Hear That? It's Val in Her Helicopter!

You know how when you work in an office, some mother is always selling stuff for her precious child? Like Girl Scout cookies, or overpriced Christmas wrapping paper, or magazine subscriptions, or fundraiser candy bars?

I AM THAT MOTHER!

Don't assume that just because I don't work any more, and you don't-work in my non-office with me...that you're off the hook! I'm spreading my brochures out right here in the break room for the next 28 days. That's how long Genius has left on his Crowdfunding campaign for Solar Car.

Let the record show that I don't expect you to donate. But if you're on social media, which I am NOT, save my little Blogger venture...perhaps you could put a link for him if you believe in his mission. SOMEBODY out there might just be an alumnus, or like getting skinned knuckles working under the hood of a car, or appreciate go-getterness in young college whippersnappers, or...maybe...their heart melts for solar power. You never know who might see it, and wish to donate. Not everybody in this world is selfishly spending their fixed income on food, shelter, and medical insurance able to spare money on other people's dreams. So I understand. No hard feelings. And a link is FREE, by cracky!

Go here

http://bit.ly/2nxOVeh

to read about this latest Missouri S&T Solar Car Team quest.

You can even suggest a name for this year's car if you go to the NAME SUGGESTION link.

If you go to that main link, you can see a video, and read a little bit about this year's Solar Car race. It's in Australia! And it costs $25 a day to keep the team supplied with WATER! Also on that page is a picture of Genius. He's third from the left in that thumbnail row of 4 guys. You can click on his face and read a short statement from him. He's a former Solar Car president, but not the one mentioned in the 2-minute video of his friend Connor, one of last year's drivers. Also, Genius made the video, and wrote the script.

Genius will not be making the trip to Australia. That would require that he take off the entire fall semester, and he's due to graduate in December, so that's not feasible for him. The team that is going will be able to get a co-op credit for this venture, which means it will count like they're working for a semester (though they don't get paid anything), and their scholarships will still be there for them when they return to school spring semester. They will be spending 32 days in Australia.

Genius doesn't know if we will be able to follow the race this year, due to the remoteness of the outback, but as long as they can get internet connection, the team will keep us posted on their progress by social media.

Let the record further show that Val has made a donation. It's not like she's asking you to jump out of a plane while she rides it back to the runway. Yes, even though I would rather spend my once-earned cash on scratch-off tickets, the lottery has been good to me lately. So the Solar Car benefits. Besides, it's TAX DEDUCTIBLE!

The link is going to be at the top of my posts until the Solar Car campaign is over. Just because it's not hurting me to keep it there, and it's not hurting you to skip over it. Genius says people can donate one dollar or more. It looks like you have to start at $25, but THAT'S NOT TRUE! That's just the level to get a perk. If you actually click on the donation link, you just override the $25.00 in the box, and type in how much you want to give. Oh, and if you scroll to the bottom, you'll see that for the low, low price of only $2,500...you can get your name on the side of the Solar Car! Yeah. That's not the donation I made.

Genius says they are attempting to raise funds in a variety of methods, and with this one they hope to help with costs of getting the Solar Car and the team to Australia. He estimates costs will run in the neighborhood of $50,000. For example, the team will have a convoy of 4-5 vehicles, each of which costs $50 per day. He stressed that there are OTHER WAYS TO HELP! That if you know somebody with a business who would like to donate materials, or have contacts who can help with freighting the Solar Car, or deal with an engineering firm that might want to sponsor the car, or have a company that could donate machining time to working on parts...please contact the Solar Car team. Genius has his email address in the box when you click on his face!

Okay. Y'all can go back to gossiping now, and eating the frosting off that half sheet cake that somebody got for their retirement party. Just remember, these brochures are right here on the table if you want to look through them...