A funny thing happened on my trip to Long Island (from Massachusetts) last weekend.

First, let me identify my vehicle of choice; the Honda Element 2003 model, 88K with roof rack and running boards.

It would be very difficult to part company with this baby, I have so many memories of trips with my late wife in her.  When the car was new (2003) we drove to Florida, with stops in Maryland, Charleston SC on the way.   We had Mom along and a weeks luggage for three people.  At southern highway speeds (85 mph speed of traffic) the silver box was getting 28 mpg. That remained the same for most trips with mostly highway driving until (if I remember correctly) 2006 when E10 took over at the pumps around here, especially for Regular Gas.

After that my best mileage dropped to 22 mpg, and has stayed there. I wondered how, exchanging just 10% of the volume with another “fuel” could result in better than 25% drop in fuel economy?  My Honda mechanic explained that the mixing of the ethanol varies, it is never precise, and that throws the engines computer off. If you have ever had the car’s battery replaced, afterwards the vehicles gas mileage would drop until the cars computer established a new engine performance baseline.  Fuel with ethanol (I call it Clinton Piss) confuses the computer and degrades performance.

I took a little vacation last week, visited friends on Long Island.  I drove down through Connecticut and refueled on the road, at $4.07 a gallon (yikes!). I reset the trip odometer at the pump and continued on my way.  When I gased up on the way back in Rhode Island I duly noted the gallons and mileage (which seemed high) and reset the odometer again. When I got home I did the math and realized that I had gotten over 26 mpg on that tank from the CT station. On the web I found out that (other in the few states i.e. CA that mandate E10) stations can sell gasoline without the ethanol mix. There are even web sites that help you locate the stations that sell REAL GAS;

Find ethanol-free E0 gas stations

So I feel better about my CT gas purchase, $.17 more a gallon for a 4-6 mpg increase in fuel economy and the pleasure of driving 338 miles between fill-ups for the first time in years. DEAL!

North Korean official is executed by MORTAR SHELL for drinking during 100-day mourning period for late ‘Dear Leader’ Kim Jong-il

• Senior military official broke the rules of mourning Kim Jong-il
• During the 100-day mourning period North Koreans were forced to abstain from pleasurable activities – including drinking

A pudgy baby-faced monster, with nuclear weapons…

First time for everything, quoting George McGovern…

George McGovern in the Journal

A Politician’s Dream Is a Businessman’s Nightmare: A 1992 column on the realities of running a business

In short, “one-size-fits-all” rules for business ignore the reality of the marketplace. And setting thresholds for regulatory guidelines at artificial levels — e.g., 50 employees or more, $500,000 in sales — takes no account of other realities, such as profit margins, labor intensive vs. capital intensive businesses, and local market economics.

George McGovern went into business after politics, maybe if he had been in business before politics his efforts would have been less painful for American businessmen. Maybe that’s something the Founding Fathers missed, an requirement that all politics have to prove that they can run a business before running for office. Even a business failure might teach them something.