It is the packaging that drives up the cost. The extras that go into each AA battery, such as the metal casings with all the fancy little graphics.
Each little 1.5 volt button cell on the shelf comes in its own package, and may cost around 2 bucks each. You can get one of the small 12 volt batteries, and find 8 1.5 volt buttons inside. This is because it is cheaper for the company to put eight 1.5 volt button batteries into one package, than it is 1 button per each package on the shelf. Less packing material = less expenses for the manufacturer (as well as the reseller, in terms of space).
Great article! It has many good points. However, there's one that strikes a bit of a nerve with me. In the point about not judging other people, it still sounds like you are:
"some people don’t have the capacity to think this broadly, and instead their own personal tragedies (however small they are in comparison) are all they can deal with."
So people who don't support causes in far away countries are less broad-minded that you are? In a lot of cases, it has nothing to do with being unable to think beyond "their own personal tragedies". There are people suffering everywhere in the world, and unfortunately we can't contribute to every cause out there. Sometimes we have to "choose our battles" and limit the causes we give to. That doesn't make people narrow-minded or selfish. It doesn't mean they don't believe in you or your cause.
It's great that you had to opportunity to help in Myanmar. I imagine it was hard to be turned down when you were in the face of such suffering. Try not to take it personally. It's not about you.
Thank you for mentioning etsy in your blog. I am one of the craftspeople on etsy and really appreciate the opportunity to sell my items on such an artistic-minded website.
You can write the amount of gas you buy, and the odometer reading every time you fill up - and you should fill to the top each time. Over time, over time, you'll be able to calculate an average mpg. The formula is: (today's odom reading - previous reading) / today's fill up amount.
That's your miles-per-gallon.
Do this a few times and take an average.
Another way to do it is to take a lot of readings, and take the total miles driven, and divide by the total amount of gas bought. Start measuring at a full tank, (or fill up and discard the first reading), and include the final fill-up amount. With this method, you don't need to fill up each time, just at the start and at the end.
If you don't like to do the math, you can use a spreadsheet. Searching for "gas mileage spreadsheet" turns up a lot of pages.
I have always loved this analogy and whilst overly simplistic, it runs true.
In Australia, I've just been re-classified as "wealthy". What makes me newly wealthy? Well, the new government lowered the threshold of "wealth" so now I am loaded.... apparently. Over here, you get a thing called "Baby Bonus" - in simple terms, you have a baby and the government gives you $5000.00. This was an initiative of the previous government and is obviously an incentive to breed faster. This bonus was not means tested, you have a baby, you get the bonus regardless of who you are or how much you earn.
Our new government have elected to means test the bonus and set the limit at the new, lower, "wealthy" bracket.
What does this mean for me and my wife? It means that for the past 10 years where we delayed having kids until we had a home and stable financial base, payed all our taxes and did not claim a single cent in welfare or other benefits, we now are ready to have kids and for her to stop work but as, with the stroke of a pen, the bonus is means tested - we get nothing.
Now, I pay a lot of tax and have done so for years. I am not much different to anyone else here - we have a house (we don't get tax free mortgages here, I understand that the US does??) a couple of cars, and an investment property that runs quite negatively much to our distaste. Admittedly, not everyone has investment properties but hey, with the rental crisis here, if I didn't build it one more family would be living on the street.
We can't afford for my wife to be off work for months at a time with no pay so the "Baby Bonus" was a great thing to assist us in starting our family. Also, it would be the first thing we have ever claimed from the Government!!
But alas, new government comes in, means tests the bonus and caps it at a level where we can't get it and we get screwed.
We have a system of welfare payments here called "the Dole" in which those who cannot get work (about 5%) get paid ~$250/wk. Those recipients are entitled to full Baby Bonus. Guess what, we pay ~$50k in tax this year, work our bums off, pour money into our investment black hole, battle the bills every month and can't get a red cent from the government to help us after we have so diligently helped the *poor* for so long.
Why not? We saved our pennies, worked hard, payed our taxes, didn't ever claim anything.
We all enjoy the benefit of what our tax dollars do as far as infrastructure & security. I'm comfortable with the fact that I pay more (in $) than someone poorer than I but FFS, why am I hobbled when it comes to hand-out time when I need it?
