Cannonball Run

[In Heaven: CS Mott, Crapaud Durant, John Rockefeller, Henry Ford, and Clarence Darrow are talking.]

CS Mott: Working conditions were poor, you made them better

Darrow: Yeah, but the worker might have used their power to excess and priced themselves right out of jobs

Bill Gates : What about technology? Your state was full of pioneers at the beginning of the 20th century. Where is that hardy breed of engineers and innovators? Cars are smelly and dirty. Bits and bytes are clean and cheap. Building cars down South solves the border problem, the expensive cost of Hybrid problem, the fuel shortage problem, and the environment problem.

Durant: What do you think Rockefeller?

Rockefeller (at 210 years of age, still in charge of Standard Oil): Why do you think we jacked fuel prices so high?! To maximize profit.

CS Mott: In so doing, you might have inadvertently made hybrid cars more viable and priced yourself out of business.

Darrow: What about the factory worker?

Gates: What about the farmer? What about the pyramid builder? They will adapt; painfully, but they will adapt.

Rockefeller (grumbling to Gates): It was a mistake letting them split up Standard Oil, but I am reconsolidating. Easier to control prices.

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Have you ever driven across country in an automobile?

In Jack Kerouac's On the Road and James Michener's Space one is reminded of the beauty of our country and the American love affair with the open road. I have driven across this country almost a dozen times, and I never get tired of looking at the natural beauty of the US of A.

To that end, and to reinvigorate our love of the automobile I propose that we hold a perennial Cannonball Run--yes, just like the cornball movie of the same name in the 70s. The key is to set some basic rules--each car has two members and you drive as much as you can to get from say, Detroit to LA. Or your drive just 12 hours per day, rendezvousing in target (fun cities) and you depart the next day based on the previous day's arrival. Fun destinations could be Chicago, St. Louis, Austin, Las Vegas, LA and destinations could change every year. All contestants could contribute a small fee for a prize and regional sponsors could kick in. Excellent sponsor candidates might be Ford, Chrysler, GM, etc. How about a $1000000 prize guys? (Oh, and no professional drivers please.)

Clearly you and I could just do this without the prize money. The trip alone is worth the time and effort.

If you are interested in coordinating a Cannonball Run then send me an email: pkimmel@softconcepts.com