Planning The Road Trip

 Here are a few miscellaneous notes on the latest in electric vehicles and worthy destinations to which to drive said vehicles. 

Vehicles

Alpha Motor Corporation

It just sits in your garage while you admire it. When it's sunny out, you can pull it into the driveway, and admire it. But do not drive it anywhere.

Meet the Alpha Montage! It's a neat-looking car, but the fine print indicates that it won't be a street-legal car, which is good, because it means you don't have to worry about someone scratching it in a parking garage. On the other hand, you can't drive it anywhere except your driveway. Maybe you can afford a ticket, given that this car will cost $500K. 

Fortunately, the company has other options if you don't have a half mil burning a hole in your pocket and you like to, you know, drive your car places and do stuff. They will offer the more down-to-earth REX Utility Vehicle ($52,000) and the SAGA Sedan ($48,000). These two will turn plenty of heads and you'll still be able to retire at 65.

None of these cars appear to be for sale yet, but you can reserve one today, and cross your fingers that Elon Musk doesn't buy the company and run it into the ground before yours is delivered. 

Rivian

Rivian has a development center in Plymouth, MI, as well as other places in the US. Amazon has made a deal with them to create a fleet of delivery vehicles. I saw one of them the other day, so it's becoming a reality. 

The Rivian R1T, pulling a trailer full of gasoline and unrecyclable plastic.

Not gigging as an underpaid Amazon delivery driver? Consider one of Rivian's cool R1T pickups instead. At night, with the lights on, they look like spaceships. 

GM

Driving a Cadillac Lyriq is like having a really expensive watch - the rest of your wardrobe better match, or you just look like a doofus. 

I love the look of the new Cadillac Lyriq. Their commercials indicate that its drivers must be young and rich and super attractive. I may be super attractive, but I'm not young or rich, so I'm going to call GM and ask if it's OK for me to buy one. It's not cheap ($63,000 and up), but I could own one and still retire at 65. 

Places to Go

I didn't know that the Belle Isle Aquarium existed, but it does, and it remains completely waterproof thanks to the efforts of the Bell Isle Conservancy. 

Do you need a place to "go"? Swing by the two-story outhouse in Cedar Lake, MI, and pick your level!

I'd like to drive my Cadlillac Lyriq to the House of Automata, but unfortunately, it's in Scotland, so unless these new electric vehicles can float and paddle, I'm out of luck. 

Happy Fifteenth Birthday, M! (with Auto Show Pictures)

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To celebrate M’s 15th birthday, we visited the 2015 North American International Auto Show.


M wasted no time finding the Corvette


The 2017 Ford GT – one of the best cars in the show


Before leaving the Bentley Mulsanne Speed, please ensure your tray table is in the upright and locked position.


This is the eight-speed automatic transmission from the 2015 Corvette


They say a picture is worth 1000 words. Here is my review of the Smart Electric Drive in fewer than 1000 words.


I’m not sure what to make of this Mercedes concept vehicle. It's part flying saucer, part car.


The Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale, first built in 1967.


M captains a Mini Cooper, the car he’s repeatedly said he wants someday when we buy him a car, which means it will be a long time until he has one.


Mercedes’ hybrid engine, transmission, and batteries. I’m not sure what room wil be left for people, but the Germans have it figured out.


J spent an unsettling amount of time in the Cadillacs. I think she’s tiring of the minivan life and is already thinking ahead to what we’ll buy when the kids are out of the house.


Last but not least, this is the prior version of the Ford GT. It’s from the mid-2000s.

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Sculptures, Tennis, and Pumpkins

Tennis

K (in the white shirt) hits backhand during a two-on-one game at practice.

K has been taking tennis lessons at the U of M indoor tennis center. It's a beautiful facility that looks like it was built about a week ago. His class has roughly10 students, with boys and girls together. These are more serious lessons than ones that he's taken in the past, and he's improving by leaps and bounds. He will probably get to play in a few matches before the lesson season is over - even though his level of group isn't normally scheduled to play matches, they often need students from his level to fill in at the higher levels if someone can't make a game. We're going to see a game tomorrow to take it all in and help prepare if he gets called up to take another player's place.

My Favorite Sculptor

Dad's sculpture at Ella Sharp Museum

Last weekend, our whole family was excited to get a personalized tour of sculptures surrounding the Ella Sharp Museum by experienced sculptor Fred Bruey. Pictured is his latest work "Green Galaxy". The display at Ella Sharp is part of a sculpture series called the Midwest Sculpture Initiative.

We're so proud of dad (and grandpa) for being selected, and we're impressed with his artistry. We can't wait to see his next sculpture on display!

"Green Galaxy" by Alfred Bruey

Pumpkins

J's "Wicked" pumpkin and K's "hothead" pumpkin.

The kids are getting better and better at carving pumpkins from patterns (as am I), and you can see the results here. As is typical, J's wins the prize for most complicated (and probably coolest-looking) with her "Wicked" jack-o-lantern.

M's skull pumpkin is a contrast to the goofy one I carved

Happy Easter!

