2010-06-07-1742Z


Got the race results yesterday; my "vehicle", Lotecnotec, came in 19th out of 43, 34 of which finished. I was in 4th place on day 1, but days 2 and 3 I got heavily penalized for skipping the water parts. And next year, they won't allow racers to go overland on the 3rd leg unless everybody goes overland; so I really have to be ready for the water by then. Drysuit and float bags, minimum.

Went to a meeting down in Santa Clara two days ago, and thought of a new slogan for bay area public transport: "Twice as long, for twice the price!". No wonder the car culture is so well-entrenched despite an otherwise wonderful system of buses and trains. Who wants to leave 4 hours early to get to work on time, and spend twice what they would on gasoline?

Musing about what will happen if enough people get enlightened before we destroy ourselves... products will be built to last 1000 years or more, and made so that if they are obsoleted by new technology, the parts can be easily recycled or reused. Standards will be established and followed, and maybe someday there will only be a few tens of different motor types in regular household use instead of thousands. Roads will be paved once forever and will not need maintenance for hundreds of years; and when that time comes, they will be made as new and not patched, as now when concrete roads have holes filled with asphalt patch. And all that's just a start. Above-ground structures will be phased out in favor of a vast network of burrows and tunnels, enough room for billions in a naturally climate-controlled underground. Above, the houses will disappear along with the notion that people can "own" land, and the deer, elk, buffalo, and wolf will once again flourish.

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last updated 2010-06-07 14:17:45. served from tektonic.jcomeau.com