Posts by Paul Campbell
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yeah - I bet - as I said we're much more aware about emissions from living in California for so long (no WOF but an emission test every 2 years) - as others point out it's easy to get into a silly argument about mileage and the cost of the thing - but there are lots of other reasons to buy a better car - not all of them are money: lower carbon loading, less pollution, the ability to drag off hoons, sneaking up on little old ladies in parking lots on the electric motor ...
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BTW I agree - I think diesel hybrids will be even better - I think the new diesels need a special low-sulphur mix to run clean - anyone know if it's available here yet?
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First thing we did when we moved back to NZ 3 years ago was buy a Prius, something we couldn't buy in the US because of the waiting list - we love it - we live on the top of a hill in Dunedin - driving downtown charges up the battery, I can motor around on the flat for a while in battery mode and only turn on the petrol engine when I go back up the hill ...
Best part is that the electric motor gives almost infinite torque ... dragging off hoons on hills is fun ....
we didn't buy it for the low petrol consumption - we bought it because of the low emissions - living in California for 20 years drives the 'dirty car bad' meme into you quite firmly - I wish WOFs tested emissions the amount of crap spewing on NZ streets is really sad
Sure it costs a lot - it's a new technology, but if no one buys it it wont get cheaper - the lower petrol usage was not the main reason we bought ours - but it is gravy ... last night watching the news my wife asked why there weren't more incentives for people with cars like ours ... of course the whole point of the prices rises is that they are exactly those incentives - probably should be larger
(in the SF Bay Area where we used to live Priuses get to use the car pool lanes during rush hour - a really BIG incentive)
I am tempted by the DIY battery upgrades that will allow me to plug it in and charge it at home - energy from the wall is so much cheaper than energy from the pump - trouble is I'd have to jigger the charger to not fill it all the way so it still has enough room for the energy I get back going down the hill .....
BTW I still take the bus 3-4 times a week ..... the Prius makes even less pollution if you don;t use it
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I was wondering the same thing - it might represent a breakdown in our nation's primary education system .... or maybe someone told him that writing everything in all CAPS was really like shouting and he should tone it down a bit ....
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It may be blowing in the wind - but it only does when the wind actually blows - and any energy solution needs to be able to meet peak power demand ...
Hydro and wind are a great pairing, theoretically when the wind blows you let the dams fill and when it stops you empty them. Problem is, it seems to me, that we need to change our hydro resources to work well with wind - we don't need more dams, we need more turbines on the existing dams so we can raise the worst case peak generating capacity of the existing systems to work well with the wind systems that are currently planned - with out this we can use the wind to make sure the lakes don't run dry in bad years but if the wind farms get too big we can't depend on it for day to day loads
Any climate scientists out there? I have a question - do we have any historical evidence: are 'dry' years as windy as 'wet' years or might we see wind and water 'droughts' at the same time?
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and worth $2500 if you don't include the copy of Vista ....
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OK - I'm going to chime in late - largely because I'm travelling and don't get to just hang here every minute .... and there's that whole timezone and traffic thing ....
I wrote the letter after watching the news in the departure lounge and asking the AirNZ person at the info desk "what's up?" - got a blank stare and a please email this person if you have a complaint (actually I was offered the chance of calling someone who had already gone home for the day) .... of course all I got was form email saying they'll get back to me ... they didn't
I think that we do individually get to make those personal decisions about our own safety and security, I don't want some big nanny state or airline telling me where/when/how I should travel - I want to make those decisions for myself - all I need to know is the truth - have enough data to be an adult and decide the risks based on my world view, not theirs - if they are doing something controversial they should put it out there in the media - I shouldn't have to read some house magazine to find out.
Think of the sorts of choices one might have - for example assume that Qantas and ANZ have both done things or represent things that make them equal targets - which should I fly on? (probably Qantas, they have more planes so more targets). Now because of Australia's behaviour in the world I still think that Qantas is much more of a target than ANZ - it's just that because of what's happened - that balance has shifted and say if Air France starts up on the pacific route they might then provide a safer alternative where it would have been a toss-up a week ago.
Then again maybe you just want a cheaper fare and will take your chances.
Of course really what's happend is that AirNZ didn't make a big deal about it because they knew that it was controversial, and didn't want to discourage potential customers - it's rather blown up in their faces - there will be idealistic kids heading off on their OE this year who will think twice about who they'll fly with because they don't want to support the war in Iraq and that will cost them, business. People like me who travel too much (and wish they didn't) but have a choice will also think twice about where they go - though honestly travel to the US is difficult one - the choices have been narrowing too much recently and it's probably been keeping the prices up
Now I'll go back to my regular gripe: AirNZ could we please have the old seats back, the ones with the lumbar support you made such a big deal with they were great - hmm maybe they got some ex-iraqi-water-boarding-prison beds in exchange and covered them with their logo
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Stuff have been putting up these abusive ads for quite a while now - it was one of the reasons I stopped visiting regularly
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actually that's a good point - why is there a Sunday ad ban when all the people who probably actually want it are at church anyway and not actually watching TV
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I distinctly remember being strapped in primer 1 (how could I ever forget) - the teacher never explained why - I remember being terrified for months afterwards ....
years later my mother explained it had been because we were making noise in the corridor ... as if a 5 year old would not