I moved to Chicago a few weeks ago and after a brief period of practicing car free living, I decided to live car free for real, so I placed Minnie on Craigslist and sold her yesterday afternoon!
Now, going carless is an odd thing for me to even attempt. I've owned at least one motorized vehicle since I was 17. At one time, I had three vehicles licensed in my name! I love driving cars and motorcycles (obviously, given this website's original intent).
While it feels odd to no longer have a car, I don't need one.
I live three blocks from an 'L' stop, and there are two major bus lines right outside my door.
I live about 2 miles from work, so I bike there every day. It takes me 35 minutes to get to work by train, 25 minutes by bus, and 15 by bike.
There are grocery stores, restaurants, hardware shops, thrift stores and more within walking and biking distance.
What I found during my experimental phase is that eliminating driving from your available transportation sources is pretty easy (and not just for people living in dense urban centers).
I'm going to continue posting about my experiences going carless in Chicago this year.
Showing posts with label Announcements. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Announcements. Show all posts
Monday, May 19, 2008
Thursday, June 7, 2007
Once a researcher, always a researcher...
Here's the deal: for a while now, I've been hearing rumors and discussion about how bad the copper heating tubes in my vegetable oil tank are for the car - supposedly, they cause polymerization and oxidation of the oil, possibly causing damage to engines. This worries me, but I haven't been able to find any proof. I searched scientific literature to no avail.
After looking around, I found this discussion by a Mr. Joe Beatty that addresses these claims (this discussion can be found on this page ). The problem is, I don't completely agree with some conclusions drawn by the author, and in some cases, he doesn't present enough data to make any conclusions - especially when addressing his most worrisome claim - that copper causes viscosity to rise - so I have no idea I agree with his conclusions or not.
My take on Beatty's work:
First, the author heats up vegetable oil to 70C in the presence of copper and observes that the oil's peroxide number increases, and then, decreases such that by the end of the experiment, the sample exposed to copper is less oxidized than the control sample. The author states that this experiment illustrates the how much the copper oxidizes the vegetable oil. If anything, this data shows a protective effect!
The next few experiments deal with free fatty acids, are presented without adequate control, and don't seem to be much of a problem, so I will not comment on the author's conclusions.
The final section is where I believe the meat of the problem lies. The author theorizes that oxidation reactions cause the vegetable oil to polymerize. He further observes an increased viscosity in oil exposed to copper and heat over time. However, he does not present his data with a control - it is possible that simply heating oil in the presence of air causes the viscosity to increase. After reading this discussion, I still don't know if exposure to copper will cause the viscosity of oil to increase.
The author concludes by again theorizing that the oxidation of the vegetable oil may be causing a polymerization to occur. Whether or not I agree with this theory, it seems like a somewhat large leap to take, given the volume of data presented.
Let's address the possible issues:
Oxidation: oxidation alone doesn't really worry me. I'm burning this oil, not cooking with it. If it goes rancid (another descriptor for oxidized oil), what do I care? What's another term for burning? Rapid oxidation. If the oil is slightly oxidized before it reaches the injector, I don't much care.
Polymerization: If the oil polymerizes when exposed to copper, that worries me a lot. Even if a material polymerizes slightly, the viscosity will rise rapidly. Polymerization is certainly possible: copper is a reactive surface, and it certainly might cause some random reaction to happen. Since I don't know what reactions might be happening, and viscosity reacts strongly when polymerization occurs, I will focus on viscosity.
Viscosity: This is the issue I'm most worried about. Does the viscosity of vegetable oil go up when exposed to copper and heat? The author hasn't done a good job of convincing me either way.
Heat: I suspect that the real culprit here is heat, not copper. Heat often triggers all kinds of reactions - including polymerization and oxidation.
Metals: Metals may play a role as a catalyst in this situation, and copper is a relatively reactive metal. However, given copper's superior heat transfer capabilities, ease of manufacturing, and affordability, it is worth investigating further to discover what reaction vegetable oil has when exposed to it before shunning it altogether.