I payed more tax than 90% of people in this country but I am not allowed the same reward as those who contribute nothing??
If I dropped my pay to the national average (my wife is already there), downsized our cars, sold our primary house and moved into our investment house, I would have more money in my pocket, be able to milk the government for every "bonus" under the sun and then retire on the government pension and my (then) meager superannuation fund.
If I stay doing what I'm doing, I live the same lifestyle as somenone earing a % of what I do, I don't claim anything from the government, I pay the government a mountain of taxes and I fund my own retirement.
On the subject of "super" - Australia's super debt is staggering, what would happen if everyone just decided to use the government pension? We'd go broke overnight.
Hrmm, I think that everyone crying foul at the "well healed" needs to pull their heads in and look at the longer term view. Grab a few bucks today but remember, they will cost you dearly in the future.
The touble with inflation is that it can sneek up on you because it grows exponentially. For example, just ask yourself if you would rather have 100,000 or 1 penny that doubles everyday for 1 month. After 30 days of doubling the penny, you end up with over 5 million dollars. But, it doesn't really seem to grow until about day 25. If you put this is an excel spreadsheet you can see the curve.
Between day 25 and 30, it goes from 167,000 to 5.3 million. This is an example of exponential growth. Today we are on the verge of an explosion of inflation. The problem was started way back in 2003 with the Federal Reserve's monetary policy of 1 percent for over a year. That low interest rate flooded the market with money, which pored into the housing market. Now that the housing market bubble has burst, the money is poring into commondities and the Fed is has again flooding the market with easy money.
Inflation is already double-digits in many countries around the world. Venezuela (22pc), Vietnam (21pc), Latvia (18pc), Qatar (17pc), Pakistan (17pc), Egypt (16pc) Bulgaria (15pc), just to name a few.
The Fed government Consumer Price Index that is used to calculate inflation is boggus and its a lagging indicator - which means they are using prices from 6-months ago to calculate todays inflation. Inflation is actually more like 10-15% and climbing fast.
So, how does all this mean? It means that unless the Fed increases the interest rates to 8% right now, we are going to see inflation continue to climb. Inflation could be the #1 issue in America for the next decade.
I've had a couple of charities call me asking for donations -- with the same rapid-fire delivery and a "How much can we put you down for?" conclusion. I thank them politely and inform them that I don't make donations over the phone, but I would be happy to look into their organization further to decide if it fits into my charitable giving budget.
Modern ECU's (engine control units) use the logic of fuel cutoff during deceleration with the engine. This means that it is actually more fuel efficient to use the engine for deceleration rather than selecting neutral and coasting. The trick, of course, is to evaluate/regulate the amount of deceleration that is required.
The light ahead is red, you judge that you can come totally off the accelerator and engine brake without additional braking until the light turns green or you must stop using minimum brake. This results in a much more efficient deceleration than would neutral, coast and brake as required. The fuel used in maintaining idle RPM would be saved.
Even more savings could be realized by coasting from a further distance with the engine shut down but the loss of power assist to steering and brakes compromises safety to the point that it is probably not worthwhile.
Acceleration is always a compromise. Accelerate too hard and friction losses are excessive. Accelerate too slowly and pumping losses are excessive. Probably best is brisk acceleration with shifts keeping RPM low and the throttle fairly open; even to the point of short shifting ie. 1st directly to 3rd to 5th.
This principle of large throttle opening at low RPM was the principle that allowed John Wayne and Robert Stack to make it to SFO.........
I tried this and it works quite well - the sand has a nice consistency, and can be adjusted by adding a little more or less water. But I did come up with a much better way of preparing it.
1. Get a gallon ziplock freezer bag, the zipper kind works best.
2. Mix the box 16 oz box of corn starch and 6 cups of sand together in the ziplock bag, knead until you have an even consistency.
