Sorry I've been blog-remiss agin .. of course the fact that Blogger's password recovery tool just doesn't work maybe had alittle to do with it. Once again, you get what you pay for .. memo to add to to-do list, but my own blog software on my own site to avoid 'big brother's special brand of customer non-service.
Anyway, speaking of big brother, here's a neat tale about a tryout of a child-protection GPS tracking application:
http://abclocal.go.com/wjrt/news/052405_NW_r2_black_box.html
Aside from the atrocious 'valley-speak' from the parents as well as the son .. 'It was like... he said 'it was like..' etc., when you drill down through the TV reporter drivel there is actually some meat in the story.
Two parents with a teenage son who just started driving. They took the TV station up on their offer to put the device in the son's truck for a few weeks as a trial. The good part? As expected the son slowed down and drives more responsibly by direct observation. Better for the parent's peace of mind, better for the other users who share the road, and better for the son too, he just may avoid becoming an accident or even fatality statistic.
Funny thread running through the story though. "denying the boy his freedom" and similar phrases and tones. The son almost refused to try the system out ... and the sad part of the story is, apparently, he had a choice.
Guess what, parents ... you werre given children in order to raise them properly. You are the boss. Since when has this country turned into a nation of appeasers and indecisive Simon Milktoasts?
Parent or business manager, take on the responsibilities you own by virtue of your position and _execute_ them. Is it easy? heck no, that's why you were blessed to be a parent or supervisor. Is it wothwhile though? yes indeed, and more importanly, when you fail to take make the right vhoice, even when that is not the easy choice, you're violating trust placed in you ... and in the end, refusing to live up to your responsibility is going to hurt even more.
24 May 2005
03 May 2005
Fuel Prices Starting to Hurt
Read the complete article in Fleet Owner magazine here:
http://fleetowner.com/news/topstory/high_fuel_price_quarter_report_050305/
Bottom line is, the fuel crisis is not slowing down and not going to be over any time soon.
Sad to say, most commercial fleets are relying on fuel surcharge pass throughs. This is fine (up to a point) when you can do business this way. What about small businesses, service businesses, school districts, etc. who can't just pass the cost on?
In my view there's a lot of technology which isn't being used, not even starting to be used yet. In my own business of selling GPS tracking units I have yet to find a business who did not save 10 or 15% in fuel costs .. once they make the move. People just need to want to save to get started.
Now what about vehicles themselves? Ever notice how many miles a vehicle for say a garage door service company travels in a day? 100 miles is a big day, believe me. Seems like an ideal candidate for a high-mileage hybrid vehicle or even a pure electric.
Pure electric, everyone 'knows' (thanks to a government leadership that is incestuously tied to 'big oil) that electric vehicles are too costly, too heavy, too limited in range and on and on.
Well that just isn't necessarily so. Think about a school bus as an example. 100 to 150 miles a day, relatively low speeds, used only a few hours a day and not even 12 months per year. And a chassis based on a truck that can carry tons of weight. Even a big flat roof to carry solar cells to recharge partially over the course of a day. The entire bus industry is scrambling to deal with bio-diesel fuel, reducing idling and pollution and wondering how the new low-sulphur 2007 engines.
What does it take for someone to realize that these problems can all be made to go away? I guess we just love having problems.
Dave
www.satviz.com
http://fleetowner.com/news/topstory/high_fuel_price_quarter_report_050305/
Bottom line is, the fuel crisis is not slowing down and not going to be over any time soon.
Sad to say, most commercial fleets are relying on fuel surcharge pass throughs. This is fine (up to a point) when you can do business this way. What about small businesses, service businesses, school districts, etc. who can't just pass the cost on?
In my view there's a lot of technology which isn't being used, not even starting to be used yet. In my own business of selling GPS tracking units I have yet to find a business who did not save 10 or 15% in fuel costs .. once they make the move. People just need to want to save to get started.
Now what about vehicles themselves? Ever notice how many miles a vehicle for say a garage door service company travels in a day? 100 miles is a big day, believe me. Seems like an ideal candidate for a high-mileage hybrid vehicle or even a pure electric.
Pure electric, everyone 'knows' (thanks to a government leadership that is incestuously tied to 'big oil) that electric vehicles are too costly, too heavy, too limited in range and on and on.
Well that just isn't necessarily so. Think about a school bus as an example. 100 to 150 miles a day, relatively low speeds, used only a few hours a day and not even 12 months per year. And a chassis based on a truck that can carry tons of weight. Even a big flat roof to carry solar cells to recharge partially over the course of a day. The entire bus industry is scrambling to deal with bio-diesel fuel, reducing idling and pollution and wondering how the new low-sulphur 2007 engines.
What does it take for someone to realize that these problems can all be made to go away? I guess we just love having problems.
Dave
www.satviz.com
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