RLS, Mostly Harmless

This fantastic and very interesting article by Mark Cuban was brought to my attention this morning as I groaned via chat to a friend after writing my checks to The Man for my state and federal 07 Q4 1040-ESes.  He’s got some great points here.  Too bad the rest of the country lacks the foresight to enact some of the ideas outlined here.  Worth a definite read.

Warren Buffett , Taxes and the Presidency - Blog Maverick

What better way to start of the new year than ending the previous with a healthy dose of cholesterol, fat, and booze?  The highlights of our evening included an eight course wine tasting and a surf and turf combo.  This is an entire filet mignon split with lobster tails and wrapped in bacon as recommended by a butcher friend.  Outstanding.  It took about two hours to cook all the way, but now that I’ve done it once, I think I can do it a little better next time.  Believe me, I look forward to it!

I managed to get the entire place back into order this morning.  I’m really glad I was smart enough to run the first load of dishes before I went to bed, and it was far easier when I got up.  And that little dishwasher performed like a champ!

Now it’s off to watch the Illini and unload some leftovers!  Oskee wow-wow!

Months of hints finally got me to look into the fabled Space Bags.  Plagued by negative reviews, it took me a long time to figure out which ones were good and OK to get and which ones to steer away from.  My mistake for opening the unmarked Amazon box in front of the Lady.  Oh, well.  An early present, and I have to say, they’re pretty cool.

Befo’

Space Bagged!

That’s a whole queen size down comforter and duvet set with shams in there.  The picture just doesn’t do it justice, and with the 214hp Dyson, they’re truly amazing.  Since cats and vacuum cleaners have a natural mutually-exclusive nature, I was unable to get a hold of Klaus to see if he would take up less space under the bed, too.  Stay tuned for updates.

Big tree.  Managed to smuggle it in through the loading dock elevator and into the place undetected.  So far, the beasts don’t seem to have that much interest in it.

Yes, it’s real.  They assured me it was taken in the most humane way possible, using only legal workers and hand tools with zero carbon emissions, and they planted a dozen trees to take its place.

British Sports car to be converted to burn five different renewable fuels in New York To Paris race.   See the Race Route here!

(Reposted from www.greatrace.com, though it doesn’t appear to be there anymore.)

ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA – Dr. Rich McKone of Peoria, Illinois will convert his 1967 Aston Martin DB6 to run on alternative fuels for the around-the-world Great Race in 2008. Named “The Great Race 2008: New York to Paris” by the event organizers, The Great Race will be a re-run of a similar event created to showcase the newly invented automobile in 1908, before the advent of today’s modern highways and refueling systems.

Instead of running the historical British sports car in the Schuster Class for automobiles that are at least 25 years old and older, McKone intends to participate in the Innovation Class to showcase the viability of renewable fuels.

“Just as our predecessors set out to prove the automobile was able to travel long distance a century ago, the McKone-Price Racing team will prove that renewable fuels can provide a viable alternative a century later,” said McKone. “Even today, we have the technology to convert a car as exotic as the DB6 to run on 5 different alternate fuels. We encourage the auto industry to following our lead and begin producing vehicles that can burn up to 2 or 3 different fuels, so we are not captive to any one energy provider.”

McKone will serve as the navigator in the 22,000-mile trek from New York to Paris. His driver and mechanic will be Jerry Price from Plymouth, Wisconsin. Price has more than 30 years experience in alternative fuel vehicles and has raced them in a variety of contests.

Dr. McKone’s idea to convert the Aston’s aluminum straight 6 motor to burn multiple alternative fuels stems from his belief in the use of alternative fuels after growing up on a family farm. That, and easy access to the United States Agricultural Research Lab, considered by many to be the premiere research facility in the world for E-85 provides sufficient motivation to fund the conversion. The research lab can be seen from McKone’s backyard.

“I chose to convert an Aston Martin because it is a sexy car that draws a crowd,” explained McKone. “I felt that if I had an interesting car that was converted to run on alt fuels, it would get more publicity and the public would by more willing to hear the results.”

Once the idea received EPA approval, McKone contacted Bradley University, also located in Peoria, to see if they were interested in making the conversion a senior class project for the Mechanical Engineering Program.

Renewable fuel interests from all over the world have pledged support for the McKone Price racing team. Many of these organizations will provide practical and logistical support in their quest to circumnavigate the globe, much like in 1908, when car dealerships worldwide sponsored the racers in their mission to make sure the automobiles finished.

McKone, a 17-year Great Race veteran, recently ran the Aston Martin, powered by gasoline in the 2007 Great American Race, from Concord, North Carolina to Anaheim, California, finishing 9th overall with Jack Christensen, from Hawthorn Woods, Illinois, doing the navigating.

Early in the race, McKone and Christensen earned the best one-day score in Great Race history, scoring less then one-second off perfect time for the 300-mile drive from Spartanburg, South Carolina to Chattanooga, Tenn.

The Aston gave the team minimal problems during the 4,000-mile race. In order to prepare for next year, the car will need a few modifications to be race ready, including installing ethanol friendly carburetors, which are made with more stainless steel than rubber fittings and different jets for ethanol than for gasoline. Skid plates will be added to the bottom of the car to protect the engine during the drives on dirt roads between China and Paris.

“Being a part of the 2008 race Innovative Class is the opportunity of a lifetime, especially since it’s the first time in 100 years that it’s been done” said McKone. “After the 2008 race, I figure there will only be about 125 people in the history of the world that have done an an around the world car race, but none with five different renewable fuels.”

ABOUT GREAT RACE SPORTS, INC.

For 25 years, Great Race Sports, Inc., the race organizer, and its predecessors have delivered free family entertainment and community events in more than 900 cities reaching more than 200 million people in North America. Its participants have logged more than 9 million competitive miles and been awarded $6 million in prize money, making Great Race the richest and longest-running motorsports competition for classic cars. Great Race Sports is focused on bringing exciting vintage automotive events to consumers internationally. The company includes a number of prominent business executives including Jack Roush, one of NASCAR’s leading team owners, and Corky Coker, chief executive of Coker Tire Co. Coker and co-driver Greg Cunningham, a former Great Race Grand Champion, have entered the 1910 Nyberg Indy race car in Great Race 2008.