car - Quaker Ranter

Theo’s first time at a Pinewood Derby

Martin Kelley — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 03:10:57 +0000

His car did reasonably well. I’m was a bit proud that when we put it on the scale at check-in it came in at exactly 5.0 ounces–the heaviest weight allowed–and ideal weight.

In album Pinewood Derby Mar 1, 2012 (9 photos)

Voting begins on the cars.

This is pretty messed up

Martin Kelley — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 02:10:55 +0000

We’re about to see public transportation tax benefit cut in half while car commuters see an increase. The NYTimes unravels the history of politics that brought us to this backwards development. See also: commuterbenefitsworkforus.com

Embedded Link

Why Drivers May Get More Commuter Tax Benefits Than Bus Riders
The pretax commuter benefit has taken different forms over the years, and the 2012 version will benefit car drivers more than bus and train riders.

The ascent of Apple Pie Hill

Martin Kelley — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 10:17:44 +0000

Yesterday the kids and I took a road trip to Apple Pie Hill, a summit of loose gravel that towers over the South Jersey pinelands from a dizzying height of 209 feet above sea level. A fire watch tower on the summit adds another few dozen feet, enough to get a visitor over the treetops. On a clear day it’s said you can see the skylines of Atlantic City and Philadelphia. Fortunately for me it was an quintessentially beautifully fall day–clear and crisp. It was easy to spot the cities, both thirty-two miles away (mostly to the south and mostly to the west respectively) and here’s blowups of the two resultant photos:

More pictures, from left: Sand road to the hill, the fire tower, the view down through the steps of the tower (the kids were left in the car), two year old Francis eager but thwarted attempt to repeat Papa’s climb up tower. Click individual photos for enlarged and geotagged versions. More photos of this and out stopover at Atsion later in the day on yesterday’s Flickr page.

For those interested in repeating our journey, here’s a map showing our route up and back. I was mostly winging it, depending on these directions from NJPineslandsandDownJersey.com starting from nearby Chatsworth NJ, self-styled “Capital of the Pine Barrens.”

Other map views: View Larger Map | Satellite with Route Map