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I got a new computer recently. It's all mechanical. This is what the web browser looks like.

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Science Olympiad competitions are coming up - the elementary school competition is April 20, and the middle school state competition is on April 27. Those are going to be two long days, but they'll be fun and rewarding for students and parents. I just wish the state competition was at UM instead of MSU so we wouldn't have to worry about the weather and getting up before sunrise to get there on time.

Meanwhile, M continues to play volleyball with the 7th- and 8th-grade team. They're pretty good, and fun to watch. He has a few more flag football games coming up, and is getting better at the sax every day.

Now that indoor soccer is over, K is about ready to wrap up Science Olympiad season and continues with Math Olympiad. He's decided not to participate in any activities that don't have the word "Olympiad" in the name. He's also sawing out tunes on the violin for 5th-grade strings.

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J and K are using some of their time off work and school to catch up on the TV show "Downton Abbey" about an insanely rich family who live in a "house" the size of a city block. They have a gaggle of servants and, between the upstairs and the downstairs, provide enough drama for a lengthy television series.

We're starting to talk like them now. When I gave K his hot chocolate this morning, I said "Here you are, m'Lord" in the deep voice of Carson, the family's butler. That might backfire if he expects me to talk to him like that from now on. Which he probably does.

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Links
Motorcyle made out of Guinness beer cans.

How to build your everything really fast.

Ships in bottles - interview with the maker.

Merry Christmas from Henry Ford Museum

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We made an early-morning visit to Henry Ford Museum yesterday, one of my favorite places. They've done some decorating for Christmas, it's really nice to go there this time of year.

The special exhibit was a display of iconic architectural structures, made with LEGOs. There was Ford Field (still under construction), Willis (Sears) Tower, the really tall building in Dubai, and Frank Lloyd Wright's "Fallingwater" home.


Ford Field


Fallingwater

I love the massive power generators, and in many ways, I like the models of the power generators more than the real things. As soon as I retire, that's what I'm going to do - make some miniature power generators to power a doll house.


A scale model of a power generator


A scale model of a machine shop, with belt-powered lathes and metal-working machines. At night, tiny people come out and make souvenirs to sell in the gift shop.


This a screen snapshot from the "1800s Power Plant" iPhone app.

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And, finally, to wish you a Merry Christmas, here are (left to right) Rigby and Mesko, who sometimes actually sleep like this.



From all of us here at The DEB Log, the journalism and editorial staff, proofreading department, photography lab, circulation department, and phone support center - Merry Christmas!

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Happy Father's Day!

K, after splitting some bumpy cake with his mom


M, full of diner pie.

Happy etc. and so on
If you're a father, Happy Father's Day! If you're not a father, Happy Father's Day anyway.

We went to Henry Ford Museum today to see the Titanic exhibit. It had a lot of stories about the ship, the people, and there were hundreds of artifacts on display. Every time I hear about the Titanic, I'm really glad I wasn't anywhere near it when it went down.

The museum recently remodeled their automotive history section. We didn't see as much of it as we would have liked, but we'll go back soon and see the rest.


He's several years away from driving, but M has already picked out his first car.


I want one of these - not because they are comfortable or easy to pedal, but because I want to ride it somewhere and fold it up while everyone watches.

The on-site diner, which formerly did not serve food, presently serves food. We had cake and diner pie for a snack in the afternoon. We cleaned our plates (J and K split a dessert.) M and I had our own pieces of lemon meringue pie.



What's left of the diner pie.

I love looking at the industrial equipment there - the steam engines that drove the belts that powered the machines, the milling machines, lathes, and so on. This drill press looks like it could drill through anything, but was actually created to make holes in donuts. Before it was retired to the museum, it was used by Hostess to hollow out Twinkies (to create space for the creamy center). The rumors that it was used to drill holes in steel panels used on the Titanic were neither confirmed nor denied by the staff at the museum, mostly because I made up the rumor.


So many uses for this drill press...

Beef: It's What's For Dinner
We came home to an All-American meat meal of steak and steak kebobs, using some grill kebob cookers that J and the boys bought me for Father's Day. Dinner was, as you might expect, beeflicious. (It's a word, look it up.)

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It is my understanding that even though everyone is done with school for the summer, I am still required to return to work on Monday morning, as I do every Monday morning. I'm going to have to look into that. I'm not sure who to ask, though - maybe my congressman?

Everyone have a fun, safe, and father-y Father's Day!

Washington, D.C.: Several Million Tourists Plus Us

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I know it's unusual for visitors to Washington, D.C. to take pictures and then share them with friends and family, but you know me - I'm so unique and unpredictable.

The boys outside the Thomas Jefferson Memorial. They're wearing their sweatshirts and jackets because it was pretty cold and windy that day.

They get really ticked off when you climb over the barrier and play this piano. I mean, it really gets them riled up. (Smithsonian American Art Museum, more information can be found here)

The new Martin Luther King, Jr. memorial, near the FDR memorial. It's quite imposing, and can be seen across the Tidal Basin from the Jefferson Memorial.

