Hmmm… Applying vaunted American know-how to find new solutions to the problem of energy independence? What an odd, odd thought, especially when McCain supports a tiny, slow band-aid that … well … won’t really help at all.

We were in Fargo a few days ago buying a car. We sold our one and only car when we went abroad, and are currently on borrowed wheels. There was serious discussion of not even getting a car, or perhaps leasing a car for the winter months while going without a petrol powered vehicle in the summer when we can bike around town. In the end, though, we decided to go ahead and buy a shiny blue Honda Fit. (This is the second time we’ve bought the exact same car as my sister a year or two after she bought hers. We’re not very original, I’m afraid. That, and my sister rocks!)

The Honda dealer said that the demand for Civics, hybrids, and Fits has been really high, and they’ve had periods where they haven’t had any Civics to show people, including used ones! (And this is North Dakota, where I suspect trucks have long out-numbered compacts.) Given that most people won’t keep a car for all of the 7 years it will be before we see any of the off-shore oil from McCain’s proposal, Obama’s plan seems to be much more in touch with the mood of the populace.

What I’d really like is for the U.S. people (and government) to realize that there’s real value in basic scientific research, and understand that kind of research is going to have to be an important part of any solution to the current energy and climate problems.

While in Fargo we also bought Sub-Evil a new bike, and will probably buy a new bike for WeatherGirl in the next week or two. This, combined with the fact that mine is getting a substantial tune-up at the moment, means we’ll all be on two spiffy wheels as much as possible, at least when the weather allows.

It’s late and I’m way tired, but I think the packing is under control (more or less) (sorta kinda) (as well as can be expected) for tomorrow’s grand journey to Dagstuhl. Not sure how much posting will happen from there; depends a lot on how good the wireless is in my room this year.

In the meantime I leave you with this travel (and research) related shot from my excellent visit to Dublin last month: a group of vehicles driving onto O’Connell Bridge. It looks like it’s the middle of the night, but it was actually only a bit after 6pm as everyone was hurrying home from work. Short days in Dublin in December.

Ciao!

TopGear (a testosterone heavy but amusing car program here in the UK) staged a race across London feature four of their presenters using different modes of transport: car, public transport, bike, and speed boat up the Thames. Much to their dismay and my eternal delight, the guy on the bike took the day, and the car in fact came in last. The boat was second, but given that it was a super expensive speed boat and its success depended on both ends of the route being on the river, there are obvious scaling problems. It was a long route, so you’d need to be both fit and aggressive to match the cyclist’s performance, but the public transport option came quite close and is obviously accessible to most everyone.

Considering that London is totally not designed to support cycling, however, you have to wonder how much better it would be if there was genuine support for the use of bicycles.

Thanks to the Colchester Cycling mailing list for the tip that the race was gonna be aired.