Detroit cars need something to help sales. They don't do styling anymore, they don't race NASCAR or NHRA. They paint them all gray or mud color. So here are my ideas for a better car that would sell better.
1. A "vent" mode that actually brings in fresh air. Right now, the duct work for "vent" runs near the hot engine, and so the vent air comes in as hot air. Tolerable in the winter, but a pain at any other time of year. To keep the interior cool, short of rolling down a window, I have to run the air conditioner. Which isn't the end of the world, but air conditioner air always smells damp and musty. Fresh air smells much better.
2. A "close all" button for the power windows. Nice summer day, I roll down all the windows to enjoy the fresh air. End of the drive, park the car, and I gotta push four "up" buttons to get the car rain tight so I can leave it. Not only push "up" but hold it down till the glass gets all the way up. I'd like a single button, that I touch once, and walk away while all the windows roll up, nice and rain tight.
I know the safety guys would freak on that one, fearing that some one or some pet would have its head out the window when a kid pushed the close all button and strangled the some one or some pet, but there oughta be a way.
3. Car thermometer accuracy. Especially right around the freezing point. It's night, we have precip. Big question, is that black slickness on the road ice, or just rainwater? Makes a difference. So how good is that thermometer? Is the sensor placed somewhere out of the wind and road splash? Away from the heat of the engine? On my Mercury not so good. Park the Mercury in the sun and the the thermometer will read 10-20 degrees high until you get the car moving and some air flowing over the sensor.
4. A windshield washer that holds a full gallon of washer fluid. They sell the stuff by the gallon. It would be so nice to pour in a gallon, and chuck the empty bottle. Can we do that? Nooo. You always have a quarter of a bottle left and you gotta open the trunk and stow it. PITA.
Friday, June 13, 2014
Thursday, June 12, 2014
I don't have a clue
Why Eric Cantor lost his primary. I don't live in his district, I don't know anyone in his district, I don't get the same TV, newspapers, and blogs as Eric's district does. I'm not on Facebook in his district. Eric got redistricted this time around. I have no idea what that meant to his re election.
But I see lotsa pundits, with no more information than I have (which is zilch) offering opinion after opinion as to why the upset, and what it means.
"All politics is local." Tip O'Neill said once (I lived in Tip's district once upon a time). Could well be that Eric's defeat was caused by strictly local issues. Or it might not be.
I doubt that any of the TV pundits making so free with opinions, actually know anything.
But I see lotsa pundits, with no more information than I have (which is zilch) offering opinion after opinion as to why the upset, and what it means.
"All politics is local." Tip O'Neill said once (I lived in Tip's district once upon a time). Could well be that Eric's defeat was caused by strictly local issues. Or it might not be.
I doubt that any of the TV pundits making so free with opinions, actually know anything.
Weather
Got so cold last night, my furnace kicked in. This in mid June. It's blowing and raining today. Blew so hard I had to unhang my new hanging plant lest it blow away. Global warming indeed.
Wednesday, June 11, 2014
Diane Rahm (NPR) raises questions
Clearly in response to that terrible accident on the New Jersey Turnpike, where a semi rear ended a van and put Tracy Morgan in the hospital and killed a good friend of his. Diane did a whole hour this morning about safety of the big rigs.
In an hour, she never did explain what Federal regulations say about driving hours. Lotta talk about how the regulations should be changed, no explanation of what they are right now. The trucker involved in the accident admitted to driving for 24 hours straight, which is very dangerous by any standard. My personal standard would be never more than 12 hours behind the wheel, and eight hours of sleep before driving again. Somehow in an hour of talk Diane never did clear up what the Feds require right now, but she was sure the regulations needed to be tightened up.
Funny, except for that NJ Turnpike crash the other day, I always considered the big rig truckers to be safe and professional drivers, far better than the average driver of a passenger car.
In an hour, she never did explain what Federal regulations say about driving hours. Lotta talk about how the regulations should be changed, no explanation of what they are right now. The trucker involved in the accident admitted to driving for 24 hours straight, which is very dangerous by any standard. My personal standard would be never more than 12 hours behind the wheel, and eight hours of sleep before driving again. Somehow in an hour of talk Diane never did clear up what the Feds require right now, but she was sure the regulations needed to be tightened up.
Funny, except for that NJ Turnpike crash the other day, I always considered the big rig truckers to be safe and professional drivers, far better than the average driver of a passenger car.
