Mother Teresa profound words

 

This version found written on the wall in Mother Teresa's home for children in Calcutta:

              People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered.  Forgive them anyway.

            If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives.  Be kind anyway.

            If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies.  Succeed anyway.

           If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you.  Be honest and sincere anyway.

            What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight.  Create anyway.

            If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous.  Be happy anyway.

            The good you do today, will often be forgotten.  Do good anyway.

         Give the best you have, and it will never be enough.  Give your best anyway.

         In the final analysis, it is between you and God.  It was never between you and them anyway.

 

What a gas!

(I know this doesn't have anything to do with Tombstones, but I decided to do a little research when I heard 2013 was the anniversary of gas!)

Do you know what is at the corner of Baum Boulevard and St. Clair Street in Pittsburgh, PA? Or why Bowser Avenue in Fort Wayne, IN is famous?

There is a historic marker at Baum and St Clair commemorating the first drive in filling station.  That gas station was a breakthrough in automotive convenience and made history 100 years ago in 1913. 

Before this first 'gas' station a century ago, fueling up was an adventure.  The first places to sell fuel were pharmacies, as a side business.

In 1900, the United States had 4,000 cars, compared with 20 million horses.  Gasoline was considered a waste product of kerosene.  Motorists had to take a bucket to the general store, hardware dealer, drug store or local refinery and fill up from a barrel.  A few (very few) fearless salesmen sold gasoline from pushcarts.

In 1905, the United States was manufacturing 25,000 automobiles a year.  Sylvanus Bowser developed a pump to safely transfer gasoline from a barrel into a car's tank.  Today, Bowser Avenue in Fort Wayne, IN is named after him.  Fuel pumps in New Zealand and Australia are still known as "bowsers".  From his invention came the advent of the 'filling' station.

The world's first purpose-built 'gas station' was built in St. Louis in 1905 where you pulled to the curbside pump to get one gallon of gasoline, causing traffic jams and long lines.  Thus a drive-in(not drive-up) filling station was the solution.

The Baum Boulevard filling station sold 30 gallons of gas at 27 cents a gallon in 1913.  And all cars were fully serviced by 3 men!  One checked the air in the tires, one washed ALL the windows, one went under the hood.  And sometimes there was even a fourth man who entertained the kids in the backseat, or brought out treats and gifts to the car.

By 1929, the U.S. Federal Census counted 121,513 filling stations (the term 'service station' didn't come about until 1948).  In 1929, these filling stations sold $1.8 billion in gasoline.

The typical filling station was designed as a "decorated shed" with a typical oblong box that was flat roofed and contained two bays.  One bay had a hydraulic lift, the other with a central floor drain for washing cars.

Texico, in 1928, was the first US company to sell its gasoline in all 48 states. 

In 1947, the first self-serve service station opened in Los Angeles.

The 1973 Arab oil embargo caused gasoline prices to soar.  They went from 36 cents a gallon to 40 cents a gallon!  Outrageous!!!

In 1979 the average price of gasoline topped $1 per gallon for the first time.

I hope you enjoyed my little trip down "gasoline alley".

 

Check out this link - thanks to Wink!

http://hipspics.freewebspace.com/gas/gas.html