a musing julius…

obama’s energy plan is comprehensive, far reaching, impressive and expensive. while i do not believe all of it can be implemented given the methods by which he intends to fund them, i feel very strongly about one of his points: investing in cellulosic ethanol.

i believe i’ve written about this and my buddy naim has thoughts on this as well. being that obama is from the corn power house of illinois, supporting cellulosic ethanol should have shivers running up and down the backs of corn farmers producing corn for the purpose of fermenting up some ethanol and collecting the governments dime. i don’t want to rehash this discussion here again, but man, if obama delivers on cellulosic ethanol, we’d be golden. here’s why:

1) its more energy efficient than corn-starch based sources of ethanol. switchgrass and corn stover are great sources of cellulose material. switchgrass even more so than corn stover, but if we keep doing what we do with corn, and go back just to farming it as a food source, we’ll have LOTS of corn stover, and we won’t be wasting land that could goto growing other foods for export to countries that desperately need it.

2) cellulosic ethanol sources (mainly switchgrass) remove more CO2 from the atmosphere than corn starch-based sources. this would also support obama’s plan to reduce CO2 emissions and reestablish (or just potentially establish) some u.s. leadership in climate change and carbon neutrality. planting a whole lot of switchgrass along major water ways and in land which is not traditionally used for harvesting food crop can decrease erosion, prevent flooding (which is a major issue in obama’s home state right now), reduce CO2 from the air, and utilize resources once thought unusable.

most importantly…

3) it shows that obama is willing to sacrifice the huge benefits of one group of people, for the benefit of all people. more amazingly is that it is just the typical democratic target: rich people and rich companies. instead it’s just farmers, sure they might be rich farmers, but in general, it’s his constituency. his own party supporters. anyway, i think obama is intelligent enough to admit that corn-starch based sources are energy inefficient, and he’s ready to tell corn farmers in his home state, and the rest of the u.s. that growing corn for the sake of collecting the government subsidy and creating ethanol is no longer the way to go. just think, a polititian, that is ready and willing and able to make a change like that. investing in corn as a feedstock, using the leftover corn stover for some cellulosic ethanol production, but taking the majority from switchgrass? potentially stopping the use of corn starch to produce ethanol? i hope he can do it. perhaps, “yes, he can”?

amazing. incredible.

to me, that’s change.

and as another aside, this article really inspired me. i hope obama can define a new era in american history. that would be awesome.

never in my life, have i felt more angry about a political idea than obama’s recent remarks about raising corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards to 50 mpg by 2027. normally politicians ideas don’t rile me up, but this one got to me. full disclosure: i work for an american automaker. i do not write on their behalf, and in no way are my views intended to reflect the views of my employer or any other automaker.

one part of his energy plan is to raise CAFE standards. force automakers into producing vehicles that average 50mpg. so for each heavy duty truck that works on a farm or construction site, or a large sedan doing taxi work in manhattan that gets 20 miles per gallon another will have to be built that gets 80mpg. while i do not oppose the recent increase in CAFE standards to 35 mpg by 2020, the jump to 50mpg in 7 years later is unrealistic given current and potentially future technology, and shows a misunderstanding of how the car buying public makes its decisions. for those not understanding what CAFE is, read here. now i’m assuming you’re with me. obama is playing with your emotions. today, your car doesn’t get 50mpg; it may just get 20mpg. you feel like you’re suffering. obama wants you to believe that automakers are to blame for cars that have “poor” fuel economy, and that it is their responsibility *today* to give you cars and trucks that get 30 to 80mpg. he believes forcing automakers with the threat of fines will persuade them into building more fuel efficient cars. he wants you to join him in pointing the finger at automakers for not giving you what you want.

up until gas hit 4 dollars, the car buying public was purchasing SUV’s and trucks like there was no tomorrow. toyota, ford, gm, chrysler, the others were all giving you exactly what you wanted. you wanted air conditioning when it was hot, heated seats when it was cold, huge cupholders, leather, etc. those things add weight, making a vehicle less fuel efficient. on top of that, car companies have added airbags, safety belts, reinforced frames, stability control, and the list goes on. what was once a driver side airbag is now 14 airbags that pop out of god knows where to protect you. you demanded to be safe, and you got it. you now need to blame the same automaker that got you the car or truck in the exact color, with all the options and features that you wanted, because $80 to fill up each week is just too much. they should have even warned you, that hey, just think if gas is $4 dollars in 3 years, you’ll be really unhappy you purchased this vehicle.

