Moving Too Fast to Drive 55

This article in the NYT (or here)
describes how the idea of driving at 55 mph is catching speed in this country. A few days ago I heard/read somewhere that because a lot of people are already driving slower - number of fatal accidents on the highways have come down rapidly.
What will it take for most if not everyone to remove there foot off the gas pedal? A law? So be it.
Here is a chart of the optimum speed at which you get the maximum gas mileage for your vehicle.
There is also a website dedicated to driving at 55 mph! (www.drive55.org)

Drive slow = save environment+save gas+save money+save lives+less noise

Yes that's right. Also right is the fact that the average price of a gallon of petrol has officially touched the $4 mark (add 40c to California price) - so do your math and figure if reaching 5 minutes early is really worth it - especially now?

Just refer to this wonderful analysis below and you will achieve all that I have promise in the title of this post!

Btw, you don't blog anymore. Why?

One simple question - a not so simple answer! So - instead of trying to answer you, my friend, I will do start blogging again.
So - tune in to akvblogs.blogspot.com at the usual time my friends. I have news to share, photos to show, politics to discuss - my usual banter.

Happy Thangsgiving folks

Thanksgiving is one American holiday I really like. It's all about the good stuff. Food, friends, family, friends of family and family of friends. No presents, no decorations, no cards - it's just about having a good time.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Flying back home on a clear evening

Last night, I returned from Atlanta after attending a conference. It was a nice evening and the sky was clear when my Delta 747 descended from 30,000 feet. The sun had set and we could see the beautiful orange colors on the horizon. As soon as the plane did a turn and tilted a little, I could see the numerous lights - both moving and stationary. The towns and cities below me were alive and moving. What I thought I would see - or rather expected I would see, was just a faint light at the horizon and then darkness on the ground, as the deep dark woods devoured whatever light there was , and a few reflections of the waning evening in pools of water here and there. This was what my mind was trained to expect while flying down from the skies into the Raleigh - Durham International airport, or RDU. The airport is small, the parking is cheap and the roads are friendlier - and without any tolls.
This was my first time flying after moving into the Boston area. For 3 and a half days car parking, I paid $84 - and my home was another 45 minutes drive away.

But it sure felt much better as soon as I told my GPS to take me home!

The woods were lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

Last 3 months

Ahhh - last 3 months. Lets see what passed by me - and what I passed by in these days. Iraq violence, Virginia Tech shootings, Richard Gere kissing, Sanjaya singing, AKV Skiing, The Cricket World Cup ... monkying.

On a serious note, whatever happened at Virginia Tech was no less than a natural tragedy. It has happened before, it happened on Monday, April 16th, and it will happen again. It is beyond anybody's control to know what will make a person flip and commit horrendous acts. What we CAN TRY TO DO is to make it next to impossible for that person to maximise the damage. There are a number of things that could have been done on that fateful day to prevent a disaster of this magnitude. I am obviously thinking GUN CONTROL laws. Time and space limits me from laying out my mind here - but common sense says ->
less (or better still no) guns on the street + better policing = less crime in the hood.
The tragedy was a shocker to me - I was no less shocked when students went on TV to say that if they were allowed guns on the campus, they would have controlled the lunatic with the guns. That's just the most ludicrous argument I have ever heard. Instead of 32 people dying in 1 day - we would have had 1 or 2 tying every other day.

Peace is not that hard a thing to think about.
Peace is not hard a thing to achieve.

Back Again

Its snowing here in New Hampshire! After a day of 20 below freezing temperature and nice sunshine - it is snowing and I am sitting in my bed watching the flurries (a few heavy ones are actually falling vertically - the rest are just flowing with the wind) falling from the heavens.

So we are in New Hampshire. Never in my life I would have dreamt that I would have my home address ending with 'NH'.

My defense went off well and after minor corrections and slight heartburn and frustrations - I got the go ahead from all relevant authorities to start driving north.

After a few days in the hotel and searching for an apartment - we found one (a pretty huge apt complex at that) in Nashua, NH. About a 5 minute ride to the MA border and about 15 minutes from work.

It is pretty beautiful here - even with the frigid winters at full blast to welcome us. All small ponds and lakes and marshes have frozen giving an eerie look at dawn and dusk - but nonetheless - beautiful and quiet. The shopping district is 5 minutes from the apartment - but our unit is located in a quiet corner with a vague view of the mountains.