Read this disclaimer first!!
Friday, Dec. 13, 2002 - 4:36 p.m.
Supercah!!

The Supercar was a program bring the fuel efficency of American cars up to 80 miles per gallon (34 km/L). It was recently trashed this year by the bush adminstration with help from the auto industry and even Ralph Nader. To read this lengthy article, the username you need is "username" and the password is "password".

Some interesting facts re: the Supercar:

1) The current fuel efficiency in American cars has been stagnant for the past ten years. Meanwhile horsepower has gone up 27%.

2) Mike Mercedes, the guy sitting next to me, lives 20 km away. If he comes to the office every day, 20 days/month, then he has to drive (2x20) km/day x 20 days/month=800 km/month. Add to that his client trips and personal trips AND weekend trips, and we estimate 1200 km/month. Mike's Mercedes gets 10 km/L, and the tank is 60 L (so he gets 600 km/tank). 1200 km/month is two tanks, or 120 L. At 80 cents a litre, this costs him ($0.80/L)(120 L/month)= $96/month. However, if he drove a Supercar, then he could get as much as 34 km/L. Let's say it was just 30 km/L, so he triples his efficiency. That means that it would cost him only $32 to drive 1200 km. He saves twice as much. In one year that is $768, or a DVD-RW. Or a return ticket to England. Food for his family for two months.

3) If you apply #2 to me, then it becomes 10 km each way, and far less weekend and other driving for about 600 km/month, just for calculation's sake. It would probably be around 500 km. I coiuld have a cheaper car that would likely get as much as 15 km/L on average. If I also had a 60 L tank, it would take me 900 km. To drive 600 km in a month, I would need 40 L and it would cost $32. But if my efficency were doubled to 30 km/L, it would cost $16. I would save $192/year which would pay for a new hard drive to replace the two flaky ones I currently own. Food for me for two months.

4) If the efficiency among American cars went up by 10 mpg (miles per gallon), or 4.25 km/L, then the country would save a billion barrels of oil a year and would never have to import it. So why is Bush interested in Iraq if we might not ever need their oil? Why is Supercar dead?

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Friday, Dec. 13, 2002 - 11:45 a.m.
Selfish Prick

(Note: this entry is written out of pure anger. But I won't apologize for any of it. At least not immediately.)

*A*, the ex from downstairs, reads my diary. She is one of the few in real life that has my permission to do so. She is wonderful, and it is a real shame how circumstances can lead to heartache. Things that aren't really her fault seem to complicate her life (often needlessly, in my opinion) because certain people will not grow the fuck up.

The person who inspired this entry, as well as the revision to the disclaimer at the top, is one of the people needlessly fucking her life up. Before this morning, I didn't really like this guy that much, but I took her word for it that he was actually worth loving, and spending her life with. I really believed that he was worthy, because she saw him that way.

Now I hate him, and would wish that he would fall into a volcano. I'd love to beat the shit out of that guy, but besides the fact that he is twice my size, there would be all kinds of ramifications.

For two and a half years, they have had a very difficult relationship. I won't get into the details, but they are in love, she is ready to lay it all out for him, but for whatever reasons, he will not commit to being her boyfriend. He just won't do it. So she figured that since it won't happen, she would decide to have her own life (something she should have anyway, but anyway). She hasn't slept with a bunch of guys, or dated anyone or anything, but she has friends (like me) over more often, she might go out if she can find a babysitter more often. Basically, she does her own thing.

He noticed that she seems to be spending lots of time on the Internet lately, and she let slip that she is reading my past entries. (He and I know each other.) He tried to get her to tell her where this space was, and when she refused, he was determined to find it no matter what. That's quite the obsession, isn't it? I guess he suspected that something had happened.

So this morning the asshole tells her that he found what he was looking for, guilt-trips the hell out of her and sends her into tears during the busiest part of the day.

If he were to be run over my a truck, I wouldn't care, except for her. Fuck him.

I have a lot more to say about this, probably more details to fill in, but I have to leave for lunch right now. What a selfish prick.

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The look:
The feel:
The taste:
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