Posted by Raul on January 13, 2011
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When you take a look at car manufacturer information about the fuel consumption (or economy) they claim, you’ll see that you live in an era of extremely efficient cars. If you make the calculations for yourself, you’ll see that is not so.
The internal combustion engine (gas and diesel engines) have a design that is more that one hundred years old, and what is being improved throughout the time is the efficiency of operation, but the concept is still outdated. A gas or diesel engine uses about 30 percent of the fuel it consumes…the rest is lost mostly in heat.
Looking at the information sheets in windows of new cars you’ll see mileages of 18 to 25; 25 to 31, etc. But a simple procedure will tell you how much fuel you are really burning in your daily errands.
Next time you fill up the tank, do it until the nozzle jump off by itself, then set the partial odometer to zero and drive as you usually do. When the time comes to fill up the tank again, do it also until the nozzle jump off by itself, write down the mileage in the partial odometer and divide that number by the amount of gallons shown in the receipt. You’ll be surprised by the numbers.
With this little test you’ll be able to discover several things:
-The real mileage your vehicle is giving you
-Which brands of fuel gives you the best mileage (there is difference!)
-Which driving habits give you better mileage
-Early detection of mechanical and electrical problems in your engine by the drop in mileage (if you keep doing this every time you fill up the tank)
From what I’ve seen, sport utilities and pick up trucks usually give around 14-18 MPG, while a four cylinder car will be in the 20-27 MPG margin, which is a 50% more miles per gallon.
If you drive an average of 1000 miles a month (which is normal for most people), and switch from a sport utility vehicle to a four cylinder car, you will save around 20 gallons of fuel a month, which in turns, could be a saving of 50 dollars a month, or 600 dollars a year!
If we multiply this savings in gallons of fuel by the number of cars in the US, we could see that several tankers can get lost in their way here. The amount of pollution can be greatly reduced, and even the streets will become instantly “wider” by the use of smaller cars. All on top of personal savings for everyone driving a car 
Raul
Posted by Raul on January 10, 2011
When I see high school teenagers driving a fairly new sport car, having lunch at a restaurant, meeting at a Starbucks for a friendly chat while sipping a coffee or some surfing in a modern laptop, it makes me wonder how their lives will be in the future.
What would happen when, from an early age, a teenage kid gets accustomed to experience and enjoy some “pleasures” of life that are supposedly reserved for an adult that already have accomplished something in life?
The first time can be magic, but the time number twenty is not that much, and by the time number fifty, it has become a routine that classifies as a standard necessity instead of a pleasure to enjoy.
Parents provided and children had an easy life. Asking for a car at the age of fifteen; having money to eat at restaurants, having a coffee at Starbucks and using the latest cell phone in the market; living the life of a well paid professional when still going to High School and sometimes not even getting good grades!
How much money they will have to generate in the near future to sustain a higher life that has become just the base for them? What could be a nice honeymoon trip when graduation from high school with a “C” implies a cruise to the Bahamas?
I can understand the concept of giving the “taste” as a motivational way, but when the results in school don’t reflect constructing the base to reach the presented image and standard to achieve; then the good intentions become a misleading guidance.
Instead of earning every little advantage, that should create the mentality of working hard to supply the needs and enjoy a small luxury from time to time, the concept generated in teenagers these days is that they have to be surrounded by the expensive and the latest, and disregarded the part of generating the income necessary to supply such luxuries.
It is acquiring prestige by the possession and continual use of the latest material elements, rather than the pride of being good at something.
And then, what would happen when the material possessions are lost due to…let’s say…a falling economy. Those who have lived a life of pride based on owning material luxury would become lost and without identity when loosing the material elements; while those who acquired pride by the sense of knowledge and expertise will still have their pride, even if is under a new, deprived economic situation.
Something to think about…
Raul
Posted by Raul on January 6, 2011
Standing here in the cold, getting so much snow, freezing! I can’t wait to go again, move, go somewhere and do something! Get this cold feeling out of me while running around.
I wish I had a home like some other lucky ones that have a roof to spend the winter; a roof to protect myself from this blowing snow and wind that always get the best of me. Summer is fine and even that the sun can be really harsh sometimes at least doesn’t get me paralyzed like cold does.
There are times when I get myself lost in my memories of the times when I was young and stronger. Those times when I used to shine in the presence of others, older than me, and thinking that the whole world was waiting for me to see. Those younger years, how wonderful times!
Now I’m old and don’t get much attention and I know, they are mostly waiting for me to die and then get rid of me once and for all. How easily they forget! How many times they needed me and were dependant on me.
I am deteriorating, I know; maybe another winter, maybe not. Everything inside me is dying, I can feel it! Then I’ll be gone.
The kids, I remember, they were so happy to spend time with me, now they have grown and gone; they have their lives, kids of their own.
So what is the meaning of life? To be used when needed and discarded when old? Forgotten, like an old blanket worn out by time. And what is so special about me? Would someone be interested in me at this advanced age? Wanting to take care and make me young and strong again? Would I get to be loved again for who I am and not for what I can do for others? Am I so special for someone to say “don’t let him die”?
I guess is the way things are for an old family car like me!
Raul
(The actual owner of the car)
P.S. Old, battered car for sale!
Posted by Raul on January 3, 2011
Looking at a child immersed in playing at something; a child’s wonder with the world around; when they look intently at a flower or the clouds going by in the sky. How amazing it is that they can become so absorbed in the now, in the moment of observation; that they can become in their games whatever they want to be.
Then as adults we tend to go by lists of activities and responsibilities that have to be fulfilled as proper adults.
This is all fine and appropriate in a mechanical society fed on productivity and trade, yet we soon experience the lack of wonder and the magic of moments that, as responsible adults, tend to disregard as childish behavior.
And the problems of attention and the sense of unhappiness settle in…
So what if for a moment, while in a secured environment, like at home, we let ourselves to just become that lost child that still lives inside us? What if we let ourselves to be that child and accept the possibility of becoming amazed by simple things like the clouds going by in the sky, maybe the strange flying path of a house fly, or perhaps the perseverant march of an ant in a day’s work? Or even for a moment to believe we can become whatever we want to be!
Taking in the possibility of becoming a child again, even if it’s against society concepts of adulthood, we can experience for a brief moment the wonders of nature, the pleasures of life, the amazing elements of this planet all around, and with it, recover also the lost capability of intently attention based on the marvel of a moment.
We trick ourselves not even knowing what we are doing, but just by following the established path by previous generations, and taking in the concept without questioning, we accept a condition as the proper way to behave, even if it is at our own demise.
Let’s try for a moment the childish ways of complete, undivided attention to a simple situation, like observing the images of winter; the colors and the changing world around, and let ourselves enjoy a brief moment of living, rather than a big chunk of wasted life.
Raul
Posted by Raul on December 14, 2010
Today I have the pleasure to announce that Alien Ghost has made a trip to Madrid, Spain. This weird alien has a Guest Post at the awesome blog Zerebria.
Zerebria is where Nacho Jordi talks about the human brain; as he describes in his blog:
“The human brain, the mysterious machine, and everything that has to do with it, from the point of view of a fascinated user”
So please take a quick trip there to check the post “Loop Mode”, where I talk about the similarities between computers controlled new cars and some people you might have encounter in your daily life.
And while you’re there, don’t let pass the opportunity to dig Zerebria’s Archives, to find: “Profitable gems that allow you to live a more active, focused and productive life”
Have fun!
Raul
