Thursday 31 July 2014

Driverless Cars Will Ruin The Thrill of Driving

This article made me laugh heartily, I can't imagine putting one of these in my garage.........haven't thought about the height of garages yet, only the width and length!

Being behind the wheel can provide an escape from predictability. Set the autopilot to get you from A to B and that spirit of adventure evaporates

Person driving convertible on a coastal highway in California. — Driving on a coastal highway in California. Photograph: Richard Price/Getty

Long ago, when I was an occasional contributor to the Erotic Review, the magazine commissioned a motoring special, asking its writers to extrapolate on whatever they deemed to be the most thrilling part of driving. My offering focused on the sensuous delight of moving from third to fourth gear, its heady marriage of gearstick, muscle tension and speed.

I thought about that article this week when I heard the news that the driverless car will finally be unleashed on our roads from January. Trials in three British cities will succeed in “putting us at the forefront of this transformational technology and opening up new opportunities for our economy and society”, the business secretary, Vince Cable, told an automotive engineering research facility in the Midlands. And for all the promise of this technology, for all the excitement of this new era, a little part of me died.

There are undeniable benefits to the dawn of the driverless car, of course – our roads will likely be a great deal safer when speeding, tired drivers and erratic steering can be taken out of the equation. But from an emotional and romantic perspective it is a dispiriting prospect: the driverless car belongs in our sexting, vaping, auto-tuned age. There is the smack of fat-free yoghurt and elastic waistbands about it, something hopelessly, passionlessly convenient, something so joyless, wipe-clean and flat.

google driverless car — A driverless car: joyless. Photograph: Eric Risberg/AP

The thing I love about driving is its physicality. I love the feeling of my hands on the steering wheel and the gearstick, my body connecting with this great motorised force. I love the sensation of movement, propulsion, possibility.

At its most extreme, it lies in the limitless feeling of the road trip, but it exists too in the small rushes of autonomy that can come even in the morning commute or the school run. Consider many of the characters of Bruce Springsteen’s songs – blue-collar men who find a sense of liberation through automobiles. “Chrome-wheeled, fuel-injected and steppin’ out over the line,” is how he describes it in Born to Run – and it’s the stepping out over the line that is important; that sense that in a car you could escape, flee the nine to five and the predictable route of your life. Set the autopilot controls to get you from A to B and that spirit of adventure evaporates.

Springsteen wasn’t the first musician to pay homage to the automobile – many of the earliest rock’n’roll songs paid tribute to the joys of driving. Indeed, the much-disputed title of the first ever rock’n’roll song is often awarded to Rocket 88 by Jackie Brenston and His Delta Cats, released in the spring of 1951. The titular Rocket 88 was a kind of car and the song sees Jackie Brenston (actually Ike Turner) raving about the wonder of driving this stylish new automobile and how much it appealed to young women. Was it about a car? Was it about driving? Or was it about sex, youth and new-found independence?

There was something incredibly potent in the simultaneous birth of the teenager, rock’n’roll and the widespread availability of the car, and it’s a potency that still exists. What they all offer is a kind of freedom – not one that comes from lack of responsibility, but from having control over your life, from proclaiming your individuality and desires.

When I was a newly qualified teenage driver I used to love driving alone at night. I would drive my friends home from the nightclub and then keep going, windows down and music playing. And what I loved in particular on those night drives was the precise moment of going past my family home and rolling onwards. In that moment, I was free and the world lay open. I was driving without destination, driving for the sake of it, with no particular place to go.

This article is by Laura Barton of the Guardian and can be seen here:- http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jul/31/driverless-cars-ruin-thrill-of-driving

Wednesday 30 July 2014

7 Hidden Advantages to Getting Rid of Your Car

Got no garage? Got no drive?

Get rid of the car then!

Well why not?

Well think about getting rid of one of your cars then!

This is a great article

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Photo: JOHN LLOYD

The big benefit we were expecting to enjoy was, of course, saving money.When my family moved to the San Francisco Bay Area from Chicago, we didn't bring our car. We figured we would get around to buying a new one by the end of the summer. But now, eight months have slipped past, and although we haven't pledged to remain car-free forever, we have been enjoying some of the unexpected benefits of non-car-ownership so much that we haven't felt any rush to buy one.

How much money you save depends on how you look at it. If you are going car-free rather than buying a new Escalade on credit, you're saving a ton. But if you are going car-free rather than paying cash for a reliable older car, your savings are more modest. One Wise Bread writer estimated he saved $2,800 a year by giving up one of his household's cars. I estimated that my family is saving about $500 a month by going without a car.

But what are the less obvious benefits?

