Geek Habitat

Being lazy and scrounging for content by copying my response to a well-written bog post on GreenAndCleanMom.org entitled: “Hybrid Concerns: How green?” –

“I’ve driven our Ford Escape Hybrid since early March 2006. Love it and would have a very hard time going back to a 100% gasoline (or diesel)-powered vehicle. I’ve had absolutely no maintenance issues, save tire patches due to excessive construction where I live and one recall that affected the drive shaft (not a hybrid component).

First responders are always having to be trained on new technology that ends up in vehicles. Higher powered engines, bigger fuel tanks, sun/moonroofs, side curtain airbags (which may or may not deploy in an accident). Lots of “stuff” that they need to look out for. Hybrids have been on the roads 10 years now and the fact that we haven’t heard of a catastrophe is, as they say, no news is good news. Just like gasoline and diesel vehicles have auto fuel shutoffs, hybrids have that and auto kill features to disengage/disarm the hybrid battery in certain collisions/wrecks. I don’t blame folks for being wary of something new, but they’re (hybrids) not as new as folks think. Japan’s had hybrids since (if I recall correctly) 1997, and they’ve been available in the USA since 1999 or so.

PS: Many hybrid owners change their own oil, etc. after the vehicle’s out of warranty.

The batteries are recycled/reclaimed at the end of their useful life (and the mfgr warranty covers them for a minimum of 8 years, 100k miles; 10 years, 150k miles in CA and a few select areas). And that’s just the warranty. There are hybrid taxis with over 300k miles on them.

We bought a domestic (Ford) hybrid so we got the full tax credit of $2,600 (single year). Late adopters of foreign make hybrids got reduced or no tax credit due to the tiered tax credit based on sales of each mfgr’s hybrids (after 60,000 sold the tax credit reduced greatly.)

At some point, I read that gasoline engines (I don’t know about diesels) produce the most pollution when they’re at idle, which is when a hybrid electric vehicle’s internal combustion engine is OFF and the vehicle is running on stored power and an electric generator (powered by the hybrid battery).

For all the reasons folks have every right to want to avoid hybrids, there are those of us who are thrilled to be owning and driving ours. My hybrid will be 3 years old in March. When it comes time to replace our F-150 pickup? It’ll either be replaced with a hybrid electric vehicle or a plug-in hybrid, and my Escape Hybrid will take on the role the F-150 has served. (hauling camping gear, bicycles, etc.) On the rare occasions we need extra carrying capacity, we’ll rent a diesel van/truck. My husband also bicycle commutes 2 or 3 times a week (23 miles total!) and leaves the F-150 at home when I need the Escape Hybrid, so we too believe there’s no single answer to lowering fuel costs, reducing emissions, etc. It takes multiple effects among multiple people, and it takes cities becoming more aware of the mass transit needs of their populations, for example.

My Ford Escape Hybrid will be 3 years old in March and I would buy it again in a heartbeat. There’s something that tickles me to drive a small SUV that gets even better fuel economy than my economical Toyota Corolla (which the Escape Hybrid replaced) did.

Can we do better (higher fuel economy, less emissions in ALL vehicles regardless of powertrain?) You bet. Hybrids are just one facet, one step, in that direction. I’m happy to be part of the “early” adopter crowd as well, and “beta test” them for others without the means and/or desire to do so.”

I’ve been visiting my folks, as usual, on days that Justin works late or teaches his adult continuing education photography class. It’s my opportunity to get out of the house for brain stimulation among fellow adults (but still be among family, so I don’t have to stress about the sad state of my wardrobe or make apologies for how filthy I’ve let the interior of my once spotless Ford Escape Hybrid get.) Of course, these visits also benefit Sara, giving her the opportunity to love up on, and be loved up by, Grandma and Grandpa Blackburn. She usually also spends the better part of her Sunday’s with her Grandma and Grandpa Moore (Justin’s folks) after they get out of church, and if she’s lucky, her cousins are there as well.

Weather permitting, Justin does one long bike ride and occasionally one casual ride (the latter with his dad) each weekend. For my part, I veg out, recuperate, manically clean the house in anticipation of the return of Hurricane Sara; I play some World of Warcraft since Justin renewed my account last Mother’s Day, take an unhurried shower for the first time all week, and generally try to find my bearings again. Somewhere in there, Justin usually also squeezes in a family/bridal/engagement/senior portrait photo shoot and/or preparing photos for an earlier client.

All of this means Justin and I should have some time together, but lately we’ve been more like two ships passing in the (foggy) night. We know the other person’s out there, just out of sight and most certainly out of reach. I never could get the hang of Octobers. Novembers kind of go the same way, unfortunately. Things in our small business — at least the portrait photography segment of it — stay crazy until early December when we have to draw the line in the sand and convince folks that it really *is* too late to reasonably expect to have their portrait taken and turned into Christmas cards which magically arrive before the blessed day.

Just as suddenly, our wedding anniversary (10 years as of December 12, 2008!) is upon us and the New Year approaches.

Time is a cruel mistress, going far too quickly when you want her to slow down — to savor the innocence and joy of you’re child’s first 24 months on Earth, for example — and slowing down when you’d rather she just fast forward for a bit (to November 5th, please?)

Jus and I are doing fine, but it is enough to make us both a little soul tired (similar to William Gibson’s “soul delay,” but absent the cross-timezone travel his condition requires).

All of this is my set up to explain why I’ve been tweeting so much (short snippets that don’t have to be coherent beyond 140 characters) and blogging so little (entries that actually should have a topic and follow some logical progression.)

