Rocky

Johnny Cash celebrated America's Bicentennial in 1976 by singing a song about a Cadillac that was acquired "One Piece At A Time." The hero of the story worked at the plant where they built those road hogs, and by walking out of the factory with a different car part every day, over the years he had enough to build his own Caddy. 

At about the same time, a story went around about a factory that was concerned about employee pilferage. The legend had it that employees were pushing wheelbarrows filled with stolen goods covered with sawdust out the gates and taking stuff home. So the bosses cracked down, and every worker pushing a barrow out the door at quitting time had to go through Checkpoint Charlie. Uniformed guards sifted through whatever was in the hamper before allowing the men to go home.

It worked great! At the end of the year, thefts of materials and tools were down to almost nothing! But they were short 32,945 wheelbarrows.

Well, we don't know if all that's true, but I can tell you a real one about a French mailman and his free palace...

Back in 1879, French rural postman Ferdinand Cheval, rural postman, 43 at the time, stumbled over a weird-looking stone as he strolled along, delivering coupons for Le Bed Bath et Beyond. It dawned on him that he had a dream of building his own place, so he took the rock home and then made a point of taking a million other ones too over the years. For the next 33 years, he builds his palace just the way he dreamed it, and his inspiration came from nature that he saw on his route, and postcards and magazines that he read.

I KNEW it!  They read postcards and magazines!

His route was 18 miles on foot every day! And he took a wheelbarrow to carry the mail and the stones he picked up. He finished building the palace in 1912 and made a proud inscription “The work of one man” where all could see. Neighbors and friends were so proud! It's known as "Le Palais Idéal" and it's 85 feet long and 33 feet high.  Next time you're in Lyon, drive south 30 miles, and there it is!

And only the skeptics were the ones wondering where he got all that mortar to build that French Mahal.