This looks interesting. Wonder how much luck they are having as a collective.

I went for a ride today in a friend’s Tesla Roadster.  Wow! again Wow! I have been awaiting the ride since I first found out that he had made the deposit required to get on the waiting list.  Well he finally got the car a couple months ago and he says it was very worth the wait. It goes 0-60 in 3.9 seconds and I wasn’t counting but I am pretty sure it did that.  I have to say, as I was driving, my conversation wasn’t much more than Ooooo, wow!, holy crap! oh man this is cool, but he did bring up a good point.  He said that he had met a handful of other buyers at a couple events that were held by Tesla and found it refreshing to hear how many of them were buying the car to A) help unleash the U.S. from the bondage of foreign oil or B) to minimize their carbon footprint.  What I like about the argument in favor of electric cars is that it can address both people’s political leanings.  I know, I know, this is a very expensive car and not realistic for the masses but it takes something spectacular to move people at times.  The sedan that Tesla is planning will be half the cost and seat seven apparently.  I personally do see electric cars as the future because electricity is the common platform which the world uses to do work.  Once the finite oil supply is gone the game will become who can produce electricity the cleanest and cheapest.

Funny, but the one piece of news that actually made it all the way to the extreem south of Ethiopia was that Micael Jackson was dead.  A boy who looked like he was about 9 who was wearing the typical Ethiopia uniform of torn clothes and no shoes came running up to us and said “Micael Jackson was my friend” Then he said something about being dead that we did not completely understand.   We then heard on one of our rare phone calls to home that he was in fact really dead.   Not that it matters much for the purpose of this blog post but what I am saying is that its really strange, I mean really really strange to be so disconected from the world.   I am used to getting somewhere between 100 and 150 emails a day and sending about 40 or 50.  But since we got here excluding the past few days where I have been going like mad answering everyone I have only been able to send 2 emails and I was able to check my email 3 times.   There are truly places left in the world where news just does not get to.  Like when we left all over the news was Swine Flu this and Swine Flu that….  that reminds me I am going to go over to Google and see what ever happend with all that….     Ok it appears its not all over but its not the only thing in the news any more either.

Any way.   Just wanted to say that its still a shock being somewhere so remote and removed from the world.

Levi

We have been here for 65 days and here is a bit of what we have experienced so far.

Number of days without electricity – 22

Number of days without running water – 30

Number of hours spent waiting for a taxi – 50+

Number of miles walked – 240

Number of times we have heard people yelling “You, You, You!” – 1,254,965

Number of bed ridden illnesses in our family – 8

Percentage of the time our kids choose the squatty potty over our “western toilet” 90%

Percentage of times we have to send back our eggs because they are slippery and runny 80%

Number of  farm animals now living in our yard – 12

Number of those animals we purchased – 2

Number of mosquito bites on our family combined – 100+

Number of times we cried since coming here – 7

Would we still come if we knew how hard it was going to be?  Yes.

Its interesting, I spent a good portion of the past four years of my life trying to convince people that doing things like eating locally, walking, riding your bike and buying sustainable were good for the earth but now when I look at the life I find my self living things like that seem so trivial and yet also such a integral part of the way we are living.   Take for instance our food.   90% of the food we eat comes from a market that is literally 500 feet from our front door.  The food we buy at that market is all grown without a single pesticide and its grown within walking distance of that market.  The people we buy our food from are the ones who tilled the earth and planted the seeds.   The carbon footprint of the typical life in Africa is arguably near zero.  I think that possibly the highest methane gas producing source might just be the cows.

Taxi’s in our town cost 1 Birr.  The exchange rate for the Birr today is 11.5 to the dollar.   But what is more appalling that the low prices of those taxis that that more than 95% of the people still choose to walk instead of ride.

I know that I knew most of this about Africa before I came here but its still appalling to see it up front and to be poking new holes in my belt because I lost so much weight from walking so far.

The whole world can not live like this I know.  We would be going way backwards but the whole world can not live like Americans either or we would need a few more planets resources to eat up…

Levi

Its been over two months and the promised updates from our trip have yet to materialize.  Its a long long story the past two months but I have the next few days of wonderful highspeed internet access to do it in so you should have your fill of our new life here in Ethiopia.

We are in Addis Ababa (the Capitol city) with a few of the children from the childrens home who needed medical care that we were not able to find in Jinka.  Its actually only dental work but we were told that the one practicing dentist in our little town has lost many patients.   He aparently does not have any tools but pulls any tooth that is hurting, leaving a hole that can so easily get infected….. Not good.

Anyway, I am tired.  We just arrived in our hotel after 17 hours of driving in a landcruiser with 6 children from 12 weeks to 8 years old.  Yeah way tired.

