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If you are not seeing RED you came to the wrong place.This is a place where you can get that pet peeve off your chest. Try to keep it automotive related However, if you have a gripe (not automotive) that I think is interesting I will list it. ( So much for freedom of the press). You need not list your name. If you have a subject that you want to say something good about we will talk about that too. No foul language and No over use of sweet things to say. In the interest of time and space, I may condense your statements. I will list the statements under a category of a subject. We can add new subject as they arise. Since this is a NEW page and I am the only one who knew about it, You will have to listen to my gripes first. Then you can send in yours and your responses to listed gripes. Or nice statements.
Automotive
Safety
added 2/23/01
SUV roll over - The recent death toll due to tire failure (Firestone) has been mainly put on firestone tires, and a high tire failure rate should be jumped on hard and right away. BUT! The vehicle manufacture should bear the main part of the death rate. ANYTHING that goes wrong at highway speed to a UNSTABLE vehicle will cause it to go out of control. A HIGH CENTER OF GRAVITY VEHICLE WITH SOFT SUSPENSION AND OVERLY POWER STEERING IS PRONE TO ROLL OVER ANYWAY!
If all new vehicles were tested as for a blown tire in various road conditions and that info labeled in big red print on all new vehicles maybe the public (not too bright in automotive stuff) would think twice before putting their families in these "Death Traps". I know it has been difficult to educate the public as to what is safe and what is not. I meet people all the time that will not wear their seat belts. The usual response to a warning to wear the belt is, "I don't have time to fool with that thing" or "The government is not going to tell me what to do in my own car". Some part of that is also the car manufactures fault, many cars, and trucks are a pain in the butt to get connected in a belt. This forces some people not to use the belts. The combination of not wearing a belt and driving an SUV is "ASKING TO DIE". I have asked many people why they like the SUV and a common response is, "It sits up high so I can see over traffic." This gives them a FALSE sense of security and make them move into a more dangerous position of TAILGATING. Two car lengths at 70+ MPH is tailgating. Especially now with a cell phone stuck to the side of their face and paying little to no attention to their driving.
I'm convinced the auto manufactures and the government has their head where the sun don't shine when it comes to automotive safety. The racing industry has done more to advance driver safety than anyone has. MOST race drivers walk away from the most horrible crashes at unbelievable speeds now. MOST street drivers need to go to the hospital in crashes of 20 MPH and up. My question is; How many children are they going to kill before someone figures out why there are no air bags in race cars. Or why there are no 4 or 5 point shoulder belts in any street car. Or why there is no head protection on the "B" post in any street car. The standard "BS" statement from the auto industry of "The Public Don't Want It". is not a valid reason. It dose not make sense to cater to Idiots when trying to make the automobile idiot proof. It's a well known fact that 99 and 9/10 % of all accidents are DRIVER ERROR. The auto industry and the government's response to this is; "Lets put air bags in the cars to soften the blow of these idiots who won't buy or ware a good belt system. and for added incentive we will kill a bunch of their children to get their attention. Also, we will force these air bags on everyone to help pay for all the law suits we get from the families of the children we kill."
I doubt that was the plan. But, isn't that the end result?
Show me what has been done to make the driver of a car more alert and aware of what he or she is doing when driving. Is it: Make the seats more comfortable, Make the car quieter so you can't hear anything outside, Make the car smoother so you have the feeling you are in your living room, Improve the surround sound of your radio or CD sound system so you can completely drown out the outside world. Improve the power steering so you can not possibly feel any feedback from the road., and of course, make a cell phone available so the driver will have something to do while driving and keep his mind occupied because we sure wouldn't want him to have his undivided attention to be on something so easy as driving a car. HMF
Let's hear some responses or your ideas
Fuel Price 2/29/00
The viper is raising it's ugly head again. The oil producing countries again are manipulating flow to raise prices, ours included. I include our own oil companies because the last time OPEC went bananas, Our own oil companies jumped on the band wagon to financially rape the world. Not to mention the mindless consumer who have raced right back to the gas guzzeler cars. If you say; "Well, they made their bed so let them lay in it." The trouble with that is, we all have to lay in it. If the Republicans (large oil companies best friend) get in power this will continue. They openly say they want to stop all subsidy for alternative fuels.
