Looks like the "Pope-mobile" is changing from a Mercedes Benz to an Indian rickshaw!

An auto-rickshaw, a black and yellow 3-wheeler that can seat no more than 3 people, is India's most used form of private transport. The Pope has just received a personalized, completely white one with special insignia, that he will be using for public appearances as he commutes around the Vatican.

The Times Of India has hyped this piece of news as a symbolic step in marking India's connection with the spiritual leader.

Definitely unique news and a novel marketing gimmick by Piaggio Ape Calessino, the rickshaw manufacturing company, but not worthy of front page status.

In my opinion, the Pope making use this mode of transport from a developing country is a feather in the cap for India's awesome transportation system, but other than that, no big deal.

One of the most irritating things about going through security at the airport is when you have to take your laptop computer out of your bag to put it through the x-ray. Invariably, the notebook is always at the bottom of my backpack, underneath 12 pairs of socks, a Frisbee and some loose sugar packets, so all of this has to come out and be reassembled after screening.

The reason that the TSA requires this is that they have a hard time seeing through other electronics that are often in-plane during the x-ray -- things like power supplies, cd-rom drives or other extraneous equipment.

If these electronics could be separated during the screening, the TSA concedes, then passengers could leave their notebooks stowed away during the process. So they called for proposals from manufacturers to design a case that could accomplish this task.

Now, with designs finalized, the world's heavyweight bag manufactureres are racing to bring them to market. Luggage giant Targus expects to have several units on the shelves by September, while Pathfinder has a similar plan.

The real question is how well the TSA screeners will handle it. You know that there will be one or two who forget the new designs are x-ray permissible, which means head butting between passengers and security.

I personally am probably going to stick with my Arc'teryx backpack when on the road -- I can't afford to have multiple bags or a niche piece of luggage when I'm packing light.

I was JUST thinking about this on the ride in this morning when I passed the Shell station at the corner of Platt and Ellsworth when I saw regular fuel at $4.25 a gallon: "Man, I wish I could buy gas at today's price tomorrow".

That's basically what oil futures are: speculators decide that they think the price of oil is going to rise, invest in futures and watch their money go through the roof. More people make money, more speculate and the price goes up. It's the phenomenon that many economists think is leading the surge in oil prices today, beating out real market supply and demand economics and essentially crushing our transportation infrastructure.

The theory is identical to what Southwest Airlines did. Back when oil was at believable prices, that airline decided to hedge their oil purchases and lock in prices at the past rate of $51/barrel. Now that fuel is at over $140, they're making a killing over other airlines.

Now, with gasoline at $4.25 a gallon, you can purchase as many gallons as you want at that price with MyGallons.com and watch the market fluctuate independent of your fuel consumption. If gas keeps surging to $5.00 a gallon? You've just saved a bunch of money. If it drops to $2.50 again? You're out.

Based on how many gallons you buy, the service sends you a "debit" card that lets you purchase as much fuel (per gallon, not dollar) as you have stored up.

The crux of your investment is on where you think the price of the oil is going to head. If you, like many others, think that the price will keep going up, now might be a good time to buy your MyGallons card before your summer road trip.

Subscription to the MyGallons service ranges from $30-$40 per year, but if gas keeps going up that will be a drop in the bucket compared to what you could save.

Years back we posted on Google's new technology that lets you google simple questions to the search engine via the text message function on your phone. If you question is easily answerable, the service will return your query with a short answer in a text message.

This, my friends, is a powerful, powerful tool, that I believe many people under utilize. So to demonstrate a good example of how Google text has saved my ass multiple times on the road, I'll give one example of a trip I recently took.

I have yet to indulge in the Blackberry or handheld wireless internet market for two reasons: the data fees that AT&T charges are completely unacceptable and I don't want to devote my life to the internet attached to my hip. I'll probably break down at some point, but for now I'm still resisting. What I do have, however, like most other people who own mobile phones, is a text message function (or SMS, as the Europeans often call it) that I occasionally use to keep in touch with friends or send dirty messages during meetings at work.