My solution:
I have an idea for an experiment - I'm going to heat up some oil samples both with and without copper present, and with some other common tank materials (aluminum and stainless steel). I will then measure the viscosity using the tried and true Ubbelodhe type capillary viscometer. I like it because it provides completely reproducible results and is a beautifully simple device design. Heck, it's all glass, so you can immediately see if something is wrong. I'm also going to make sure that I have as many controls as possible. Experiments without proper control groups don't illustrate anything.
Samples:
Control1
Expose to air; Measure before heating, after heating for 1 day, 3 days, 5 days.
Control2
Expose to air; measure after 5 days
Copper1
Expose to air; Measure after heating for 1 day, 3 days, 5 days
Copper2
Don't heat; Expose to air; measure after 5 days
Steel1
Expose to air; Measure after heating for 1 day, 3 days, 5 days
Steel2
Don't heat; Expose to air; measure after 5 days
Aluminum1
Expose to air; Measure after heating for 1 day, 3 days, 5 days
Aluminum2
Don't heat; Expose to air; measure after 5 days
WVO1
Measure filtered WVO from a storage tank
WVO2
Measure WVO from my vegetable oil fuel tank (my tank contains copper heating coils)
Note1: all oil samples will be 100% Canola oil, unless otherwise noted
Note2: all metal samples are samples of tubing, similar to the tubing used in tank heating coil construction, for more realistic testing on the bench top.
I will begin experimentation on Monday. When completed, I intend to publish my results on this website.
After looking around, I found this discussion by a Mr. Joe Beatty that addresses these claims (this discussion can be found on this page ). The problem is, I don't completely agree with some conclusions drawn by the author, and in some cases, he doesn't present enough data to make any conclusions - especially when addressing his most worrisome claim - that copper causes viscosity to rise - so I have no idea I agree with his conclusions or not.
My take on Beatty's work:
First, the author heats up vegetable oil to 70C in the presence of copper and observes that the oil's peroxide number increases, and then, decreases such that by the end of the experiment, the sample exposed to copper is less oxidized than the control sample. The author states that this experiment illustrates the how much the copper oxidizes the vegetable oil. If anything, this data shows a protective effect!
The next few experiments deal with free fatty acids, are presented without adequate control, and don't seem to be much of a problem, so I will not comment on the author's conclusions.
The final section is where I believe the meat of the problem lies. The author theorizes that oxidation reactions cause the vegetable oil to polymerize. He further observes an increased viscosity in oil exposed to copper and heat over time. However, he does not present his data with a control - it is possible that simply heating oil in the presence of air causes the viscosity to increase. After reading this discussion, I still don't know if exposure to copper will cause the viscosity of oil to increase.
The author concludes by again theorizing that the oxidation of the vegetable oil may be causing a polymerization to occur. Whether or not I agree with this theory, it seems like a somewhat large leap to take, given the volume of data presented.
Let's address the possible issues:
Oxidation: oxidation alone doesn't really worry me. I'm burning this oil, not cooking with it. If it goes rancid (another descriptor for oxidized oil), what do I care? What's another term for burning? Rapid oxidation. If the oil is slightly oxidized before it reaches the injector, I don't much care.
Polymerization: If the oil polymerizes when exposed to copper, that worries me a lot. Even if a material polymerizes slightly, the viscosity will rise rapidly. Polymerization is certainly possible: copper is a reactive surface, and it certainly might cause some random reaction to happen. Since I don't know what reactions might be happening, and viscosity reacts strongly when polymerization occurs, I will focus on viscosity.
Viscosity: This is the issue I'm most worried about. Does the viscosity of vegetable oil go up when exposed to copper and heat? The author hasn't done a good job of convincing me either way.
Heat: I suspect that the real culprit here is heat, not copper. Heat often triggers all kinds of reactions - including polymerization and oxidation.
Metals: Metals may play a role as a catalyst in this situation, and copper is a relatively reactive metal. However, given copper's superior heat transfer capabilities, ease of manufacturing, and affordability, it is worth investigating further to discover what reaction vegetable oil has when exposed to it before shunning it altogether.