Oil companies can not raise their prices unless they all stick together and the users continue to buy. Every product we have is moved, manufactured, heated or cooled with some use of oil. Thus, the only way we will ever be able to cut our use of oil is to get off of our cans and work at alternative fuels. The whole US can not operate right now on alternative fuel, but we could use it enough to control the price of oil. During the fuel shortage of the late 70s the oil companies put out a lot of false information about Alcohol as a alternative fuel in an attempt to turn people away from any interest in it. For example; They said that Ethanol alcohol was very expensive to produce. What they were talking about was 200 proof alcohol (pure alcohol) Which they have to use 200 proof to get it to mix with gasoline to prevent separation. What they neglected to tell the people was that 190+ proof was relatively inexpensive to produce. Also, that an engine can easily be modified to run very well on 170 proof alcohol and that is 15% water. I modified an engine to run on straight alcohol and found that I could displace 15% of the fuel with water and loose little to no power.
HMF
Automotive Quality (or lack of)
F.C. writes; "Chinese Junk Does Not Belong On British Cars". He asks why some vendors are supplying substandard stuff. His chrome bumper looked great until he washed it and the chrome fell off. Mirrors pitted in 60 days. All the rubber parts went away in less than a year. The file to fit body panels didn't fair any better. He did have a kind word to say about the fuel sending unit. "It worked a whole month, but backwards" He ends with these words of advice; "No Chinese junk on British cars! Your safety and sanity are not worth it."
Family
Quality Time with your children
Is "Quality Time with your children" a term applied to the "LACK OF TIME" you spend with them, usually for monetary reasons and a term JUST to make yourself feel better about what you are doing to them? Spend more time with your kids, It's a good investment.
HMF
Good Advice
1. Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great
risk.
2. When you lose, don't lose the lesson.
3. Follow the three Rs: Respect for self, respect for others and responsibility
for all your actions.
4. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of
luck.
5. Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.
6. Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship.
7. When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
8. Spend some time alone every day.
9. Open your arms to change, but don't let go of your values.
10. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
11. Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you'll
be able to enjoy it a second time.
12. A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life.
13. In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation.
Don't bring up the past.
14. Share your knowledge. It's a way to achieve immortality.
15. Be gentle with the earth.
16. Once a year, go some place you've never been before.
17. Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other
exceeds your need for each other.
18. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.
19. Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon
Noise @ a sporting event
A Study in Concentration
(Noise @ a Sporting Event)
This is not meant to knock anyone nor any sport but an attempt to put things in perspective. Question! What is it when during a golf game they want absolute quiet? Do they want to hear the strike of the club on the ball? Or is the golfer listening for some slight whisper of maybe a change in the breeze or a quiet word of encouragement from his caddy? Or can he (or she) hear the difference in the sound of the swish of the swing or crack of the club striking the ball as an indicator of the accuracy of the swing? Or does the golfer just enjoy peace and quiet? Do noises upset the accuracy of a swing?
It is well known that the skill to put the ball where you want it is a combination of ones natural ability plus hours and hours of practice and training. However, is the football player who is about to throw that touch-down pass to a very small spot in space to a moving target while a crowd of thousands are screaming at the top of their lungs and the sound of crunching bodies all around him and knowing a muscle brisling hulk is bearing down on him at full speed any less concentrating on the accuracy of his throw? Is his natural ability any less or his practice and training any less than that golfer? Are deft people any better at any sport than anyone else?
What about the pressure of the moment? Is it the pressure of the moment? Lets look at what is at stake! The money? The prestige? The self inflicted pressure to WIN? Lets look at what is on the line for other sports.
Pro football,- Money? Prestige? Muscle pain? Broken bones? Loss of your job due to injury? Self inflicted pressure to WIN?
Baseball,- Money? Prestige? Muscle pain? Possible broken bones? Loss of your job due to injury? Self inflicted pressure to WIN?
Tennis,- Money? Prestige? Muscle pain? Injury? Loss of your job due to injury? Self inflicted pressure to WIN?
Soccer, Rugby, etc-- about the same as football
Car, Motorcycle, Boat & Airplane racing, - Money? Prestige? Muscle pain? Broken bones? Death? Loss of your job due to injury? Self inflicted pressure to WIN?
I do however, think that the hand held air horns should be banned from all sports. Not because it would upset the concentration of any competitor, but because it upsets many spectators eardrums. Not all spectators are drunk on their butts and enjoy the horns.
