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I'm still waiting for the Jetson's folds-up-into-a-briefcase car. That would sure solve the parking problem. The next best thing seems to be the tiny car: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYtro7PnBA8

And it was great seeing you and Sean again, even if you have gone over to the dark side of auto owners.

$25.00 a day parking in New York? That's cheap.
In the UK you can expect to pay £40.00 a day for a garage or 'night' parking space, and £40.00 a day to park at work or 'visitor' Parking @ Hospitals, that's in addition to £1.00 plus per litre of gasoline, and comgestion charges for inner cities.
Since presumably an 'employer' has to pick up these costs, you'd think humans would have enough brains and sense to build homes with at least one parking space per tenancy (included in cost of new build) and office blocs or worspaces with 'parking' facilities available on site - preferably with recharging facilities for electric motors - but who ever said humans were 'rational'.

I guess City (of London) stockbrokers must miss the seventies (the 1970s) when 'company' cars were tax deductable bonuses, when stockbrokers lived outside the city in the stockbroker belt on the Surrey, Kent and Shires broders of 'greater' London, where they kept their 'company' Rolls Royce, Bentley (or Ferrari or Porsche) garaged, and commuted to work.

Alas Suburbia where are you now. But it seems our love affair with the car may soon mean only the rich and the super rich will be able to afford to travel on the Queen's Highways. As for delivery vans, tradesmen & cleaners, don't be surprised if their fees keep going up - no, they are not robbing you - they are simply trying to keep up with the costs of modern 'motoring' to work. Or do we expect cleaners and plumbers to commute to work on their cycles with bucket & sponge, to keep the 'service' costs down.

Or maybe we expect the 'mexican' maid to live in the cellar or in a shed not far from her work place. Well they certainly don't have a 'maids' room in new build housing in the uk - well at least not in your 'average' new build, where there's barely enough room for two people to cohabit, and the rooms are definitely not big enough to swing a cat.

But hell, maybe the 'universe' expects us to turn Japanese - and our pay will only be high enough to be packed into the 'metro' like sardines, and our sleeping place will be in 'coffin' hotels. Well if that doesn't reduce population growth, nothing less than neutering at birth will - lol.

50 years ago, in Rockland County NY, 20 miles north of Manhattan

A gentleman farmer named Everett Crosby had a vineyard on a hill called High Tor, the title of a play by Maxwell Anderson. At harvest time he would have a picking party, with his friends picking the grapes. On one side, there would be Burgess Meredith, on the other, Paulette Goddard, in front Maxwell Anderson's sons and behind you Lotte Lenya and Kurt Weill. I dont know if this is a suitable replacement for migrant labor. Do you suppose Tom and Brad and all the Britney's would volunteer?

Minor quibble: Automat invented in 1950s? You were fifty years off, Jennifer, Horn and Hardart's was old, old old in the fifties. Their first Automat, where you inserted coins in a slot, then got the food from a little compartment, was installed in Philly in 1902. The New Yorker had cartoons about Automats from its start in the 20s.


In the depression one could get free ketchup at the Automat, add hot water from the wall dispenser, and have ketchup soup.There were booths at which women made change - counting out nickels at lightning speed. More fun than ATM's. A nickel wiuld buy great baked beans. I worry that we are heading back

Hang on, I was in NY last week. Are you guys following me around..?

I am trying to put together a presentation and the coordinator for the event tells me I need permission for all the pictures I use. I would like to use the photo of the Volkswagen automated parking garage. Can you give me permission to use it, or tell me who can?

http://twistedphysics.typepad.com/cocktail_party_physics/images/2007/12/08/volkswagen_autostadt_580x.jpg

or

http://twistedphysics.typepad.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/2007/12/08/volkswagen_autostadt_580x.jpg

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    Physics Cocktails

    • Heavy G
      The perfect pick-me-up when gravity gets you down.
      2 oz Tequila
      2 oz Triple sec
      2 oz Rose's sweetened lime juice
      7-Up or Sprite
      Mix tequila, triple sec and lime juice in a shaker and pour into a margarita glass. (Salted rim and ice are optional.) Top off with 7-Up/Sprite and let the weight of the world lift off your shoulders.
    • Listening to the Drums of Feynman
      The perfect nightcap after a long day struggling with QED equations.
      1 oz dark rum
      1/2 oz light rum
      1 oz Tia Maria
      2 oz light cream
      Crushed ice
      1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
      In a shaker half-filled with ice, combine the dark and light rum, Tia Maria, and cream. Shake well. Strain into an old fashioned glass almost filled with crushed ice. Dust with the nutmeg, and serve. Bongos optional.
    • Combustible Edison
      Electrify your friends with amazing pyrotechnics!
      2 oz brandy
      1 oz Campari
      1 oz fresh lemon juice
      Combine Campari and lemon juice in shaker filled with cracked ice. Shake and strain into chilled cocktail glass. Heat brandy in chafing dish, then ignite and pour into glass. Cocktail Go BOOM! Plus, Fire = Pretty!
    • Hiroshima Bomber
      Dr. Strangelove's drink of choice.
      3/4 Triple sec
      1/4 oz Bailey's Irish Cream
      2-3 drops Grenadine
      Fill shot glass 3/4 with Triple Sec. Layer Bailey's on top. Drop Grenadine in center of shot; it should billow up like a mushroom cloud. Remember to "duck and cover."
    • Mad Scientist
      Any mad scientist will tell you that flames make drinking more fun. What good is science if no one gets hurt?
      1 oz Midori melon liqueur
      1-1/2 oz sour mix
      1 splash soda water
      151 proof rum
      Mix melon liqueur, sour mix and soda water with ice in shaker. Shake and strain into martini glass. Top with rum and ignite. Try to take over the world.
    • Laser Beam
      Warning: may result in amplified stimulated emission.
      1 oz Southern Comfort
      1/2 oz Amaretto
      1/2 oz sloe gin
      1/2 oz vodka
      1/2 oz Triple sec
      7 oz orange juice
      Combine all liquor in a full glass of ice. Shake well. Garnish with orange and cherry. Serve to attractive target of choice.
    • Quantum Theory
      Guaranteed to collapse your wave function:
      3/4 oz Rum
      1/2 oz Strega
      1/4 oz Grand Marnier
      2 oz Pineapple juice
      Fill with Sweet and sour
      Pour rum, strega and Grand Marnier into a collins glass. Add pineapple and fill with sweet and sour. Sip until all the day's super-positioned states disappear.
    • The Black Hole
      So called because after one of these, you have already passed the event horizon of inebriation.
      1 oz. Kahlua
      1 oz. vodka
      .5 oz. Cointreau or Triple Sec
      .5 oz. dark rum
      .5 oz. Amaretto
      Pour into an old-fashioned glass over (scant) ice. Stir gently. Watch time slow.