My solution:
I have an idea for an experiment - I'm going to heat up some oil samples both with and without copper present, and with some other common tank materials (aluminum and stainless steel). I will then measure the viscosity using the tried and true Ubbelodhe type capillary viscometer. I like it because it provides completely reproducible results and is a beautifully simple device design. Heck, it's all glass, so you can immediately see if something is wrong. I'm also going to make sure that I have as many controls as possible. Experiments without proper control groups don't illustrate anything.
Samples:
Control1
Expose to air; Measure before heating, after heating for 1 day, 3 days, 5 days.
Control2
Expose to air; measure after 5 days
Copper1
Expose to air; Measure after heating for 1 day, 3 days, 5 days
Copper2
Don't heat; Expose to air; measure after 5 days
Steel1
Expose to air; Measure after heating for 1 day, 3 days, 5 days
Steel2
Don't heat; Expose to air; measure after 5 days
Aluminum1
Expose to air; Measure after heating for 1 day, 3 days, 5 days
Aluminum2
Don't heat; Expose to air; measure after 5 days
WVO1
Measure filtered WVO from a storage tank
WVO2
Measure WVO from my vegetable oil fuel tank (my tank contains copper heating coils)
Note1: all oil samples will be 100% Canola oil, unless otherwise noted
Note2: all metal samples are samples of tubing, similar to the tubing used in tank heating coil construction, for more realistic testing on the bench top.
I will begin experimentation on Monday. When completed, I intend to publish my results on this website.
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
A unique rideshare offer.
I posted this and this to the SF bay Craigslist...
On June 19, I'm planning on taking roughly 4 days to drive from the San Francisco Bay area to the Portland Metro area. Since my usual partner in crime is in Indiana, I will have a spare seat in the car.
Thus, I have a unique opportunity for some adventuresome soul: take three to four days to drive along the Pacific coast in a carbon-neutral vehicle, filming interviews along the way.
If you're new to the Vegetable Oil Road Trip project, see here and here to see what we've been up to - or just poke around this blog and website so you understand what you're getting yourself into.
The itinerary (as best as I can figure it, all subject to change):
Day 1 (6/18-ish)
Leave from Berkeley
Stop at the Sonoma County Biofuels Co-Op for refueling and interviews
Stop at the Yokayo biodiesel plant for refueling and interviews
Camp in the Fort Bragg area for the night
Day 2
Drive to Humboldt State University for interviews
Camp at Redwood National Forest for the night
Day 3
Stop in Corvallis, OR
Day 4
Interviews, refueling, etc in Corvallis in the morning.
Drive to Portland
The path looks something like this.
Requirements for the person I pick up:
This will cost you $80 (that's about half of what fuel would cost for this trip) + your half of food, snacks, camping fees, incidentals, etc.
Food issues:
I'm an omnivore. If you're vegetarian, I'm willing to make reasonable concessions to help you keep your (admittedly more environmentally friendly) diet, but we're driving through some relatively out of the way areas - I don't know what we'll find.
Storage issues:
The trunk is entirely taken up by fuel. You'll get about half of the back seat. pack light.
Contact me if any of this sounds like your cup of tea.
On June 19, I'm planning on taking roughly 4 days to drive from the San Francisco Bay area to the Portland Metro area. Since my usual partner in crime is in Indiana, I will have a spare seat in the car.
Thus, I have a unique opportunity for some adventuresome soul: take three to four days to drive along the Pacific coast in a carbon-neutral vehicle, filming interviews along the way.
If you're new to the Vegetable Oil Road Trip project, see here and here to see what we've been up to - or just poke around this blog and website so you understand what you're getting yourself into.
The itinerary (as best as I can figure it, all subject to change):
Day 1 (6/18-ish)
Leave from Berkeley
Stop at the Sonoma County Biofuels Co-Op for refueling and interviews
Stop at the Yokayo biodiesel plant for refueling and interviews
Camp in the Fort Bragg area for the night
Day 2
Drive to Humboldt State University for interviews
Camp at Redwood National Forest for the night
Day 3
Stop in Corvallis, OR
Day 4
Interviews, refueling, etc in Corvallis in the morning.
