Gotcha. I just remember biking around the city lakes and seeing the PHC working off a flatbed with folks like Claudia Schmitt (sp?) and running into so many musicians on the West Bank...

Well, my childhood is now totally fucked.

Your comment on libraries was the start for me. Ever seen a prison library? I have, though only on video. I can’t speak to what they contain, but I can say the ones I’ve seen are tiny. And please note that inmates have significantly more time to spend in the libraries than do most people.

I grew up with parental cars like the Plymouth Fury III (early ‘70s). The worst possible combination: huge, heavy, RWD, automatic.

Or maybe they’ll buy that medicine they or their family member need, or maybe they’ll spend it on food.

There is no such thing as Minnesota-style pizza, and square-cut ‘za (which is what Domino’s used to do) is an abomination. There are a number of good pizza places in MN (or were, when I lived there 40 years ago) but there is nothing distinctive.

That is something with which I can agree. Though by “exploiting” I meant something more along the lines of “put into practice,” so I would substitute technologist or engineer in place of entrepreneur. But yeah, I think we have the same basic idea here. But as I said above, give me Heechee prayer fans. I’ve already had…

Exploring, perhaps. Exploiting? Probably not.

there’s plenty of research that from the start is known that it won’t give a significant answer

I’m having a little difficulty parsing that last sentence, but if you’re saying what I think you’re saying, I can only respond by saying:

See, e.g., Blish, James, Cities in Flight.

Unfortunately, we might be talking about a populist overlord. Forever. It’s certainly unlikely that the requisite tools to achieve immortality or near-immortality will be freely available. Bezos, Gates, (perhaps? Have to see the tax returns) Trump—those people could afford to live forever. Everyone else?

Besides, if I’m gonna live forever, I want it to be in a Heechee Prayer Fan.

Yeah, that’s too much like the Barbie-pink 911, or President Trump. We knew we could do it, so we did. But we never stopped to wonder about whether we should do it.

Yeah, but why?

“There is nothing like an Amphicar.”

Many years ago, I was at a friends’ Thanksgiving. We made so much food, and so many pies—at least two were pumpkin, and were magnificent. Interestingly, their two cats happily licked out the pumpkin filling cans.

It’s worth noting that during the cold war, when the US examined some aircraft that defecting pilots had flown to the west, they found surprisingly unsophisticated electronic systems—i.e., vacuum tubes. There may still be some debate, but most folks I know who’ve thought about this considered it a kind of hardening…

I like Joe. He’s got personality. But I think Elizabeth Warren would be a great candidate. I don’t think she’d come across as regional. And if you want a VP with some personality, might I recommend Al Franken?

I use a dynohub system, and the (rather expensive) headlight is bolted (theft-proof bolt) to the front rack. The tail light is mounted to the rear fender, and the wiring is concealed. So far, so good.