I am an inventor. Truth be told, I'm really not much more than a gadget man and a tinkerer, but one who finally did something that worked.
THAT made me an inventor. It took 25 years to earn the title. 25 years of looking under the carpet, in the closets and in the cubbyholes of this planet. 25 years of trying the stuff the "experts" say won't work, to finally prove them wrong.
And who are these "Experts" I mention? they are nothing less than the leaders of some of the largest corporations on this planet. General Motors, Ford, Chrysler, Shell, Exxon, and the EPA (to name a few) are all on their team. On my side of the field, there's only me.
Well, me and about a million others like me, all working from their garages and their driveways and their secret labs trying diligently to make a positive difference on this planet. All of them working separately, but together, to defeat one of the biggest drains on this planet-crude oil consumption.
Did you know that in the 1900's, what we now call "Gasoline" was first marketed as (now get THIS!) a stain remover for the laundry! Somebody got the bright idea to use it as a fuel and now, here we are some 100 years later, and nothing on this planet moves without it.
We have become totally dependent on oil and its by-products to live. Mostly, we are aware of it when we drive to and from anywhere in our new "Energy-Efficient" cars. Cars that are getting an average of about 20 miles per gallon.
I'm an old-timer. Well, to some I am, anyway. I'm 50 years old now, and I have watched a lot happen to this world and its people. In the mid-70's I was a teenager, working at Fitzhugh Fina on Gaston Avenue in Dallas Texas when the first "Energy Crisis" hit.
Serving 5 gallons at a time to customers, they paid top dollar for what they could get, or they couldn't get to work. Or to the grovery store or to school or to the hospital to visit their friends. No one could go anywhere without it.
And they were angry!
When that hit, the people of this country screamed. To calm the people down, the Feds "mandated" 50 mile per gallon cars by the year 2000 to be standard.
It's now 2010 and let me ask you this: "Where are they now?"
Time passed and the people forgot. so did those who promised.
Now, it's 35 years later and the average mpg's of vehicles sold today is about 20. That's a few miles less than I got out of a 72 Vega (I was getting 25 way back when!).
Can Detroit do better today?
Read a little further, then you tell me what you think.
In the late 80's, my brother Don and I worked together ona little project. We took a worn out, very tired 84 Ford Tempo that was on its way to the junk yard and changed it. We tinkered here, and piddled there. When we were done, we had a car that had gone from 18.6 miles per gallon on the highway to a very tidy 108.3.
Not only that, but the emissions testing stations in Atlanta refused to give me a print out of the exhaust readings. They said there wasn't enough there for their machines to pick it up, and so, politely stamped it "FAIL!"
It ran like a scalded dog on a fraction of the gasoline, and "Failed" because it didn't pollute ENOUGH!
And we did this in my dad's driveway quite literally with a pipe wrench and a pair of pliers.
Do you think Detroit could do better, what with their laboratories and their test tracks and their billions of dollars in research money (thank you, President Obama!) that we are giving them?
Well, I don't know, maybe we just got lucky....
These people have controlled us through our pocketbooks since the 60's, and we have been powerless to do anything about it. Until now, that is. Now that computers are here and we are able to communicate more freely amongst ourselves, some things are coming to light.
Like we can do better for ourselves than the government or any corporation can. The bottom line is why should they? After all (I love this line!) they have a "Fiduciary Responsiblity" to their shareholders.
To hell with the planet and her peoples.
I am only a small part of a growing revolution. A revolution of people that are finding their answers and then sharing them with the world. I am only one, but with the power of my brothers and sisters, I have the power to change this planet.
Even if it is only one person and one engine at a time.
To all you silent gadgetmen and closet tinkerers out there, making your magic, mixing your batwings and your eye of newt and coming up with the answers to the evils that surround us all, I salute you!
You will be the saviours of this Earth. Not GM or Ford or Chrysler.
You.
Not Bayer or Phizer or Dow.
You.
And every other person like you who are silently making a change, while the promises ring from the television speakers and the CEO's make millions (then retire!).
You, who risk it all to make a difference.
You will make our dreams come true.
Thank you.
Tags: Fuel Efficiency Emissions Conspiracy Gadgetman
