The Last Ditch by Tom Paine

10 responses to “US Tour 2013”

1. 

   Moggsy

   January 28, 2013

   Tom, where you say “my US Tour”? It makes you sound just a bit like Bon Jovi or something ^_^ Will there be a DVD and merchandising?

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2. 

   Tom

   January 28, 2013

   There will be a book, I hope, and T-shirts for the navigators who are planning to fly out to join me for sections of the trip. Maybe I should have some mugs made to hand out to US readers who meet me for coffee en route?

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3. 

   Cascadian

   January 30, 2013

   You might find this app handy-http://gasbuddy.com/
   Select location, select grade of gas. Not that I expect that you will drive miles out of your way to save pennies, but it is a good idea to check if the convenience of interstate service stations prices are worthwhile. The other wrinkle you will soon learn is that advertised price is probably a cash transaction-credit card usually a couple cents more.
   You seem serious about visiting the contiguous 48 states, should I be buying BP shares?

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4. 

   Cascadian

   January 30, 2013

   Prices of course are US gallon which is 0.833 Imperial gallon or 3.8 litres.
   Read it and weep British drivers.
   The heat map is useful as well, it will often give you a hint where neighbouring states charge excessive taxes-you would not want to make the mistake of not filling in Arizona or Nevada before you enter California or from Jersey to New York or Connecticut.
   Starve the greedy governments!

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5. 

   Tom

   January 30, 2013

   Thanks for this. All your advice is most welcome. I am not sure about BP shares. I will have to buy whatever brand of gas is available when Speranza demands to be fed. She is not very patient about it.

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6. 

   Cascadian

   January 30, 2013

   At the risk of seeming rude (sometimes the everyday stuff gets missed)….I suppose you have arranged a good celphone plan that allows roaming all over the states at reasonable cost (including data)? One hears some horror stories about Europeans using their phones in the states only to return to horrendous bills.
   BTW what do get in terms of mileage on a tank of gas (driving sedately)?

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7. 

   Moggsy

   January 30, 2013

   Maybe you should think about releasing the book as an epub?

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8. 

   Tom

   January 30, 2013

   I shall try the conventional route first. It sets me a standard to shoot for with my photography. If I fail, there's no great loss. I will simply have a better quality personal album, which I can vanity/e-publish if enough friends would like a copy. 

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9. 

   Tom

   January 30, 2013

   I have this in hand, but thanks for worrying! An American friend has a son in the business and is going to help me sort out an iPhone and iPad sim for the duration of my tour.
   Speranza’s onboard computer is over-informative (showing the highest speed achieved on the current trip where a curious policeman might see it, for example) but is strangely silent about fuel consumption. The official combined figure is 21.6 miles per imperial gallon, but such figures often bear little relation to reality. I might do better than that on long, steady US runs.
   What’s “sedately” by the way?

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10. 

    Cascadian

    February 5, 2013

    Sedately is a conditional word, depending on road and traffic conditions, and the mood of the driver, it’s clearly for the driver to decide.
    Though I do recall mention of “sedately at 150mph” during discussion of the advisability of a coffee-cup holder.
    I will m not pretend to understand what an Ipad sim is but glad to hear you are getting expert advice.

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