The Threadless Nut

So, the subject line of this one is only semi-sarcastic. Yes I am capable of that, I’m even capable of not being sarcastic at all, it just doesn’t happen much.

Hybrid cars have a lot of whiz-bang neato-ness that certainly appeals to my inner geek. Every time we go to lunch in one of the many Priuses (Priusii, Priiii?) that are reproducing in the parking lot (yes, I’m completely convinced that if you leave 2 of them parked next to each other for more than 6 hours, they spawn another one) we all like to look at the cool display that shows where the motive force of the vehicle is coming from, or how much gas we are not using, or how many baby seals we have saved on this trip.

However, many of you (ok, several….well, that guy over there) have heard me voice disappointment in the fuel consumption that they have produced in the real world. When word of hybrids came out a while ago, I was hoping to see MPG figures in the 70s, but it looks like they are pretty firmly set in the 40s. Of course, that’s great and all, using less gas is a Good Thing ™ and there are some aspects of it that you can’t put a price on.

That fact in mind, here’s what the price is: Cars.com study on overall costs. Of course, this study may be completely bogus and flawed, but the gist is that it costs several thousand dollars more over the lifetime (defined as 8 years at 15k miles per and $3 per gallon) of the vehicle to own a hybrid.

If you’re perfectly happy paying that premium to know that you’re using less fuel, or for any reason, that’s great. As that fish with the newspapers says in a a Spongebob toon “Take it, friends. Arm yourselves with knowledge.” Yes, I’ve accepted the fact that everything in life can somehow be related to Spongebob.

So, on the way to work today there’s this guy standing on the sidewalk. He’s got this rather huge sign that says in big red letters “JESUS”. Yes, that’s all it said. While I don’t really have a problem with someone carrying a sign around, I’m used to them having some sort of verb-like thing on them.

I’m wondering if he’s a limo driver and was just there to pick Jesus up? It would make sense that someone of Jesus’ status wouldn’t be confined to airports as points of arrival, but he probably wouldn’t need a limo in that case either.

A co-worker suggested that maybe he just likes to over-emphasize his expletives, maybe he has a whole collection of signs for various situations, “Son of a Bitch”, “Ow, that hurt”, “It’s 3:15″.

A final possibility is that maybe he’s trying to bring back the Burma-Shave style of large scale public information. I’ll have to see if he has another sign tomorrow, stay tuned and perhaps all will become clear.

So there appears to be this drug, scopolamine, that basically turns one into a mindless, subservient zombie. Some unsavory types are using this to con folks out of their life savings and for other nefarious purposes. While it doesn’t seem to currently generate the kind of traditional zombies that we all worry about attacking us, it’s probably only a few molecules away from doing that. You may want to keep an eye on it.

This drug comes from the Borrachero tree that grows wild in Colombia, so it’s not exactly hard to get. Here’s an article that describes the situation. One especially amusing excerpt:

“We probably should put some sort of fence up,” jokes biologist Gustavo Morales at Bogota’s botanical gardens, eyeing children playing with borrachero seeds everywhere.

“If you ate a few of those, it would kill you.”

You should “probably put a fence up”? Ya think?!

“Ok, kids, go out and play, but remember to stay away from the zombie tree! Don’t want you filling up on brains and not being able to finish your dinner!”

I recently spotted this maintenance log attached to a large air handler in a lab:

• 3/10/06-Change filter & belts, grease bearings
• 8/17/06-Replace worn sheave
• 8/23/06-Install correct sheave & new motor

I guess someone made a bit of a mistake.

So what happened with the number 9? Did they get through creating the number 8 and were just so tired that they said “Screw it, just flip the 6 over, I’m going home!”