All of these share another aspect and it is probably the most dominant and that is the thrill of competing. This is why many keep competing even though they are in last place. But back to "Concentration", Does anyone really think that an Indy car driver could concentrate any better if he or she were deft? Does anyone think that pilot can't concentrate on that pylon turn because his engine and prop are making a lot of noise. The picture below is a picture of 110% concentration.
Noise? yes! lots of it.
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And in spite of the noise a Central regional states champion, second in the Southeast and third in the Northeast.
PC Stuff
Ulead products -- I have used several "Ulead" programs in the past so when I purchased a capture card and it came with a "Ulead" program for video editing I felt comfortable that it was going to work well. My first sign that something was different was that the "Help" section was about 75% Useless. So I spent the first day figuring out how to use it. (typical of many low grade programs) However, with some trial & error, I was able to use it. I started working on home movies that I had on VHS. The program used a typical "time line" method of editing. It took me several hours a day for a week to get all of the VHS tape cut up into sections. Hmmmm? no shutter wheel control. Only one frame at a time or an insensitive slide bar. It did have color and brightness control. On about the 14th day of use it would not open telling me that it was a "TRIAL VERSION" and I would have to purchase it. Hmmmm? nothing up front told me this was a "Trial Version". I was a little angered that they would try to "HOOK" me by not letting me know this was a trial version. After I cooled off a little I hit the button to "Purchase now" to see how much it cost and maybe buy it. Guess what! it is no longer available!!!!!! BUT!!!! you can buy the newer version "10" for a DISCOUNT price of only $125. Hmmmmm? I can buy this not so great program (a $30. class program) for the discount price of $125. Like PT Barnum said "There is a sucker born every day" I wonder how many "suckers" bought this program before the "Discount" Ha! (or after) ha!
Ulead company must have had a management change because I can't see a company using underhanded tactics with an over priced product evolving from what I knew of Ulead in the past. Now I am leery of anything with the Ulead name on it.
Politics
My Gripe
A farmer once told me when I was quite small. (even though I don't ever remember being small) He said that if I stick a stick into a cow patty and stir it up that it will stink. This also describes politics. (although I think that politics usually has a foul odder before you put the stick in to do the stirring)
I don't vote, so many people tell me I then don't have a right to complain about politics. As though putting an "X" in a box is what gives a person a right to complain. So according to them, working all my life and paying taxes and keeping my nose clean and spending two years of my life close to the East German border during the cold war and sleeping in water filled fox holes and sleeping out on the ground in 20 below zero weather just so these same people didn't have to learn to speak Russian, had nothing to do with my right to complain. I fortunately didn't get shot at nor have to shoot at any Russian. I like to think that was in a small way my fault, just because I was there and they knew it.
One minute while I get on my soapbox and start preaching. (complaining) (inserting the stick and stirring)
Parties
The biggest and the foulest smelling part of politics is the "Parties". There is something about people's brains that only allows them to have TWO of anything. TWO parties, Republican and Democratic parties. Don't bother to tell me there is a third party called the Independent Party. If there is, they only have TWO members, so shut up.
How many football teams are on a field at one time? "TWO". How many teams of any sport have more then TWO teams on a field at one time? NONE!!!
If they could figure out how to only have TWO cars on a race track at one time and keep fans happy they would. Opps!! They do. "The drag strip". Have you ever wondered why there are only TWO lanes? why are there no drag strips with THREE lanes?
Back to the smelly part of politics, "The Parties". If you are in a district who's politician is a Democrat and you are a Republican. Are you so stupid as to think that you have any representation in that district? Are you so dumb as to think that he is going to vote or back anything that his "Party" is against? I know, don't bother to tell me. It has happen. How many times have you heard that a vote on a subject was split down Party lines. No one will ever make me believe all those who voted just happened to believe the exact same thing and that all the other party members believed their side. BS!!!! never happen!!! They were told to vote the way they voted by their Party. !!!!!!!!! Or they don't get backing next election.
As you can see I am against the "Party" system. I have no use for a Republican Party, an Independent Party, a Democratic Party nor a Nazi Party. I believe all politicians should represent ALL of their constituents, Not just those who a "Party" tells them to represent.
Congressmen & Senators
Who put them above the law? Why do they not have to live by the rules and regulations that the people have to live by? Are these people Kings and Queens we just put a different name on? When they do wrong, is it this "Party" system that is protecting them? And their pay!!! I don't mind them receiving high pay but not for the rest of their lives after they are out of office!!! They should have to live on the retirement that they voted for us!!!!! It is no wonder they want to remove the Ten Commandments from public buildings.