Updates are assured over the next few days, I promise.

Levi

It’s coming and it has taken one more step forward.  This article about the submission for Federal stimulis money shows which lines are on the top of the list for construction.  I can’t wait.

Calif.  Hi-Speed

Rail  Auth.

Approves  Projects

Business Wire

With a new chairman at the gavel, the California High-Speed Rail Authority today approved its scope of projects that could qualify for federal stimulus funds. The package includes submissions for each of the proposed California high-speed rail system corridor segments, thereby encompassing the Authority’s full system development plan.

The Board’s action was required so that the State of California could meet a July 10 “pre-application” deadline imposed by the Federal Railroad Administration for a share of $8 billion in stimulus funding for high-speed trains under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).

Earlier in the meeting, the Board elected Anaheim Mayor Curt Pringle to be its chairman, replacing Judge Quentin L. Kopp who had served two terms as chairman. Former California Assemblymember Tom Umberg was elected vice-chairman.

While the Authority is considering the scope of a formal application for ARRA funding, which will be submitted by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in two parts coinciding with FRA deadlines in August and October, the pre-application submission identifies the scope of projects that would likely qualify for planning and engineering funds (Track 1 under FRA guidelines) and construction funding (Track 2):

TRACK 1 — The Authority is developing project submissions for completion of preliminary and project level environmental work in six corridors including: Los Angeles to San Diego // Los Angeles to Palmdale // Palmdale to Bakersfield // Merced to San Jose // Sacramento to Merced // Altamont.

TRACK 2 — Based on its adopted phasing plan and progress in the environmental and planning process, the Authority has identified Anaheim/Los Angeles, Bakersfield/Merced, and San Jose/San Francisco as three initial segments meeting FRA requirements for construction funding. Each of the three corridors is critical to the success of the project, demonstrates independent utility, and is completing project level environmental review.

“High-speed trains are needed in California,” said Pringle. “The state must find a viable surface transportation alternative to ease auto and air traffic congestion between major urban centers and high population growth areas like the Central Valley.

“We have obtained environmental certification for the general statewide alignment and station locations for the 800-mile system designed to carry over 100 million people by year 2030, as well as secured California state bond proceeds resulting from passage of Proposition 1A. These are the kinds of things that position the state very competitively to secure matching federal funds through ARRA to begin construction on three key segments and to complete the preliminary engineering work on the linking segments,” said Pringle.

“Our task over the next several weeks and months is to reassess our project timelines based on FRA requirements and determine which specific projects we will put forward for ARRA funding,” said Pringle.

Pringle is the former Speaker of the State Assembly, where he represented part of Orange County for eight years during the 1990s. He was first elected Mayor of Anaheim in 2002 and is widely recognized for his expertise in economic development, land use planning, transportation and government finance reform. He also serves as a board member of the Orange County Transportation Authority.

“I have long believed in the value and benefit of a high speed rail system for our great state, and to be elected as chairman of the California High Speed Rail is an honor,” said Pringle. “We have a lot of work to do on the state and federal levels, but by working together great things can and will happen. This is an exciting time for high-speed rail and I look forward to future progress.”

Pringle actively serves as governing board member for the Ukleja Center for Ethical Leadership, California State University, Long Beach, as well on the boards of the Tiger Woods Learning Center Foundation and the John Burton Foundation for Children Without Homes.

Tom Umberg is an attorney with the law firm of Manatt, specializing in federal and state policy and regulatory matters. He was selected as one of the “Best Lawyers in America” in the field of commercial litigation. In 1995, He was an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Los Angeles and Orange County. Umberg was appointed Deputy Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy in 1997. He served three terms in the California Legislature, most recently between 2004 and 2006. In the state Assembly, he chaired the Environmental Safety and the Elections and Redistricting Committees.

I went up to Portland, OR for a couple weeks to work on a small project and had the pleasure of some incredible bike rides around the city.  This photo is so Portland.  What a great place to ride.

Hey I was thinking that some of our loyal readers might want to know what Levi and Jessie are up to. I think this marks one month since their leaving for Ethiopia. I have talked to Levi a couple times since they got there but you can read what he has to say in a blog post he did via Skype to Rich.  It was good to talk about their reality now; intermittant water, no toilets, sick kids, chickens and a goat.  They are going to possibly buy a rickshaw to transport their family to the market, doctor, or whatever.

Jinka sounds beautiful and set back in time.  Levi and Jessie and the three kids finally got into a house after apparently two weeks of one room hotel stays.   I hope that soon Levi will be able to post to the LJ site but until then I will try and update you.

A seminar given by Jonathan Lynch (professor – Penn State University) at UC Davis as part of their Centennial Speaker Series .

Click here for more info.