3. Add the water to the bag, then knead it until ready.
This way you don't even have to get your hands dirty, and mixing the dry ingredients first gives you a completely even consistency without the clumps. If you want to do more than one batch and not use a ton of ziplock bags, you should dump the dry ingredients into another container before adding the water. Then you can reuse the bag for the dry ingredients.
i looked specifically for some that had co2 and found it (also contains isohexane and ethanol) and sprayed a small sopt on my car a few minutes ago just to check the paint wont come off... however, it wasnt ice- like and now im wondering if i have the right kind... also i didnt turn the can upside down, but i really dont see how that could make a difference. any input?
I'm sorry, but Americans need some sort of wake up call. I feel no sympathy for anyone charged with a termination charge. You signed a contract. If you didn't read it, then you're stupid. If you get a termination fee, also, you're stupid. It's 100% avoidable. Stop playing the victims. If you don't want to sign a contract, THEN DON'T. Pay for the phone full price.
The RCA has a universal remote and will allow manually removing channels when surfing up and down, but it runs hot. Sound on the RCA is reduced but acceptable. The EPG is simple. No analog bypass, but can use splitter to back of TV for this.
The GE tunes more channels, had a one week EPG and runs cooler. No Univeral remote...small buttons. Poorer video, better sound.
Both have SMART antenna connectors, but I do not use.
The killer for me on the GE is the lack of manually skipping channels.
I've been thinking about it since my company introduced Roth 401K this year. For the moment I decided to stay with the regular IRA.
In 2005 and 2006 I was in the same situation as calgirlfinance: the only thing that allowed me to contribute to Roth IRA is my max 401K contribution. In 2007 I would've been in phase-out range, but capital gains from the sale of some portion of my ESPP stock put me over the income limit. I plan to sell some ESPP stock this year as well - too many eggs there - so I'll not be able to contribute to Roth IRA gain. At the same time, max 401K contribution helped me avoid AMT in 2007; hopefully this year as well. Not to mention that once your income gets to a certain amount bad things start to happen like deduction limitations, especially in NY State. On the other hand, if they ever increase the taxes again to where they were 40 years ago, we'd have made a mistake...
That's another consideration: if you live in a high tax state, will you live there after you retire?
Reminds me of the deceptive copywriting that some companies used when petitioning for the network neutrality issue. From what I recall they were getting signatures by making it look like they wanted a neutral network, when really they just represented typical American capitalist thugs who wanted to impose ridiculous charges on content providers for "preferential treatment."
Always pays to be aware of what you're doing exactly.
You are undoubtedly a smart person but a bit blind to your own bias & prejudice. You say what you wrote was "objective and in no way condescending or pejorative. I politely disagree.
Just to deconstruct the phrase: adamant global warming naysayers. 'Adamant' = impervious to pleas, persuasion, requests, reason. Naysayers = someone with an aggressively negative attitude. Both definitions taken from worldnet.princeton.edu. I'd say that was on the pejorative side, wouldn't you?
You also say, "adamant global warming naysayers, have begun to agree that maybe this is an issue to consider". Rational, thinking individuals, and I consider myself one of those, consider both sides of the argument. There's much science and prominent scientists, who do not buy Gore's global warming theory.
The only problem I have with most global warming alarmists is that they've closed their minds.
You have way too much faith in authority, both governmental and quasi-scientific.
You state: "You also mention that we shouldn't let a bunch of knucklehead politicians tell us what to do, but in reality, as much as it may bum us all out, that's exactly what happens. Politicians make the laws, and we have to follow them."
That's dangerous thinking and something the founders of the U.S. would take issue with. Do you really think politicians are that smart? Smarter than the average guy on the street? I don't.
Carter by the way gave us the worse economy since the depression. He was plain awful and very few would disagree.
I apologize for going on -- I am an ardent conservationist. I read Rachel Carson, 'Silent Spring' when I was in 3rd grade more than 40 years ago. But, I still see the market being the major force... not centralized, command, and, yes, stupid government. The best government can do is get out of the innovators. They seldom do that.
Ford motor company announced last week enormous cuts in truck and SUV production. Small, compact cars account for more than 20% of all cars sold today. This is happening not because of government!
Just wanted to let you know that I tried the original recipe and liked it. Sort of like individual banana bread but not quite. I know I'll be baking these often. Thanks!
