Retunrning home and thinking about Engineering

I did a count today about the number of transport items I have used on this trip, which is the longest since I started my work.  Well, I must say first the the trip is enjoyable, leanrt a lot, seen a lot, and met hundreds of new people who were very hospitable and knowledgeable. However, I am thinking of the Engineering and logistics that goes behind the transportation system that made everything in this trip possible and on time (apart from missing my appointment at one of the universities due to not knowing where the shuttle is!!).

Just reflect on this for a minute, in a matter of 3 weeks, I used 6 airplanes, used the bus over 20 times, went on the tram 4 times, used the underground 6 times, took the ferry once, hailed taxis many times, and of course the famous train between Dublin and Galway that had WIFI? all these transportation items had the nicest look, where clean, speedy, the seats were comfortable and had drivers that are very experienced to drive them.  The system that runs these transportation items is also mind boggling, from the ticketing to the roads, to the safety measures, the people that drive them, the people that help the passengers, the airports, bus stations, train stations, ferry stations and all the shebang that goes with that.

It is mind boggling to think of how this all had started, and the thought that went behind their creation, the people that invented them and the humiliation that they had when others made fun of them, those that died while trying them as they had fault in the early stages of their experiments! think of Abbas ibn Fernas, think of the wright brothers, think of those that spent hours to perfect a steering wheel, or the wheel itself, from square to round and so on?  utter perseverance, ingenuity, hard work and  most importantly, intelligence and thinking about us the people.

Remember how our ancestors used to cross the desert on camels, and how they died on the way, remember how a pilgrim would spend almost a year on the road? I think we are blessed and our future generation will be more blessed too, as now we are thinking of the flying car, the steaming bicycle, the maneuvering motorcycle, the Airplane without a pilot, and the airspace rocket. this last item has tickets on sale now for those of us who want to spend romantic time on the moon. When the price of the ticket is affordable, I will go too.