Sorry I'm not posting much. Work is busy. The weather has been really nice. Broke a sweat at work two days in a row now. Tomorrow will be likewise. I'm glad we've got a ceiling fan. Feels good. The screen doors are nice too. Lets a breeze flow through. I suspect its going to get really sweaty in there this summer. We may end up doing the smelly bottling part in the beginning of the day and do the mail after just so we can use the A/C during the worst of the summer heat. Considering I'll be working there at 7 AM eventually, I'll at least get that benefit of cool summer mornings. We are largely ready to start shipping, once the inventory arrives this weekend. That's going to be my real job: shipping and bottling. We'll see if I handle this properly or not. I think it'll be some surges of business at first, then settle down. I get paid OT at least.
Unfortunately, the scooter etc just doesn't make sense right now. I have to manage my money carefully so I can get a place of my own, and deal with the various expenses of living.
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Sunday, March 10, 2013
Corned Beef
My best friend, That Guy(tm) is Irish. Scotland was settled by Irish people (and others) after the glaciers melted 10,000 years ago. I enjoy reminding myself that Gaelic culture is really old. The Irish peoples have stone and bronze age artifacts dating back 37,000 years on that island. Pause and consider. When someone goes on about ancient middle eastern cultures I roll my eyes at how naive they are. Worshipping their newfangled hate-gods? Pah! Irish gods have weaknesses. They can be tricked. They die. None of this crazy sky god crapola. Irish gods walked among us. They built the Giants Causeway. According to legend anyway. Its actually a basalt dike and columnar basalts are ridiculously common, being part of every sea floor. There goes Geology, ruining all the fun of legends.
St. Patrick's Day is coming up in a week. I am not Catholic. I'm going to be busy, and Dad won't eat Corned Beef, so I bought it for myself and I'm cooking it now. Its hard to get wrong if you start with one of those kits in a bag in the meat section.
I will be making mashed potatoes too. I have them and its easy. I even got sour cream for 79 cents. Whoohoo?
St. Patrick's Day is coming up in a week. I am not Catholic. I'm going to be busy, and Dad won't eat Corned Beef, so I bought it for myself and I'm cooking it now. Its hard to get wrong if you start with one of those kits in a bag in the meat section.
- Put meat in a pot.
- Add sliced cabbage and carrots.
- Add water till the meat floats.
- Slow simmer for hours.
I will be making mashed potatoes too. I have them and its easy. I even got sour cream for 79 cents. Whoohoo?
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Potions
I'm going to be making blended essential oils at work. I just realized that makes me a Potioner. Should I start wearing robes? Practice evil laughs?
Muwhahahaha! Cough. Hmm. Its a happy place. Maybe the Smurfs theme song instead?
Hmm. Maybe not. I'm more of a Federico Aubele cheerful worker.
Yeah. Not the evil laughter kind. That was my prior job. This is a happy place with people who are respected and rewarded. No evil or sarcasm is required there.
Muwhahahaha! Cough. Hmm. Its a happy place. Maybe the Smurfs theme song instead?
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Hugo Chavez to his Just Reward
There was pain.
There was light.
There was darkness.
There was a strange orange glow
and the scent of ...
sulfur?
Is it warm?
Monday, March 4, 2013
Hiking the Appalachian Trail
Just finished watching the National Geographic documentary "Hiking the Appalachian Trail". Pretty photography, but there's way too many superlatives used, some barefaced lies, and quite a few examples of stupidity. The worst? Trekking poles. Why am I against trekking poles? They make you tired. They have ONE purpose: to keep you upright in strong current crossing rivers in Patagonia when the water is over your knees. Anywhere else? They just make your arms tired and cause you to burn too many calories, slowing you down and making you take far longer to cover the same ground as an unencumbered hiker who is smart enough to go without such ridiculous attachments. Why do hikers carry them? "Look at me, I'm EXPERIENCED. I've been to Patagonia even though my pole is clearly new and shiny, but I WANT YOU TO LOVE ME because I'm totally a poser!" That's pretty much the thought process there.