Drive to Portland
The path looks something like this.
Requirements for the person I pick up:
- Someone that won't completely annoy me after Day 1.
- Good conversation skills.
- Be fairly liberal - and I don't necessarily mean that in the political sense, I mean that in the have an open mind and a broad background sense.
This will cost you $80 (that's about half of what fuel would cost for this trip) + your half of food, snacks, camping fees, incidentals, etc.
Food issues:
I'm an omnivore. If you're vegetarian, I'm willing to make reasonable concessions to help you keep your (admittedly more environmentally friendly) diet, but we're driving through some relatively out of the way areas - I don't know what we'll find.
Storage issues:
The trunk is entirely taken up by fuel. You'll get about half of the back seat. pack light.
Contact me if any of this sounds like your cup of tea.
Monday, June 4, 2007
A few updates
I spoke with three classes of high school seniors at the Acalanes High School today - it was their last full day of classes before finals. It was a lot of fun - I'll hopefully have some photos from today posted within a week or so (I'm using analog film now, so that means I have to wait for archaic things like processing - yuck). Also, we had a photographer present from the Contra Costa Times, so hopefully, we'll get into the paper!
I had a lot of fun, but I forgot how tired I get after doing a lot of public speaking, I'm out of practice!
Speaking of public speaking, this evening I attended Berkeley Professor Jay Keasling's talk about renewable energy from synthetic biology - he has an interesting approach to biofuels - one project that caught my attention was converting waste biomass into oil for fuel using synthetic biology. I don't know if this is more efficient than just burning waste biomass in a syngas process to make synthetic fuel - unfortunately I arrived late so I don't know if he addressed it. If you go here in the next few days, you'll be able to view his slides and listen to an MP3 of the presentation. I'm waiting for the MP3 myself so I can find out the answer to my question!
I had a lot of fun, but I forgot how tired I get after doing a lot of public speaking, I'm out of practice!
Speaking of public speaking, this evening I attended Berkeley Professor Jay Keasling's talk about renewable energy from synthetic biology - he has an interesting approach to biofuels - one project that caught my attention was converting waste biomass into oil for fuel using synthetic biology. I don't know if this is more efficient than just burning waste biomass in a syngas process to make synthetic fuel - unfortunately I arrived late so I don't know if he addressed it. If you go here in the next few days, you'll be able to view his slides and listen to an MP3 of the presentation. I'm waiting for the MP3 myself so I can find out the answer to my question!
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Two month mark
We've just completed two months on the road - we began on March 26 and it is now May 27.
We have driven over 7500 miles thus far, over 95% of those miles were completed on bio fuels (we purchased only one tank of petroleum diesel in New Jersey, a month and a half ago).
We have driven through 23 of the 24 states we plan to go through (the only one left: Oregon).
We have driven over 7500 miles thus far, over 95% of those miles were completed on bio fuels (we purchased only one tank of petroleum diesel in New Jersey, a month and a half ago).
We have driven through 23 of the 24 states we plan to go through (the only one left: Oregon).
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
What happens next?
It's been a busy few days, here are a few quick updates:
We're currently in Visalia, California (just South of Fresno) meeting an old friend of Mary's.
This morning we interviewed people at Lovecraft biofuels - a company building and installing vegetable oil conversion kits - very cool stuff (they gave us some VegOil - thanks!). We shot about an hour of footage, and we also met D.O., the man who originally talked us into visiting LA (he also gave us some VegOil - thanks!), and saw his sweet ride - a 1983 Mercedes Benz 300D - Minnie's younger sister.
Unfortunately our still camera met an untimely death in the Grand Canyon, so no more photos until I can get an inexpensive replacement. See Mary's post for one of its last pictures.
We keep getting this question from people:
What happens after the trip is over? What happens next?