Their attendance record.
How come they are allowed to not even show up to vote on a bill that affects the people that they are suppose to represent? Their pay should be linked to their attendance like ours is.
Lobbyist
ALL Lobbyist should be banned from having contact with any politician. They should have to present their proposals at a podium to all the Politicians and have a vote on it's merits. No piggy back items as favors for a vote by other politicians on another subject.
Electoral College
To me if my vote means absolutely nothing because of what my state wants, then why should I bother to vote? How does one get to be an "Elector"? Who do I have to pay off or promise favors to get to be an "Elector" Is it true that if I am an "Elector", that I don't necessarily have to vote what the people of my state want? Why should I bother to vote when I am not an "Elector" of this "Electoral College"?
Why is it that even though the public has repeatedly expressed distaste for this "Electoral College", it is still used? Is it because the "PARTY" can influence these few people?
Time to Vote
I think all states should vote at the exact same time. Not by time zone but real time meaning that when Maine votes, Cal. is voting also. Hawaii and Alaska can vote the day before. That way CA. won't hear that a president has already been elected before they even vote.
Ballot
All ballots should be exactly the same and easy to understand and no cheap tricks to get less educated people to elect any certain candidate.
As it stands I don't vote because I am convinced that my vote means absolutely nothing, because a Party and a State are going to elect who they want regardless of my vote. And no matter who they put in office he or she will not represent me nor my views unless they happen to be the same as theirs. So why should I waste my time voting? Just to make myself think I did something?
Have you ever heard the stupid statement? "Duh! Well, if you don't vote, you can't change anything."
My response is, "Well, when you do vote for either candidate, you DIDN'T change anything!"
Oil
On TV the other day, they said Libya's oil supply MAY be interrupted as there is a revolution going on there. But Libya only supplies less then 1% of the world oil supply.
Someone tell me why the gas prices went up from 10% to 20%??? Could it be because of the oil stock speculators? LIKE YOU? Are the American people so stupid not to see that everything that is shipped, moved, stored, heated and cooled, is done so with OIL? What do you suppose that does to the cost of EVERYTHING?
Some idiots are sending e-mails around saying the reason oil prices are so high is because the ecologist will not allow the oil companies to drill for oil on government land where there is a supply of oil larger then all of the far eastern nations have. Hmmm! when OPEC jacked the price of oil up, what did the US oil companies do? JUMPED ON THE BAND WAGON AND JACKED THEIR PRICES UP TOO!!!
Who are the oil barons in the US? Do you suppose that the members of the House and Senate and their families own stock in oil? If they do, do you think they will make ANY decision any time that would lower the value of oil stock?
Their are hundreds of US government grants for businesses and even for individuals but why is there ZERO grants for any fuel efficient engine? Duh!!!
Ever notice that the car manufactures say that their electric car motor has only one moving part where a gasoline engine has hundreds. And that their transmission is very simple and also has very few parts if they even have one. Why then does the electric car cost half again what a gas car costs?
As it stands now, I can buy a used Hummer and tow a trailer for ten years and still have money left over and beat the cost of an electric car. How come, I could build an electric car in my back yard cheaper then I can buy one?
Why did Ford Motor Co. build electric cars for CA a few years ago when it was mandated to have a certain number of zero emission cars on the road and then when they used their influence to retract that mandate, they took back all of those electric cars and crushed them even though most of the people offered to purchase them? Is Ford Motor Co. in bed with the Oil Companies or are they one in the same?
Fuel Efficient Cars
In 1967 I worked in a Jaguar dealership and could show any Jaguar E-Type owner that they could easily run 150 MPH and without any changes get 28 MPG at 70 MPH on the highway.
The E-Type Jaguar was not a fuel efficient car nor was it a very small car. It was a two seat sports car. Now YOU tell me how many years ago that was and how much fuel mileage do cars today get that can run 150 MPH and get 28 MPG at 70 MPH?
I see very little advancement in the car industry except in cleaner emissions and electronic gadgets. And the cleaner emissions was because they were FORCED to do so.
Change?
The last president came into office on a key word "Change". Change what? I don't know if he was unable to "Change" much because he didn't know how or because he couldn't or because of the resistance to "Change".
I did see a small change when I got a letter from my bank telling me how kind they were to cut back on financially raping me as they usually did. I never believed they did that on their own. I believe they had their arm twisted to do so.
