2011 - Day Sixty Eight; Wednesday...

Well, this will get some chatter started. We are going to kind of bypass the day (it was really routine, filled with meetings, preparation for teaching class the next two days, getting prepared for MORE meetings, and relatively mundane stuff. BUT, when I got home from work, I went out to the yard to feed the chickens (they were quite ready to be fed) and came back to the house to help Jody move our tomato plants into the garage. It seems the temperature in Austin is going to be near the freezing mark overnight, and since we are 50 miles northeast of there, it means we may well get a light freeze. Generally speaking, not a really problem except these tomatoes are 'tender vegetation', so they needed to be brought in.

ANYWAY, actually moving the plants made me forget to check for eggs (we got six today), and so I went back out to the barn in front and when I was in there, I actually stopped and took a quick glance at a bunch of pictures and things that are being stored out there. These happen to be three things from my DISTANT past. The picture in front is from the late 70's when I was living in Memphis (not really my glory days, but fun). I had this dog (Borzoi) whose name was Justin and I schlepped this dog to the UP Bank Building at 100 North Main and convinced him that the escalator would not kill him and we arrived at a photographers shop on the mezzanine. Something else! And how do you like the suit? It was green and yellow plaid! No, really! The other chalk-drawing behind that was done in 1973 in New Orleans. I used to go to New Orleans (anything to get out of Memphis) every couple months and I had this made in Jackson Square. I remember that I had taken the train from Memphis to New Orleans and back that trip, LOTS OF FUN. No driving involved, but I do seem to remember a challenge or two making it TO the train. All was good once I was on. Lots of interesting stories I can tell, how much time do you have?

Okay, now we get to the Car & Driver part that I teased you with yesterday. As the days get warmer, the batteries on the Volt hold a better charge, and yesterday was a really good day. I made it 96.4% of the way to the office yesterday morning on electric power. That is over 46 of my 48 mile commute to the office. When I got there my average was over 126 MPG on this particular tank of gas. Well, I am really proud of that, but things have gone substantially downhill from there. I had meetings yesterday, and this and that and could not get a good charge. THEN, when I got home yesterday I FORGOT to plug the car in, and I did not realize it until this morning when I got up. SO, I plugged it in and got about 20 miles worth of charge, but my average for this tank of gas has gone way down. BUT, for the lifetime of the car, I am still around 83 MPG, so that does not suck. You have to keep in mind too, that I probably spend (not sure, more than a dollar, less than two dollars) about $1.50 per day for electricity. Overall though, it still comes out better than the Prius I was driving, and the technology will only get better. AND CHEAPER...

So, that is it for today, how did you like the pictures of me when I was a little man?

Deeds, Actions, Changes, SEX - DRUGS - ROCK & ROLL, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!