This section archives articles and essays on topics that don't quite fit into the other categories on energy. They include articles on high-mileage vehicles, chain-reaction accidents, our neighbors, Tule fog, and . . . well . . . other subjects.
It was the sound you noticed first, an unearthly rumble that grew louder but never quite reaching a crescendo as it neared you. Then the ground beneath your feet moved. The solid earth we stood on...[more]
We'd seen the signs before we left. For the past several months we watched the inventory disappear. Then they took out some rows of shelving, but the inventory continued to shrink. All signs we'd...[more]
Charles Keating died recently. His death marked a milestone in American political history. His crimes and those of my nephew illustrates one of the truisms in America often attributed to Al Capone....[more]
I began writing as a way to explore the world, learn something new, and make a difference. It has been that--and more. I've been more or less freelancing since the mid 1970s when I published an...[more]
On Aprill 11 and 12, 2008 teams from highschools, colleges, and universities from across the continent were scrambling in the garages at the Fontana raceway preparing their cars for the Shell's...[more]
The following is a report to family and friends form a lecture tour to Lyon in southern France. In celebration of surviving another conference venue from hell I treated myself to a fancy...[more]
The following is a report to family and friends form a lecture tour to Lyon in southern France. Ok, I am oriented now. Couldn't get my bearings yesterday, but I've got my see legs back. One...[more]
The following is a report to friends from a lecture tour to Ireland, to Carrick-on-Shannon to be specific. To a black crow it's offspring are bright Or so it goes in Irish, a form of...[more]
The following is a report to friends from a lecture tour to Ireland, to Carrick-on-Shannon to be specific. Carrick-on-Shannon may be a regional center, but it's still a village. We took...[more]
Well it was hot during much of the day but it cooled off in late afternoon when I was touring the city on the top deck of a "bus touristic". Nancy would be proud. Though I missed the walking tour...[more]
The following are note to my friends from a lecture tour to Wellington, New Zealand in the summer of 2002. No, no, no, I am not working for the CIA. But if they paid enough it might make...[more]
The following are note to my friends from a lecture tour to Wellington, New Zealand in the summer of 2002. A few weeks ago Nancy and I dined atop the Reichstag with a grand view of Berlin and...[more]
The following is a report for friends from a lecture tour to Australia in the summer of 2002. While sitting in the Adelaide airport I thought I'd try keying in some more notes from my visit...[more]
The following is a report to friends from a lecture tour to Australia and New Zealand in the summer of 2002. Travel broadens the mind, so they say. It can narrow the seat as well. Let's just...[more]
Report from the end of the earth--or just about as close as you really want to go.[more]
Lupe knocked at the door yesterday. Lupe's our postman. If anyone knows what's going on in our neighborhood, it's Lupe. Lupe was concerned that a reclusive neighbor hadn't picked up her mail, nor...[more]
You've read about those massive chain-reaction accidents. Miles of mangled vehicles on Germany's autobahn, Italy's autostrada, New Jersey's Turnpike, or California's I-5 in the San Joaquin Valley....[more]
The following is one of several reports we filed with friends while we lived in northwest Denmark. Roskilde is on the same island as Copenhagen. 97/11/22 Cold, gray, windy. That's the...[more]