I'm sorry if that's mean. I really am, but I've been hiking since I could walk. Less is more, always, when hiking. Serious hikers and backpackers? They don't bother with a full mess kit. They have a trail cup. Eat and drink from the same thing. Only have to wash the one. A spoon, no fork, no knife. Just a big wide spoon. One thing to wash, not three. One thing to carry, less than half the weight. One smelly acrylic teeshirt. One nylon rain jacket. Two pairs of wool or acrylic socks with wicking liners and FOOT POWDER!!, replaced at regular intervals. Comfortable boots with strong soles and a proper heel so your feet don't get bruised. Broken in so they don't give you blisters. Then again, my ankles are strong so I mostly just wear hiking shoes rather than boots. Camp shoes, very light for wearing around camp after the hiking is done. I don't always bother but miles of hiking makes my feet sore and the normal clodhopper boots appropriate for serious rocky terrain aren't very comfy anywhere else. The lightest tent you can get, if you stay in a tent, properly waterproofed and aired out. A serious sleeping pad, big enough to stretch out fully, and a light sleeping bag that's warm enough but not too warm. You won't have blizzards on the AT. Sufficient water bottles, preferably (3) 1.0 L soda bottles since the caps don't leak, and the bottles are puncture resistant, and a water filter if there aren't clean water supplies on the route.
Finally, preposition resupply of your gear in lockers or with services or friends along the way so you can swap stuff out to the appropriate stuff. Send unwanted gear home by mail. Remember that you can eat meals at real restaurants but get a shower FIRST you stinking heathen, and shave! Sheesh.
People backpacking massively underestimate just how many calories they're burning and how much they need to eat. They starve themselves rail thin and its dangerous. Eat lots of fatty foods, lots of carbs, lots of useable protein to rebuild your muscles. Serious hiking, day after day, is very unhealthy and can put you into a dangerous state called "reeating". That's where your body breaks down your muscles to keep your organs alive. People doing that become skeletal and it can kill you. You're not supposed to say that hiking is bad for you, but that's the facts. Soldiers in the field lose a couple pounds a day, every day, till they're pulled out to recover. Most of that loss is muscle and fat, typically muscle and fat they can't afford to lose and remain combat effective.
Healthiest way I ever did serious hiking was in Geology Summer Field course in Montana. We had REAL FOOD for breakfast, serious packed lunches (meat, not just PBJ), and serious dinner. Probably 4000 calories a day. I was FIT by the end of that 6 weeks. Hiking up and down mountains while concentrating hard on your book learning was excellent physical and mental conditioning. Show me a mountain towering 5000 feet over my head, I just considered the sanest ways up there, and whether the conditions would turn dangerous by the time I got there, and if that meant I needed a couple more layers or an extra meal of food with me.
I got the idea watching that documentary on the Appalachian Trail that people go nuts hiking it, obsessed and psychotic. I can't say that's very healthy. I don't see much of that on the Pacific Crest Trail, but then again the southern portion from Mexico border to Yosemite is so hard it kills idiots. Much of it is very high elevation, where altitude sickness is a real threat, and lack of clean water is another problem. Inexperienced naive hikers drink water from streams, not realizing its full of giardia contamination and will give you the Sierra Two-Step till you see a doctor for meds. I once had it for 6 months because I was too stubborn to see the doc. Not fun. The Pacific Crest Trail to the Canada Border is a very hard hike. The AT is not very hard. Most call it boring, unless they go nuts or do drugs. I think I'd enjoy the AT because I know the rocks and would find that interesting, but non geologists get bored there fast.
It looks like few people bother to continue the Pacific Crest trail seriously once they pass Yosemite. I'm sure there's a few, but once you pass Donner and get north of 80, you get into some interesting alpine lakes. Then you cross up to the Sierra Buttes, which I've shown pictures of before, and then the Sierras end and the Cascades begin, and those are volcanoes and mostly not as tall. Mostly. The transition from Granite Sierras to Basalt and Andesite in the Cascades into Oregon and Washington, with a lot more trees and bears, I'm not sure I'd find that to be hilarious fun or not. The smart move for the Pacific Crest is hike the bits you like, not ALL of it. And that seems to be the real secret of the AT. Hiking the whole thing is poor judgement. Hike the best bits. Like the Tourists do.
