Writer's Block
...'Lego' my gas money
Jason Werden
Issue date: 4/3/07 Section: Forum
- Page 1 of 1
After a year of pedestrian travel, I just recently bought a new car, and just after doing so the price of gas skyrocketed. Even in our rural setting, I spent $2.76 per gallon yesterday to pessimistically bring my tank to half-empty at the local Getty down Old Emmitsburg Road.
Rates are only supposed to rise as summer approaches, leaving travelers such as myself broke. Over the Easter Break alone I will be driving from the Mount to Ocean City, Md. and back again, which is sure to cost me a few arms and legs. That will make the trip a bit difficult after the extreme extremity loss. Those who have stood next to me know it is a task to reach the pedals as it is.
I witnessed the ultimate catch-22 in Memorial Parking Lot yesterday as a student punctured her gas tank on a jagged rock. Her tank ran dry across the pavement she could not drive to the gas station to fill up so as to not spark at fire-not to mention the empty tank-but instead would have to pay her AAA bill which would take away from the funds that could go toward the soaring price of gasoline.
To add insult to irony, the most stylish and trendy automobiles of today are the same gas guzzling vehicles that are causing the spike in fuel costs.
There seems to be a savior in the distance that will put all of these worries of my potential bankruptcy to rest as the New York Times ran an article this week regarding the development of a "commercially viable car that can travel 100 miles on a gallon of gasoline." X Prize Foundation, the same group that provided $10 million to the creation of the first private spacecraft to leave the earth's atmosphere, is expected to announce the rules for a competition to see who can be the first to generate this unheard of feat.
The prize for the creation, that will make the "Back to the Future" DeLorian look like a dune buggy, is expected to be around $10 million. That DeLorian did run on banana peels and beer cans, though-and it traveled in time. Though not meant for time travel, the automobile will drastically raise average fuel economy that has remained around 20 miles a gallon for decades.
"The industry is stuck, and we think a prize is perfect to disrupt that dynamic," said Mark Goodstein, executive director of the Automotive X Prize.
I used to make things out of Lego's that would astonish even the greatest architect, and I never received any monetary award, just the warranted smile from my mom and that coveted remark of, "You're special, Jay."
From major automakers to thousands of Average Joe's, anyone is welcome to enter in the contest, which had sparked much interest even before a draft of the rules was publicized. General Motors might not accept my Lego not-quite-to-scale model, but hopefully someone can come up with a solution to my empty-pocketed catastrophe.
Rates are only supposed to rise as summer approaches, leaving travelers such as myself broke. Over the Easter Break alone I will be driving from the Mount to Ocean City, Md. and back again, which is sure to cost me a few arms and legs. That will make the trip a bit difficult after the extreme extremity loss. Those who have stood next to me know it is a task to reach the pedals as it is.
I witnessed the ultimate catch-22 in Memorial Parking Lot yesterday as a student punctured her gas tank on a jagged rock. Her tank ran dry across the pavement she could not drive to the gas station to fill up so as to not spark at fire-not to mention the empty tank-but instead would have to pay her AAA bill which would take away from the funds that could go toward the soaring price of gasoline.
To add insult to irony, the most stylish and trendy automobiles of today are the same gas guzzling vehicles that are causing the spike in fuel costs.
There seems to be a savior in the distance that will put all of these worries of my potential bankruptcy to rest as the New York Times ran an article this week regarding the development of a "commercially viable car that can travel 100 miles on a gallon of gasoline." X Prize Foundation, the same group that provided $10 million to the creation of the first private spacecraft to leave the earth's atmosphere, is expected to announce the rules for a competition to see who can be the first to generate this unheard of feat.
The prize for the creation, that will make the "Back to the Future" DeLorian look like a dune buggy, is expected to be around $10 million. That DeLorian did run on banana peels and beer cans, though-and it traveled in time. Though not meant for time travel, the automobile will drastically raise average fuel economy that has remained around 20 miles a gallon for decades.
"The industry is stuck, and we think a prize is perfect to disrupt that dynamic," said Mark Goodstein, executive director of the Automotive X Prize.
I used to make things out of Lego's that would astonish even the greatest architect, and I never received any monetary award, just the warranted smile from my mom and that coveted remark of, "You're special, Jay."
From major automakers to thousands of Average Joe's, anyone is welcome to enter in the contest, which had sparked much interest even before a draft of the rules was publicized. General Motors might not accept my Lego not-quite-to-scale model, but hopefully someone can come up with a solution to my empty-pocketed catastrophe.
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