We had another Bottom Dollar "pay me to walk out with a case of food" day. It was wonderful, we both loaded up on Stouffer's instant meals. Joe got a case, I got that and more. The deals that you can find when you are paying attention are just absurdly low.

Also, as an informal poll, how many of our regular blog readers would like to chat with a virtual personality that mimics either Joe or Dale? We have recently wandered into some strange software that allows you to customize a chatbot and it is hysterically entertaining and creepy.

Ultimate Business Trip - 582 Miles Carpooled

This week I had the pleasure of a three person / two person round trip to Pittsburgh.  The bad news was that it was grueling as it was a round-tripper in one day.  The great news was that I was essentially a stow-away and got to tag along on some already scheduled journeys and my expense was exactly ZERO dollars.  So as not to feel as a freeloader, I did drive one leg of the journey.

Joe drives Dave and Mike to PA RLA.  Mike drives Joe and Dave to Bridgeville.  Bill Drives Joe to Reading.  About 582 car-miles saved.

Back to School - Ha Ha Ha!

Betsy is back at school and so are Dale and Joe.  Relive day one of the Fall session.  Great fun and saving money too!  Carpooling rules.

Betsy drives Joe to DBMS where Betsy works.  Dale drives to DBMS, drives Joe to work.  Betsy drives home. Dale drives back to D'ville, drops off Joe at his house, then drives home.  About 40 car-miles $aved.

Brakes are waste, but not a waste.

I've mentioned the notion of automotive brakes as waste in the past.  If you think about it, braking is used to reduce the velocity of your vehicle.  Reducing your speed inevitably requires a subsequent acceleration which is fuel consuming....waste.

Considering the thermodynamics (unavoidable), basically you are turning the energy in the fossil fuel you pumped into your tank into heated rotors instead of energy to get you to a place.  Deming would call that waste.

Instead, I like to drive as a trucker.  Anticipate the stops and starts.  According to Bill Beaty,  you can personally reduce traffic and improve your game by just following a couple of east steps. Check his site and the YouTubes.  Interesting stuff.

Stay off the brake, stay off the accelerator, stay away from the pump!

Some things you don't notice until you're not driving

On the positive side, there are a lot of fun things to observe when you are not focused on driving.

Being a passenger sheds a whole new perspective on mundane road projects.  Actually there are a number of these "crossings to nowhere" along our route.  I think this is simply good civic planning.  Someday the cars will be gone.  ...but we'll still have two feet, right?

Groundhog Antics - Need Suggestions....Are they good to eat?

Sometimes the drive elicits random thoughts.  Lousy Groundhogs.  I thought all they did was eat.  Can we eat them?  Anyone have a recipe?

If my assessment goes up due to the groundhog's home improvements, I'm going to be pissed.

Why is that Owl following us?

I don't know exactly how many days in a row now, but Joe and I have been seeing an OWL (capital letters) in or around Joe's neighborhood. We have spotted it several times just sitting there, watching the road for some reason all it's own, and apparently quite contentedly staring down cars. It is kind of creepy as owls (lower case), don't usually come out in the daytime. Nor do they in my experience make suggestive eye contact with people in cars. Today we saw it again for the Nth time and I swear it looked deep into my soul with eyes that seemed to ask "Going my way, stranger?". Needless to say, I was terrified for the long moment, I hope we don't see the Owl (upper and lower case) again.