[PLUG] PLUG meeting

AthlonRob athlonrob at data.4t3.com
Sat Dec 7 06:13:51 UTC 2002


Well, I can't just let this one go... lol  :-)

On Fri, 2002-12-06 at 15:44, Jeme A Brelin wrote:
> On 6 Dec 2002, AthlonRob wrote:
> > For me, I have to drive up to Sherwood to catch a bus.  That's 20-30
> > minutes there.  Then it takes "an hour" (scheduled time) to get up to
> > PSU.  In reality, it takes between an hour and one and a half hours.
> > 
> > Driving takes 45 minutes to an hour... rarely does it take a full
> > hour.
> 
> You can read on the bus or use a cellphone without endangering anyone and
> maybe get to know some people that you wouldn't otherwise meet.  If you
> drive, your time is spent driving and maybe listening to something.  If
> you take the bus, your options are much wider.

Perhaps *you* can read on the bus - but I cannot.  Well, I can, but only
if Karl is sitting next to me.  ;-)

I don't spend all day talking on the cell phone, either... it costs
money.

> And you're building up habits and tolerances that will allow you to live
> in a diverse and condensing world without shutting yourself up in little
> private steel containers.

Ahhh.... well... I don't like the freaks, so instead of avoiding them, I
should immerse myself in them?  Interesting strategy.  After I learn to
love the freaks, maybe I'll head over to Iraq and hug Saddam (I'm sure
we could settle all this stuff if everybody just hugged each other).

> > > Oh, and thanks for the "fresh air", drivers.  Mighty kind of you.
> > 
> > Me, my suburban (15/18), and my '89 Dodge Spirit (20/30 while eating a
> > quart of oil every 500 miles) say "You're welcome"  :-)
> 
> I'm not sure how a person can joke about their destructive habits, but I'm
> the sort of person that thinks of criticism as an opportunity for
> improvement.

Well, I haven't felt any destruction from driving either vehicle... and
as long as I'm in my private steel container, do I care if it effects
others?  ;-)

In all honestly, I do understand where you're coming from, but I'm bent
a little in the anti-tree-hugger direction... stupid environmental laws
have cost me and my family money.  Our stream was classified as a 'fish
bearing stream' - while cows peed in it 150 yards up and it rarely was
more than 3" deep.  But we can't culvert it because we don't want to
hurt the 'fish'.

> > As Carla was saying, though, find me a vehicle that meets my needs and
> > doesn't use so much gas - and I'd happily trade in.
> 
> First, I think you might have to re-evaluate your definition of "needs" if
> you are truly concerned with adopting more sustainable practices in life.

Fine: meets my wants.  :-)

And no, I'm really not concerned with adopting more
environmental-friendly ways of life.

> Second, a private motor vehicle that uses less gas does almost nothing
> progressive.  Decreasing emissions per trip sounds like a step in the
> right direction, but it's a little like a person who is racing toward
> Canada at 100mph and trying to get to Mexico by slowing to twenty.  
> You're still going in the wrong direction.

Ah, ok, I'll stick with the suburban.  :-)

> > Money is definitely a concern, though, so it can't be too expensive.  
> 
> You have no idea how expensive your cars are.  First, your roads are
> maintained through the wear and tear of hundreds of thousands of private
> vehicle trips mostly through the state general fund.  Second, the cost of
> your refined petroleum products is reduced drastically by pressures
> exerted through the world's largest and most sophisticated terrorist
> organization (I'm referring, of course, to the Pentagon system).  Third,

I like the way you sneak in your anti-American sentaments like that. 
Really, I do.

See, the way you phrased it, let me classify you in a flash.  :-)

> the very cost of your vehicle is subsidized through corporate welfare and
> inhumane "trade" agreements.  And last but not least by far, the cost of
> cleaning up the waste from your vehicle from production, through its
> useful life and maintenance, to its final resting place are covered, once
> again, by the public as a whole.  If you were presented with the ACTUAL
> cost of exclusive use and operation of a motor vehicle, you'd probably
> say, "I can't afford to drive", too.

Ok... I'll stop driving and watch out for the black helicopters... or do
you have a safehouse somewhere running a security system based around
Debian???

-- 
Rob                                |  If not safe,
Email and Jabber:                  |    one can never be free.
athlonrob at data dot 4t3 dot com  |





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