Comments jdham137 has made

  • I've thought a lot about this topic and this is what I plan on doing.

    http://web.utk.edu/~fac/donation.shtml

    Just rot away in the woods.....

    On Ask Umbra on green burial posted 4 months, 1 week ago 13 Responses

  • [new] RE: Hip AND practical

    Of course she can ride her own bike, but she really enjoys riding on the xtra. On Umbra on cargo bikes posted 1 year, 6 months ago 29 Responses

  • Hip AND Practical

    In the biking world, there are panier types and trailer types. The xtra mixes the two but is much better (to me at least) than a trailer. The bike feels very stable with the longer wheelbase. And since I never leave the trailer at home, so to speak, it frees me up to pick up stuff at the store on the way home from work without having to bring an empty trailer to work in the morning. So it frees me from having to plan ahead to bring a trailer with me. Plus, all my kids, from my youngest at 6 to my oldest at 11, can ride on the back. There's no way I could fit an eleven year old kid in a trailer. Xtra also sells a really cool baby seat that is a lot like the kind you see in Japan. You know how when you look at something and think, "I don't need that/would never use it/have no desire for it," and then after using it you can't imagine life without it? This bike attachment is that kind of thing, literally a lifechanging product. On Umbra on cargo bikes posted 1 year, 7 months ago 29 Responses

  • A disgusted sailor

    The destruction of the EV1 is a personal issue with me. I am angry and disgusted at GM's insistence on destroying the EV1 because I'm a sailor in the US Navy and have been sent on four six-month deployments to the Persian Gulf and Mid-East. No matter what you believe about our current involvement in Iraq, ALL of our involvement in the Middle East has its roots in oil. GM, Ford, Toyota and Honda had great vehicles that worked. They had a solution RIGHT NOW to a problem we have RIGHT NOW. But what they have chosen to do is insist that there was no demand (wrong), that the technology didn't work (wrong, electric cars are actually more reliable than internal combustion cars), and that the range of the cars wasn't up to par (wrong again, NiMH, Nicad, and Lithium batteries can easily get 100+ mile ranges which is more than sufficient for what most people drive in a day). Instead, they say the future is in fuel cells (far future that is, the first fuel cell cars won't be on the road for at least 10 years, maybe more). I believe they have thrown up the smoke screen  of fuel cells to keep doing business as usual. Why else would they choose a technology that is more complicated, tens of times more expensive than either EVs or ICEs, just as range limited as EVs due to hydrogen storage issues, no hydrogen distribution infrastructure, and hydrogen will be obtained mostly from petroleum. And in the meantime, polution will only increase, China and India will continue research in EVs and will surpass anything GM did with the EV1 eventually losing even more jobs to China, America will still be dependent on oil, and troops will continue to deploy, fight, and die for that oil.

    GM and Ford was able to convince the American public that they would love a vehicle that is more dangerous to its occupants and those outside it, that drinks fuel like there is no tomorrow, that is not as comfortable to ride in as a car, and doesn't hold as much stuff or as many people as a minivan. They could have done the same with EVs but they didn't. They wanted business as usual and they got it.

    What I've done in the meantime is put my money where my mouth and politics are. I drive a Volkswagen Jetta which I fuel with biodiesel. Last year I began commuting on my mountain bike and put over 300 commuting miles on it, I am learning to make my own biodiesel, and I recently purchased a VW Rabbit converted to battery power.

    GM, Ford, etc., in the words of our president, you're either for us or against us. You've made it clear where you stand. Thanks a lot GM, I'll be thinking of you when I'm back in the Sand Box.

    John S.
    On Babes in EV-land posted 4 years, 8 months ago 6 Responses