"I want my children to have all the things I couldn't afford. Then I want to move in with them." - Phyllis Diller

It's Sunday afternoon and I'm sitting in front of the Broncos/Chargers game, not really paying attention but too whooped to get up and do anything productive. Don't care much about this game compared to the NFC games because that's the conference for the AZ Cardinals and the Seattle Seahawks, my two home teams.

This morning was a Murphy's Law experience at Pathway. I'll spare you the list, but it was one snag after another. Thankfully, none of them disrupted the sense or flow. I think.

Here's a site one of the guys at Pathway posted on his Facebook page. I've bookmarked it because there's too much cool stuff here. It will take me several visits to look at the ones that appeal to me.
40 maps that will help you make sense of the world.

This one you don't need to bookmark, but it's pretty cool. It's also pretty German. Engineering excellence, attention to detail, and pushed to the max.
Railroad of the World

 In anticipation of looking at a couple thousand cars this week at Barrett-Jackson (Thursday) and then Russo Steele (Friday) I've been going through each firm's online catalog. They used to make some beautiful cars, each distinctive. Aside from the hubcaps and pin striping this car is stock. And gorgeous.

What if there they made a car that was significantly environmentally cleaner and got better mileage than a standard gas powered car? It ran on a fuel readily available everywhere in the U.S. (and almost everywhere in the world) and the engine lasted about twice as long as a conventional engine. You'd have to pay about $2,000 more up front, but that cost would quickly be recovered with much better gas mileage and lower repair costs. Everybody would be in favor of that, right? Especially the government that is pressing car makers to improve their mileage figures.

Except that car already exists and is quickly becoming the standard in Europe. It's a car powered by a diesel engine. Most Americans don't realize there's been something of a revolution (pun intended) in diesel engine technology over the last ~15 years, so that they're no longer noisy and smelly. "Clean diesel"  is nothing like what most of us remember, which is why (have you noticed?) sitting in traffic next to a semi is no louder or smellier than sitting next to a Buick. And why all the major European car makers are cranking out (pun intended) diesel cars, from basic sedans to luxury and sports cars. (A diesel engine produces a lot more torque.)

So why are there only about a half dozen diesel cars sold in the U.S.? Because back in the 80's, for reasons more complicated than any of us care about, the feds decided that every gallon of diesel fuel would pay an additional six cents per gallon in tax. That means the amount of time required to recover the additional up-front costs is extended to the point that buying a diesel car doesn't make any sense.

OK, so let's change that so gasoline and diesel pay the same rate of tax per gallon?
Uhm, that would require the govt. to give up a whole lot of money they currently rake in (think: all those semis paying that higher tax rate - and passing it on to the consumer), and that ain't gonna happen.