Will Hybrid Cars Become A Rarity?
The first time that I heard of "Rare Earth Magnets" was referring to the tiny, super strong magnets used in computer hard drives that store data. Most every computer has them. They are made from "Rare Earth" minerals. The key to my blog is the word RARE.
High efficiency electric motors use magnets. Today's high efficiency furnaces often use blower motors with such magnets in them. Because an electric motor comes in different efficiencies, it stands to reason that hybrid cars, such as the Toyota Prius and any other such cars or trucks use the most efficient motor possible, along with batteries.
son day
Nick took my car Sunday to visit girlfriend. I got in the Lumina APV he usually drives to get to mass. Brake pedal went all the way to the floor, engine barely stayed running and was out of gas. (I'd also comment on the accumulated debris, but it wouldn't have kept me from mass... if the car ran.) My back up vehicle, a 1988 van, had a flat front tire. My back up, back up vehicle ran great and had plenty of air in the tires. The black Schwinn got me to church on time, and I found a parking spot right next to the door.
Because I wouldn't let him drive a car without brakes to his friend's house, I told Nick I'd pick him up. That's before I learned the bridge was out on Springdale. (I wrote before about getting lost in her subdivision, the largest one in the state.) I used to be comfortable getting to her home, no longer needed a cell phone, map and bag lunch, but only by way of Springdale. The only other way, North Avenue, was tried only once and hopelessly confused me, even with someone on the cell talking me through. This time when I tried it on my own all I kept seeing were detour signs for SR. What the heck is SR? Never heard of that one. So I ended up on Barker, never having seen sign of Springdale Estates. After parking and waiting for Nick at a local gas station, and after calm returned, I figured out what SR stood for: Springdale Road. It was a lot easier after that.
Obama's Speech To The Children
Immediately upon hearing of Obama's address to the school children which is upcoming, comments and discussion began to fly. Comparisons to other leaders in history were made. I do not recall any previous president addressing all of the nations school children. Thinking back to the previous presidents that I remember, and that goes back to Eisenhower, I don't think I would be alarmed about it. However, I am now.
The speech will be released Monday. I doubt that anything in it will be cause for concern. Indeed it will likely be inspiring and noble. But I still would not let my kids hear it. Hear me out.
What's Happening: Sept 8 to Sept 14
09/11/09
Freeman Friday Night Live
Enjoy an evening of live music and extended shopping hours. Head to Historic Downtown Waukesha to listen to a variety of bands, shop the specialty stores and boutiques and enjoy the many eateries.. Historic Downtown Waukesha; 6:30pm- 8:30pm; 262-547-1060; www.downtownwaukesha.com
09/12/09
Cinema in the Sand
Rainout Reschedule. Enjoy family activites and the movie Wizard of Oz at dusk. Pewaukee Lakefront; 7:15pm; 262-695-9735; www.positivelypewaukee.com
09/12/09
Waukesha Farmers' Market
Eat Fresh, buy local with the Waukesha Farmers' Market on the banks of the Fox River. Fresh fruits, vegetables, plants and crafts available for purchase.. Riverfront Plaza, Historic Downtown Waukesha; 7:00am- 12:00pm; 262-549-6154; www.downtownwaukesha.com
09/12/09
Waukesha Art Fest
A Juried Fine Art and Fine Craft Fair. Beautiful Art, Live Music, Food, Children's Activity Tent and Silent Auction. Located on Main Street between Clinton and Grand Ave; 10am to 5pm; 262-547-1522; www.downtownwaukesha.com
09/12/09- 09/13/09
Maxwell Street Days Flea Market
Over 650 sellers offering a variety of goods. Field Park-Hwy 83 & NN-Mukwonago; 8am-5pm; 262-363-7758; www.mukwonagochamber.org
09/13/09
Frame Park Walk
Noncompetitive 5K/10K walks hosted by Dairyland Walkers. Start between 8am and noon, must finish by 3pm. Fee is free or $3 for volkssport credit. . Frame Park; 8am-3pm; 608-655-3141; www.dairylandwalkers.com
Waukesha Bountiful Garden Summer Soup
Here is a newly-concocted recipe to help you use all those ripe tomatoes, peppers, zucchinis and other vegetables from your gardens. I'm calling it 'Waukesha Bountiful Garden Summer Soup.'