the automakers are suffering too. if car companies were to blame for not giving you what you wanted, they probably wouldn’t be laying off hundreds of thousands of workers. but their pain is coming from the fact that you now want fuel efficiency to be your primary buying factor. it took 4 weeks for all the automakers to see fuel efficiency is the #1 most important thing on a car buyers mind today. that’s the first time in history buying habits have changed so dramatically and so quickly. before that, believe it or not women were most concerned about the size of cup holders in their vehicle. men bought cars on horsepower. the automakers know there is an issue…that is why they are all now rushing to change the products they sell. the free market, not the government is deciding whether 25 mpg is enough or 50 is more adequate. it’s becoming clear that the government doesn’t NEED to increase CAFE standards. the car buying public has already determined that cars and trucks that get under 20mpg are no longer acceptable, which is why sales of those vehicles industry-wide is down in the range of 30-40%. raising the standard does nothing but put more pressure and less flexibility on car makers to actually build the vehicles that people want.

CAFE is really just a number on a piece of paper. some companies don’t even bother to meet the criteria. it makes more financial sense for them to pay the CAFE fine. those companies as of 2006 are the former daimlerchrysler, volkswagon/audi, ferrari, porsche, and maserati. buyers of those brands wouldn’t buy their product, as they’d have to sacrifice luxury, performance or speed. CAFE fines are also a pittance compard to the losses of american auto companies that range in the billions of dollars a year because they cannot keep up with changing demand. the highest recent CAFE fine was close to $25 million to BMW. using total year results, in 2006, ford lost $35 million dollars a day. for total year results in 2007, gm lost $35 million dollars every 2 hours. 

obama’s bold claim to enact these higher standards is also an insult to tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of engineers who have spent the better part of the last 100 years bending, prodding and cajolng everything they can out of the laws of thermodynamics, while keeping you safer, giving you better “performance,” a more comfortable ride, all for you and anywhere between 5 and 7 of your friends. and your golf clubs. everyone in the industry understands the need for more fuel efficiency. claiming that it can be done with today’s technology at reasonable costs doesn’t understand the economics of the situation. the battery pack in the ford escape hybrid itself costs over $7,000, and the public is barely willing to pay the $3,000 premium on those vehicles. honda discontinued the accord hybrid because people weren’t willing to fork over the $4,000 premium over the standard accord.

automakers like GM can make you plug-ins for $40,000. they’ve also said they plan to lose money selling them to the public. some like honda can give you hydrogen fuel cell vehicles but it will cost you $600 a month, and honda has also agreed to lose money. they’ll lose SO much money making these cars, that they’ll only build 200, and at least one of the criteria for getting one is living in Southern California.

obama wants to punish the automakers for a decision you made. in the end, you signed the lease, or the loan to get a car with 17 mpg because you wanted something big and safe and cheap. chances are, when you bought that car 2-3 years ago, there was a more fuel efficient choice. most every single major automaker (except those in niche luxury markets) has at least one vehicle that gives you over 30 miles per gallon. you DID NOT choose that car for one reason or another. today you’re ready, willing and (maybe) able to choose the more fuel efficient vehicle. and automakers are hearing the call by stopping production of trucks, SUV’s and increasing production of more fuel efficient vehicles.

punishing is not a way to inspire innovation. 12 years ago, it was thought that flying to space needed multi-billion dollar budgets and NASA. a reward was proposed to see if anyone could do it on just a multi-million dollar budget. just 10 years after the reward was announced, there was a winner. a couple of engineers flew INTO SPACE, without NASA and with far far less than a billion dollars. so maybe instead of punishing automakers, suppliers and their employees, why don’t you encourage some others to get involved in the innovation. throw some support around this, maybe?

transportation  used to be simple, cheap and affordable for everyone. it can still be that way with a massive shift in driving habits, types of vehicles and a dramatic and drastic change in consumer expectations about what they will PAY and what they will GET from a car that gives them 45 mpg in return.

i’m a fairly fast driver. there are some that have physically worried with me driving them in a car. i’ve tamed since then, but with the purchase of my stupid v8 powered muscle car that drinks gas like an alcoholic drinks whiskey from the bottle, i’ve considered myself fast, but not reckless or irresponsible.

