Car Keys

My Future New Car/Bike

Toyota has a new vehicle on the market. I remember it on an old 

Top Gear episode and now it is ready for sale. I'll take the blue one.

How to Find a Silver Lining in a Fog Bank (Part 2)

The original title was going to be ‘Why Drive When Walking is Faster’.

As Mika left for Okinawa to see her family, I headed home on what I thought was a highway. In reality, it was a parking lot that moved at the speed of a fart. As soon as I exited off of 495 HWY onto South bound 95 HWY at mile marker 170, I was forced into being held captive by a road system that not even those in the carpool lanes could escape from.  

As anyone who has had the dishonor of having their tax money misused would look upon this road system and its upkeep would agree that they would want those responsible for this travesty to have every orifice of their body repeatedly filled with their own bile and excrement with both force and longevity. In the course of two hours I was able to travel a grand total of less than 40 miles. And by the time I reached the exit for 295 HWY, which goes around Richmond, Virginia, it was still bumper to bumper traffic.

Only on the 295 HWY was anybody really able to make any headway. That is except for the multiple times that the slow drivers decided to travel in the far left lanes. Slow drivers in this lane was an old red pickup truck with a tarp full of trash in the back of it, at least three caravans and an assortment of other cars whose drivers thought driving 10 miles slower than the posted speed limit would make them feel like a safe driver.

As soon as the 295 HWY merged back onto the 95 HWY system, the parking lot was there waiting for many of us. Speed up for several yards then come to a complete stop. Didn’t matter which lane you were in, nobody was driving even close to the posted speed limit. I almost feel sorry for one car in the fast lane that was driving so slow that people driving around them was flipping them the finger and yelling out of the car window at these people. I say almost because I was behind them going about 50 MPH in a 70 MPH speed zone.

I had until 5:30 PM to have the rental car returned to the place in Knightdale, NC or I was going to be charged for another day’s rental. By the time I made it to the 64 HWY exits it was 5:02 PM. I had 47 miles to drive in less than 30 minutes. Due to my upbringing in a society where speed limit signs are meant as a form of suggestion, I hit the petal and drove as if I was in a NASCAR race. Speeds reaching 80 MPH and more in a 70 MPH zone as I weave in and out of a now more relaxed road system.

I finally reached the car rental place at 5:22 PM. Those at the rental agency knew that I was going to the DC airport and were very much surprised that I actually made it back in time. No extra fees to pay and I was then able to release a lot of built up stress from what I felt was a six hour road trip from hell. I couldn’t enjoy the driving nor could I even enjoy the radio due to travelling on an antiquated road system.

As I called to see when my ride was going to pick me up, I noticed that I had a text message from my wife. In my entire road trip of hell I never noticed that she had texted me. A simple message to be careful as I drove home. She must have sent the text just before her plane took off. And as I’m standing outside a car rental place, looking at this text, I totally forgot the headache and pains of driving back home. I could only think about her.

Getting home and getting the boys to bed as I quickly feel asleep myself, I was awakened around 3:30 AM. It was Mika at Japanese airport bus stop. She made it safely there but she was more concerned about me and wanted to know if I was OK. We talked for only a few minutes as she waited for her bus to arrive. But as I was still very tired from little sleep and high stress, I couldn’t go back to sleep for a good while.  Just hearing her voice gave me the energy to stay awake. Even though I was still dead tired and really wanted to go back to sleep, I couldn’t. So I watched TV until I fell back asleep. But I went back to sleep thinking only of her and not the headaches and pains of that day. My silver lining was always with me the whole time, no matter how far away we were from each other.

Got Gas?

In a couple of post recently regarding my car problems, I have done some research with many people saying about the same thing. Depending on what type of car it is, what the manufacturer says which fuel to use and which gas stations one uses all affects the performance of the car.

When I finally got my car working right again, I stopped getting fuel at many gas stations that have ethanol mixed in with the fuel. I have tried a few different gas stations fuel to see which one gives my car better performance. That led me to Fleet Fuels in Wendell, NC. Their gas prices are the highest in the whole area but it came with an unexpectant benefit.

I am paying $4 dollars a gallon for the highest grade of gas. After two complete fuel ups so far I have noticed that my gas millage has improved and the sound of the engine’s roar has come back. This has led to an important decision for me. Pay a great deal more for gas and get a better running and sounding motor or go to a less expensive gas station but lose those benefits?

The expensive gas would mean less major car problems later on in its life. But using a different gas station, I would spend less but risk paying more for future car problems later on.  For now I’ll keep using the expensive gas at Fleet Fuels for two personnel important reasons.

The first one is that I feel safer knowing the engine is running on a more cleaner type of grade of fuel. The second is that I just love hearing the sound of that engine coming back to live as I drive on the freeway.

Past articles:

1st

2nd

WRAL TV article

Real Transformer Car - sort of...

Original Story here from Top Gear website. 

Gas Attack

Recently, as with every time I get my tax return, I put my car in the shop for a complete tune-up and overhaul. It cost a pretty penny but I had it for over 12 years and have yet to have any major problems with it. That is until a few weeks ago.

After I got the car back I took it to a new Sheetz gas station that just opened up and filled the gas tank up. Twice I filled up the tank from the same gas station and then warning lights started lighting up the dash board. I put it back in the shop where the computer systems said I needed a new catalytic converter. But I was still having problems with the car that the mechanic couldn’t find the cause of it acting the way it was.

Whenever I came to a stop light, I had to put the car in neutral and give it more gas just to keep it running. Even driving became a prayer session as listening and feeling knocking sounds from the engine, even as it struggled to go up hills. But I had a moment of clarity. That and someone else had the same problem; cheap gas.

I went back to the mechanic and sure enough the pieces fit. I have to use the over counter stuff to put in my gas tank to clean the injector heads. If that doesn’t work then it’s another trip to the auto shop to have the whole system cleaned out, again. The very same thing I did before I filled up twice at Sheetz Gas Station. 

Because it’s cheap doesn’t mean it’s worth getting it.

Car Chase using Traffic Camera's

Parking the Car

The other day while I was driving around, I was coming up to a waterfall park near Zebulon, NC. I was also approaching a police car helping out a motorist who had parked his car a little too far off the road.

Lucky

This is an exact copy of a church email I received today.



Look at the picture above and you can see where this driver broke through the guardrail, on the right side of the culvert, where the people are standing on the road, pointing. The pick-up was traveling about 75 mph from right to left when it crashed through the guardrail. It flipped end-over-end, bounced off and across the culvert outlet and landed right side up on the left side of the culvert, facing the opposite direction from which the driver was traveling. The 22-year-old driver and his 18-year-old passenger were unhurt except for minor cuts and bruises.


Just outside Flagstaff , AZ on U.S. Hwy 100.


Now look at the second picture below...




If this guy didn't believe in GOD before, do you suppose he believes now?