I have yet to see any "Change" in the Congressmen's raping us, and then thumbing their nose at us.
I have yet to see any "Change" in the "LACK OF CONTROL OF OIL PRICES"
I have yet to see any "Change" in the "LACK OF CONTROL OF US COMPANIES SENDING JOBS OUT OF THE COUNTRY".
I have yet to see any "Change" in the auto industry's attitude toward fuel efficient cars.
I don't believe there will be any "Change" until we get rid of the "Party" system and "Change" the way the members of the Congress work and are paid.
Only then will we see any "Change" in the way Congress and Big Business rapes the people in the US.
That is my Speech and Gripe for the day.
Howard M Fitzcharles III
I use to be a car driver
My parents taught me how to drive a car before I was old enough to get a drivers license because they both worked and they needed me to drive them to work as we only had one car and the time they had to be at work and the time they got off would make it difficult, so in the summer I drove them to and from work until they got another car.
Even though I had been driving, I took "Drivers Ed" in school and did well but didn't tell the instructor why.
I loved motorcycles and when I got older I raced motorcycles professionally in the AMA on dirt stock car tracks all over the southeast. I also loved sports cars and worked as a mechanic on MG, Triumph, Jaguar, Lotus, Alfa Romero and Auston Healey. I didn't race sports cars but loved to drive them. Over the years I owned several sports cars and some domestic sedans.
I guess the car manufactures decided I was too weak so they started installing "Power steering" and then they figured I was not coordinated very well so the took the gear changing out of my hands and put in an "Automatic Transmission". Then they figured I was again getting too weak so they took away my roll up windows and put in electric windows so I could just push a button. They did the same with the brake pedal and made them "Power assist". I use to move my seat to a position that felt right for my size but again they figured I was getting weak and made that "Powered Seats" too. Then to add another insult, they figured I was getting too stupid to set the seat and add a "Memory Seat position".
At least I still get to aim and control the speed but even that has changed as they told me I was not good enough on long trips so they took the speed control out of my control and put in "Cruise Control". Well! even though it is "Power Assist", I still get to control the braking. And sure enough they decided that I was so uncoordinated they took that away with ABS saying that I was so stupid I could not modulate a brake pedal. They also figured I was too stupid to lock my car with a key so they gave me a remote to click.
I still had a little to do with driving the car and controlling it in turns. Again they figured I was too stupid to control the car in turns and in bad conditions so they added "Stability Control" and since they already did away with the throttle control they control the throttle and each individual wheel power and brakes to straighten out the car when I get it out of shape. I can't even broad slide the thing if I wanted to.
They figured I was too stupid to dim my lights when approaching on coming cars at night so they made that automatic too. the same with the wipers too.
How far can they carry the insults? Well! I will tell you. They even brag about it, making me really look like a real stupid person who should not be behind the wheel of a car. First they figured I was so poor of a driver that I could not parallel park and gave me a button to push since I can't park a car.
And the topper is, even advertised on TV.
DUH! I didn't see that tractor trailer stopping in front of me, but my car did. Or, I was so sleepy (or drunk) that I didn't notice that I was crossing the center line but my car knew.
I can see what the progression is and thus I see the next step they will take and it is not much of a leap.
They are going to put a hitch on the front and back of my car and put rails on the street. Then they will hook all the cars together and have their own driver up front with a large engine and pull us where we want to go. It will be called a
Train!
However, there are some of us among you that like the old way of controlling our cars and take pride in learning how. We are called "Sports Car Enthusiast" and "Hot Rod Enthusiast". We have learned to accept the fate the street drivers but also in our garages we hide our treasures under a car cover. It is one of those terror species that our government hates, called a sports car or hot rod with NO power steering, No power brakes, No automatic transmission, No power windows or power seats, No push button anything. We do sometimes upgrade them with larger engines or hopped up engines and even more gears in the transmission and larger brakes and limited slip differentials and larger tires. We don't try to hide the sound of the exhaust and even enjoy it. When you raise the hood you actually see the engine rather then a bunch of plastic covers to hid it. I guess their engines are so ugly they need to hide them. Ours are beautiful and we take pride in their looks and never try to hide nuts and bolts as they enhance the view.
I don't think you are one of those mush bucket drivers-passengers who wants the driving experience to go the way of the dinosaurs. Because if you were, you would not be reading this.
Howard Fitzcharles III
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