Car retirement
 Photo: Reidar Hahn, Fermilab |
Louis Barrett, physicist at Western Washington University, drives a lot. His daily commute to the university, located in Bellingham, Washington, is more than 80 miles. Every summer for years, he has made the 1900-mile drive to Soudan, Minnesota, to work on the Soudan 2 proton decay experiment (1988-2004) and the MINOS neutrino oscillation detector.
All his driving is in a 1987 Honda Prelude affectionately called "Old Red." Last year he told several people that he was going to “retire” his car after reaching a half-million miles—all driven with the original engine. He achieved the goal at the end of last summer. This summer, Barrett drove by car to Fermilab to take shifts in the MINOS control room. His friends and colleagues were surprised to see him still driving "Old Red," now with 552,000 miles. The only change: It had new tires.
Maury Goodman, Argonne National Laboratory
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