It's got power and style - and the foreigners got it for a steal because we left the keys in it.
Mrs. R and I have been busy of late preparing to send our daughter, La Scholar, off to college. As those of you in similar straits know well, one must have the proper form of transportation for one's mobility, mustn't one? However, locating that fine chariot is proving to be a Sisyphean task. That's just one reason why my literary output has been reduced of late. The others will remain undiscussed.…
Article comments
26 - Dr Dreadful
@ #23:
The problem with ambiguous prophecies is that they only came true if you believe the person who's telling you they did.
'Arrows with intelligence' could just as easily mean the bloody pointer on your computer screen, if you're going to argue the toss.
27 - STM
"If cars could run on hype and customer loyalty then the EV1 was a huge success."
The EV1 was actually a great car that suffered from its potential pricing, range limit and size, in the period when US consumers felt no need to buy smaller, European-sized cars and particularly ones that cost more than a big gas-guzzler.
At a time when Americans were paying pocket money for petrol, what was the point of forking out a small fortune for a car that was essentially a two-seater and which would have cost buyers a fortune had it actually been available for sale?
At the time, GM thought it was a no-go zone.
So little foresight, so little time. They actually had the jump on everyone else, which gives them a bit of a lead-in this time around.
Hydrogen fuel cells are being discounted as a petrol/diesel alternative, hybrids only solve half the problem, so imagine a mostly electric first world, or a mix of petrol/diesel, electric and cheaper alternate fuels like biodiesel, CNG or LPG that doesn't need to go cap in hand to OPEC begging for price reductions?
Perfect. That's the only way you're going to break the oil speculators' bank. And it's coming.
The key here is no reliance on oil, rather than a complete lack of the stuff.
28 - STM
LPG by the way, is hugely popular in Australia. Some local manufacturers like Ford and Holden even build dedicated models in Oz with LPG engines.
But in an effort to get the national fuel bill down, the government virtually pays for the actual conversion with a grant to anyone who switches their engine to LPG, and Ford has been producing E-Gas Falcons for many years. Virtually all taxi cabs in Oz are dedicated E-gas Falcons or Fords that have been converted to LPG.
The stuff's available at the pump at most service stations and costs a fraction of the cost of petrol and diesel, hence its new-found popularity among the wider motoring public. Its downside is that you use slightly more per kilometre, but it still works out way cheaper.
Sadly, I bought a "green" European turbo diesel two years ago when diesel was about the same price as Premium Unleaded. At the time, it was costing me $60 to fill the tank. Now it's costing $100 to fill - although it's still cheaper and cleaner than most petrol engines.
However, a single tank does last about two and a half weeks, which includes a six-day a week commute into the city from the outer suburbs.
29 - bliffle
Sometimes Daves naivete about science is actually funny, as in #25, above.
Hey Dave! You shouldn't have fallen asleep in High School chemistry class!
30 - bliffle
Dan sez: "Perhaps we need a Madman Muntz to fiddle around with the Government a while. Couldn't do much harm, and might do a bit of good."
Besides being utterly mad, this is a really irresponsible thing to say. "couldn't do much harm..." indeed.
Aren't you fedup with ignorant egoists running the government after the last 8 years? Muntz fits right in with that group. And like all of them he was a BUSINESS FAILURE!
I'm becoming convinced that bozos like Dave and Dan don't think before they speak or write, they just spew out whatever vagrant notion they've picked up at some tavern while trading convivial BS with the other patrons, each one wobblier than the other as they devise new platitudes.
31 - Clavos
I'm becoming convinced that bozos like Dave and Dan don't think before they speak or write, they just spew out whatever vagrant notion they've picked up at some tavern while trading convivial BS with the other patrons, each one wobblier than the other as they devise new platitudes.
I'm becoming convinced that the pomposity of bliffle's prose is increasingly hilarious...
32 - Cindy D
If Aesop were alive, we'd likely have a new fable called: "Are Humans Smarter than Yeast?"
What does the science of exponential growth say about capitalism?