The Christmas article helped me understand some of my dread towards the holiday. Don’t get me wrong, I think spending quality time with friends and family is great, but why do we need a skewed holiday in order for it to happen? What’s wrong with inviting a few loved ones around, swapping overpriced and underused consumables, creating some drama, overeating and getting shit-faced any other time of year? I for one enjoy a good New Years bash (for the holiday-stress relieving qualities), but the wastefulness of Christmas makes me want to puke a little, then again, that might be last night’s bash talking. Consider for a moment how many resources are wasted in powering all those horrid Christmas lights, let alone the waste in manufacturing, distributing, warehousing, and retailing the vomit inducing illuminations. Then there’s the unwanted gifts, the wrapping, excessive packaging, wasted food and drink, crackers with stupid hats, bad jokes and useless trinkets, lost time searching for the elusive Wii, and the poor, poor dead trees. I won’t get too far into the whole anti-consumer nor environmental thing – who really cares?

As for New Years Resolutions, I made one several years ago never to make any again, so far so good. If you think they work, may I suggest you make a resolution to see your Proctologist, he might find your head. Lifestyle choices are just that, make your choices and live them, don’t wait for the beginning of a Roman invention to alleviate your vices.

This post is a little late for the season, but I was far too busy living the cliché to find the time to write sooner. Here’s to a wasteful 2008 – the economy needs us, the environment does not.

Hybrids can cost from $1,500 to $4,500 more than their gas-only equivalents. The new mileage estimates mean it will take longer to recoup that extra cost in money saved on gas. Experts say the shift could dampen demand, although some hybrids will look better on paper than others.

According to a formula devised by Edmunds, it would take nearly 10 years to recoup the extra costs after buying a 2007 Mercury Mariner Hybrid, up from 6.6 according to the old mileage ratings. For the 2007 Honda Accord and Honda Civic hybrids it takes 14.5 and 6.5 years, respectively.

Economically, it’s hard to justify the purchase of a hybrid, considering the average length of ownership is less than 10 years. Electric cars aren’t any better, worse in fact. Consider the cost of batteries in the Tesla Roadster. $20,000 – the cost of 6,831 Lithium Ion Lap Top Batteries. Hardly worth considering, with the exception of a specialty car, which is the approach Tesla has wisely taken.

What is needed is a serious R & D effort to develop batteries for vehicle applications. Using power storage developed for mobile devices is expensive and ineffective. Using them as a platform for Electric vehicle development seems like a band aid approach to the problem. This is where efforts like GM and A123 Systems are so important. A123 has a Lithium Ion battery chemistry that is lighter, more compact and safer than conventional Li-Ion technologies. Now throw in some economy of scale and EV designers can stop using band aids.