so coming to germany would be a godsend for a person like me. but my first experience wasn’t like that. in the states, when i drive 85-90 mph, i’m usually the fastest car on the highway. i’m booking it. so i’m driving 140kph, and i’m getting destroyed. i’m in the right lane trying not to die. i’m watching guys on crotch rockets do 200kph on their motorcycles without issue, and i’m afraid to get out of the right lane to pass the guy in front of me who is also going 140 kph. anyway, i remember what my good friend derek told me when i first met him. cars are engineered to withstand more than you’ll ever drive it in the states. even cars you think you’ll die in at 80mph, are engineered to go much faster.

so i bit the bullet. i inched towards 150 my next time out on my way to munich airport. my 2nd trip to munich last saturday, i was driving 176 kph (~110mph) in my rental car. funny thing was, i was getting passed. not just passed, but BLOWN away by cars driving at least 200 kph. it was awesome. at that speed, your car gets pushed over the line when you’re passed by another car. it’s sweet. love it.

the autobahn rocks my face off.

so i’m in munich yesterday with an old college fraternity buddy, and i realize this happens to be a place (munich in general) where you can order beers by the liter. the glasses are huge, they have just under 3 american beers by volume in each glass, nearly 5 if you take into account the alcohol % difference. they’re heavy and difficult to drink.

but holy crap i’d be so fat if i drank beer by the liter…and i’m just really sick of beer right now.

but i finally made it back to poland. yes, after flying on a ridiculously neat little prop plane, i landed at poznan airport…one so small that there is no taxi ways. we literally turned around on the runway, and taxied up to a bus, which literally drove us 100 feet from the plane to the terminal.

there, grandma was waiting for me…welcoming me back to the country of my origins. we went shopping at the local farmers market to pick up some sweets and food for dinner, and headed back to my grandma’s house. her house, in a gated community west of poznan, is grandma-like. she was the first to build in the neighborhood, and what was once grain fields is now home to two dozen super large and modern homes (by polish standards)

my grandmothers house is as i expected. old furniture that i remember, a piano the focus of the main room (as opposed to the large tv most of us has as the main focal point in our homes.) my grandfather waited up and greeted me, then went to bed and rest while grandma and i prepared for my aunt and uncle, plus my cousin and wife to arrive from walcz.

my aunt laughed hysterically when getting out of the car because she didn’t recognize me, and wondered who the weird dude was standing outside with my grandma. my cousin and his wife introduced me as uncle to their 4 year old son. he came give me a big hug and kiss. my cousin i hadn’t seen in 17 years since he took me on a camping trip in the north of poland with his friends. i got sick that trip, and he had to took care of me. my uncle (mom’s brother) who taught me how to play chess, reminisced about the times he would walk to the convience store down the street, and he would take me and buy me a pretzel stick.

we laughed, shared stories of life and looked at pictures. clearly i was the brunt of jokes being an american, and being that it took me 15 years to visit again, i took most of the flak.

the next day my other cousin called me from her apartment in warsaw, and we talked for 20 minutes about her two sons, life in poland and our childhood memories from hanging out in poland years ago. overall, seeing my family again, and hearing them tell me the stories instead of hearing it from letters and seeing it in pictures was much better than i ever expected to be.

so, next year in poland. for sure.

poland is less than 300 kilometers from where i’m sitting right now, and its the land of my ancestors, and my entire family outside of my parents. i haven’t been there in 15 years. so being in germany, this is the perfect opportunity to take advantage of the close proximity and visit for a short period of time. so i bit the bullet, bought a $500 ticket from munich to poznan, and will be flying there tomorrow morning.

i haven’t seen my grandfather in about 7 years. maybe longer. i haven’t seen grandma in nearly a year. i haven’t seen my aunt and uncle in 15 years, and i haven’t seen my cousins in nearly 18 years. its been forever. so tomorrow, i’ll wake up nice and early, drive 2 hours to munich, jump onto a prop plane that has 18 seats total, and land in my dad’s hometown at lunch time, when my grandmother (who drives a mean stick shift btw) will pick me up to take me to a home she built almost 10 years ago, but i have yet to see in person.

allegedly poland has changed immensely since i’ve been there last, and i’m interested in seeing some of the changes (though it has been so long, i probably won’t notice.) this time around, i’ll have a camera, so i can document my adventures.

aspiring radass and i agreed that 2008 was going to be a year of travel adventures. here’s another to add to my list.

here are some helpful fashion tips for men and women coming from america to germany to help with cultural acclimation.

