If your car or truck break’s down this Winter, chances are pretty good you’ll end up getting help from someone close by or if you have a favourite repair shop you can get towed there.
That’s right, towing and car repairs can get you back on the road again but it will cost you.
Preventative maintenance is the key to helping you keep costs down and building a relationship with your Mechanic really pays off in the end.
It helps to find a shop that will arrange both the towing and repairs for you for convenience and faster in-out service.
TIPS FOR BEST WINTER DRIVING PERFORMANCE
Tip #1 Check your battery Old batteries that don’t hold a proper charge can be hard on other engine components as a result of low boost to ignition-sparking power. Replace you battery if its getting old.
Tip #2 Use a block heater Your engine needs greater battery power when the outside temperature drops. A block heater can help start your car on cold Winter mornings.
Tip #3 30 second warm up That’s all you need and your ready to go! Besides allowing your vehicle this warm up time, by not idling too long we can all minimize green house gas emissions and save on fuel costs.
It’s a bit un-nerving when you are parking your car and you look in the rear-view only to see a dog, with his paws on the wheel, looking back at you. Seriously. It’s not like the dog was just hanging out in the passenger’s seat, oh no, he was behind the wheel, looking a bit uneasy to pull out of his parking spot. If he would have honked, I would have felt a whole lot more uncomfortable…but then again, that would make him a typical Virginia driver…so I guess it wouldn’t be too surprising.
It pays for programs that ease congestion and allow for the smooth flow of traffic across the nation and through our cities and the money even goes to drivers education and other programsAll of these are things that go towards making a truckers life and business a little easier Can you imagine the rutted chaotic roads that would exist if the heavy vehicle tax did not Not that it funds everything8212because other taxpayers contribute as well8212but it does help to ensure the money keeps flowing
As the Frankfurt Auto Show has finished, it is came time to open new shows and to view new cars, the next show, that I am going to pay my attention at is – Tokyo Motor Show.
The funniest and the most unusual model of this show will be (I am almost sure) an electric-powered Pivo 2 concept car from Nissan manufacturer. Pivo looks like a space ship and has the most bold design of the year and may be the following years as well.
The Nissan Pivo is a concept car created by Nissan. The Pivo was first introduced at the 2005 Tokyo Motor Show. The car is essentially a 360 degree rotating three-seater cabin on a chassis of 4 wheels, and hence eliminates the need for reversing and makes parking easier.
The Pivo is powered by a lithium-ion battery. The car’s futuristic design incorporates large doors for easy access to the cabin and large windscreens and windows for high visibility. As well as the fully rotational cabin, the Pivo features Nissan’s Around View Monitor system. This reduces blind spots (areas of the road which cannot be seen from the driver’s position) by displaying the outside surroundings on screens mounted on the inside of the car’s A-pillars, located on either side of the windshield.
An updated version of the concept, designated Pivo 2 was unveiled in 2007. The wheels have been moved to rotating pods that allow the car to drive in any direction. Along with the rotating cabin, this allows the car to pull up next to a parking space, and instead of conventional parallel parking, the wheels and cab simply rotate 90°, and the car drives in sideways. The rotating cab also now has only one door (the front of the cab itself), allowing passengers to exit or enter from any direction desired.
What do you do when you’ve drunk all you can drink at one bar but you don’t have a ride? Most people would call a cab. Some people would walk. Greg Oras would call 911.
In an attempt to get the police to come drive him to his next planned location, Oras claimed that someone had beaten him up and was trying to shoot him with a gun. When a deputy arrived and refused to give Oras a ride, Oras kicked him in the knee and had to be subdued by a taser.
Oras was arrested and is currently in county jail.
I just wrote about this story so I could show the picture. Fact is, if you read this story without the picture, this is probably the exact image that would come to mind. Only someone who looks like that would think calling 911 to get a ride is a good idea.
On a related note, my pool boys actually call 911 to get away from my house quite often. Fortunately, they don’t speak English very well.
I’ve been thinking about a few things lately. I guess they are all fairly intertwined and generally have to do with my future. With the new year upon me I’m happy to say goodbye to 2009, I will not miss last year. It had a few great ups, but it had the most downs I’ve ever experienced and I’m glad to be rid of that chapter of my life.
I’ve been wondering how I can make 2010 a better year than last year. I thought about making a resolution, but I find that hard because it’s sort of like how I feel about tattoos, I can’t think of anything that I can live with for that long. What is something I can follow for a whole year? Don’t drink soda, don’t drink alcohol, be single, be cleaner, be nicer? I guess I could try and do any of those things, or others, but would any of it really make me happier as a person? The answer is probably no. Although I guess I will say that I do plan to stay single, drink less, and be nicer to people. Maybe I’m just afraid of commitment. I probably could have made one last year, but my trust in my decisions and my faith in permanence was shattered this past year. I’m apathetic at this point about a social life. This in no way applies to my work ethic though, just my social skills.
That brings me to some of the things I’ve been thinking about lately. I had a converstaion with my grandfather the other day that sort of made me realize that part of my attitude lately is due to the fact that my life right now is nothing like it was a few years ago, a year ago even. I’m not used to having no car and no money. I’m used to having a partner in crime, wheels, and cash. I mean, I never had a lot of anything, but I was fairly independent and did what I wanted when I wanted because I had a car and generally had enough money to get by and have fun. This past year was very different. I became really dependent on my mother for the first time since I was about 16. I mean, in high school I depended on her for a house and food most days, but in general I had money to get what I wanted and a car to go where I wanted. This year I used her car, and basically had to ask her for money when I needed it. It was a nice change in a way because I had a lot less to worry about. All I really have to think about now is graduating, but it’s at the cost of feeling adult and independent.