The party-time tradition of a beautiful woman jumping out of a giant cake was begun by the unlikely suffragist trio of Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Susan B. Anthony, who emerged from an 800-pound loaf of whole-wheat bread at the 1851 birthday celebration for then-president Millard Fillmore.

The capitol, as seen from the front of the Rayburn House, an office building for U.S. Representatives. We met an intern for John Dingell in Rayburn House, who led us underground to the capitol for our tour.

After our tour, given by a different intern from Dingell's office, we were given the rare opportunity to ride this mini-subway train from the capitol back to Rayburn House. Had any of of our representatives been working that week, we probably would have had to walk.

You have to go? Get your own! These are mine.

The interior of the amazing Library of Congress.

This is the famous view of the Washington Monument, as seen from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. There's nothing more beautiful than the reflection of the Washington Monument in the reflecting pool when it's not under construction. If you want a picture of that beautiful reflection, you'll have to come back when the renovations are done. A good portion of the mall was dug up, with piles of dirt and construction equipment. It wasn't quite as majestic as we've seen it in the past. (Little known fact: The Washington Monument is 555 feet tall because George Washington himself was 555 feet tall. His portraits show him as normal size because showing him at actual size would have required more oil paint than was available at the time.)

Here are the boys outside the King Street Metro station, across the street from our hotel. We parked the car when we got to Virginia and didn't get into it again until after we had checked out - the subway got us everywhere.

On our way back, we stopped in Pittsburgh to visit J's grandmother, who just turned 98. She's still as sharp as ever and it was good to see her again. We celebrated with a small cake at dinner, courtesy of her retirement community's dining hall.

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More Museums Than At Which You Can Shake a Stick

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Jellies!

We headed west and south last Friday for a two-night stay near Chicago's Midway Airport. The jellyfish ("Jellies") exhibit at Shedd Aquarium was our main draw, but we took in some other sights as well.

We tried something different and stayed at an airport hotel. There were no Nickelodeon channels on the TV, just sports, business news, and weather. The TSA security checkpoint at the the pool was a little much - I think they took the description "airport hotel" too literally. Ease up, TSA! The kids renewed their love for foosball in the recreation area, and we played the bar TV trivia game while eating dinner at the hotel restaurant on Saturday. The kids won $40 from me, and I'm still not sure how.

We were stunned to run into this family outside the aquarium, whose members looked identical to ours.

After our aquarium visit, we headed down the street to Adler Planetarium, where the kids have never been. J and I were last there about 20 years ago, and I might as well have never been inside before because I didn't recognize anything. We saw a plantarium show about the current night sky, and looked at all the space program exhibits.

This fountain outside the aquarium is in honor of the famous American Paul Bunyan, who, before he traveled the country with Babe the Blue Ox, performed magic shows with a giant trout.

We went back to the hotel for dinner, then returned to the city to visit Navy Pier. We have been talking about seeing a Navy Pier fireworks show for a long time, and this was finally going to be it. When we got there, all the parking lots and ramps were full, and there were people everywhere. We went back to the hotel and started planning how we were going to see those fireworks someday. (Side note to Rahm Emanuel: Why aren't there any Navy Pier signs on North Lake Shore Drive? We missed the exit, which we have done before, and "going around the block" is not possible in downtown Chicago. Get your people on that, would you?)

On Sunday, we arrived bright and early at the Museum of Science and Industry. We saw the Body Worlds exhibit, which is not for the squeamish. You can see some examples on their website, but basically, they removed the skin from cadavers and plasticized the innards. Visitors can walk around them and look at them. You can see all the organs, bones, muscles, etc. J and I saw this display, or a very similar one, at the Great Lakes Science Center in Cleveland several years back.

We then went to the Omnimax show about Tornadoes, and the scientists and other crazy people who chase them for research. If you're not familiar with it, Omnimax is a movie format that's displayed on a giant screen which tries to see how many people it can get car sick.

After the museum, we made it successfully to Navy Pier (taking the correct exit this time) and spent the rest of Sunday afternoon. We took a short boat ride, and I stayed safely on the earth while J and the boys slowly rotated themselves in the Ferris Wheel of Death.

We all know how I feel about the big ferris wheel.

Since we hadn't had enough of museums yet, we went to Henry Ford Museum Monday night to see the Emancipation Proclamation. Pages two and five of the actual document are on display starting at 6 pm Monday and ending 6 am Wednesday. The museum is open continuously during that time, and admission is free. We arrived at about 8:30 pm Monday, hoping that we'd only have to wait a few hours. Instead, we waited five; we finally saw Honest Abe's signature (along with Seward's), and dragged ourselves to the car for the ride home. Yes, the line was insanely long, and we discovered as the night went on that the line was moving slower and slower. We're not sure why it was going faster at first. But - we have a story to tell about it, and we all got home safe and sound. Some of us had to go to work this morning, but since my boss is in New Jersey, I can snore as loud as I want at my desk, and who's going to know?

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I hope everyone's doing well, and if you saw the Saturday Navy Pier fireworks show, send pictures, OK?

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