Thanks for this...it gives me a little more impetus toward trying out the various "hypermiling" techniques. After the $56 fill-up a couple days ago, I decided to try these, but...
In my area, the traffic lights are synchronized. If you coast instead of braking to slow down, you quickly get out of synch, so you end up stopping at every single g.d. red light. They seem to be set at about 5 mph over the speed limit, so if you trot along at 45 mph in a 40 mph zone, you can go for mile on mile on mile without ever stopping. But if you ease off the gas (rather than braking fairly quickly and getting back up to the 45 mph speed quickly), you'll be stopped at every light.
I haven't tried the cruise control because I've always thought it was unsafe to use on the surface streets and on crowded slow/stop/speed-up urban freeways. But maybe this weekend when traffic is minimal, I'll try that out.
I have an older Passat 1.4 turbo. I have two options for getting to where everything is. Two lane highway with stop signs or interstate. I had been taking the interstate but you HAVE TO drive between 65-75 or you will get run off the road or run down by an angry semi driver. So this means your accelerating, passing or moving quite a bit. I am starting to think those interstate drives during rush hour may be wasting more gas than the start stops on the road that has a 60mph limit and less of a NASCAR situation.
I may make some actual MPG calculations and see what route really does use less gas. I also noticed I get better gas mileage after the car is warmed up.
TP doesn't get you particularly clean. If you got fecal matter or urine on your hands, would you wipe them with dry toilet paper? Doubt it. That's just gross.
It's cheaper and more environmentally friendly to use a wet washcloth to clean yourself. And the girls will notice that we have less irritation when using this method.
The vehicle I drive most doesn't come with one. Any ideas for a stand-alone solution? (I was looking at the ScanGuage II anyway, because I needed a reliable code reader.)
It is the packaging that drives up the cost. The extras that go into each AA battery, such as the metal casings with all the fancy little graphics.
Each little 1.5 volt button cell on the shelf comes in its own package, and may cost around 2 bucks each. You can get one of the small 12 volt batteries, and find 8 1.5 volt buttons inside. This is because it is cheaper for the company to put eight 1.5 volt button batteries into one package, than it is 1 button per each package on the shelf. Less packing material = less expenses for the manufacturer (as well as the reseller, in terms of space).
Great article! It has many good points. However, there's one that strikes a bit of a nerve with me. In the point about not judging other people, it still sounds like you are:
"some people don’t have the capacity to think this broadly, and instead their own personal tragedies (however small they are in comparison) are all they can deal with."
So people who don't support causes in far away countries are less broad-minded that you are? In a lot of cases, it has nothing to do with being unable to think beyond "their own personal tragedies". There are people suffering everywhere in the world, and unfortunately we can't contribute to every cause out there. Sometimes we have to "choose our battles" and limit the causes we give to. That doesn't make people narrow-minded or selfish. It doesn't mean they don't believe in you or your cause.
It's great that you had to opportunity to help in Myanmar. I imagine it was hard to be turned down when you were in the face of such suffering. Try not to take it personally. It's not about you.
Thank you for mentioning etsy in your blog. I am one of the craftspeople on etsy and really appreciate the opportunity to sell my items on such an artistic-minded website.
craftsfromtheheart
I look forward to following your trip.
You can write the amount of gas you buy, and the odometer reading every time you fill up - and you should fill to the top each time. Over time, over time, you'll be able to calculate an average mpg. The formula is: (today's odom reading - previous reading) / today's fill up amount.
That's your miles-per-gallon.
Do this a few times and take an average.
Another way to do it is to take a lot of readings, and take the total miles driven, and divide by the total amount of gas bought. Start measuring at a full tank, (or fill up and discard the first reading), and include the final fill-up amount. With this method, you don't need to fill up each time, just at the start and at the end.
If you don't like to do the math, you can use a spreadsheet. Searching for "gas mileage spreadsheet" turns up a lot of pages.
Those of us in the sticks can't put the TP down the septic much less a wipe! Yikes. Great blog though.
Margaret
Great, I was thinking I had nothing to look forward to.
I have always loved this analogy and whilst overly simplistic, it runs true.