A few months back I was headed out to my weekly pilgrimage to Detroit's Metro Airport (DTW) for another one of my typical weekend trips. I usually park off site because the shuttles seem faster and they issue online coupons for free days, so took the red Qwikpark shuttle from my car straight into McNamara terminal. As usual, I was cutting it close, so by the time we rolled into the terminal I was hot to get through security. Ignoring the departure and arrival monitors, I burst through the security checkpoint and headed up for the the internal train that runs the length of the terminal.

As I crossed the large span towards the terminal, I pulled out my boarding pass, checked my flight (say, Northwest 266) then plugged it into my text box as NW266 and sent it to GOOGL, or 46645. Five steps later I received a text message saying that my flight was on time, departing from gate A6 and had the number for customer service just in case of problems. Now I knew to get on the northbound train.

Immediately when I got on the tram, I felt that something was wrong.

Remember that trade embargo that the US has against all of Cuba? The one that forces you to drive to Tijuana to pick up Cuban cigars and the one that prevents you and your family from stopping in Havana on your annual cruise? Yep, that embargo.

We as Americans have been forbidden from trading with the Socialist nation for over forty years now, as our good buddy Fidel Castro kept the country under lockdown and its population in poverty. Our "sanctions," which have recently come under increased scrutiny, are meant to punish the totalitarian government and encourage democracy in the island nation. How well that's working is another debate.

But our trade embargo sure isn't stopping Spirit Airlines from doing business with the Cubans. They've been paying the government regularly to use Cuban airspace on their flights over the Carribbean -- something that spokeswoman Misty Pinson claims was not premeditated, saying: ``Spirit Airlines never had the intention of violating any requirements or laws to carry out its international operations.''

How does your morality buzzer NOT go off when you're writing checks to Cuba? Aren't all business transactions with the communist state illegal?

Needless to say, the embattled airline is now coughing up 100G's in fines for illegal payments to the Cubans. Better to fly around next time.

Perhaps you've heard that actor Matthew McConaughey has a thing for Airstream trailers. Here's a video of McConaughey leaving his where it is parked near a beach. He's not the only one with a thing for Airstreams.

At Jalopnk, a Web site devoted to cars, there's a feature on Colin Hyde a man in Plattsburgh, New York who has made it his mission to restore and refurbish Airstreams to mint condition.

Hyde has set up shop at an old air force base that used to house B-52 Bombers, and KC-35 Tanker Aircrafts. At his company GMS Vehicles, Hyde, along with others, work on Airstreams that date back to the 1950s. When they have completed their artistry action, a trailer can look better than it did the first time it left the factory.

Trailers can be custom-designed. For any of you looking to hit the open road in a vintage vehicle, here's a place to look. There is a link on GMS Vehicles' Web site where you can e-mail your vintage restoration questions. There are also several pictures to give you an idea of what a restoration project entails.

My mother told me this traveler-doesn't-have-a-clue story yesterday morning after I picked her up at the Greyhound bus station in Columbus, Ohio.

I posted about this yesterday, but I'm still shaking my head and wondering where the woman is today and what she has found to eat. Perhaps she's in Missouri?

It has reminded me of other travel stories when there is nothing else to do but keep on keeping on--and hopefully, eventually, you'll get to where you want to go. It's also to make you feel better if you've ever made a travel mistake. I've made mistakes, but not quite like this.

Here is the recap:

"Where are you going?" My mother asked the woman who got on the bus in Newark, New Jersey.

"Los Angeles," the woman said.

"My!" said my mother. "That's far. When will you get there?"

"Tomorrow." The woman, according to my mother, sounded confident.

"Tomorrow?!" my mother exclaimed.

Mind you, they are on the bus on the east coast. The U.S. hasn't shrunk.

The woman nodded, still sure.

In Pittsburgh, the woman discovered the truth. She won't arrive in Los Angeles until Saturday, I think sometime tomorrow night. It is a looooonnnnnng ride.