The ingredients are: 2 lbs organic ground chicken ('Good Harvest's 'Smart Chicken' brand is best), 2 cups sliced celery, 4 cups rainbow chard sliced (stems and leaves), 6 small zucchini thickly sliced, 1 mediterranean squash or other mid-sized squash sliced, 10 large tomatoes cut in 8ths, 3 cups sweet corn, 1 green pepper, 1 red pepper, 1 yellow pepper (all sliced into 1" pieces), 2 tsp italian seasoning, 1 tsp garlic salt, 3 garlic cloves diced, 1 tsp pepper, 1/2 cup fresh basil scissored into strips, a handful of fresh rosemary, 2 cups tomato juice or blendered tomatoes, 1/2 cup cornstarch, 1/2 cup water, shredded low-fat mozarella cheese.
which way is up?
I could've titled this one "Saving the Best for Last". One of the last weekends of summer was also one of the best. Great stretch of weather. Had a four day weekend and hot air crewed four times. What a great time!
"National" Healthcare will save money?
Our president proposes and asks for bi-partisan support of his National Healthcare proposal on nation-wide television. He asks for this support while blasting Republican programs, people, and past policy decisions.
Our president explains that his plan will cost $900 billion over 10 years. Amazingly, this is proposed one day after the federal government announces they might recover their investment in Chrysler, but there was no possibility the government will ever recover their much larger investment in General Motors!
9-11-01 Stranded in Atlanta
Above my desk is a three ring binder that says Mitsubishi and the dates September 11 & 12 2001. On that fateful day, I was sitting in a classroom outside of Atlanta Georgia at the American distribution center for Mitsubishi Electric. At the rear of the classroom was a mural of the New York skyline, with the World Trade buildings being the center of attention. As events unfolded and interest in the class diminished, a comment was that this "air strike" was worse than Pearl Harbor. Chilling because the Japanese Zero airplanes that bombed Pearl Harbor were made by Mitsubishi, now a business partner with us.
Atlanta was supposedly on the list of places to be attacked. So the airport was shut down for days. As I dislike taking taxis, I rented a car at the airport. Phone calls to them just kept ringing. Tuesday afternoon the class ended and airline flights were still grounded. Still no answer at the car rental company. Well, possession is 99% of ownership so at 4:30 PM I was driving the rental car back home. Around 3:30 AM I arrived in Chicago and found the rental company at O Hare airport where I had departed from. The normally 24 hour bustle of the airport was missing, but the rental company was open. I flipped the keys on the counter and said you now have a rental car with Georgia license plates. Some days later they let me know that the $450 off-site drop-off fee was waived due to the circumstances. Decent of them.
sweet weekends (are made of this)
And I thought last weekend was sweet. Just one summer weekend to go and it keeps getting better and better.
Friday night, son Nick and Waukesha Northstars won. Sunday night Packers won. In between lots and lots of fun.
Gee, Do I Feel Vanilla!
No, I'm not talking custard. However, my favorite flavor is chocolate.
What I'm talking about is the tone of our beloved WaukeshaNow blogosphere. I had wondered why Oconomowoc didn't have a "Now" website. Well they do, but it is LivingLakeCountry.com and is now in the list of "Now" communities. I visited it some time ago and immediately had to dodge a rock thrown one direction. Shortly another flew by from another direction. I was caught in the crossfire of liberal versus conservative, uh, I'll call it discussion.
Quick Comments - National
I voted for Jimmy Carter. I also wondered why I could not afford a house with double digit interest rates. I had a political awakening after that time period that I'll save for another blog. I just want to say that there was a time that I thought Jimmy would make a good president, even if he had a can of Billy Beer, a handful of peanuts and his Cardigan sweater while sitting in front of the fireplace or while walking down Pennsylvania Avenue.
In recent years Jimmy has not been impressing me with his comments. My comment to Jimmy, and it seems even from more and more Democrats within the last few hours, is that criticizing President Obama does not make one a racist! I'm sure that he has useful comments based on the experience that a former President has gained, but inflammatory and condescending comments like that serve no purpose other than to divide the country more than it presently is.
'BIG READ Waukesha' Launches Soon With New Twist
Are you ready for captivating literature, exciting art, free books, military tributes, an exciting road trip to a famed home, and a slew of excellent programs & events?