I'm sorry if that's mean. I really am, but I've been hiking since I could walk. Less is more, always, when hiking. Serious hikers and backpackers? They don't bother with a full mess kit. They have a trail cup. Eat and drink from the same thing. Only have to wash the one. A spoon, no fork, no knife. Just a big wide spoon. One thing to wash, not three. One thing to carry, less than half the weight. One smelly acrylic teeshirt. One nylon rain jacket. Two pairs of wool or acrylic socks with wicking liners and FOOT POWDER!!, replaced at regular intervals. Comfortable boots with strong soles and a proper heel so your feet don't get bruised. Broken in so they don't give you blisters. Then again, my ankles are strong so I mostly just wear hiking shoes rather than boots. Camp shoes, very light for wearing around camp after the hiking is done. I don't always bother but miles of hiking makes my feet sore and the normal clodhopper boots appropriate for serious rocky terrain aren't very comfy anywhere else. The lightest tent you can get, if you stay in a tent, properly waterproofed and aired out. A serious sleeping pad, big enough to stretch out fully, and a light sleeping bag that's warm enough but not too warm. You won't have blizzards on the AT. Sufficient water bottles, preferably (3) 1.0 L soda bottles since the caps don't leak, and the bottles are puncture resistant, and a water filter if there aren't clean water supplies on the route.
Finally, preposition resupply of your gear in lockers or with services or friends along the way so you can swap stuff out to the appropriate stuff. Send unwanted gear home by mail. Remember that you can eat meals at real restaurants but get a shower FIRST you stinking heathen, and shave! Sheesh.
People backpacking massively underestimate just how many calories they're burning and how much they need to eat. They starve themselves rail thin and its dangerous. Eat lots of fatty foods, lots of carbs, lots of useable protein to rebuild your muscles. Serious hiking, day after day, is very unhealthy and can put you into a dangerous state called "reeating". That's where your body breaks down your muscles to keep your organs alive. People doing that become skeletal and it can kill you. You're not supposed to say that hiking is bad for you, but that's the facts. Soldiers in the field lose a couple pounds a day, every day, till they're pulled out to recover. Most of that loss is muscle and fat, typically muscle and fat they can't afford to lose and remain combat effective.
Healthiest way I ever did serious hiking was in Geology Summer Field course in Montana. We had REAL FOOD for breakfast, serious packed lunches (meat, not just PBJ), and serious dinner. Probably 4000 calories a day. I was FIT by the end of that 6 weeks. Hiking up and down mountains while concentrating hard on your book learning was excellent physical and mental conditioning. Show me a mountain towering 5000 feet over my head, I just considered the sanest ways up there, and whether the conditions would turn dangerous by the time I got there, and if that meant I needed a couple more layers or an extra meal of food with me.
I got the idea watching that documentary on the Appalachian Trail that people go nuts hiking it, obsessed and psychotic. I can't say that's very healthy. I don't see much of that on the Pacific Crest Trail, but then again the southern portion from Mexico border to Yosemite is so hard it kills idiots. Much of it is very high elevation, where altitude sickness is a real threat, and lack of clean water is another problem. Inexperienced naive hikers drink water from streams, not realizing its full of giardia contamination and will give you the Sierra Two-Step till you see a doctor for meds. I once had it for 6 months because I was too stubborn to see the doc. Not fun. The Pacific Crest Trail to the Canada Border is a very hard hike. The AT is not very hard. Most call it boring, unless they go nuts or do drugs. I think I'd enjoy the AT because I know the rocks and would find that interesting, but non geologists get bored there fast.
It looks like few people bother to continue the Pacific Crest trail seriously once they pass Yosemite. I'm sure there's a few, but once you pass Donner and get north of 80, you get into some interesting alpine lakes. Then you cross up to the Sierra Buttes, which I've shown pictures of before, and then the Sierras end and the Cascades begin, and those are volcanoes and mostly not as tall. Mostly. The transition from Granite Sierras to Basalt and Andesite in the Cascades into Oregon and Washington, with a lot more trees and bears, I'm not sure I'd find that to be hilarious fun or not. The smart move for the Pacific Crest is hike the bits you like, not ALL of it. And that seems to be the real secret of the AT. Hiking the whole thing is poor judgement. Hike the best bits. Like the Tourists do.
Sunday, March 3, 2013
Warm Spring Rain
So it's Spring here. Flowers are up and blooming. Days are consistently reaching the low to upper 60's F. It no longer freezes at night. Most mornings when I come out the door for work the sun has been up an hour and its 40'F. Sometimes warmer. I am still enjoying long slow cups of coffee and a gentle rise and shine at my own pace. This is very nice.