In Australia, I've just been re-classified as "wealthy". What makes me newly wealthy? Well, the new government lowered the threshold of "wealth" so now I am loaded.... apparently. Over here, you get a thing called "Baby Bonus" - in simple terms, you have a baby and the government gives you $5000.00. This was an initiative of the previous government and is obviously an incentive to breed faster. This bonus was not means tested, you have a baby, you get the bonus regardless of who you are or how much you earn.
Our new government have elected to means test the bonus and set the limit at the new, lower, "wealthy" bracket.
What does this mean for me and my wife? It means that for the past 10 years where we delayed having kids until we had a home and stable financial base, payed all our taxes and did not claim a single cent in welfare or other benefits, we now are ready to have kids and for her to stop work but as, with the stroke of a pen, the bonus is means tested - we get nothing.
Now, I pay a lot of tax and have done so for years. I am not much different to anyone else here - we have a house (we don't get tax free mortgages here, I understand that the US does??) a couple of cars, and an investment property that runs quite negatively much to our distaste. Admittedly, not everyone has investment properties but hey, with the rental crisis here, if I didn't build it one more family would be living on the street.
We can't afford for my wife to be off work for months at a time with no pay so the "Baby Bonus" was a great thing to assist us in starting our family. Also, it would be the first thing we have ever claimed from the Government!!
But alas, new government comes in, means tests the bonus and caps it at a level where we can't get it and we get screwed.
We have a system of welfare payments here called "the Dole" in which those who cannot get work (about 5%) get paid ~$250/wk. Those recipients are entitled to full Baby Bonus. Guess what, we pay ~$50k in tax this year, work our bums off, pour money into our investment black hole, battle the bills every month and can't get a red cent from the government to help us after we have so diligently helped the *poor* for so long.
Why not? We saved our pennies, worked hard, payed our taxes, didn't ever claim anything.
We all enjoy the benefit of what our tax dollars do as far as infrastructure & security. I'm comfortable with the fact that I pay more (in $) than someone poorer than I but FFS, why am I hobbled when it comes to hand-out time when I need it?
I payed more tax than 90% of people in this country but I am not allowed the same reward as those who contribute nothing??
If I dropped my pay to the national average (my wife is already there), downsized our cars, sold our primary house and moved into our investment house, I would have more money in my pocket, be able to milk the government for every "bonus" under the sun and then retire on the government pension and my (then) meager superannuation fund.
If I stay doing what I'm doing, I live the same lifestyle as somenone earing a % of what I do, I don't claim anything from the government, I pay the government a mountain of taxes and I fund my own retirement.
On the subject of "super" - Australia's super debt is staggering, what would happen if everyone just decided to use the government pension? We'd go broke overnight.
Hrmm, I think that everyone crying foul at the "well healed" needs to pull their heads in and look at the longer term view. Grab a few bucks today but remember, they will cost you dearly in the future.
The touble with inflation is that it can sneek up on you because it grows exponentially. For example, just ask yourself if you would rather have 100,000 or 1 penny that doubles everyday for 1 month. After 30 days of doubling the penny, you end up with over 5 million dollars. But, it doesn't really seem to grow until about day 25. If you put this is an excel spreadsheet you can see the curve.
Between day 25 and 30, it goes from 167,000 to 5.3 million. This is an example of exponential growth. Today we are on the verge of an explosion of inflation. The problem was started way back in 2003 with the Federal Reserve's monetary policy of 1 percent for over a year. That low interest rate flooded the market with money, which pored into the housing market. Now that the housing market bubble has burst, the money is poring into commondities and the Fed is has again flooding the market with easy money.
Inflation is already double-digits in many countries around the world. Venezuela (22pc), Vietnam (21pc), Latvia (18pc), Qatar (17pc), Pakistan (17pc), Egypt (16pc) Bulgaria (15pc), just to name a few.
The Fed government Consumer Price Index that is used to calculate inflation is boggus and its a lagging indicator - which means they are using prices from 6-months ago to calculate todays inflation. Inflation is actually more like 10-15% and climbing fast.