Tuesday, June 10, 2014
Bering Land Bridge Unneccesary
The Bering Land Bridge comes up in archeological discussions of how the Indians came to America. Geological changes are thought to have raised the land of the Bering Straits above sea level allowing the ancestors of the Indians to walk across from Asia. The main geology evidence in favor is that the modern Bering Straits are fairly shallow. If there is any other evidence in favor of an ancient land bridge, I never heard it.
Actually, a land bridge is not needed for the Indians to cross the Bering Straits. Modern Alaska Eskimos cross the straits, in skin boats. Or at least they did up until the late 1940's when the Soviets made life difficult for any American Eskimos found on their side of the straits. Which generated a strong anti-communist spirit among the Eskimos that persists to this day.
The Eskimo's used skin boats, umiaks. While this sounds primitive, the skin was walrus hide, quarter of an inch thick and tough as fiberglass. They were built up to 30 feet long, and were strong enough to withstand the thrust of a 40 horsepower outboard motor. Evinrude was popular among the Eskimo, more so than Mercury or Johnson.
And, if you have ever traveled in the back country, you know that canoe is the way to go. Given a water way, two men and a canoe can carry a thousand pounds of cargo, and do it faster than walking pace. Whereas afoot the same two men can only backpack a hundred pounds of food and gear. The Indian canoe is so good a water craft that it is still in production today. Granted modern materials give a vaster stronger vessel, but birchbark is strong enough to make a useful canoe. The crew must take greater care in the rapids, touch a rock and you have a big leak, but it is perfectly do able.
So I have no trouble believing the Indians followed the coast line, and paddled across the open strait in good weather. The only timing issue I see is the state of the Ice Age. At the height of glaciation,10,000 years ago, North America must have been as bleak as the North Pole. But when the glaciers melt back, the grass comes up and game animals appear to eat the grass then enterprising bands of Indians or proto-Indians could have emigrated to the New World. Archeological finds in North America are mostly dated after the last Ice Age. There are a few sites claimed to be earlier, but not many, and the pre glacial sites are "controversial", i.e. the archeologists still argue about the dating.
Actually, a land bridge is not needed for the Indians to cross the Bering Straits. Modern Alaska Eskimos cross the straits, in skin boats. Or at least they did up until the late 1940's when the Soviets made life difficult for any American Eskimos found on their side of the straits. Which generated a strong anti-communist spirit among the Eskimos that persists to this day.
The Eskimo's used skin boats, umiaks. While this sounds primitive, the skin was walrus hide, quarter of an inch thick and tough as fiberglass. They were built up to 30 feet long, and were strong enough to withstand the thrust of a 40 horsepower outboard motor. Evinrude was popular among the Eskimo, more so than Mercury or Johnson.
And, if you have ever traveled in the back country, you know that canoe is the way to go. Given a water way, two men and a canoe can carry a thousand pounds of cargo, and do it faster than walking pace. Whereas afoot the same two men can only backpack a hundred pounds of food and gear. The Indian canoe is so good a water craft that it is still in production today. Granted modern materials give a vaster stronger vessel, but birchbark is strong enough to make a useful canoe. The crew must take greater care in the rapids, touch a rock and you have a big leak, but it is perfectly do able.
So I have no trouble believing the Indians followed the coast line, and paddled across the open strait in good weather. The only timing issue I see is the state of the Ice Age. At the height of glaciation,10,000 years ago, North America must have been as bleak as the North Pole. But when the glaciers melt back, the grass comes up and game animals appear to eat the grass then enterprising bands of Indians or proto-Indians could have emigrated to the New World. Archeological finds in North America are mostly dated after the last Ice Age. There are a few sites claimed to be earlier, but not many, and the pre glacial sites are "controversial", i.e. the archeologists still argue about the dating.
If not Hillary. who?
Hillary Clinton looks like a shoo in for the 2016 Democratic nomination for president. She has name recognition, she doesn't have any competition.
On the other hand, she has baggage left over from the Clinton Administration. She didn't do much as Secretary of State, she is deeply involved in the Benghasi scandal, she is getting very old, she doesn't take enough care of her personal appearance, she shows up on TV looking totally disheveled.
But if they don't go with Hillary, who is left?
On the other hand, she has baggage left over from the Clinton Administration. She didn't do much as Secretary of State, she is deeply involved in the Benghasi scandal, she is getting very old, she doesn't take enough care of her personal appearance, she shows up on TV looking totally disheveled.
But if they don't go with Hillary, who is left?
Monday, June 9, 2014
Words of the Weasel Part 38
"Lacks tranparency."
"Lacks clarity."
Nice speak meaning "They are lying."
"Lacks clarity."
Nice speak meaning "They are lying."
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