Yesterday I took care of an irritation: buying a Dustbuster(tm) to clean up dust piles and such around the house. Sadly, the instrument did not come with the traditional charging mount, just a cheap wire plug you have to manually insert. This was not acceptable so it went back, along with a couple other things. Dad will buy a better setup from Walmart next week. Later I took Mom to the garden store down the road and bought her bulbs and some sprouted lettuce plants, something I'd promised her before xmas as her gift. I finally got to give it to her, along with some good potting soil. Very affordable too. Lots of people garden here. Its a good place for it, so long as you use raised beds or pots since the native soil tends to be full of arsenic, iron, and other metals (naturally, it IS a mining town after all).
We had a huge rainstorm pass over head last night. Not a drop fell here. Its finally little spatters now. I went walking in it with my mom. She's a little stronger today. We went a couple hundred yards at a normal pace before she slowed down and had us turn back, pips of rain falling every once in a while. The pavement just soaked it up and the rest evaporated again. The sky is grey overcast, of course.
Work itself has been lots of computer work, and simulated packing runs, to verify how to actually do it. We're getting closer and closer to the day the inventory arrives. OT that weekend, most likely, followed by shipping and bottling. I think it will be fun. I'm all set for that. Looks like the first half of my day will be shipping, with the second half spent bottling the oils for inventory. We're working up bottling schedules etc. It's going to be very interesting because neither of us is sure how much work that will be, and how stressful. We hope that having two of us there to divide the labor will make it far more manageable. The outsourced shipping company in Colorado seemed to have trouble keeping schedules. I won't speculate as to why. The bottled product looked nice enough. And they did ship. Just lots of dropped balls. I'm glad to have the job.
Now it is wetter outside, with visible standing water and wetness but drops are still few and far between and it remains relatively warm.
A little shout out to Snerdy who is sipping ales at Lagunitas Brewery in Petaluma today. Petaluma is the south end of Sonoma County, and only about 15-20 miles from where I grew up. Petaluma hosts the site of the former pathway of the Sacramento River, which prior to the opening of the Golden Gate (the strait, not the bridge) hosted the outflow of the interior of California's central valley waterways north to Sebastopol and the Lagunitas de Santa Rosa before reaching the Russian River and turning west through that narrow and often flooded canyon system. Imagine, if you will, that once there was no San Francisco Bay. There was a lake, and a strong ridge of chert and granite a mere 10 miles wide. But it was a critical 10 miles. One day an earthquake broke that spine and the lake flooded out into the sea through the Golden Gate, ending the detoured outflow through the Llano de Santa Rosa and allowing the "laguna" to fill in with local vegetation and dirt until all that remained were stagnant ponds which sometimes flooded in the winters. Geology is fascinating, folks.
Yesterday I took care of an irritation: buying a Dustbuster(tm) to clean up dust piles and such around the house. Sadly, the instrument did not come with the traditional charging mount, just a cheap wire plug you have to manually insert. This was not acceptable so it went back, along with a couple other things. Dad will buy a better setup from Walmart next week. Later I took Mom to the garden store down the road and bought her bulbs and some sprouted lettuce plants, something I'd promised her before xmas as her gift. I finally got to give it to her, along with some good potting soil. Very affordable too. Lots of people garden here. Its a good place for it, so long as you use raised beds or pots since the native soil tends to be full of arsenic, iron, and other metals (naturally, it IS a mining town after all).
We had a huge rainstorm pass over head last night. Not a drop fell here. Its finally little spatters now. I went walking in it with my mom. She's a little stronger today. We went a couple hundred yards at a normal pace before she slowed down and had us turn back, pips of rain falling every once in a while. The pavement just soaked it up and the rest evaporated again. The sky is grey overcast, of course.
Work itself has been lots of computer work, and simulated packing runs, to verify how to actually do it. We're getting closer and closer to the day the inventory arrives. OT that weekend, most likely, followed by shipping and bottling. I think it will be fun. I'm all set for that. Looks like the first half of my day will be shipping, with the second half spent bottling the oils for inventory. We're working up bottling schedules etc. It's going to be very interesting because neither of us is sure how much work that will be, and how stressful. We hope that having two of us there to divide the labor will make it far more manageable. The outsourced shipping company in Colorado seemed to have trouble keeping schedules. I won't speculate as to why. The bottled product looked nice enough. And they did ship. Just lots of dropped balls. I'm glad to have the job.