This year, Ernest Hemingway is on the BIG READ launching pad and the countdown to October 3rd has begun.
Big Blue Canvas
I took a little break from the blog to spend some quality time up north, searching the cool Canadian waters for the ever elusive Walleye Pike.
Unfortunately, for whatever reason, Canada had swapped temperatures with southern Florida for a week- 80 degrees every day- and that kind of weather is terrible for fishing.
What's Happening: Sept 14 to Sept 21
09/16/09
Waukesha Creative Arts League Meeting
The Waukesha Creative Arts League cordially invites all greater Waukesha area artists and others interested in the visual arts to join us in beginning our 34th year of serving the greater Waukesha area.. Goodwill Industries building, 1400 Nike Dr., Waukesha; 6:30pm; 262-385-5320
09/16/09
The Caring Place, Inc./ Caregiver Chat The Caregivers Story
What Works In a Memory Care Facility Presented by Linda Britt, Life Enrichment Coordinator Of Clare Bridge of Brookfield Memory Care Center. The Caring Place, 810 N. East Ave; 4-5:30pm; 262-542-6388 or 282-928-2314; www.caringplacewaukesha.org
What's Happening: Sept 21 to Sept 28
09/25/09
Freeman Friday Night Live
Last event of the season (Oct- May this event moves indoors!) dedicated to the memory and legacy of Les Paul! Enjoy an evening of live music and extended shopping hours. Head to Historic Downtown Waukesha to listen to a variety of bands, shop the specialty stores and boutiques and enjoy the many eateries.. Historic Downtown Waukesha; 6:30pm- 8:30pm; 262-547-1060; www.downtownwaukesha.com
09/26/09
Harvest Health Fair at Good Harvest Market
Largest Health Fair ever - Come join us in Waukesha for a day filled with activities, games, cookout, health professionals giving demonstrations, consultations, free samples and many other giveaways. . 1850 Meadow Lane, Pewaukee - ; 11am-6pm; 262-544-9380; www.goodharvestmarket.com
walk a mile (or two) in my shoes
The St. William Conference of St. Vincent de Paul is hosting the Second Annual Walk for the Poor this Saturday morning. There will be plenty of fresh air and exercise. Great weather and delicious food. Think about joining us to benefit Waukesha's less fortunate. It'll be a great day for a walk.
Taxing Soda Pop
The New England Journal of Medicine has published an article by several doctors promoting a penny per ounce tax on sugar sweetened soda. That would be 12 cents on a typical can of soda or 32 cents added to the 99 cent McDonald's summer special drink.
This idea has been discussed for many months as has other ideas aimed at reducing obesity so that ObamaCare can afford to treat 50 million more people without increasing taxes. That leaves open huge fees, of course. Our own Governor Doyle has explained to us that fees are not taxes. Sunday, George Stephanopoulos read the definition of taxes out of a dictionary to Obama and he walked around that as deftly as Bill Clinton trying to define what "is" is.
What's Happening: Sept 28 to Oct 5
10/01/09
A Night at the Museum
Inspired by the popular Ben Stiller films. Bring your friends on an after hours tour of the museum as exhibits come to life.. Waukesha County Museum; ; 262-521-2859; www.waukeshacountymuseum.org
10/01/09
Opening: Picturing Hemingway: A writer in his time.
In his own lifetime, Hemingway's fame rested nearly as much on his personality as it did on his art. Big Read events are from October 3 to November 11. This year's book is A Farewell to Arms.. Waukesha County Museum, 101 West Main St., Waukesha; 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; 262 521-2859; www.waukeshacounty museum.org
Craft Beer
Last week in Denver was the Great American Beer Festival. It is held every September and brings over 450 brewers from all over the US to this 3 day festival. Wisconsin was very well represented with MillerCoors, Lakefront, Capital, New Glarus,Dells Brewing Co.,Great Dane, Rock Bottom,Titletown and Water Street Brewery. 78 Different beer categories were judged and Gold, Silver and Bronze were awarded. Beer selection ranged from the simple Pilsner to the obscure. Wisconsin did bring home some awards: Miller, Capital,New Glarus,Rock Bottom,Titletown brewery.
The tone of the festival was obviously positive(how can it not be? beer is involved), most brewers are seeing light at the end of the tunnel with the economy so re-investment will continue and the holidays will bring a lot of great beer choices.
