I'm Gretchen Rubin and this is a little happier. A few weeks ago I was in Chicago seeing some old

friends and we went on a Chicago architectural boat tour which is something I've

always wanted to do.

During a tour, as we floated past,

I was particularly intrigued by our guide's discussion

of the skyscraper that stands at 150 North Riverside.

This 54-story high-rise building is very striking.

It has an uncannily narrow base for its size.

Our guide compared its appearance to a pencil standing on its for its

appearance to a pencil standing on its point

or a ballerina balancing on her toes.

And this shape makes it unsettling to look at.

It doesn't seem possible that such a giant building could rest safely on such a

narrow base. Our guide explained that its usual design means that the skyscraper

would have a problem with the challenge of wind loads

pushing on it. So, to reduce the sway, the upper floors of the building have giant tanks

holding 160,000 gallons of water.

Apparently, when the wind pushes the building in one direction,

the water sloshes around in the opposite direction which reduces the movement.

I laughed when I heard this story. It struck me as such a primitive solution

for such a sophisticated problem.

And it reminded me, in the end, as advanced as we get,

...