Now it is wetter outside, with visible standing water and wetness but drops are still few and far between and it remains relatively warm.
A little shout out to Snerdy who is sipping ales at Lagunitas Brewery in Petaluma today. Petaluma is the south end of Sonoma County, and only about 15-20 miles from where I grew up. Petaluma hosts the site of the former pathway of the Sacramento River, which prior to the opening of the Golden Gate (the strait, not the bridge) hosted the outflow of the interior of California's central valley waterways north to Sebastopol and the Lagunitas de Santa Rosa before reaching the Russian River and turning west through that narrow and often flooded canyon system. Imagine, if you will, that once there was no San Francisco Bay. There was a lake, and a strong ridge of chert and granite a mere 10 miles wide. But it was a critical 10 miles. One day an earthquake broke that spine and the lake flooded out into the sea through the Golden Gate, ending the detoured outflow through the Llano de Santa Rosa and allowing the "laguna" to fill in with local vegetation and dirt until all that remained were stagnant ponds which sometimes flooded in the winters. Geology is fascinating, folks.
Saturday, March 2, 2013
Transportation Connections
When cars were first invented by Benz various people, they were a curiosity and powered by Steam. Technically Daimler and Benz (of Mercedes Benz, with Mercedes being Daimler's daughter) invented the carburetor to enable reliable engine firing, but that let him build cars that would run.
The first Horseless Carriages were clunky and slow curiosities, Victorian follies. Eventually, other refinements allowed the automobile to show off speed and manueverability and that lead to sponsored races and other public events. It was the Modern Era, after all. One of Science, not superstition, leading the way forward. We could build machines to make the world a better place for everyone. Clean water, roads, plenty of food to eat thanks to mechanization. It was a wondrous age of machines.
Car races were a great way to show off advancements in technology. This eventually lead to more formalized racing sports like the 24 Hours at Le Mans. It also lead the various Formulas, where similar cars raced against each other for serious prize money, and tickets sold to the public paid for the prizes. Formula One is the modern example of that evolution. It is not the only formula for racing, but it is the fastest and most famous.
Car races got the public talking about it over the water cooler or down at the barbershop. It also got them comparing cars and having parts upgraded for performance. Who has the better car? Is that new model any good?
Car review articles, then magazines, then radio and TV shows and websites evolved into things like Top Gear, which takes car reviews and turns them up to 11. And they can be quite funny about it too.
Cars are only part of the picture. Between 1900 and 1925, most towns and cities had taxi service and/or streetcar lines to move people around. Between 1920 and 1925, Standard Oil, General Motors, and Philips Petroleum and a consortium of tire manufacturers realized that they could increase sales and get rich if they just bought up and dismantled this public transit system in every town, forcing people to buy those new-fangled automobiles, put tires on the wheels, and buy gasoline every week. And it wasn't even illegal. So they did it and got rich.
Now that the gasoline is running out, we need those systems rebuilt everywhere they were destroyed. There's business opportunities there, but the public won't fund public transit until AFTER its too late to save our economy, and then they won't be able to pay for it. Ironic? Yes, yes it is. That's people for you. They're too busy with their own lives to worry about the future, even if that future is painfully obvious, and if that requires doing something before it all falls apart? "Well, that's the politician's job, leave me alone." That's how the public feels.
It doesn't help that social standards have fallen so far that public transit is physically dangerous. That train and bus stations often stop in really bad areas and you're risking your life to use them in many cities. Waiting at a bus stop isn't a great use of time and lack of funding means those buses come all too rarely to be useful as transportation, more as a delay in getting where you want to go. So most people just keep grumbling about the cost of fuel and keep driving. Right up till they go bankrupt. And that points us back to 2-wheeled transportation. No waiting at the bus stop in the rain. You'll be riding through the rain on 2 wheels instead. Comfortable? No way. Independent? Absolutely.
Were I a young pretty coed trying to get my nursing degree and I had to choose between waiting in a dark bus stop in a bad part of town for far too long after class (risking rape or murder by 2-legged predators) or a bit of discomfort and risk riding AWAY FROM THEM on a scooter? Scooter, absolutely. Or motorcycle. Whatever. Mobility is a strong defense against predators.
