Recent Comments:
Smallville: Persona {TV Squad}
Feb 1st 2008 6:35AM Bizarro is the last phantom. Clark has caught or killed all of the others that escaped from the Phantom Zone.
Despite all the holes in the writing, Kristin Kreuk's stone-faced acting, etc., I find myself liking the show. I read the comics religiously as a kid, and get a kick out of how they regularly pay homage to the comics in Smallville's unique, different universe.
I also like the way they've darkened the show and made it more adult in the past few seasons. Especially with the more theatrical lighting, camera work, and music.
I do think it's time Clark started flying. I know at the beginning of the series they said this Superman never would, but, Kara flies, Braniac flies, "Dark Clark" flies, and Clark jumps really high. In this, the last season, they need to go ahead and put him in the air.
Hypermiling your fuel economy — The greenest extreme sport for cars {Autoblog Green}
May 11th 2007 7:36AM Like anything, you can go overboard. the point is, incorporating some, even if not all, of these ideas saves gas.
I do, however, take issue with the "no warmup" suggestion. He's right, your gas mileage is 0 when you're idling at a standstill, but, the difference between getting 100,000 miles and 200,000 miles out of an engine lies predominantly in the warmup. The crankshaft bearing, connecting rod bearings and camshaft bearings are NEVER supposed to have metal on metal contact. They ride on a very thin coating of oil. When a cold engine is placed under load, the crank and cam (and sometimes rods) can actually "flex" forcing the journals, lobes, etc. into direct contact with the bearing surfaces, causing immediate, and potentially catastrophic wear.
This danger is even more pronounced when you go to thinner oils, as many hypermilers recommend.
My first new car was a 1987 Firebird with a 5.0 litre V8. I traded it in 1996 with over 170,000 miles on it. It still had 40lbs oil pressure at idle, and I never did anything to it except replace the alternator and water pump.
I traded the Firebird in on a 1996 Jeep Cherokee with a 4.0 litre straight 6. It has just over 196,000 miles on it. I did have to replace the head, but, it was because the guys at Firestone left the radiator cap off when I had the oil changed and it overheated.
I actually drove these cars hard in the past (especially the Firebird). It's only in the last few years that I've become interested in taking the lead out of my foot. I got them to last so long by following one simple rule, drilled into me by my dad, who NEVER got less than 200,000 miles out of a car.
Every time the car has sat for more than an hour, let it warm up at idle for 60 seconds before putting it into gear. If it has sat for more than 3 hours, warm it up for 90 seconds; for more than 6 hours, 120 seconds. I actually keep a cheap stopwatch in the console, and use it to time my warm ups. I'm a very impatient person, and, even though I've been doing this all my adult life, it's still tough.
You may waste a little gas doing it, but, doubling your engine life more than offsets it.
Also, the oil change recommendations of manufacturers are as bogus as the claims that soft drinks and coffee don't count as fluids propogated by the bottled water industry in the 90s. I change my oil and filter every 5000 miles. My dad never went less than 7500, but, I figure I drive harder than he did, and 5,000 is easier to remember.
That's NEAT! Non-exercise activity thermogenesis and its role in obesity {That's Fit}
Dec 26th 2006 2:26AM In response to the #20 post:
I think the point isn't about which is a better way of being. I myself am a couch potato, and love it. I have no desire to turn into an exercise nut, or a constant fidgeter. The point about the NEAT study is that people of that type tend to expend much more energy in their non-exercise daily activities. The thing someone like me can learn from that is to try and expend more energy in basic activities; my treadmill desk, for example. Someone else mentioned parking further away from the door when you go to work or go shopping. I do that, too. Over time, small increases can yield good results
That's NEAT! Non-exercise activity thermogenesis and its role in obesity {That's Fit}
Dec 25th 2006 7:07PM I saw a story on this a year ago on Dateline. A Mayo clinic professor built a "walking desk", replacing his chair with a treadmill and walked at .07mph instead of sitting. He lost tons of weight.
I sit at work, but not at the same place, so I couldn't do it at work. I sit in front of my computer at home, however, for hours a day. This past June, I built my own treadmill desk, and have lost a little over 1lb per week since, with no other changes in my lifestyle.
A pound per week doesn't sound like much, but 5 1/2 months later, I'm down 30 lbs. If you want to find out more, do a search on "walking desk" and "treadmill desk"
