"Debbie Downer" for student bikers

I think this woman is working for SD/SC



We were perusing the school handbook this year the other day ... trying not to be taken down by things like the warning light not working, busses not showing up for kindergarten orientation and learning of the 10 year bond to buy computers (clearly not a 10 year service item). Oh, and learning that many towns start their kids a week LATER than Auburn, and hours are from 9-3, when our first graders are going 8-240?? Well it's worth it for those great test scores we're getting right? Right???

Then we learned of a particularly restrictive ordinance "Students are not permitted to ride bicycles to school". This is clearly not only anti-green, environment and the like, it's anti-health! I really don't understand this - kids are not just discouraged from exercising and getting vehicles off the road, they are prohibited from it? I guess we should encourage them to head to McDonalds (we have one across from the HS) and play more video games next.

Yet another naysayer/overly restrictive policy IMO from our great town non-leaders! As DD would say - "Wah waaaaaaaaah!"

Save on groceries and eat healthier too

Came across this link from the FDA about how to save money and eat healthier through simple meal planning and shopping and eating right.

Since starting my new exercise program, I've been preparing meals a lot more. Heck, I need to eat quite a bit to keep up with the program. I've found as a result not only do I eat better but I'm saving money, avoiding the big take-out bills at the end of the month on credit cards.

Here are some more ways to save on groceries from bankrate.com. The topic came up recently that it'd be nice to get a Trader Joes or even Whole Foods market in town for some healthier alternatives to the regular Shaws and Park and Shop.

The new Walmart superstore out on Rt 9 has low prices (not sure of quality, but prices are less).

Also in my experience Market Basket is superior to what we have here for selection and competitive price. Market Basket is locally owned (like Park and Shop unlike Shaws and Wally world). It'd be nice to have that competition out in Auburn for better quality and prices.

Buy Auburn

It'd be nice to have one of these for Auburn to promote our town to prospective residents.

The site's called buyworcester.com. It helps people buy a place in Worcester. Also there are links for lead abatement, solar programs from the state and the like for improving your home. There's even a purchase and rehab program available.

Promoting Auburn needs to be increased (or done at all). People love to tear down the town figuratively speaking, we also need advocates for why we are a nice place to live and communicate that on the web, in media and the like regularly. Otherwise we're left with a lot of negativity, which some in town might like to keep things quiet, but I think most folks are tired of it!

Heat from pavement a good energy collector too

A reader pointed this out:

WPI (my alma mater) is looking into using pavement as a solar energy collection device. Turns out the road is an order of magnitude MORE efficient than photo voltaic cells.

In some countries like the Netherlands, heated water from heat exchangers in the road is already used to heat nearby buildings. They mention a more sophisticated approach might be to employ thermoelectric devices as mentioned below. The exchangers should easily last 10-12 years that pavement lasts.

We've got a LOT of pavement in town. Maybe we could look into volunteering for some research in upcoming pavement contracts (Yong Shing??). We'd have to figure out a good candidate - maybe one of the many vast asphalt jungle parking lots we have. If only we knew of someone who graduated from there who might be able to help ....

Drive for electricity

A little geek news that might have some good implications for electric vehicles.

Interesting new material allows for electric generation from exhaust gas. I've heard previously of Mercedes use of steam to generate electricity in a concept vehicle; this uses an advanced thermoelectric material to generate a voltage. The new material is twice as efficient as the older one.

Part of Chinese Olympics faked for TV

The little girl was lip synching (because the real singer wasn't attractive enough) and the fireworks were computer generated

First hydrogen station opens in Billerica

Interesting development up near my work.

A new hydrogen fueling station for fuel cell cars has opened by a small startup in Billerica.

Apparently these stations are mostly concentrated in Southern California at the present but need to become more prevalent should the hydrogen powered car ever become anything more than a dream. It's got great promise as a technology and the advantage of only emitting water vapor, without the nasty carbon that heats our atmosphere.

Some of the techinical issues are how do you "crack" the hydrogen from the carbon, where do you get it from and how do you store it? Fueling stations are another real world concern, since you can't carry very much of the stuff usually although from the sounds of it they are making progress on all these fronts.

Realistically this won't happen UNLESS gasoline and fossil fuels remain at a high price IMO to help new technologies become more competitive economically.