My Daily Smile

Life is short - begin every day with a smile!

Video: How the Golden Gate Bridge was built

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These days we think very little about just how massively large structures are built. They just seem to go up with little effort thanks to the assistance of modern heavy machinery and their highly skilled operators.

But there was a time when designing and building immense structures was both extremely difficult and extremely dangerous. Lots of money and countless lives were lost during the building of the America that we know and love today.  [Read more…]

Have you ever wondered why some roads are asphalt while others are concrete?

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I don’t know about you but I hate driving on roads with a concrete surface, and if you have ever driven on one you probably know why.

That bumpety-bump sound I hear every time I drive over one of the numerous cracks in the concrete drives me bonkers. Add in the dull roar of the concrete road noise and it’s an experience that I genuinely detest.

I have often wondered why highway engineers sometimes choose to build their roads using concrete when asphalt provides for a much more pleasant driving experience (and it’s a lot cheaper to boot).  [Read more…]

Q&A: Am I legally required to show my receipt when exiting a store?

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Question from Alice:  I’ve been shopping at the same Walmart for years and they’d never asked to see my receipt as I’m leaving until recently.

Am I legally required to show it to them. I paid for the stuff and it’s mine.

Do I really have to show them my receipt if I did nothing wrong? It feels like an invasion of privacy to me. Sometimes I buy things that I don’t necessarily want a stranger to know about.  [Read more…]

Q&A: Why does metal feel cooler than wood?

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Question from Tammy: I was visiting my mom the other evening and we decided to sit on her back porch for a while.

We both sat down in metal chairs. Her chair had a cushion on it, but mine didn’t.

My chair was so cold that I couldn’t stand it so I got up and switched to a wooden chair.

I noticed right away that the wooden chair was a lot warmer than the metal one even though both chairs were sitting side by side in the shade.

That got me curious about why the metal chair was so much cooler than the wooden one. Can you explain it?  [Read more…]