Life of Riley

'greening' transportation

I am not a big believer in this whole need to go green movement that seems to be encompassing the country. I think that global warming is a big farce...thought up by Al Gore to make a movie and some money and promoted by the "left" to help win elections. It is the liberal's version of a scare tactic...similar to the way the 'right' has used national security in recent years. Though, don't get me wrong, I am not saying that the need for national security is not there because it is in a big way. I follow the green movement because I believe that it holds many lucrative business opportunities...

Anyway, back on track, I came across the following today on MSN:

Toyota may put solar panels on new Prius to power air conditioning

A Japanese newspaper is reporting that Toyota plans to install solar panels on its next model of the popular Prius hybrid. If the company follows through, it would be the first major automaker to incorporate solar power into its vehicles. Even with the panels, though, the pimped-out Prius wouldn't actually run on solar power (it's still a gasoline-electric hybrid, yo); instead, the solar panels would reportedly power the vehicle's air conditioning.

Sources: Reuters, BBC News

I found this to be amusing and interesting at the same time. Like I said, I believe that there are many opportunities out there while the whole green movement is happening...and this may be one. I think that solar power can be used in many different applications and corporate America will begin to explore the true expanse of these applications...not just in cars. I find it to be amusing because I was actually thinking the other day about powering an entire car off of solar power. There are many hurdles to overcome before this can be done...but I think it would be interesting.

Another thought that I had related to alternative energy relating to cars had to do with windmills. What else out there generates more 'wind' than a car going 70 mph down the highway? It gets cloudy sometimes, which will hinder solar power, but you cannot drive anywhere without generating wind. I think it is a no-brainer...will someone else too??

I also have begun to explore mini-windmills that could be placed upon residential roofs in the same manner as solar panels are. The idea is the same and there are definite hurdles...like no wind days...but there are also no-sun days for solar panel users.

atlantic oaks & the cape

I spent the July 4th weekend with Caroline, Tyson & Kira out on the Cape. We left Thursday after work and spent the night in Boston at Caroline's parents' house...which ended up being the first of a string of near-sleepless nights. We made it out to Eastham, MA pretty quickly on Friday and had to wait a bit to 'check in' to our camp site.

This was the first time Caroline and I had gone camping...real camping...in a tent...and we decided to bring the pups. We had our site at the Atlantic Oaks camp ground, which was actually very nice and the facilities were very nice. We supposedly got the last site on the grounds since we waited until last week to make a reservation...but that was fine since we were up in the corner, on a hill with only one site next to us. We didn't spend too much time at the actual camp grounds as we did a bunch of traveling around the cape between my family's campground in South Dennis and other attractions around the area with Mom & Dad.

Saturday afternoon we went wine tasting...yes, there is a vineyard on Cape Cod...and the wine was pretty good. It was a good time and we left with a couple of bottles of vino. We spent the night with my father's side of the family munchin' on lobster and remembering the god times with my grandfather who passed this past spring. It was a great time overall and I was glad to be able to see all of my family again.

Camping will definitely be on the itinerary in the future...just not with the dogs. Neither Tyson nor Kira are very good campers, so the next time they will probably stay in the comfort of home. They were, however, very good sports the entire time we were there and are thoroughly exhausted now that we are home.

The weather wasn't great...damp and rainy would best describe it. But it was great to get away, try camping, spend time with Blondie and the pups, and see my family that I haven't had a chance to see in years. Great time overall!

Tomorrow I will be heading to our Lake Placid office to cover some closings...I'll have some words about that later...

Derrie-Air

I just came across this article from MSNBC about a new airline called Derrie-Air that purportedly charges passengers by the pound. Check out the website here. Well, it turns out that this was just a brilliant ad campaign put together by the publishers of the paper in which the ads were run. The idea was to show just how much of a buzz the paper and its web presence could generate for advertisers. Not only does it poke a little fun at the nightmare that is commercial airlines, it really seems to have achieved the desired effect. Brilliant all around in my opinion...and quite amusing.