Wednesday Overnight Open Thread - June 25, 2025 [TRex]

Good evening Horde. The time has come for mid-week shenanigans of the overnight variety.

This is the Wednesday night ONT. Pull up a chair and sit a spell. Be nice to your fellow commenters.

The passing of Fred Smith, founder of FedEx, seems like it got lost amid all the news of the weekend. The Wednesday night ONT will pause for a moment in honor or Mr. Smith.

The Dassault Cargo Falcon 20 is a French jet aircraft that, on April 17, 1973, became the first to carry a Federal Express air package. This was a new milestone in the history of air transport in the United States and created a new category of airline, the exclusive air express carrier. Within a decade, no less than thirty-three were flying on the spokes of the Federal Express network. The service was so successful that, by the early 1980s, its front-line aircraft were expanded to the McDonnell Douglas DC-10Cs, whose cargo holds were big enough to carry several Falcons each. NASM site

Did the FedEx concept come from a college paper that earned a "C" grade? Not really.

In 1965, while he was earning a Bachelor's degree in economics at Yale University, Frederick Smith penned a term paper for Professor Challis A. Hall's Economics 43A class which contained an outline for a delivery service that would use a "hub and spokes" concept to handle the routing of parcels. (This plan entails first directing packages through a central sorting facility before dispatching them onwards to their intended destinations.)

A number of sources assert the term paper earned a C from the instructor who marked it. However, while that aspect of the tale has been widely touted as fact, it does not appear to be verifiable. Smith himself fed the acceptance of this element of the story by once stating in an offhand comment about the term paper "I guess I got my usual gentlemanly C," but in a 2002 interview Smith acknowledged "I don't really remember what grade I got. I probably didn't get a very good one, though, because it wasn't a well-thought-out paper." (Questioning Professor Hall, the man who bestowed the grade, is out of the question because he died in 1968.) Snopes

At age 29, Smith launched Federal Express with his own money. He first tested the initial 25-city network, flying empty boxes across the country, and then went live on April 17, 1973. To keep the network of cities growing, he raised $90 million in venture capital from investors like Allstate and Newport Securities. The company endured twenty-six months running at a loss before it broke even. Over the next couple of decades, Smith committed to ensuring detailed transport information such as estimated arrival times and prompt deliveries. PBS website

Click here to watch a 3 minute FedEx "behind the scenes" video at the Memphis hub.

The cookie jar is the logical first destination once invisibility has been activated.

Motorsports madness - make sure your volume is on!

Hat tip: Grateful

You know things are getting serious when the military brings out the big dog.

Oldie but still a goodie.

Random TV Trivia: in its original run, The Jetsons only aired 24 episodes across a span of six months from 1962-1963. It was cancelled due to low ratings. Reruns got such high viewership over the years that in 1985, 51 more episodes were produced.

Best wishes to anyone in Los Angeles driving on the 405. Lane closures started last night for a road refresh.

The project will overhaul the Sepulveda Pass. It will cover a 10 mile stretch between the 101 Freeway and Sunset Blvd.

It is being led by Caltrans, and includes ramp expansions, bridge retrofitting, drainage and safety upgrades. It is projected to cost $144 million and last 4 years. In California terms, double both and you're probably closer to how it will play out.

There will be overnight lane closures from about 9am to 6am. Some weekends will see full closures. All construction activities will be suspended for 3 months in summer 2028 for the Olympics.

Good luck!

If the words "construction on the 405" do not mean anything to you, count your blessings.

PS. With $6 gas, maybe nobody can afford to drive anyway.

This is interesting in a "how did they do that" sort of way:

You are sitting with Ace of Spades open on your computer paying rapt attention to ONT content and comments, but your mind is really wondering "What would happen if a watermelon got zapped by a bolt of lightning?"

Exit quote: "The melon has achieved a high state of division."

Today I learned that Boeing once converted a B-17 for TWA. TWA then sold it to the Shah of Iran.

TWA's B-17G was delivered too late to see combat. In 1946 and 1947, Boeing converted the military model B-17G to become the civilian Model 299AB. With basic TWA markings and the tail number NL1B, the airline's B-17 was used to scout prospective routes.

It was later sold to the Shah of Iran. The Shah used it a personal plane to make frequent airborne inspection surveys of his country. It was fitted with ten seats, a three-quarter bed and a galley complete with stove. The Shah was checked out as pilot of the B-17 after 14 hours flying at the controls.

Serial number 44-85728 was scrapped in 1970.

There is something very, very wrong in Belgium. Caution advised if you choose to watch this video. Do not recommend.

World's largest cheese tasting held in Colombia

Guinness World Records confirmed Alpina Productos Alimenticios S.A.S BIC earned the record for the world's largest cheese tasting event when 1,185 people sampled dairy delicacies in Sopo, Cundinamarca, Colombia.

The company took the record from Australia's Kangaroo Valley Agricultural and Horticultural Association, which gathered 1,000 people for a cheese tasting in 2019.

Guinness World Records rules required all participants to sample three varieties of cheese. The cheeses chosen for the event were Gruyere, Sopo and Argovia.

The Pittsburgh police scanner is like a slow motion car crash. It is frightening to know this is not fiction but I can't look away.

In honor of Mick Ralphs, Bad Company provides the big ONT finish.

BDA pending. Thank you for your attention to this matter. Written correspondence can be sent to moronhobbies at protonmail dot com. Are you lurking ?? Was the ONT really two minutes early? Yep, we're rebellious like that.

posted by Open Blogger at 09:58 PM

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