82

The temperature in Fahrenheit that we reached today here in St. Charles County. Incredible, beautiful weather.

Das Auto, Diesel Edition

And speaking of Volkswagen, the Diesel Beetle is set to return:

Volkswagen has released details on its upcoming 2013 Beetle TDI before the vehicle gets an official unveil at the 2012 Chicago Auto Show. The oil-burning Beetle will bow with the same turbocharged 2.0-liter diesel engine found in the Jetta TDI and Passat TDI, and Volkswagen projects the engine should help it net 39 miles per gallon highway and 29 mpg city.

Autoblog notes that the actual real world milage will likely be even better than the estimates.

Das ist sehr gut.

The Dog Strikes Back

And speaking of commercials, the new VW Super Bowl commercial is out. Not only does this commercial reference last year's commercial, it also had its own teaser a few weeks back.

Go Cards!

Yes, the Cardinals are in the post-season and you know what that means: I will start gabbing about baseball on here again. It was good to see the Cards beat the Phillies tonight. I have a good feeling about their overall momentum right now.

Could a Cardinals-Yankees World Series be in the mix, perhaps? Having the two winningest teams together at the World Series would be fun.

Das Auto

This is a perfect way to build up to the relaunch of the iconic car.

The Blizzard that Never Was

Last night was the first time I can recall hearing a blizzard warning for anywhere around the St. Louis metro region. For days there has been talk about the destructive ice, snow and wind headed to the area. There was enough fear with the storm presently crossing the midwest that many businesses closed today that usually would not for mere snow. We as a city were prepared.

But, the blizzard did not come and only a few inches of accumulation happened.

I didn't want to get hit by anything severe that did great damage, but somehow after all the hype, this little snow storm seemed anticlimactic — like a story that builds up great drama only to invoke deus ex machina to fix it all in a most sensational and unsatisfying of fashions.

Oh, well, the snowfall was pretty today.

In Defense of Cats

One phenomena I will never understand is why so many people have such negative views of cats. Most people are loathe to pick on dogs, while they are perfectly content to tell tales about this or that bad experience with felines. Never mind that for all the good pooches in the world, there are also plenty who do annoying things such as bark their heads off. Constantly. Even as I write this.

Sloane Crosley comments about this odd anti-cat attitude in a New York Times opinion piece. She hits a lot of good points most cat owners will surely be able to sympathize with. Crosley notes,

Even now, I am a bit hesitant to extol Mabel’s many virtues. And they are many. To wake up with her belly-up and demanding affection is to have your heart explode with the kind of joy that compels some people into a life of large-scale oil painting. Alas, I am loath to cheapen her existence and dignify the city’s anti-cat stance by creating a dog-like defense for her.

Maybe a good start would be for cat owners to start using terms such as “cat-like” as positive descriptors.

If a High Speed Train Leaves a Station...

Ronald Utt comments on a planned high speed train route connecting Kansas City, St. Louis and Chicago:

For instance, one has to wonder what exactly motivated the review team to endorse the proposed $1.1 billion investment in the Kansas City-St. Louis-Chicago route, which would allow customers to reach their destinations 10 percent faster than they could by driving between Chicago and St. Louis.

He raises an interesting point in suggesting that pluggable hybrid cars promise a cheaper and cleaner alternative to such a plan. Nevertheless, the idea of reaching Chicago from STL in four hours without having to either bother with an airport or be actively driving a car is an intriguing.

Rationalize

From “the Moscow Rules:”

There is no limit to a human being's ability to rationalize the truth.

True.

Unilever Offers Homing Prize

Laurel Wentz writes:

Starting next week, consumers who buy one of the GPS-implanted detergent boxes will be surprised at home, given a pocket video camera as a prize and invited to bring their families to enjoy a day of Unilever-sponsored outdoor fun. The promotion, called Try Something New With Omo, is in keeping with the brand's international “Dirt is Good” positioning that encourages parents to let their kids have a good time even if they get dirty.

I'm not sure this is going to prove a good idea.