Surprising Stuff

Gasoline outrage is still going on around Lake Geneva.

The X-Files investigators of the Geneva Shore Report are more Mr. Wizard than they are Stephen Hawking. It’s so easy to check and see whether gasoline stations, charging as much as fifty cents or a dollar a gallon for “pure” gasoline (without ethanol, a form of alcohol), are actually giving the consumers plain old ethanol-laced stuff like at their other pumps. It cost our investigator’s less than four dollars to check.

Here’s how.

Go in to the station and buy a large bottle of Fiji drinking water for less than three bucks. Empty the bottle until the bottom creased line (about half inch up around the lower part of the plastic bottle). Pump the supposed ethanol free gas into the remaining bottle space. Shake vigorously for about half a minute. Let the bottle stand for a minute. Voila! If the water line be-tween the gasoline on top (those two things don’t mix) and the water on the bottom is still right where it was when you started then there’s no ethanol in the gas. If the ‘water’ line is higher then it’s higher because the water leeched alcohol out of the gas and a higher level is the result. Go try it.

Then go in and yell at everyone because, unless you are at a Kwik-Trip, you got screwed. If you have machinery, or an old car that can be damaged by ethanol (it burns the valves), then scream louder. The interesting results produced by yesterday’s investigation at Sentry in Walworth, are pictured below.

There is no difference anymore between premium, middle grade and regular gasoline. Anywhere. Only Kwik Trip gives you any kind of gasoline without ethanol in it.
That’s just the way it is.
The rest is all marketing, and taking advantage of powerful mythology.

Before! Water is added to an empty Fiji drinking water bottle. The bottle is filled up to the plastic line that runs around the bot-tom of the plastic two inches (or so) up. Gasoline is then pumped carefully into the opening until the bottle is full. Shake well and let settle and you will know how much ethanol is in your gasoline. Simple physics. Water leeches out alcohol so any alcohol coming out of the gas will raise the level of the water. You can do this yourself except don’t get caught putting gas in unau-thorized containers

After. Added regular “without ethanol” from the pump at Sentry in Town of Wal-worth. Note that the line of ‘water’ moved up almost half an inch (actually 21 millime-ters). By measuring the amount of pure gasoline above in the bottle (215 mm) and doing simple math it can be deduced that the mixture before mixing with water is not free of ethanol at all. It’s 4.675% ethanol! Is it Sentry’s supplier’s lying to Sentry or Sentry lying to you? Do you care? Some local people probably don’t care if they are being ripped off .50 a gallon.

The Lake Geneva City Council turned Badger High School down for everything.
One might have thought that eight Scott Walker clones had been appointed because Lake Geneva’s city council voted unanimously to deny Badger accordingly:

• Badger High School asked for the city to waive the $50 fee for the Home Coming Fireworks. The city council denied it 8-0.
• Badger High School asked for the city to waive the $85 dollars for temporary closure of Highway H, and the $50 security deposit. The city council denied that request 6-2 (Aldermen Hill & Gelting opposed).

Is the Lake Geneva City Council opposed to education, like it would appear that Mr. Walker (quite understandably) is, or is the Lake Geneva City Council simply opposed to Badger High School?
The dog park was read into the record easily and will open without comment on the 4th of October. But of course dogs don’t attend Badger High School.

Hillmoor, the old, dead golf course that was once the green gateway into Lake Geneva on Highway 50, sits unattended.
Plans for its development are following the customary path of only being revealed after approvals are sought for changes to the city’s comprehensive plan, and rezoning from recreational/agricultural use is changed. Only after a plan is fully in place and approved, will a development plan be considered.

If readers find that this process might be a bit backwards, then such a reader might be described as being brand new to Lake Geneva political planning and operations. Hillmoor, that previous great, green corridor needs to stay green. Any changes to the comprehensive plan or zoning should keep that at the forefront of all discussions and decision making