My mother said that the woman spoke with an accent , so perhaps she misunderstood the details, or she never asked for the details. I wonder if her ticket gave her an inkling that something was amiss? Regardless, she's somewhere the middle of the U.S. by now and by tomorrow night she'll be in L.A.

This reminds me a little bit of the problem when planning international travel that involves crossing the International Date Line. When we lived in Asia I always double checked to make sure I understood exactly what day it would be when I would arrive somewhere. Missing a day can wreck havoc on plans if you're not careful.

Or there are the mistakes where you head east instead of west or the other way around. I know someone who was driving to Washington, D.C., from Columbus, but didn't discover he had gone the wrong way until he hit Indiana or thereabouts. He had recently immigrated to the U.S. which added to his sign reading difficulties and reluctance to ask for directions.

Cockpit Chronicles takes you along on each of Kent's trips as a co-pilot on the Boeing 757 and 767 out of Boston.

"We've had a minor explosion back here," one of the flight attendants, Susan, told us during our preflight.

"There's orange juice all over 2H and J."

Selfishly, we all perked up. Those were our crew rest seats. The thought of sitting in a wet seat gave a new urgency to the co-pilot's voice when calling maintenance to get the cover and cushion replaced.

I was the relief pilot again for this flight. My schedule for June is exclusively for FB trips to Paris, but occasionally I'm able to trade over to the co-pilot seat if it opens up during the month, which leaves my relief pilot position open to someone who's on reserve or another pilot who's able to trade into it.

My mom just arrived back in Columbus this morning at 7 a.m. from her trip to New York City on a Greyhound bus. The bus was one minute early. Wow! I thought that she'd be late due to the wicked thunderstorm that tore through here all last night.

When I pulled into a non-parking space in front of the station (there was just enough room to maneuver behind another car actually parked at a meter), there she was with her small pull behind that she was allowed to carry-on. If she had checked it there would have been no charge.

One more point for Greyhound.

As I posted previously, my mom took the Greyhound because it was cheaper and easier than flying at the time she found out she needed to get to New York. That still seems to be the case.

Unless, you are the woman my mother told me about who got on in Newark, New Jersey.

"Where are you going?" My mother asked her.

"Los Angeles," the woman said.

"My!" said my mother. "When will you get there?"

"Tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?!" My mom wondered how that could be.

That couldn't be. When they changed buses in Pittsburgh, the woman found out she didn't have a clue. She won't arrive in Los Angeles until Saturday.

My mom said she had an accent, so perhaps when someone explained the trip details, she missed something. Obviously.

I hope she didn't have much planned for the next couple of days and thought to bring a good book with her--or several. If nothing else, she snagged the best travel mistake story I've heard in awhile.

(In case you're wondering. If you go from New York to Los Angeles, it will take 2 days, 12 hours and 25 minutes minimum and you would have had to make one bus change. Some schedules take longer with two transfers.You will have traveled 3072 miles. It costs $192 if you don't want a refundable ticket or $215 if you do. There is one ticket left for today's bus that leaves at 11 a.m.)

Denver recently approved a measure making possession of a small amount of marijuana legal, so the next logical step in opening places in which to smoke the reefer was obviously Denver International Airport. That's what a group of activists called Safer Alternative for Enjoyable Recreation (SAFER) are trying to do.

Their argument is that it's a great alternative to drinking at the airport, which often leads to stress, passengers flipping out and causing a ruckus aboard aircraft -- things that we seem to report on weekly here at Gadling.

To that end I suppose they have a point, but for the fact that pot is still illegal on the state and federal levels, under which persons possessing can still be prosecuted.

However, in the farcical world where all good intentions lead to results, I can see a brave new world where passengers happily pile into a plane with zero legroom, no overhead space and 12$ soft drinks, happy as cows grazing in a pasture where children don't cry and nobody cares if they can't open their laptop on postage-stamp sized tray tables. Food sales onboard would skyrocket, complaints would plummet and the flight attendants would hug you instead of asking you to return your seat back to its upright and locked position.

The airlines should get behind this legislation immediately.