1. Less Stress

When I was a broke student without a pot to cook ramen in, I was amazed by middle class adults who complained that the possessions they gained only added to the stress in their lives. But when we let go of our beloved old Subaru, I realized that there was something to the "more stuff, more problems" lament. (See also: Stuff Will Never Make You Organized)

To a busy mom, a car is almost like another needy kid. I needed to remember whether it was parked on the street where it would get a ticket overnight. I needed to remember whether it was due for an oil change and, wait, was I supposed to go by the sticker from the oil change place or check the manual? I needed to keep the kids' bikes from encroaching on the car's space in the garage, and I needed to worry whether that tapping sound after I turned it off meant that it was about to need an expensive repair.

Then there's the stress of driving itself — getting cut off by obnoxious drivers, getting stuck in traffic, worrying about hitting someone while backing up, etc.

The great thing about biking and walking is that even though it takes longer than driving, the amount of time it takes is almost always predictable because traffic isn't an issue. And when I turn on the radio to hear that Bay Area highways are all backed up, but know that my husband will be on time for dinner because he's riding his bike from the ferry or train? That feeling is the opposite of stress.

2. More Exercise

Just because you own a car, no one's forcing you to drive everywhere instead of walking or biking. But the truth is, if I owned a car, I would drive on a lot of the errands I currently do on my bike. I would procrastinate leaving the house until it's too late to bike, or I would drive because it looks like rain or because the kids don't want to ride in the bike trailer, and I don't have the energy to argue with them.

Not having the option to drive forces you to organize your life in a way that you have time to get everywhere without driving. For me that has meant more exercise and better weight management results than I got from belonging to a gym.

3. More Pleasant Travel

I underestimated how much I would enjoy traveling by bike or foot compared to driving. On the occasions I drive now, I'm surprised by how annoying it is to wait behind a line of cars to turn when I could have simply walked my bike across the crosswalk with the walk sign. Every day I take in gorgeous scenery and enjoy the feeling of the wind on my face. Of course, it helps that I'm living in a mild part of the country — I can't claim I'd enjoy riding my bike in January if I were still in Chicago!

As a mom, I love taking a trip in which at least one of my kids is on her own bike and not strapped cheek-to-cheek with her siblings squabbling. The two little ones still squabble in the bike trailer together, but if I ride fast enough, the wind in my ears can drown them out. Almost.

4. Drive a Different Car Every Time

When we want to drive to take a weekend family outing, we rent a vehicle at the nearby airport. Using Hotwire and Priceline, this has been unexpectedly affordable — usually about $30 a day including fees — and we have enjoyed trying out different models of cars instead of always driving the same one.

5. Never Have to Clean the Car

With three little kids riding in the back, my car was usually a pigsty inside. With all the chores in the house, going out to the garage to vacuum it out was not high on my priority list. And washing it with the hose was fun about once a year — after that it was yet another chore.

Now when we drive we get to drop off the dirty car at the rental return and let them deal with it. We were told — once — that the rental company may charge an extra fee if you return it really dirty inside, but so far that hasn't happened, not even with the minivan we kept for a month and drove across the country.

6. Feel Better About Your Carbon Footprint

I can't claim that we stopped being car owners out of a selfless concern for the environment. It was more out of desire to save money and just not feeling like car shopping. But that feeling of standing at the gas pump feeling guilty about what I'm doing to the world? It's yet another little stress I don't miss at all. And every time other families at our school see us bike somewhere that they would have thought was too far for kids or too inconvenient, I feel good that maybe we are encouraging others to take fewer car trips as well.

7. Appreciate Your Friends and Neighbors

I cannot count how many times our new neighbors have offered the use of their vehicles to us or offered to pick us up or drop us off places. We almost always politely decline, because usually we have been fine getting around on our own and don't want to save money simply by pushing our costs off onto other people. But simply getting the offer has brought us closer to new friends and neighbors. And sometimes the help has really come in handy, like on the occasional day when it's pouring and another mom from our preschool is driving there, anyway. We find non-vehicular ways to repay those favors and feel our new community grow closer.

I can't pretend there aren't also disadvantages to not owning a car. I have avoided signing up the kids for activities I know they would enjoy because they are too far to quickly bike or take public transit, and I feel like picking up a shared car would also be too much trouble with three kids in tow. Life is less spontaneous when you need to sit down and make a transportation game plan every time you want to venture off your beaten path.

But so far for us, these hidden advantages — when added to the big advantage of saving money — have made the car-free life a worthwhile experiment.

This article is by Carrie Kirby and can be seen on:-

http://www.wisebread.com/7-hidden-advantages-to-getting-rid-of-your-car

Tuesday 29 July 2014

Garage Door Opener Troubleshooting

Such a simple thing! If only he had known

Profit from his experience. Thank you Kerry. Sounds like Kerry anyway...

This video is on Youtube and you can watch it here:-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7OnPl-tBuI

Monday 28 July 2014

How many cars do you have?

