Friday, January 29, 2010

Questions and Questions

ULCC. Ever heard of it? Well, it stands for Ultra Large Crude Carrier. Which is, I guess, a better sounding way of saying ‘monstrously-huge-oil-tanker’ and that is what it is, an oil tanker. You know, those thingies which often are shown in the news, lying half on their side in water, for having caused an oil spill somewhere in the five oceans and seven seas. Now, the ULCC is so huge - XXXXXXXXXXXXXXL - that it is, for all practical purposes, non-maneuverable. And apparently this allergic reaction to being maneuverable is so acute that when the pilot (or is it Captain?) switches off the engines now to stop it, the thing stops after a few hours!

So if you are wondering, "Why this General Knowledge session on ULCCs and their stopping habits?” please desist. I am not about to continue and in case you are interested in learning more about ULCCs, Wikipedia is the go-to place.

What I am intrigued about, however, is a more mundane, everyday subject. Rather, an every week subject. I am sure there is a big history (or herstory or theirstory) behind the fact that we have a seven day week which ends, quite predictably, with a week-end (Yeah I know, Duh!). But that is where the intrigue starts. Why does it take two days for the week to end? If you are giving over 2 complete days out of a seven day week - that is 29% of the week - there must be a good, strong reason behind it. If the ULCC takes a few hours to stop, I can understand the physics behind it. The thing is, well, ultra large and hence carries an ultra large amount of momentum which would require an equally ultra large braking force for a small period of time or a small force for an ultra large period of time. What about the week though? It is but seven days long, so I doubt it qualifies as being large, leave alone having a U-prefix. So, why two days to end?

It is Friday evening. I am sitting here, on the cusp of yet another weekend, and getting intrigued about the two day weekend in front of me. Is it just me or do you also get the feeling that I have bid goodbye to my marbles?

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