Geek Habitat

Yes, we still love our hybrid–a 2006 Ford Escape Hybrid FWD–which we purchased on March 6, 2006.

On the way home from my folks this evening, I refueled the hybrid since it was starting to do its annoying 50 miles to empty periodic buzzer (gotta admit, nothing would be more pitiful than a hybrid stranded on the side of the road, out of gas.) Anyway — 13.37 gal unleaded @ $3.49/gal = $46.77; I got 465 miles on the tank (could be higher) and a tank average fuel economy of 34.8 mpg. Not bad for an SUV, eh? And that’s w/hauling full loads in the cargo area to drop items off at the recycling and donation centers repeatedly (multiple trips), as well as four new tires (non-low rolling resistance, which is what most hybrids use to increase fuel economy by decreasing friction/drag.

Do you take a vacation when a project you’re assigned to is in trouble at work? …when a family member is sick and in the hospital? …when money is tight and you are having trouble paying your bills?

N-O!

Then why the hell should the United States go on a gas tax holiday for the summer months?

Maybe if everyone else in the world really wanted to send a message to China, we’d stop buying all the products produced and manufactured there?

Wait, that would actually require personal (and national) sacrifice and accountability, along with *gasp* economic impliciations.

Yeah, you’re right, it’s better to protest one of the only remaining, enduring symbols of world peace and our collective membership in the human race–the Olympic Games.

Why the post? Oh, I was just surprised when I received a UPS tracking number for my second Chumby because it’s coming to Texas directly from the factory/warehouse in CHINA –

I haven’t had anything to say so I haven’t been blogging much, and I haven’t missed it. I’ve been posting new stuff to Flickr, but even that’s been a little slow going (some videos & more pics in queue to go up), and Twitter’s received most of my (limited) attention lately. Twitter’s forced 140 characters seem right up my alley lately, even if it does result in some hideous abbreviations (my apologies to ALL of my English teachers and professors over the course of my formal education!)

If a bird chirps in the forest and no one’s around to hear it, is it really chirping at all?

Sorry, just bastardizing a quote since it appears Twitter.com is borked/totally offline. I can’t access it by HTTP or Twhirl (a Twitter desktop client). I guess it’s a testament to how much I’ve been using it lately, because there are a few things I want share with people, but can’t until the bird that is Twitter regains consciousness after a clearly nasty fall.

Justin and Sara are fast asleep, and my eyelids are getting very, veeery heavy, so it’s probably for the best that Twitter’s not up.

Reposted from Twitter because I’m too pissed off to want to blog it –

* Sigh. The tire we had patched last saturday (and left a camping trip early TO patch)? It’s FLAT.

* There’s a RAZOR BLADE in my tire. I am beginning to think I need to check behind and under my car anytime I park it. F*ck

* I drive a hybrid and it’s stuff like this that makes me get sooo paranoid. I have had a DOZEN tire punctures but this is the 1st RZR BLADE:(