The sewer cover in front of Greg L’s house as it looked on
October 1,
2008
The sewer cover in front of Greg L’s house, (these things are also known as manhole covers), is an access port that is
pried out of a
special receptacle known as a
ring or riser ring. Sewer covers are typically found in
roads—sometimes
sidewalks—and permit access to the
sewer below.
If you find the
prospect of reading
four articles of
pure trivia that was seemingly the product of
Professor Marvel’s crystal ball (
Oct. 1,
Oct. 16,
1925, and
2008) to be
torturous, you might consider not linking dates in your articles since one can’t expect any reasonable portion of our
visiting readership to do so either. After all, why link to date articles if you can’t even
stomach reading two whole dates yourself? If, however, you are a recipient of a Sewer Cover Barnstar, you go right ahead and keep on linking to dates;
we’ll understand.
John (not for reading four trivia articles, but because he was the first to link here and because he values the judicious use of links.)
Army1987 was awarded
here on
7 November2008 because he actually accepted this challenge and gutted it out. Congratulations! And thanks for the attention to detail in your many edits,
like these, to improve three of the four articles.
Arthur Rubin was awarded
here on
2008November 8. Not only did he read all four articles, but he took the time to
revise the
1925 article. Any improvement, can be nothing but good.
BigDunc was awarded
here on
January 28,
2009. While reading the
1925 article, he pointed out about
Meher Baba. What a character! (not Meher Baba). Thanks BigDunc.
Benjiboi was awarded
here on
February 9,
2009. When
telling me of his accomplishment, he wrote [doing the challenge] reminds me of an episode of Will & Grace when Will, looking at rather eclectic decor in an apartment of a rather unstable neighbor states "Now we know who's buying everything on
eBay."
VernoWhitney was awarded
here on
May 24,
2010. Thanks Verno, for the kind words you had when telling me of your accomplishment (
∆ here), where you wrote I think that your page might very well be the most interesting essay, or whatever you want to call it, that I've come across on Wikipedia.
The sewer cover in front of Greg L's house was installed only 54,924
feet (16,741
meters) from the
factory that cast it.
The “IFCO DUC” legend on the sewer cover denotes the manufacturer (Inland Foundry Company) and also that it is made of
ductile iron, as opposed to
gray iron. In ductile
iron, the
graphite is in the form of
spherical nodules rather than flakes, thus inhibiting the creation of
cracks and providing the enhanced
ductility that gives the
alloy its name.
This sewer cover has a
diameter of 664
mm (26.1
in).
^Greg L made a living in the
typography,
page layout, and
flexography industries before becoming an
R&Dengineer in the
fuel cell and
electrical utilityindustries. As an engineer, he wrote many
white papers, assembly instructions for production lines, marketing
brochures, and safety compliance certifications (such as
IEC,
UL, and the
CSA). Most important of all, he wrote lots of reports for managers, and in doing so, learned that to avoid “losing” them, one doesn’t bombard them with too much information:
succinct sentences; lots of
white space.
Greg L believes that links within Wikipedia articles should always be topical and germane. Properly chosen links anticipate what the readership of any given article would likely be interested in further reading. As such,
judiciously selected links invite exploration and learning. Greg L believes that in many cases, a reader’s reaction should be “Cool… I didn’t expect they’d have an article on that too!” When links are judiciously employed in articles, they become more interesting and effective. This isn’t accomplished when articles are over-linked. The litmus test should not be “if an article can be linked to, then link to it” (
I link, therefore I am). When editors do so, Wikipedia becomes a big, blue intra-
hyperlinkedmonstrosity that is boring.
The only good exception to this is when links are employed for comedic effect or to illustrate a point—as has been done in this essay. For instance, do you have the
balls to click this link?