• men’s shorts should be no longer than 3 inches above the knee.
• sandals and socks: not only accepted, but preferred!
• capri pants are generally not worn by women, but usually by men (in case they want longer shorts)
• dress shirt, tie, and spandex bike shorts are considered casual “going out” attire
• popped collar rules are still considered a large negative indicative of a “tool”
• walking with a german flag anywhere on your body at any time is acceptable and usually greeted with enthusiastic shouts of nationalism.
• shirts that have the name of an american city or university that are usually considered “the sign of a tourist” are actually cool in germany cause it means you’ve been to or spent time in america.
• short sleeve button up shifts are the sign of a very sporting and active person.
• north face here means what it means everywhere else: you rarely spend time in the sub-arctic circle, but you’d like to think that if you somehow found yourself there, you’d be well prepared with your matching north face shirt, backpack and fleece.

hopefully these tips will help you out on your next adventure to……spaaaaaaaaaaaace (or germany)

so i went to neuschwanstein castle today and the smaller hohenschwangau castle. on the way to both, i passed countless of other ruins and remains of castles, churches, monasteries, and other buildings that are old as hell, built on the tallest possible points of cities, and most without the help of things like steel, or cranes, tractors, cars, trucks, et cetera.

so i realized, they probably had to use horses and mules to bring stuff up these mountains. so logically, if i were a horse back in the day, i’d be ashamed of myself. a lot of these castles (like the one in downtown nuremburg) is 500+ years old, and there wasn’t anything around but the castle. my ass would have sprinted out of there like nobody’s business. i wouldn’t carry a freaking limestone brick if my life depended on it. i just don’t get it. i’d be just chilling, eating some hay, then some dude would come, throw a collar around me, and whip my ass until i started dragging something behind me.

yeah, f that.

nearly every single “cool” place in the united states probably has a sign in front of it that says, “no loitering.” you can’t just stand in front of a hip cafe outside and just hang out there, standing awkwardly. or even talk to you friends there. you certainly can’t goto an outdoor cafe and sit down, order nothing and read a newspaper. that’s just not the way it works. you can’t even finish a meal before the bill magically appears on your table in america. god forbid you “seat yourself” with there’s a host on duty. go to a restaurant in america and just try to sit down at a table. just walk in, find an empty seat that’s not in the bar, and just sit.

that’s a big no go.

well, the opposite is true in germany. there are no hosts to seat you. there is no wait for an outside seat. chances are, everyone is already outside. see an empty table here and it’s yours. that’s what i love about this place. see a bar you want to drink at. great, it’s probably got a table outside, and if it’s open, you sit there. eventually someone comes to serve you. if you don’t want anything, no one cares. just hang out, it’s cool. in america we call it loitering. here, it’s called life.

one of the first things i learned when i came to germany last time was the word for “check” or “the bill” because if you don’t ask, you won’t get it, until it’s way past closing time. my german friends taught me this. no pressure to ever leave a place. yesterday, i sat outside at a restaurant just biding my time eating food and drinking beer. today i sat outside a starbucks* with just my drink (and iphone) for an hour and a half, leeching off free wi-fi. (sadly, one of the things i don’t like is that goods/services that are normally free in america are usually not free here, but that’s another blog post)

people just stand outside places here too…just standing, in the doorway, on the side walk. no full intention of ever moving, or buying anything. just stand and talk with your friends. the stairway to the front of the restaurant is everyone’s to use. the waiters don’t seem to mind walking around you either. its quite amazing.

anyway, what we call loitering is what i feel the germans call daily life. just simply nice and awesome.

*i have to find some sort of comfort in this foreign land…and besides, i have starbucks each and every friday back in detroit, and i miss that when i’m in germany, so for the time being, the tradition moves to saturday.

my hotel is 9.2 miles from work in germany. my home to my ford office is 13.6 miles (according to google) from my home in detroit to ford, counting by memory, there are 10 stop lights, and it takes me about 20 minutes.

in germany, there are 38 stoplights between my hotel and the office. in 9.2 miles! on top of that, i got stopped by 20 of them this morning. i hit 20 of 38 stop lights, and this i felt was good compared to the last few days. takes me 35 minutes to drive 9 miles. what’s more, is that 32 of these lights come in the first 4 miles. that’s 8 stoplights PER MILE! no wonder european’s drive small ass cars.

frankly, i don’t know how they do it, as they all drive manuals. my left leg would be HUGE if i had to stop 32 times in 4 miles and do all the shiting. next week, i’ll time the total of waiting i do at stoplights in germany.