These are desperate times, and desperate measures are called for. If you can carpool to school or work, do so. If you can't deal with the disappointments of people screwing over the carpool and making everyone late, or your boss will fire you, you need to think outside the metal box of comfortable 4-wheeled transportation. Uncomfortable transportation might be the answer.
Maybe a Geo Metro since they're cheap and have good fuel economy. They're slow and wheezy and have electric nothing (but lights and ignition). They'll get you there at Prius-level fuel economy for a fraction of the price. If you MUST have lots of seats, think about something slightly bigger but still light weight. Do you really NEED a station wagon or SUV? Most of the time? No. Not unless you have dogs in the back. For the rest a sedan is just fine.
My Honda Accord gets 32 mpg on the freeway, a lot less in town. It seats 5 comfortably and has a full sized trunk, electric everything, sunroof, leather seats and they go for about $3500 used. Its got 165K miles and had its timing belt changed twice so will run for another 80K miles. My last fill up landed me only 15 mpg, but half my trips were moving the car from one side of the driveway to the other, and the other half were trips to work, and that blizzard, which was 80 minutes going 2 miles in stop and go, spinning my wheels on ice and slush. Not the best conditions or gears for good fuel economy. Still, it's paid for and big enough. An SUV in these conditions would get worse mileage.
There's a guy in town who is running one of those 36cc gas motors on this bicycle to climb the hills. Its loud, which is why I won't consider it, though maybe I should. I just need a better muffler. The alternative is an electric bike setup, provided it will fit my bicycle. That gets me up the hill, silently thanks to it being an electric motor.
I have a bike in the basement this would work with. My old mountain bike would work fine, particularly if I mounted the battery on or under the bike rack. This is more cost effective than spending thousands on the scooter, and it doesn't require the licensing and DMV registration.The problem I see with this is the cheapest kits are at least $400+, and if you want regenerative braking and smoother controls to add to your power strokes, like the Bionx kit, you're getting to $1200 for the kit. The upside is they're actually really good, and still qualify as bicycles so can use paths and bike lanes etc, so long as they're under 21 mph. If I go without the regenerative braking that saves hundreds. Competitors point out that regen isn't very efficient and you're better off just buying better batteries. And the better batteries these days seems to be Lithium Iron Phosphate. Its not as dense as a Gel-Thermite battery, but it has the advantage of actually existing and being available for sale. Prices are hugely variable, from $111 to $900 for those, in various voltage and amperages. And how is battery life? How many charge cycles before it's useless?
My primary issue is not the distance, but the climb of first 200 feet up a slope in heavy traffic, then 500 feet up a steep slope with less traffic but lots of exhaust. This is the route I currently drive. At 15 mpg and only 4 miles per day, that is costing me 27 cents/day. That's not much. It is safe and convenient.
The alternative route is two short 300 foot climbs up a steep narrow slope with traffic followed by a gentle slope even narrower and treed, so lighting will be key for safety. Any close calls with vehicles brushing me there could be fatal or so frightening I give up the idea of pedal power. If that's the case, save towards full-traffic-speed scooter/motorcycle.
As I look at this, I find myself worrying about the dangers of the ride. Maybe I'm worrying too much, but maybe not. Danger is why I gave up my last 2 mile bicycle commute. All those close calls with Minivans and SUVs with the driver texting. To them I was just a pedestrian to be ignored. One of the better arguments for the full scooter or motorcycle is you are moving at traffic speed so are visible as "traffic" rather than "pedestrian" to other drivers. This is an important mental leap.
Many kits are $500-800. This is not as cheap as I'd like for something which comes with wheels to make it easier to steal. The battery is quickly detachable for recharging, but its also portable $500 drug money that can be resold on Ebay by the dealer or his fence. That means I can't park it at the market or movie theater or leave it unattended, ever. I need to investigate if I can set the controller with a speed lockout so its still legal at 20 mph, but still deliver the power needed to propel my 190 pounds and my bike and the 8-20 pound battery pack at 20 mph up a steep hill, assisting my pedaling after a hard day AND run lights so I'm visible to traffic. These are good people in this town, but I want to make it easier for them to see me so there's no tragic accidents.
