Drive your oxen to work

Published 11:04 pm Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Wagons, ho! The state expects to wrap up work on the widening of I-5 through Everett this summer.

The work should be complete about the time gas hits $5 a gallon and most of us are making our commute along I-5 on horseback and in rickshaws. Remember, covered wagons in the carpool lane must have at least one passenger.

Wagons, ho! II: An analyst with an Arlington, Va., think tank, who initially said Northrop-EADS’ tanker won by a wide margin over Boeing’s 767-based tanker, now is faulting the Air Force for not considering the A330-based tanker’s greater fuel consumption compared with that of the 767.

Northrop-EADS defended its bid, pointing out that its tanker will have a fuel-saving hybrid option: a pair of oxen.

NASA’s No. 1 problem: The crew of the international space station reports that the station’s only space toilet is on the fritz. A fan that collects “liquid waste” isn’t working. And it may remain so until the next shuttle trip.

NASA quickly got to work on a special space suit that won’t expose the astronaut repairman to plumber’s butt in a zero-G environment.