Here is a website that tracks the actuall inflation vs. the government inflation numbers. http://www.shadowstats.com/alternate_data
So, how does all this mean? It means that unless the Fed increases the interest rates to 8% right now, we are going to see inflation continue to climb. Inflation could be the #1 issue in America for the next decade.
I've had a couple of charities call me asking for donations -- with the same rapid-fire delivery and a "How much can we put you down for?" conclusion. I thank them politely and inform them that I don't make donations over the phone, but I would be happy to look into their organization further to decide if it fits into my charitable giving budget.
Honestly -- do phone calls really work any more?
That's an awesome idea! I hope it all goes well for you this morning. Check back in with us!
Margaret Garcia-Couoh
Modern ECU's (engine control units) use the logic of fuel cutoff during deceleration with the engine. This means that it is actually more fuel efficient to use the engine for deceleration rather than selecting neutral and coasting. The trick, of course, is to evaluate/regulate the amount of deceleration that is required.
The light ahead is red, you judge that you can come totally off the accelerator and engine brake without additional braking until the light turns green or you must stop using minimum brake. This results in a much more efficient deceleration than would neutral, coast and brake as required. The fuel used in maintaining idle RPM would be saved.
Even more savings could be realized by coasting from a further distance with the engine shut down but the loss of power assist to steering and brakes compromises safety to the point that it is probably not worthwhile.
Acceleration is always a compromise. Accelerate too hard and friction losses are excessive. Accelerate too slowly and pumping losses are excessive. Probably best is brisk acceleration with shifts keeping RPM low and the throttle fairly open; even to the point of short shifting ie. 1st directly to 3rd to 5th.
This principle of large throttle opening at low RPM was the principle that allowed John Wayne and Robert Stack to make it to SFO.........
I tried this and it works quite well - the sand has a nice consistency, and can be adjusted by adding a little more or less water. But I did come up with a much better way of preparing it.
1. Get a gallon ziplock freezer bag, the zipper kind works best.
2. Mix the box 16 oz box of corn starch and 6 cups of sand together in the ziplock bag, knead until you have an even consistency.
3. Add the water to the bag, then knead it until ready.
This way you don't even have to get your hands dirty, and mixing the dry ingredients first gives you a completely even consistency without the clumps. If you want to do more than one batch and not use a ton of ziplock bags, you should dump the dry ingredients into another container before adding the water. Then you can reuse the bag for the dry ingredients.
i looked specifically for some that had co2 and found it (also contains isohexane and ethanol) and sprayed a small sopt on my car a few minutes ago just to check the paint wont come off... however, it wasnt ice- like and now im wondering if i have the right kind... also i didnt turn the can upside down, but i really dont see how that could make a difference. any input?
I'm sorry, but Americans need some sort of wake up call. I feel no sympathy for anyone charged with a termination charge. You signed a contract. If you didn't read it, then you're stupid. If you get a termination fee, also, you're stupid. It's 100% avoidable. Stop playing the victims. If you don't want to sign a contract, THEN DON'T. Pay for the phone full price.
I bought a RCA and a GE.
The RCA has a universal remote and will allow manually removing channels when surfing up and down, but it runs hot. Sound on the RCA is reduced but acceptable. The EPG is simple. No analog bypass, but can use splitter to back of TV for this.
The GE tunes more channels, had a one week EPG and runs cooler. No Univeral remote...small buttons. Poorer video, better sound.
Both have SMART antenna connectors, but I do not use.
The killer for me on the GE is the lack of manually skipping channels.
If I had to choose, I'd say RCA wins this one.
Great tips, especially the exercise and fitness part. Thanks!
I've been thinking about it since my company introduced Roth 401K this year. For the moment I decided to stay with the regular IRA.
In 2005 and 2006 I was in the same situation as calgirlfinance: the only thing that allowed me to contribute to Roth IRA is my max 401K contribution. In 2007 I would've been in phase-out range, but capital gains from the sale of some portion of my ESPP stock put me over the income limit. I plan to sell some ESPP stock this year as well - too many eggs there - so I'll not be able to contribute to Roth IRA gain. At the same time, max 401K contribution helped me avoid AMT in 2007; hopefully this year as well. Not to mention that once your income gets to a certain amount bad things start to happen like deduction limitations, especially in NY State. On the other hand, if they ever increase the taxes again to where they were 40 years ago, we'd have made a mistake...
