news update links
June 09, 2009

New Concord, OH - Columbus, OH
By Josh:
lI woke up this morning in Mark's camper. It was so nice to have a queen size bed to myself, even if it was ten feet off the ground. I slept in, and was quite well rested. I had both pillows and air conditioning; how nice! The array was set up already upon my waking up. Marcelo had to leave somewhat early in order to get some parts for fixing the trailer. Laura, who had slept for quite some time, was with him in the van when he left. They went to the NAPA repair shop to get a hub for the trailer, and they also got free baseball caps for the crew. Meanwhile, Jamie and I worked as quickly as possible to finish our work on the website, and we actually made some considerable headway. When Marcelo and Laura returned, Gwen prepared some lunch, and talked with me about leading a renewable energy revolution. I talked a bit with Mark about his church, the United Church of God. After sharing perspectives and our personal info, Mark called in a reporter from a local newspaper in New Concord. The reporter got some information about the XOF1 project, and then took our photo in front of Mark's print shop. I hope to get some cool business cards from him someday. It was great to share the project with them, and I must say New Concord is home to some of the nicest people I've met. We had a late departure due to issues with fixing the trailer. Before we left I made some phone calls to various news organizations. NBC, ABC, and FOX in Columbus all agreed to show the XOF1 on TV. I navigated and tuned up the ukulele after having made my news contacts and caught up on updating the website. We pulled into Columbus late afternoon by the riverside. By the time a few driving shots and a quick interview had taken place, one of Laurie's contacts called back. Lucas Dixon, a graduating political science senior, took us into his home for the night. He has been working on the solar decathlon, a contest spanning across 20 universities in the US that is working to showcase solar efficiency in powering homes. He gave us a place to sleep, park the van, and the solar car! His girlfriend Bethany is an electrical engineering student, and she seemed interested in the project as well. He also allowed us to prepare some wheat pasta with garlic and marinara, with some of his asparagus and freshly grown and harvested- from- his- front lawn-garden- romaine lettuce on the side. We all took showers, watched the XOF1 on the news, and shared a beer while watching clips from the solar decathlon documentary. Free hats, fast press, and friendly fellow solar advocates...does life get any better?

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