There may be a habitable planet only 13 light years away!

[struggle4progress]

I did a little calculation: that's just a tad over 76 trillion miles

So I think we should go check it out

Yeah, I know, you're thinking, Shizz! I don't even like driving to Hawaii! And I don't know if I could stand being stuck in a sedan with anybody for a 76 trillion mile drive

Wait! Hear me out! It's only 76 trillion miles if you calculate it here in America. But if you calculate it in the UK, it's only 76 billion miles! Interplanetary astronauts should do all their calculations in the UK!

OK, I know, now you're thinking, Well, that sounds better ... but a 76 billion mile road trip? What would I tell my boss? What would my dear snookums think? I still just don't feel up for it

But we could divvy up the travel! You get weekends off, plus two week vacation every year, right? And your dear snookums does too. So the two of you have 236 free days annually -- that's 60% of a year! You don't have to go the whole 76 billion miles: you could contribute 60% of it -- say, 45 billion miles -- just by traveling with snookums on your time off

But wait! There's more! I know you're probably not gonna commit yourself to a 45 billion mile road trip! But get over yourself! YOU'RE NOT THE ONLY PERSON IN THE WORLD! There a 7 billion of us here! So we redo the calculation, using the fact that everybody and their own dear snookums gets weekends off, plus two weeks vacation, and we see 236 x 7 billion free days every year! That's 4.5 billion years of free time! And 76 billion divided by 4.5 billion is about 16! If everybody joins up, you and snookum only have to travel about 16 miles, and you yourself only have to travel half of that: about 8 miles!

Conclusion: we can get there this year if everybody on earth commits to traveling 8 miles this year towards the target! Just 8 miles!

3 votes, 0 passes | Time left: Unlimited
	I'm still not committed but maybe you should be
	0 (0%)
	Doing all astronautical calculations in the UK is a brilliant suggestion
	0 (0%)
	Dunno. I've simply got to wash my hair this year
	0 (0%)
	I asked my dear snookums. And my dear snookums said no
	1 (33%)
	Distributed travel has a real future IMO
	0 (0%)
	I really admire people who are good at math
	1 (33%)
	You can cross me off your list cuz I already walked eight miles before breakfast
	0 (0%)
	Can you test your ideas by driving to Hawaii?
	0 (0%)
	You would get along great with my boss
	1 (33%)
	0 DU members did not wish to select any of the options provided.
Show usernames Disclaimer: This is an Internet poll

[Duer 157099]

1. Paging Wolowitz n/t

[petronius]

2. Is there an Olive Garden on this planet? I get hungry even travelling 8 miles,

so I'm not going anywhere if I can't enjoy some delicious and authentic Italian food in a wholesome family atmosphere at the end of the road...

[In_The_Wind]

3. Inquiring minds want to know.

[struggle4progress]

4. (1) Go to an Olive Garden. (2) Order two meals. (3) Get a doggy bag for one.

(4) Eat the other. (5) Take the doggy bag. (6) Do your 8 miles. (7) Eat what's in the doggy bag. (8) Come back to the Olive Garden. (9) Order another meal. (10) That's 3 meals for you in 16 miles

[Sekhmets Daughter]

5. Brilliant!

I laughed all the way through it.

[struggle4progress]

6. We shall conquer the galaxies when everyone has your spirit!

[Sekhmets Daughter]

9. Must we conquer them?

Can't we just visit?

[struggle4progress]

12. Sorry. I'll practice rousing folk with the cry "We shall visit space"

There's nothing wrong with just visiting

[Sekhmets Daughter]

15. s4p...you are hilarious!

If I had any hearts left I would give one to you.

[Taverner]

7. I think I need an X-Wing...

With warp drive and a TARDIS built into it

[struggle4progress]

11. Me too. But all I've got is an old car, and nobody is offering me a free replacement.

So I gotta make due

[Xipe Totec]

8. 13 light years? How parochial!

Get out of the neighborhood for Chrissake.

[struggle4progress]

10. Once we get people to sign up for an 8 mile leg, I expect many will agree to go further

[bluesbassman]

13. I might be persuaded by frequent flyer miles. Then I could go somewhere really interesting.

[struggle4progress]

22. Call up Braniff or Continental and see how many frequent flier miles they'll give

for an 8 mile jaunt

[bluesbassman]

25. I checked. One way ticket to Lodi.

Damn!

[struggle4progress]

29. It's a great place to visit!

[Bucky]

14. I nearly tried out your "drive to Hawaii" hypothesis once.

Well, technically, what I nearly did was drive a Toyota into golf course's water trap. Same principle. But of course I chickened out at the last second and hit the brakes. Tore up the green, of course, but then I mighta done that even without braking.

[pipi_k]

16. Hell no!!!

The last time I tried interplanetary travel with that many people, some wise guy decided it would be fun for everyone to pass the time singing Arthur Godfrey's greatest hits.

[struggle4progress]

24. Yeah, I remember that. But do you remember who that wise guy was?

It was Arthur Godfrey

[ellisonz]

17. I'm gonna need a test drive to Hawaii.

[struggle4progress]

26. I guess if you really need it, we could run an ad campaign, maybe something

along the lines of I'm ellisonz! Drive me to Hawaii!"

I found some old copy we could shamelessly ripoff

[ellisonz]

30. We just need a really big hovercraft.

[union_maid]

18. I'd like to go, but I need to know about the rest stop situation

I'm at that age when I have to stop to pee fairly often. And are there a number of rest stops with something better than McDonald's or Burger King? Maybe a Popeye's? Even a Bob's Big Boy if nothing else.

[struggle4progress]

27. I figure I'll just stick a hibachi in the back of my car. With somebody new gettin on

every few miles, we just work out a schedule for who brings kielbasa, who brings slaw, who brings burgers, and such, and we keep that lil hibachi stoked

But we can't really stop everytime somebody needs to pee: we'd never get anywhere

Look. I'll compromise. You can ask Are we there yet? whenever you feel like it

I gotta ask, though, where is you from, anyway? How come nobody never teached you how to steer and pee out the window while your buddy riding shotgun keeps a foot on the gas and watches for coppers? I sometimes really weep for the ignerint generation that comin up now

[Generic Brad]

19. I'm trying to calculate the frequent flyer miles

Early calculations indicate it would be A LOT!

[tavernier]

20. Are we there yet??

I need a bathroom...

[struggle4progress]

28. Calculations, based on my estimates of our speed, show that we will get

there AFTER we start, not BEFORE

And we haven't started yet. So IMO we're not there yet

Which means you still have time to go to the bathroom before we head out

[littlemissmartypants]

21. I'm all in.

What time do we leave? I have already packed the cooler.

[union_maid]

23. Need the big cooler for this one. n/t