Very cool thing coming out of Cape Girardeau this weekend

An electric car convention? In Cape Girardeau, Missouri?

Believe it:

Convention on electric cars set in Cape Girardeau

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. — A convention designed to help people convert cars to run on electricity is scheduled this week in Cape Girardeau.

About 150 people are expected to attend the Electric Vehicle Conversion Convention, which runs Tuesday through Sunday. Organizers say educational sessions and hands-on work will be held at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport. The Southeast Missourian reports (http://bit.ly/1en6Kwc ) nearly 45 electric vehicles will be on display for the public.

Co-organizer Jack Rickard says the convention is drawing people from across the country, as well as countries such as Canada and Australia. He says many attendees are coordinating electric car projects with people on other continents, and the convention gives them a chance to meet.

It gets even more unpredictable, too:

The convention also will offer electric-vehicle drag races and autocross Friday afternoon.

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2013/08/05/4390759/convention-on-electric-cars-set.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2013/08/05/4390759/convention-on-electric-cars-set.html#storylink=cpy

Know how to anger a Kansas Citian?

Drive the speed limit on I-435 on the South part of the city.

Or maybe just drive the speed limit.

I'm so old...

I remember when the Broadway bridge had toll booths on it.

What I DIDN'T know, however, is that it was dedicated the same year I was born.

Who knew?

Have a great weekend, y'all.

Texting and driving: A prediction

I'm amazed at the frequency with which I see people texting and driving as I go down streets and highways. It's nearly constant. And it got me to thinking. I believe that either one more, huge accident is going to take place, like the one on the East side of the state that involved a school bus, or a series of accidents will and suddenly, the nation will be ready for tough laws on texting while driving. It seems that's what it's going to take. We'll see, eh? Here's how the laws were, state by state, in 2009:

Links: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texting_while_driving; http://www.caranddriver.com/features/texting-while-driving-how-dangerous-is-it; http://www.edgarsnyder.com/car-accident/cell-phone/statistics.html

KCK/KCMO No. 26 on "Most Dangerous Cities for Pedestrians"

You read correctly and it's out today on Yahoo! News. CarInsurance.com ranks our metropolitan area as the 26th worst city in the nation for pedestrians to get around. Sure, we could be worse and be in the top 25 or 15 or 10 but it still isn't good. We're one spot worse than the Los Angeles metropolitan area and they show 2533 deaths from being a pedestrian so you know something's not good. (Notes: St. Louis is no. 23--yay, at least we're not that bad--and Florida is worst of all with the top four worst places for pedestrians in that state). What did they used to say on the old TV show "Hill Street Blues"? Let's be careful out there. Link: http://www.carinsurance.com/Articles/how-not-to-get-hit-by-a-car.aspx?WT.qs_osrc=fxb-6922510

Quote of the day--on nature and what we're doing to it

There are more cars on the roads now, more satellites in the sky. The footpaths up the fells are like stone motorways, there are turbines on the moors and the farmers are being edged out by south-country refugees like me, trying to escape but bringing with us the things we flee from. The new world is online and loving it, the virtual happily edging out the actual. The darkness is shut out and the night grows lighter and nobody is there to see it. --Paul Kingsnorth, "Confessions of a recovering environmentalist", Open Democracy (OpenDemocracy.net) Link to original post: http://www.opendemocracy.net/paul-kingsnorth/confessions-of-recovering-environmentalist