That's another consideration: if you live in a high tax state, will you live there after you retire?
Reminds me of the deceptive copywriting that some companies used when petitioning for the network neutrality issue. From what I recall they were getting signatures by making it look like they wanted a neutral network, when really they just represented typical American capitalist thugs who wanted to impose ridiculous charges on content providers for "preferential treatment."
Always pays to be aware of what you're doing exactly.
Fred:
You are undoubtedly a smart person but a bit blind to your own bias & prejudice. You say what you wrote was "objective and in no way condescending or pejorative. I politely disagree.
Just to deconstruct the phrase: adamant global warming naysayers. 'Adamant' = impervious to pleas, persuasion, requests, reason. Naysayers = someone with an aggressively negative attitude. Both definitions taken from worldnet.princeton.edu. I'd say that was on the pejorative side, wouldn't you?
You also say, "adamant global warming naysayers, have begun to agree that maybe this is an issue to consider". Rational, thinking individuals, and I consider myself one of those, consider both sides of the argument. There's much science and prominent scientists, who do not buy Gore's global warming theory.
The only problem I have with most global warming alarmists is that they've closed their minds.
You have way too much faith in authority, both governmental and quasi-scientific.
You state: "You also mention that we shouldn't let a bunch of knucklehead politicians tell us what to do, but in reality, as much as it may bum us all out, that's exactly what happens. Politicians make the laws, and we have to follow them."
That's dangerous thinking and something the founders of the U.S. would take issue with. Do you really think politicians are that smart? Smarter than the average guy on the street? I don't.
Carter by the way gave us the worse economy since the depression. He was plain awful and very few would disagree.
I apologize for going on -- I am an ardent conservationist. I read Rachel Carson, 'Silent Spring' when I was in 3rd grade more than 40 years ago. But, I still see the market being the major force... not centralized, command, and, yes, stupid government. The best government can do is get out of the innovators. They seldom do that.
Ford motor company announced last week enormous cuts in truck and SUV production. Small, compact cars account for more than 20% of all cars sold today. This is happening not because of government!
Just wanted to let you know that I tried the original recipe and liked it. Sort of like individual banana bread but not quite. I know I'll be baking these often. Thanks!
Thanks for this...it gives me a little more impetus toward trying out the various "hypermiling" techniques. After the $56 fill-up a couple days ago, I decided to try these, but...
In my area, the traffic lights are synchronized. If you coast instead of braking to slow down, you quickly get out of synch, so you end up stopping at every single g.d. red light. They seem to be set at about 5 mph over the speed limit, so if you trot along at 45 mph in a 40 mph zone, you can go for mile on mile on mile without ever stopping. But if you ease off the gas (rather than braking fairly quickly and getting back up to the 45 mph speed quickly), you'll be stopped at every light.
I haven't tried the cruise control because I've always thought it was unsafe to use on the surface streets and on crowded slow/stop/speed-up urban freeways. But maybe this weekend when traffic is minimal, I'll try that out.
I have an older Passat 1.4 turbo. I have two options for getting to where everything is. Two lane highway with stop signs or interstate. I had been taking the interstate but you HAVE TO drive between 65-75 or you will get run off the road or run down by an angry semi driver. So this means your accelerating, passing or moving quite a bit. I am starting to think those interstate drives during rush hour may be wasting more gas than the start stops on the road that has a 60mph limit and less of a NASCAR situation.
I may make some actual MPG calculations and see what route really does use less gas. I also noticed I get better gas mileage after the car is warmed up.
TP doesn't get you particularly clean. If you got fecal matter or urine on your hands, would you wipe them with dry toilet paper? Doubt it. That's just gross.
It's cheaper and more environmentally friendly to use a wet washcloth to clean yourself. And the girls will notice that we have less irritation when using this method.
The vehicle I drive most doesn't come with one. Any ideas for a stand-alone solution? (I was looking at the ScanGuage II anyway, because I needed a reliable code reader.)