Road Trip

The electric car is a neat idea. Part of what makes them impractical for this country, however, are that many of us need to travel long distances and there aren't nearly enough recharging stations along the way. Yet.

But what if the road itself could provide enough energy? Scott Brusaw had a brainstorm ... what if we replaced America's asphalt with solar panels? His company calculates that the energy produced would be three times as much as the energy used to operate this infrastructure, providing enough to recharge your vehicle anywhere in the country. Another benefit is that the roads would be heated when necessary, making snowplowing unnecessary.

The Department of Transportation likes the idea so much they've given Scott a $100,000 grant, and you can read more about the idea in this month's Popular Science magazine.

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A TRUE ROAD TRIP STORY

When my family and I travel with Marilyn, our cat, we try to pick hotels that allow you to have a pet in your room. But one night on a recent road trip, we stayed out too late and the only hotel available had a policy that forbade animals.

Sneaking Marilyn past the front desk was not terribly difficult. However, the next morning, when my husband Murray packed Marilyn into the little duffle we used to carry her in, she began meowing.

On the crowded elevator down to the first floor, Murray would cough loudly to cover the sound of the cat. Everyone else on the elevator politely ignored the meows coming from the bag. When the elevator doors opened, Murray bravely marched out, praying the cat would shut up.

He needn't have worried. His fellow elevator passengers marched with him, coughing loudly all the way through the lobby and out the front door.

[Reader's Digest "Life in These United States"; contributed by C.E. Munro in The Daily Inbox via Ed Peacher's Laughter for a Saturday]

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WORD for YOUR WEEK: The Word Spy has spotted a word that captures what we recently did perfectly. I took a vacation from work, but we stayed home so it was a "staycation." That's not the word. We also planned to take a day to visit a favorite Michigan city. The Word Spy calls this a daycation, where you go away from home for the purpose of fun and relaxation, but you don't spend the night.

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