MAX Update No. 12: Arrival at Berkeley

Reader Contribution by Staff
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Sharon (that’s her in the brown jacket) and I got to Shipyard Labs about sundown (Thursday) for the  Escape from Berkeley (by any non-petroleum means possible) event. It was just getting dark enough to need flash for this photo. MAX performed admirably — and on short notice, to boot.

I’d given MAX a 90.38 mile test drive (ain’t GPS wonderful?), had a bunch of errands to do anyway, and nothing fell off so we hit the road. Got to Eureka that night, about 10:00, went to Curtis Unlimited (a name to remember if you drive a vintage Lotus race car) and got a pair of ’60s-style fenders mounted. Got three hours of sleep (6 a.m. to 9 a.m.) and drove to Berkeley down back roads. It was a beautiful drive and great fun, but I’m getting too old for these hours.

Now we just have to paint the fenders and … oh yeah, we got the Plant Drive system installed before we left Oregon, but in order to get to the Curtis’ at a reasonable hour (hey, they’re night owls) we’re going to do our veggie oil testing and debugging today (Friday, October 10). Then there’s the party Friday night, then the race — I mean competition event — Saturday.

When I was 15, I brought home an “A” on a term paper I’d written the night before, and I told my dad, “Hey, I do my best work under pressure.” He smiled and said, “Jack, you do your only work under pressure.” Smart guy, that dad.

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