Thank you, Bryan, for your gracious reply.
I spent a fair amount of time overseas, where I quickly learned that even the simplest tasks are capable of being performed in a manner that most would never even be able to recognize. With a wee bit of patience on my part, I nearly always found that there was a method to the madness - once you had the 'big picture.'
I have no idea why the rod was driven, or what purpose was served. Add that to the LONG list of things I don't understand. I've just seen enough to support the basic premise that folks are not stupid, and there is generally a good reason behind every practice. My ignorance of that reason does not translate into the practice being silly
