It’s been quite the day for me. I started off in eastern Kansas where I was happy to attend the first profession of three young women entering religious …
This happened shortly after the Sunshine Skyway Bridge collapse, I think. Technological advances that have enabled more precise measurement of stress on building joints and the like have probably increased safety, and saved a lot of lives. But, they have also made it possible that a seemingly minor design change, made to help out the builder, could lead to catastrophe, as happened here. I doubt that …More
This happened shortly after the Sunshine Skyway Bridge collapse, I think. Technological advances that have enabled more precise measurement of stress on building joints and the like have probably increased safety, and saved a lot of lives. But, they have also made it possible that a seemingly minor design change, made to help out the builder, could lead to catastrophe, as happened here. I doubt that any medieval cathedral design would have gotten the sign-off of any modern financier, and many have burned down, but there weren’t too many that had catastrophic collapses within a year of opening, I’d wager.
@Liam Ronan I’m not sure. They did it with the Freedom Tower in NYC, for sure. That building is mostly solid concrete for quite a way up, I believe. Most of the effort since then has been towards keeping unvetted vehicles from getting too near important buildings. I did once take a cab to Mass in Istanbul, and the church was not well known to the cabbie, and we ended up pulling into a hotel to turn …More
@Liam Ronan I’m not sure. They did it with the Freedom Tower in NYC, for sure. That building is mostly solid concrete for quite a way up, I believe. Most of the effort since then has been towards keeping unvetted vehicles from getting too near important buildings. I did once take a cab to Mass in Istanbul, and the church was not well known to the cabbie, and we ended up pulling into a hotel to turn around. On the way in, the cab was checked for explosives by security, with the long mirrors. I’ve never seen that in the US, thank goodness.
@Liam Ronan. St Thomas has an article in De Malo, and I think also in the Summa, asking whether human death is natural. His answer: From consideration of the incorruptible human soul--No. From consideration of the corruptible body--Yes.
@Dr. Bobus Sad. “Death comes for us all; even at our birth-- even at our birth, death does but stand aside a little. And every day he looks towards us and muses somewhat to himself whether that day or the next he will draw nigh. It is the law of nature, and the will of God.” ― Robert Bolt, A Man for All Seasons: A Play in Two Acts
My.parents' mailman , an older man, died of a heart attack. On the one year anniversary of his death, the son took his mother out for the evening. They went to the tea dance at the Hyatt Regency. They died with others in the disaster. Btw, the hotel was managed by Hyatt but owned by Hallmark--so also is Crown Center. My experience is that lobbies of some Hyatt hotels have been designed to play …More
My.parents' mailman , an older man, died of a heart attack. On the one year anniversary of his death, the son took his mother out for the evening.
They went to the tea dance at the Hyatt Regency. They died with others in the disaster.
Btw, the hotel was managed by Hyatt but owned by Hallmark--so also is Crown Center. My experience is that lobbies of some Hyatt hotels have been designed to play tricks on the eyes, so that they seem to be on the verge of collapse.
I was teaching at this community College and duel- credit high school courses in 2003. One of our students a beautiful hispanic young woman 17 yrs of age, didn't show up to class. Her parents were distraught as they had dropped her off in the front of the school that morning. She was never seen again until long after I had left the school a few years later, I was watching a local news report where …More
I was teaching at this community College and duel- credit high school courses in 2003. One of our students a beautiful hispanic young woman 17 yrs of age, didn't show up to class. Her parents were distraught as they had dropped her off in the front of the school that morning. She was never seen again until long after I had left the school a few years later, I was watching a local news report where they had found her remains in a state park about 60 miles away from the school. She had been abducted and sexually assaulted and murdered. Her assailants DNA was found on her clothing, her body wrapped in plastic bags. The suspect was a 20 something male who knew her from the neighborhood and returned to Mexico around the time she went missing. I don't know if they ever caught him. I remember that she always wore a Our Lady of Guadalupe medal, and assumed she was Catholic. I still pray for her soul on occasion. Everyday of life is a gift and we never know which day will be our last.
