You learn something new every day...

From a discussion on the Antir mailing list:

Assload, a unit of weight, 276# 4.5OZ., was originally the weight that a donkey could carry safely for 16 miles. [a day's travel] Still used in South America by coffee-growers, it was replaced in Europe about the 1500's when horses replaced jackasses as dray animals.

(later comment by poster above)

Check your copy of "From the Obscure to the Obsolete" compiled by William Frankens, Published 1986 by Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich. Chapter 6 deals with unusual units of measurement.

(no subject)

Got a call from a TS (MTF) friend yesterday. She told me she'd gotten herself castrated.

That's one "odd" bit" of news to be handled. I know it's a big step for her and that she's happy to be one step farther on the way to her goal.

But at the same time, it feels sort of *weird* to hear it.