stupid to me considering their financial condition. But hey, I’ll take a 4% cut in any of our expenses.

My Conversations With The Green Hills Post Office

I have a lot of interaction with the Post Office. I have a P.O. Box there to collect mail for Southeast Business Forums and Yooper Publications. One at a time and when requested, I mail my books to Amazon from the Green Hills post office (presumably someone has put an order in for a book). After Amazon conducts their quarterly inventory count and finds too many of my books are taking up shelf space, I receive the extra ones back. Happy Face!! Oh, I also buy my stamps from the nice folks behind the counter. Read More They Listened to What I Said