It’s All Just A Big Village, really.

The internet has a lot to answer for, and most of it is all good. The immediacy of communication across the world is turning those of us who are connected, into residents of a big global village.

A case in point: a couple of weeks before heading away, I got involved in a bit of a discussion on the Yahoo Groups ‘Power Assist’ group. This particular thread headed off into a comparison between the laws for low powered, electric assist vehicles in Oregon vs. New Zealand. Through this, I got to chatting with a certain Bill Bates of Portland, Oregon. I was asking Bill if he knew of any EV (electric vehicle) related events in the Eugene / Portland area that were happening whilst I was in town.

To cut a long story short, Bill very kindly offered to meet me at Portland Union Station on Saturday, and show me his WAW (nothing kinky here folks, move right along, and check out the link). The WAW is a Belgian designed and built Velomobile, of which Bill owns example #42 (a most auspicious number, coincidentally).

However here am I in Eugene, and what do I see but WAW 42 strapped to the roof of a car in the station carpark. What the….????

WAW42 in Eugene (photo courtesy W. Bates)

‘Hello, you must be Simon’, I hear from next to me. ‘Gidday Bill’ sez I, cool as a cucumber. Sure enough, that photo of my ugly mug at the top of this page was enough for Bill to recognize me.

Introductions over we repaired to the café conveniently located next to his car, and over a very nice lunch and a very welcome cold beer, Bill told me he had run into a bit of a schedule conflict for our planned Saturday meeting, so he took a punt, strapped his velo’ to the roof of his car, and drove two hours to Eugene in the hope of meeting me there. How cool is that?

We spent a very pleasant couple of hours talking EVs, Life, The Universe, and well, Everything, really. It was a really awesome surprise, and I feel privileged to have made a new friend. We had to cut things short, as I had a rental car to collect before closing time. Before Bill and Puppy the Pomeranian wended their way back to Portland, they very kindly drove me to Hertz, and made sure I was all set with my truck. We had an impromptu photo session, and then, just before heading off, Bill presented me with a very interesting book on the history of Oregon, as a memento of my visit.

Bill, I feel very honoured to have met you, and am humbled by your generosity. Thank you once again, and I hope we run into each other again – maybe even in N.Z.