I don’t know how other people in this situation would feel but I imagine it’s hard for anyone to go backwards like this. I thought I was out, and on my own, on my way to marriage to be honest. To have every bit of that taken away was rough, and I needed my mother, but now it’s starting to wear on me. I’m grateful for all that my mother and new stepfather do for me, but at the same time I’m irritated with them, because I need them. I haven’t needed anyone in a long time and it’s hard to feel as helpless as I do now.
I think the combination of all that happened in 2009 made me jaded and angry, and that’s really what has been on my mind lately. I’m not happy. Well I’m not depressed either, it’s not a constant upset feeling or anything, but not much makes me really happy anymore. I’ve never been all that excitable to begin with, but lately I’ve watched myself go through motions where I should at least be enjoying myself and I’m not. All I want to do is my school work, watch movies, and sleep. Sometimes I get myself hyped up about going out with friends, but I find myself disappointed most nights. Some nights, I know, were definitely very fun, but I didn’t actually have much fun. I feel like there’s something missing I guess. I feel unsettled, but that’s nothing new.
In my previous post I posed a question and I feel like the answer is probably a little bit, yes. I expect far too much of the people around me, and I probably make people who don’t meet my expectations feel smaller than I intend too. It’s not a hypacritical problem though, because I hold myself to the same standards I hold everyone else. I guess I feel like if people don’t do like I do they are wrong. Which is obviously not the best way to go about life, but I’m just now realizing that I make people feel beneath me. I’m kind of a jerk, but my mother always said she didn’t raise me to be nice, so I come by it honest. I guess I’ll work on it.
I don’t really know where this was all going, I just wanted to write something to start off this year, so that at the end of it I can see the changes. I think I want to work on being nicer (in general), figure out if there is a separation between my school work and my hobbies, and be more social. So there is my not so resolute resolution.
And here is a picture of my sister from 2005 that I found that makes me happy, just because:
That’s what some folks say about wine when it pleases their palette. They then go on to speak of the smoothness, robust flavor, color and taste. And, on some levels, I could say the same for this past year of 2009. For me it was filled with activity, creative process, changes in schedules and tasks, as well as in mobility. It has been a full-bodied year.
And this is the final day of that year. Last year, on this day, I did a sort of look back accounting of the year itself. Went back and read that yesterday and found some of the seeds that began to flower in this one. Last year, at this time, I had just opened the door to a delightful new activity: coloring.
I was thoroughly enjoying my own personal exploration and finding a wealth of expression in the process. It was soothing and healing. That eventually gave way to Mandalas, Zentangles, and sketchbooks of my own doodlings. Then I got involved in the Sketchbook Project at
www.arthousecoop.com/
I finished that project a few days ago and will mail it off later today. It was a bit overwhelming, but I did mange to complete it and am pleased, not only with the project, but the inspiration I found within it. I love the fact that all of the above has made me eager to face off with this New Year. If I had to define those experiences, I think I would have to title this past year, The Year of Creative Explosion (or Expansion).
I have written a great deal about the Wild Thing that resides in all of us. Yet, when I look back on these past twelve months, I find a very colorful Wild Thing that has patiently abided within me, waiting for just this opportunity to speak and express itself. One that never quite found complete satisfaction in the black and white world of words.
Due to a very limited budget, I had to make most of my Christmas gifts this year. And it was a delight to realize that I had spent so much time preparing for that without actually once thinking about it. There were all those images, full of color, harmony, beauty, to work with. Married to a few words of poetry, they were the perfect expression and vehicle for what I had to do. I loved the outcome and so did those who received them. Those were very special gifts and I loved giving them.
But, this year was also been The Year of The Car. I hadn’t owned a vehicle in five years, and had the opportunity and took it. What a difference that has made, not just in my mobility, but in the way I see myself and pursue those things that interest me most. It meant freedom in so many little ways, and an expansion of my choices as well. Although it also limited my meager budget even further, it was well worth the stress and worry I put into making that decision.
Also, in this past year, my relationship with my family has been altered a great deal. My sisters and I have been able to care for my Mother with some amount of smoothness, a lot of humor and laughter, and a lot less distance. We have all gained support from one another and, that in turn, pleases my Mom probably more than anything else could.
But, that also means that my time and energies have been altered in both large and small ways. My blogs have suffered, simply because I have had to let go of some of what I had been doing. I refuse to give them up completely because they satisfy that Wild Word Thing that also abides within me. Although they are not anywhere as prolific as they had been, they are still a basic form of satisfaction that I can’t afford to let slide away completely.
Best of all, I have been able to keep my journal up on a daily basis. It still forms the beginning of my day and is still the best friend I have ever had. When I jot down ideas about things I would like to do, or images I would like to try, it is almost as though those thoughts move from wishes to promises I am making to my own person. Some, like the Sketchbook Project, seem a bit overwhelming, but just writing about those feelings seems to become a prod to simply keep moving forward. I have no desire to disappoint my best friend.
Looking back on this past year, what I find is an element of contentment and satisfaction I have not known in the past. It’s also a bit scary. Could next year be even better? All I can do is hope. That’s not a bad way to begin another year. Are you hopeful for the same?
It’s a bit un-nerving when you are parking your car and you look in the rear-view only to see a dog, with his paws on the wheel, looking back at you. Seriously. It’s not like the dog was just hanging out in the passenger’s seat, oh no, he was behind the wheel, looking a bit uneasy to pull out of his parking spot. If he would have honked, I would have felt a whole lot more uncomfortable…but then again, that would make him a typical Virginia driver…so I guess it wouldn’t be too surprising.