Here's the basic plan:
The website will continue to be a resource for biofuels and pollution health. I hope to extend the number of articles available and I will continue to blog here about my experiences in looking for an opportunity for myself within the biofuels industry (I'm certain that my job search will involve more vegetable oil powered road-tripping and speaking with biofuels pioneers if nothing else).
Also, I have something like 15 hours of video to go through and edit. I plan on making a series of web-ready films to post - those will be interesting - we've talked to a lot of very interesting people on this trip.
We're currently in Visalia, California (just South of Fresno) meeting an old friend of Mary's.
This morning we interviewed people at Lovecraft biofuels - a company building and installing vegetable oil conversion kits - very cool stuff (they gave us some VegOil - thanks!). We shot about an hour of footage, and we also met D.O., the man who originally talked us into visiting LA (he also gave us some VegOil - thanks!), and saw his sweet ride - a 1983 Mercedes Benz 300D - Minnie's younger sister.
Unfortunately our still camera met an untimely death in the Grand Canyon, so no more photos until I can get an inexpensive replacement. See Mary's post for one of its last pictures.
We keep getting this question from people:
What happens after the trip is over? What happens next?
Here's the basic plan:
- 5/30: Mary flies back to Wisconsin to pick up her car and drive to Indianapolis and begin her intern year there.
- Next: I drive to Portland to complete the road trip.
- After that: I wish to enter the biofuels industry. I have training and experience in chemical engineering and project management. I hope I can find some opportunities there. Yes, please consider this a request for networking assistance...
The website will continue to be a resource for biofuels and pollution health. I hope to extend the number of articles available and I will continue to blog here about my experiences in looking for an opportunity for myself within the biofuels industry (I'm certain that my job search will involve more vegetable oil powered road-tripping and speaking with biofuels pioneers if nothing else).
Also, I have something like 15 hours of video to go through and edit. I plan on making a series of web-ready films to post - those will be interesting - we've talked to a lot of very interesting people on this trip.
Saturday, May 12, 2007
Bumps
Okay, so here's the latest news: Minnie has developed several expensive problems that are primarily the result of her being an old car. To fix everything, the estimate is in the $2,000-$3,000 range. After some soul (and bank account) searching, I've decided to go ahead with the most critical repairs - everything but the A/C (needs a $1500 overhaul and conversion that will wait until I get a new source of funding, be it a job or whatever). This means we will be crossing the Mojave desert at night, and keeping Minnie under cover during the day.
So, the show will go on, but we will be in Albuquerque for slightly longer than originall planned. Instead of leaving on Monday, we'll be leaving on Wednesday-ish. I think we have plenty of slush time left to absorb this delay, so we should be fine for getting to San Francisco by the end of the month (Mary has a plane to catch).
In other news, I haven't been able to FTP to the website since leaving Austin, so the front page still says we're in Austin. This is a lie. We are clearly in Albuquerque. We am working to remedy the problem ASAP - sorry for any confusion this may cause.
So, the show will go on, but we will be in Albuquerque for slightly longer than originall planned. Instead of leaving on Monday, we'll be leaving on Wednesday-ish. I think we have plenty of slush time left to absorb this delay, so we should be fine for getting to San Francisco by the end of the month (Mary has a plane to catch).
In other news, I haven't been able to FTP to the website since leaving Austin, so the front page still says we're in Austin. This is a lie. We are clearly in Albuquerque. We am working to remedy the problem ASAP - sorry for any confusion this may cause.
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Today only: listen to us on the radio/web -Ooops!
Update: Sorry, it was just a recording session - we'll let you know when it gets broadcast.
If you're in the Albuquerque area today, give KUNM (89.9FM) a listen.
If you're not in Albuquerque, go to KUNM's website and click the "listen" link on the top left.
We'll be doing an interview around noon mountain time!
If you're in the Albuquerque area today, give KUNM (89.9FM) a listen.
If you're not in Albuquerque, go to KUNM's website and click the "listen" link on the top left.
We'll be doing an interview around noon mountain time!
