On Monday, August 26, 2002 at 8:02:19 PM UTC-5, Improbable wrote:   
   > Having just gotten back from a trip to Yellowstone National Park, I've   
   > been hearing about everyone's Yellowstone experiences. One in particular   
   > sounded especially intriguing. It seems the National Park Service hires   
   > college students from around the world to work at hotels, restaurants,   
   > etc. during peak summer time. (I know this part is true because I was   
   > there.) According to the story, some of these students went out to Old   
   > Faithful one day, way off to the side, but still within view of the   
   > tourists, with a bicycle wheel and a length of pipe. They pushed the   
   > pipe deep in the ground and mounted the bicycle wheel on top of it.   
   > Several seconds before the scheduled eruption time, one student called   
   > an order to the other one, who started turning the bicycle wheel on top   
   > of the pipe very slowly and laboriously, creating the impression that he   
   > was opening a large valve. The geyser blew its load right on schedule,   
   > and then he cranked the wheel the other way again. The story goes on to   
   > say that they were fired for this little incident.   
   >   
   > I could easily believe that some overbored college kids would do   
   > something like this, but the hard part is believing that they got fired.   
   > If I had been their boss, I wouldn't have been able to stop laughing   
   > long enough to do the paperwork. The only scenario that might lead to   
   > this is if they were trespassing on some sort of restricted   
   > environmentally sensitive area. Anyone have any input on the voracity of   
   > this one?   
   >   
   > Intersting thought: If a chemical factory dumped into the ground the   
   > same mix of toxic chemicals that exists at Yellowstone, they would be   
   > accused of committing the environmental atrocity of the century.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)