How many cars do you have? Do you have a family fleet? It seems to range from nought to 5 (including motorcycles) Look what people on netmums are saying:- http://www.netmums.com/coffeehouse/house-garden-194/cars-motoring-611/730895-how-many-cars-do-you-have-all.html

This is an interesting question because if we didn't have any cars no-one would have invented the garage or if they had they would have called it the junk room/pottingshed/retreat/den/utility area.

How about the drive? That would just be "the pathway" and would be there for the postperson/visitorstradespeople to walk on or to make a statement about your garden. Everyone would be really healthy because they would walk everywhere or run for the bus in the morning.

Look what people are saying here https://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110913185937AAX3MbQ

Some people have too many and own up to it. Some people are addicted!
This will amuse you:-
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/how-many-cars-do-you-have-and-how-many-is-too-many.278231/

So how many cars do you have to have before people think you are rich/a fruitcake? I am going to stick my neck out and say 5. Just a purely arbitrary number but your reaction just said it all!

Over the top? See this!

Sunday 27 July 2014

How to Clean Oil off a Driveway

Wiki How is an amazing resource - now go and get that driveway cleaned!

How to Clean Oil Off a Driveway

Edited by Arnþór Gíslason, Toddc, Krystle C., Ben Rubenstein and 31 others

Seven Methods:Cat Litter Pepsi Peat Moss Dawn + Murphy's Oil Soap Simple Green Liquid Tide Oil-Removal Product

An oil stain can be very hard to clean up since the ground will absorb some of the oil. Follow these steps and you will get rid of the stains easily.

Steps

1
Absorb and dispose of as much of the oil as you can with a rag or paper.Avoid rinsing it into the gutter or storm drain; storm drains don’t treat the water that flows through them, meaning the oil will end up right in our streams.^[1]
2
Use one of the following methods to clean the stain. There are many options, so you’re bound to find one that works with what’s already in your pantry.

Method 1 of 7: Cat Litter

1
Get some kitty litter. This works well for both wet and dry stains.
2
Put some on the stain and rub it in with your foot. Don't worry about wiping any wet spots up; they will be absorbed by the litter.
3
Let it sit for a while, then, sweep the kitty litter up.
4
Repeat at least once.

Method 2 of 7: Pepsi

1
Pour some Pepsi over the stain.
2
Scrub the spot vigorously.
3
Repeat if necessary.

Method 3 of 7: Peat Moss

1
Spread some peat moss on the stain
2
Roll it over the stain. Use your hands, a stick, or a spatula to move the peat moss around the stain. Pat it down, spread it it around, turn it over. The grease stain should eventually come up.

Method 4 of 7: Dawn + Murphy's Oil Soap

1
Wait until it is a cool outside. This method will not work as well in the heat of the day.
2
Squirt a generous amount of Dawn dishwashing soap over the oil stain. The dark blue, super concentrated soap is recommended.
3
Wait an hour, then sop up as much as you can with an old rag or some paper towels. If necessary, use a high-power garden hose to spray the stained area, but save this as a last resort to avoid polluting.
4
Cover the affected area with Murphy's Oil Soap.
5
Wait two hours, then sop up the stain once more. Again, spray the area with a hose only if absolutely necessary.
6
Completely saturate the oil spot with WD-40.
7
Let it sit for 1 minute, then wipe with a rag.

Method 5 of 7: Simple Green

1
Pour lots of Simple Green on the stain.
2
Let the spot soak for a few hours.
3
Wipe/rinse the area.

Method 6 of 7: Liquid Tide

1
Cover the area with Liquid Tide.
2
Pour 1/4 cup of water on top of the Tide.
3
Use an old broom to scrub the area for about 5 minutes.
4
Wipe down the area and/or rinse it with a hose.
5
Repeat if necessary.

Method 7 of 7: Oil-Removal Product

1
Go to your local hardware store and ask for a product that will clean up the oil. Some examples of products include Oil Gone Easy S-200, Quikrete Concrete and Asphalt Cleaner, and Griot's Garage Oil and Grease Cleaner.
2
Pour the oil cleaner on the ground, rub a little with the rag, and let it vaporize.
3
Repeat until you're happy with the results.

Tips

If your car is leaking oil, put cardboard under it when you park it in the driveway and try to get it fixed ASAP. If you put cat litter (cheap) in the spot where oil is dripping, it will absorb most (if not all) of the oil before it stains driveway
Laundry detergent, a little water, and a push broom or big brush works wonders. Then when you are done, squirt it off.
When oil is spilled, a little water should be hosed onto it immediately. This will cause the oil to float to the top of the puddle, prevent it from soaking the ground.
There are a number of green, eco-friendly oil absorbent products that you can find and buy online to keep on hand so that if you ever spill oil, paint, gasoline or other liquid, you can quickly absorb them and minimize pollutants.