Saturday, May 5, 2007
We're camping till Tuesday morning *updated*
Hi all,
We're in Kermit, TX, deep in the middle of oil country. Tomorrow morning, we'll be in Carlsbad, NM exploring the caverns. We're planning on camping tomorrow night, and we plan on being in Albuquerque, NM by Monday night/Tuesday morning. Since there's little chance of internet in the wilds of Carlsbad National Monument, we won't be making any posts until Tuesday morning.
In the meantime, here's something very cool that landed in our inbox:
We're in Kermit, TX, deep in the middle of oil country. Tomorrow morning, we'll be in Carlsbad, NM exploring the caverns. We're planning on camping tomorrow night, and we plan on being in Albuquerque, NM by Monday night/Tuesday morning. Since there's little chance of internet in the wilds of Carlsbad National Monument, we won't be making any posts until Tuesday morning.
In the meantime, here's something very cool that landed in our inbox:
Hi i just wanted to mention that i saw the car in San Angelo Texas on May 5th i thought it was very neat to see a car powered by vegetable oil and i probably won\'t see one again for quite some time. Very cool. marinaThanks for the email, Marina!
Wednesday, May 2, 2007
New Area on the Website
We've finally completed construction of our brand new pollution health area. Right now, it contains a single article: Outdoor Air Pollution and Health.
Next up: Noise Pollution and What You Can Do
Enjoy!
Next up: Noise Pollution and What You Can Do
Enjoy!
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
MinnieSpace
Like everyone else her age, Minnie now has a MySpace page. If you also have a page on the MySpace, feel free to be her friend...
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Photo Albums
We take many, many more photos than ever make it into our blog posts. The best of which we upload to this album:
We also are taking photos at the schools we visit - those pictures are in this album:
Enjoy!
 |
| VORT pics |
We also are taking photos at the schools we visit - those pictures are in this album:
 |
| Vegetable Oil Road Trip Schools |
Free scoop day
We're leaving D.C. for the Virginia Beach area today. In the meantime, everyone should go to Ben and Jerry's for a free scoop of ice cream (April 17th from 12pm to 8pm only).
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Feeling fine
After my last post, we received a deluge of concerned emails and calls. Thanks everyone, but we're feeling fine now. No, seriously, we feel fine. Stop worrying. Really.
We just spent a week in NYC with C.G. and K.L., we were complete tourists, just walking around and snapping photos, sleeping 10 hours a night, and completely getting over our colds. We both woke up this morning feeling rested and healthy. Completely ready to tackle the next (short) leg of our journey.
Tomorrow, we are driving south to D.C. (it's 15 degrees warmer there!). On the way, we'll be stopping by Southampton, NJ to pick up a load of veggie oil (yay for the Internet!), and we might swing by Philly for a cheese steak or good Vietnamese food. We'll be in D.C. for four days, staying with Miss N, taking things nice and easy.
In fact, we've arranged things so that the remainder of our trip will be luxuriously slow as compared to our drag-race to the East Coast was. We're making sure that we have recuperation days between travel days, and loads of time to just relax.
Other things coming down the pipe:
We are working to speak to an Elementary School in Goldsboro, NC - hopefully that works out.
We are looking for Earth Day happenings in D.C. and Virginia.
We just spent a week in NYC with C.G. and K.L., we were complete tourists, just walking around and snapping photos, sleeping 10 hours a night, and completely getting over our colds. We both woke up this morning feeling rested and healthy. Completely ready to tackle the next (short) leg of our journey.
Tomorrow, we are driving south to D.C. (it's 15 degrees warmer there!). On the way, we'll be stopping by Southampton, NJ to pick up a load of veggie oil (yay for the Internet!), and we might swing by Philly for a cheese steak or good Vietnamese food. We'll be in D.C. for four days, staying with Miss N, taking things nice and easy.
In fact, we've arranged things so that the remainder of our trip will be luxuriously slow as compared to our drag-race to the East Coast was. We're making sure that we have recuperation days between travel days, and loads of time to just relax.