My friend Brian, a local I worked with doing GIS 10 years ago, recommends I just pedal harder since it would make me more fit and I'd be saving all that money. And there's something to that. As it is now, if my bike is stolen its no big deal. I can ride the spare till it's stolen too, then buy a new bike to replace it for $100 from Kmart or Target. And eventually, either the cost of electric bikes will come down or people will just adjust their lives to bicycling and deal with the wheezing. In the end, Peasants won't have access to fuel because it will be reserved for the Liberal Elites in their Limousines. We have Diane Feinstein to thank for that term. She was famous for her hypocrisy, and remains so today.
For the cost of a fancy electric bike, ($2800)
I can buy the scooter I want, Piaggio Fly 150
Or the moped that's better, MadAss 125
Or a half the cost of the motorcycle I want.
And that means that electric bikes aren't there yet. They're still too expensive. We each individually have to take chances and solve our transportation problems since the Govt really doesn't give a damn. There's no legal requirement for them to care. That's hogwash they say to get elected. Lying to the public gets you a second term. Ask Bill Clinton.
The upshot is I still need to sign up for my motorcycle safety class, buy the fitting gear I need, read the manual completely, a couple times, attend the classes, and get licensed to ride a motorized 2-wheel vehicle. A pity I can't get a reworked and modernized Honda Passport with the shielded side pipes. Those are kinda bad-ass.
This is a 1964 model, still working somewhere. The MadAss is pretty much this with a better suspension and smoother tires, better brakes. You can put a long rack behind the seat on a madass, and a heat shield to keep the exhaust off your groceries. Or I can keep paying 27 cents/day for my current commute. Yeah, sometimes its not entirely about cost. And sometimes it is.
The first Horseless Carriages were clunky and slow curiosities, Victorian follies. Eventually, other refinements allowed the automobile to show off speed and manueverability and that lead to sponsored races and other public events. It was the Modern Era, after all. One of Science, not superstition, leading the way forward. We could build machines to make the world a better place for everyone. Clean water, roads, plenty of food to eat thanks to mechanization. It was a wondrous age of machines.
Car races were a great way to show off advancements in technology. This eventually lead to more formalized racing sports like the 24 Hours at Le Mans. It also lead the various Formulas, where similar cars raced against each other for serious prize money, and tickets sold to the public paid for the prizes. Formula One is the modern example of that evolution. It is not the only formula for racing, but it is the fastest and most famous.
Car races got the public talking about it over the water cooler or down at the barbershop. It also got them comparing cars and having parts upgraded for performance. Who has the better car? Is that new model any good?
Car review articles, then magazines, then radio and TV shows and websites evolved into things like Top Gear, which takes car reviews and turns them up to 11. And they can be quite funny about it too.
Cars are only part of the picture. Between 1900 and 1925, most towns and cities had taxi service and/or streetcar lines to move people around. Between 1920 and 1925, Standard Oil, General Motors, and Philips Petroleum and a consortium of tire manufacturers realized that they could increase sales and get rich if they just bought up and dismantled this public transit system in every town, forcing people to buy those new-fangled automobiles, put tires on the wheels, and buy gasoline every week. And it wasn't even illegal. So they did it and got rich.
Now that the gasoline is running out, we need those systems rebuilt everywhere they were destroyed. There's business opportunities there, but the public won't fund public transit until AFTER its too late to save our economy, and then they won't be able to pay for it. Ironic? Yes, yes it is. That's people for you. They're too busy with their own lives to worry about the future, even if that future is painfully obvious, and if that requires doing something before it all falls apart? "Well, that's the politician's job, leave me alone." That's how the public feels.
It doesn't help that social standards have fallen so far that public transit is physically dangerous. That train and bus stations often stop in really bad areas and you're risking your life to use them in many cities. Waiting at a bus stop isn't a great use of time and lack of funding means those buses come all too rarely to be useful as transportation, more as a delay in getting where you want to go. So most people just keep grumbling about the cost of fuel and keep driving. Right up till they go bankrupt. And that points us back to 2-wheeled transportation. No waiting at the bus stop in the rain. You'll be riding through the rain on 2 wheels instead. Comfortable? No way. Independent? Absolutely.
Were I a young pretty coed trying to get my nursing degree and I had to choose between waiting in a dark bus stop in a bad part of town for far too long after class (risking rape or murder by 2-legged predators) or a bit of discomfort and risk riding AWAY FROM THEM on a scooter? Scooter, absolutely. Or motorcycle. Whatever. Mobility is a strong defense against predators.