I don’t see a change on the horizon for awhile yet, so here’s a quick prequel:

• Kidlet’s still under the weather today. i’m a newbie at this since she has, quite literally, never been sick before–not so much as a runny nose. We’re monitoring her for fever, but she seems to be fighting it off on her own.
• My mom goes in for major foot surgery in several days, on October 30th. She’s a tough cookie but we’ll all feel better when she’s on the healing side of that.
• Justin’s sister, Jeanine, is still on her church mission in Bangladesh. We are all very proud of her and miss her, and we know she misses her husband David and their two kids (Sara’s cousins).
• The job market, like the economy, sucks and my brother, Thomas, may be pounding the pavement yet again soon.

If I left anything out, I blame the fact that it’s 6:45 AM and I have yet to go to “bed” for the “night”. Oops. Justin’s already been on the road for 35 to 40 minutes, bicycling to work in the 40 degree temperatures. He leaves super early to avoid the worst of the drivers/rush hour traffic and congestion.

If you’re family, love you to all. If you’re anyone else, thanks for hanging on to the end of my ramble. I owe you one.

Remember that annoying “Whassup?” beer ad that caught on after running, I think, during a Super Bowl? Here it is repurposed for our times. Enjoy!

The following comes to you by way of a Calvin & Hobbes-ish roundabout path: Twitter.com -> @ScottMonty‘s profile page ->
Scott Monty’s website -> C.C. Chapman’s website (specifically this post.)

Enjoy.

I’m a huge Amazon.com fan, and have been doing business with them as a customer and affiliate since literally their first year. I’ve come to never be *too* surprised by what they can pull off, the sheer volume and variety of products they offer, etc.

It’s nice to still be surprised, occasionally: While going through the depressing task of paring down wishlists created in less lean financial times, I noticed a tag called “Amazon oddities” and wondered what products people had tagged as such. I expected maybe an engraved, silver spork collection or something but not –
a land cruiser/tank for just under $20,000 that, apparently, ships within 4 to 5 weeks.

For more “WTF?” products, check it out — Amazon Oddities

Also: Sarah Palin costume for Halloween (PS: Obama masks outselling McCain. Conspiracy theories abound in discussion threads on Amazon.com. LOL.)

Realize not everyone has the same agendas as I do but thought I’d share these since they’re among some of the resources available to see where candidates stand on various issues.

• League of Conservation Voters - grades serving politicians by how they vote regarding environmental issues/energy issues/etc:
  http://www.lcv.org/scorecard/
  (Search by state; not surprisingly, most everyone running in Texas has a very LOW environmental score, but some are good)
• Wikipedia section on Future election candidates – will have to search page for names from our ballot but useful for high level overview of each candidate
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Future_election_candidates
• League of Women Voters – grades serving politicians on a BROAD range of issues (not just women’s health issues, equal pay, etc. ALL issues incl. immigration, energy, etc.)
  http://www.lwv.org/Election2008/index.html
• Sportsmen & Animal Owner’s Voting Alliance (SAOVA) – Their site design sucks so you will have to scroll to below their left nav to see any of their content. Anyway, I look at who these people support not to see who I will vote for but who these folks are just in love with. The organization feels it necessary to oppose animal rights issues across the board, calling it the “AR Threat” and lumping the ASPCA and Humane Society of the USA with PETA (whom I loathe, just in case this isn’t clear) as the same type of “animal rightist group”.
  Not surprisingly, they endorse McCain/Palin (surprise — her type of hunting includes “hunting” wolves by helicopter. Not my type of sportsmanlike behavior. Shiver in a blind like a real hunter, or learn to track animals.)
  http://saova.org/2008endorse.html — you can see where TX elections fall as well. Remember, to them, “animal rightist” means you even support the ASPCA and Humane Society.
• NRA traditionally always supports Republican candidates and this year’s no different. It’s Texas. We all love our guns. Seriously don’t think we’ve EVER had a candidate in U.S. Presidency that wants to ban all guns. We should figure out what’s up with all the school shootings, though, no? Or do teenagers have gun rights, too?
  http://www.nraila.org/
• T. Boone Pickens?
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T._Boone_Pickens
  He was a huge supporter of G.W. Bush & the Republican party so I pay special attention when he talks because if he’s swung away from Bush & Co. I find that notable. Unfortunately, he’s opted out of endorsing anyone this election cycle and is instead calling on WHOMEVER wins to get their a** in gear regarding U.S. energy dependence/usage/supply. I wish he at least had a PAC that endorsed candidates as it would be telling, given he’s actually putting his money where their mouths are — “We need to harness ALL types of energy, not just oil, and do so now.” It’s what even the staunchest Republicans are saying (hence, “drill, baby, drill” in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, etc.) but I suspect he’d disagree with many. For one thing, he thinks as I do, that we cannot “drill our way out” of our dependence on foreign oil.

One last thing — depending on your position on the $700 billion bailout/rescue bill (remember, they went through two rounds on it so there were 2 votes) — you might also want to do a Google search to see who voted for and against the bill(s). I haven’t gotten around to that yet and I’m on the fence on what that would really tell me. We should have left the voting on that up to the astronauts & cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station because it seems like one needs *that* high level of a view of our economy to really determine what good, or ill, that bill will actually have. Obviously, short-term, it seems better than worse but it’s a hell of a lot of money at a time when a lot of other things (our infrastructure, healthcare, Social Security, the military and, not the least of which, the American people) need a hell of a lot of money, too.