Other things coming down the pipe:
We are working to speak to an Elementary School in Goldsboro, NC - hopefully that works out.
We are looking for Earth Day happenings in D.C. and Virginia.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Mapping the journey
Last week, Google released a new feature for their mapping service: my maps. A customizable map where you can make markings and notes. Thanks, Google for releasing new functionality aimed at making our trip easier :)
Here is our map so far. I'll be adding more as we go along, and maybe some photos, etc.
Does anyone out there know the code for embedding a Google map into a web page? I'd like to add this to our mapping page on the main site.
Right now we're in New York City, visiting with friends - the car is in New Jersey (resting up) we leave for Washington D.C. Thursday morning. Along the way, we hope to fill up on veg oil in Vincetown, NJ - there isn't much veg oil activity we can find between Vincetown and the Piedmont Biofuels Coop.
Here is our map so far. I'll be adding more as we go along, and maybe some photos, etc.
Does anyone out there know the code for embedding a Google map into a web page? I'd like to add this to our mapping page on the main site.
Right now we're in New York City, visiting with friends - the car is in New Jersey (resting up) we leave for Washington D.C. Thursday morning. Along the way, we hope to fill up on veg oil in Vincetown, NJ - there isn't much veg oil activity we can find between Vincetown and the Piedmont Biofuels Coop.
Saturday, April 7, 2007
Brief Hiatus
Hi everyone - we're taking a few days off for R&R (the last week was pretty difficult). Mary is relaxing with family in New Jersey and I'm in Austin, TX for a friend's wedding.
When we return (Monday or Tuesday): the Big Apple and a new video!
When we return (Monday or Tuesday): the Big Apple and a new video!
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Pictures of the kids
Whenever we visit a school, the only thing we ask in return is to take a photo of the kids we talk to, to post on our site. Here then is the picasa photo album for the photos we take along the way. We won't be making blog posts for each and every stop, but the album will be automatically updated as we take photos of more schools (click the picture to see the entire album):
 |
| Vegetable Oil Road Trip Schools |
Saturday, March 24, 2007
The naming of the car: Minerva
We (finally) have a name for the car. She will henceforth be known as Minerva (or, when not making official proclamations, we'll call her "Minnie"). The name was given to us by Betsy in Connecticut.
Why we like the name:
Minerva is the goddess of commerce, crafts, wisdom, engineering, medicine, and music (She invented music - good personage to have along for a road trip!).
She also guided and protected Oddesus through his adventures in the Oddysee. Here is a quote from Minerva when She reveals Herself to Oddeseus shortly after he returns to Ithaca:
Source: Wikipedia's entry on Minerva
Why we like the name:
Minerva is the goddess of commerce, crafts, wisdom, engineering, medicine, and music (She invented music - good personage to have along for a road trip!).
She also guided and protected Oddesus through his adventures in the Oddysee. Here is a quote from Minerva when She reveals Herself to Oddeseus shortly after he returns to Ithaca:
Did you not know Jove's daughter Minerva- me, who have been ever with you, who kept watch over you in all your troubles?
Source: Wikipedia's entry on Minerva
Friday, March 23, 2007
The naming of the car
Warning: the deadline for your names for the car is midnight tonight (central time)! Any entries received after that time will not be accepted.
For rules, details, etc, see the original contest posting.
For rules, details, etc, see the original contest posting.
Sponsorship.
Here's the deal: this all costs a lot of money. Traveling around the country, not having jobs, visiting classrooms of students, publishing text, photos, and videos to the Internets, and generally spreading the word. There are also incidental expenses, such as yesterday's break-in.
If you feel that the message we spread via this website and the educational work we do is worth supporting, please consider clicking the PayPal donation button below. You can use a normal credit card. Any amount is appreciated - and, if you wish, we will post your name and a link.
If you feel that the message we spread via this website and the educational work we do is worth supporting, please consider clicking the PayPal donation button below. You can use a normal credit card. Any amount is appreciated - and, if you wish, we will post your name and a link.
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