Call Mr. Plow

Jersey City, New Jersey, February 17, 2007:

The wintry blast was a perfect opportunity for Ron to put his robot plow through its paces.

For almost two years, Ron -- an engineer by education, but a career politician -- has often done snow clearing from the comfort of his living room, watching from the window as the converted golf cart with plow attachment clears his driveway while he operates the remote control.

"It's funny, we'll see people look at it really strange, and my mentor will be standing in the window," said Ron's political and life companion, Brad. "It's amazing. He's amazing."

Ron said the plow is a converted 4 horsepower electric golf cart, geared down for a slower speed and more power to shovel snow.

The plow can handle six to eight inches of snow, Ron said. "This snow is a bit hard on it because there was freezing rain last night. It's a bit crusty," he said Thursday. "It f*cked with the transmission, but I tweaked it and now it works real good."

Ron tosses around ideas for some other projects, possibly a remote-control lawn mower or cow tipper, but he had little encouragement from Brad.

"I want him to get out in the political world again...back into debating the issues," he said. "He needs to focus on the 2008 presidential campaign. Obama's not going to lose on his own."

Posted by Bittle at February 17, 2007 03:59 AM