These are desperate times, and desperate measures are called for. If you can carpool to school or work, do so. If you can't deal with the disappointments of people screwing over the carpool and making everyone late, or your boss will fire you, you need to think outside the metal box of comfortable 4-wheeled transportation. Uncomfortable transportation might be the answer.
Maybe a Geo Metro since they're cheap and have good fuel economy. They're slow and wheezy and have electric nothing (but lights and ignition). They'll get you there at Prius-level fuel economy for a fraction of the price. If you MUST have lots of seats, think about something slightly bigger but still light weight. Do you really NEED a station wagon or SUV? Most of the time? No. Not unless you have dogs in the back. For the rest a sedan is just fine.
My Honda Accord gets 32 mpg on the freeway, a lot less in town. It seats 5 comfortably and has a full sized trunk, electric everything, sunroof, leather seats and they go for about $3500 used. Its got 165K miles and had its timing belt changed twice so will run for another 80K miles. My last fill up landed me only 15 mpg, but half my trips were moving the car from one side of the driveway to the other, and the other half were trips to work, and that blizzard, which was 80 minutes going 2 miles in stop and go, spinning my wheels on ice and slush. Not the best conditions or gears for good fuel economy. Still, it's paid for and big enough. An SUV in these conditions would get worse mileage.
There's a guy in town who is running one of those 36cc gas motors on this bicycle to climb the hills. Its loud, which is why I won't consider it, though maybe I should. I just need a better muffler. The alternative is an electric bike setup, provided it will fit my bicycle. That gets me up the hill, silently thanks to it being an electric motor.
My primary issue is not the distance, but the climb of first 200 feet up a slope in heavy traffic, then 500 feet up a steep slope with less traffic but lots of exhaust. This is the route I currently drive. At 15 mpg and only 4 miles per day, that is costing me 27 cents/day. That's not much. It is safe and convenient.
The alternative route is two short 300 foot climbs up a steep narrow slope with traffic followed by a gentle slope even narrower and treed, so lighting will be key for safety. Any close calls with vehicles brushing me there could be fatal or so frightening I give up the idea of pedal power. If that's the case, save towards full-traffic-speed scooter/motorcycle.
As I look at this, I find myself worrying about the dangers of the ride. Maybe I'm worrying too much, but maybe not. Danger is why I gave up my last 2 mile bicycle commute. All those close calls with Minivans and SUVs with the driver texting. To them I was just a pedestrian to be ignored. One of the better arguments for the full scooter or motorcycle is you are moving at traffic speed so are visible as "traffic" rather than "pedestrian" to other drivers. This is an important mental leap.
Many kits are $500-800. This is not as cheap as I'd like for something which comes with wheels to make it easier to steal. The battery is quickly detachable for recharging, but its also portable $500 drug money that can be resold on Ebay by the dealer or his fence. That means I can't park it at the market or movie theater or leave it unattended, ever. I need to investigate if I can set the controller with a speed lockout so its still legal at 20 mph, but still deliver the power needed to propel my 190 pounds and my bike and the 8-20 pound battery pack at 20 mph up a steep hill, assisting my pedaling after a hard day AND run lights so I'm visible to traffic. These are good people in this town, but I want to make it easier for them to see me so there's no tragic accidents.
My friend Brian, a local I worked with doing GIS 10 years ago, recommends I just pedal harder since it would make me more fit and I'd be saving all that money. And there's something to that. As it is now, if my bike is stolen its no big deal. I can ride the spare till it's stolen too, then buy a new bike to replace it for $100 from Kmart or Target. And eventually, either the cost of electric bikes will come down or people will just adjust their lives to bicycling and deal with the wheezing. In the end, Peasants won't have access to fuel because it will be reserved for the Liberal Elites in their Limousines. We have Diane Feinstein to thank for that term. She was famous for her hypocrisy, and remains so today.
For the cost of a fancy electric bike, ($2800)
I can buy the scooter I want, Piaggio Fly 150
Or the moped that's better, MadAss 125
Or a half the cost of the motorcycle I want.
The upshot is I still need to sign up for my motorcycle safety class, buy the fitting gear I need, read the manual completely, a couple times, attend the classes, and get licensed to ride a motorized 2-wheel vehicle. A pity I can't get a reworked and modernized Honda Passport with the shielded side pipes. Those are kinda bad-ass.
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