Re: Vacuum Cleaners from Outer Space

Maybe thirty-eight years (1956-1994) of driving a stick was why my left hip joint failed ?:-)

...Jim Thompson

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|  James E.Thompson, P.E.                           |    mens     |
|  Analog Innovations, Inc.                         |     et      |
|  Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC\'s and Discrete Systems  |    manus    |
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|       http://www.analog-innovations.com           |    1962     |
             
         America: Land of the Free, Because of the Brave

The Subaru Forester I bought a couple of years ago demonstrates this phenomenon, at least in its formal mileage ratings.

The "city" rating for the automatic transmission is 1 MPG better than the "city" rating for the manual shift.

The "highway" rating for the automatic transmission is 1 MPG worse than the "highway" rating for the manual.

My guess is that the better "city" rating is due to the automatic transmission's ability to consistently switch gears at a fairly optimal speed - not always easy for a manual-shift driver to do consistently.

In highway conditions, where little shifting is being done, the manual wins out (lower internal losses?)

Since I do more city driving than highway, I opted for the automatic. Haven't really regretted it.

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Indeed! Brings tears to my eyes because my '77 was totaled :-(

...Jim Thompson

--
|  James E.Thompson, P.E.                           |    mens     |
|  Analog Innovations, Inc.                         |     et      |
|  Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC\'s and Discrete Systems  |    manus    |
|  Phoenix, Arizona            Voice:(480)460-2350  |             |
|  E-mail Address at Website     Fax:(480)460-2142  |  Brass Rat  |
|       http://www.analog-innovations.com           |    1962     |
             
         America: Land of the Free, Because of the Brave

"Jim Thompson" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com...

You know there's a lawyer out there who'd be happy to sue the auto manufacturers for you over this... :-)

Well, lets say, well kept up.

After 2 years in the Ca. high desert sun, the lacquer was going bad. I have repainted it 4 times. Two lacquer jobs which don't hold up and two enamel jobs. The car was taken apart twice. Those pics were from a few years ago right after the last paint job. Unfortunately it sat outside much for the last 4 years. I have the car in the garage detailing everything on the asumption it will be sold. I had to redo some parts of the paint. Fix the custom stereo, tach, and clock. Fix the rug. There was some leaking in the rear window and right front side.The tires are over 10 years old but look only slightly cracked. I need to fix the exaust manifold, tune up for good performance, and keep those vacuum lines intact. The airconditioner has not worked for years. I just replaced the rear bumper after having all bumpers recromed several years ago, and the chrome started to streak before I reinstalled them sitting in the basement. I used to have the rear shades on and liked it but I decided to try and keep the car more like orginal. After 3 other shades of blue, I found the one i wanted, 93 Chevy Med Maui Blue metalic. Many of the hoses went bad after the desert run. I still find Mohave SAND in the panels.

greg

I'm so used to everything power anymore, that I have to think where the window crank is in my truck ;-)

I even have a "personal button" for my seat and mirror settings, in the Q45 ;-)

...Jim Thompson

--
|  James E.Thompson, P.E.                           |    mens     |
|  Analog Innovations, Inc.                         |     et      |
|  Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC\'s and Discrete Systems  |    manus    |
|  Phoenix, Arizona            Voice:(480)460-2350  |             |
|  E-mail Address at Website     Fax:(480)460-2142  |  Brass Rat  |
|       http://www.analog-innovations.com           |    1962     |
             
         America: Land of the Free, Because of the Brave

I would have guessed otherwise. It's not too late to repent your evil ways.

I've seen cancer stick holders, that clip onto the visor. The burning device is held in mid air somewhat off center (so as not obstruct your view). When you wanna take a puff, you just lean over, suck on the cancer stick, inhale, cough, and continue driving. No need to search for a commercial version as you could probably build one out of junk parts.

The Peoples Republic of California has declared that yacking on a cell phone while driving is a suitable source of revenue. "Hands Free" devices will shortly be in fashion.

Instead of a hamburger, you should try something more healthy. With minimal effort, you could construct a tray or holder, that restrains the burger in a fixed position, so that you can much between shifts.

Fondling the ladyfriend is possible, but with todays deep bucket seats, you have to be a contortionist. You might consider building an autopilot, that will aim the car in the general direction, while you recover from being slapped.

Adjusting the radio is trivial with todays voice command systems. Even Microsloth has their "Sync". It can also run your cell phone, security system, and coffee warmer:

Fine. It's a rolling bedroom. Whatever fits your lifestyle.

Until recently, I used to be a slum lord. When interviewing prospective tenants, I would always look at and in their vehicles. People live in their cars the way they live in their homes. If the car looks like the inside of a garbage can, then so will the house.

All of those are bolt on options. See the JC Whitney catalog.

for such junk. Incidentally, those add on options are the first things to break.

Speaking of lazy, how many remote controls do you have laying around the house? I just counted and I have 3 in the house and one in the car (for the hi-fi). Lose the remote controls and get some exercise.

Exactly. Most people stop growing up at an age where they feel comfortable. I made it to about 22 year old, and stopped. Some of the local hot rodders stopped at about 16.

Long ago, I lived in San Jose. The city installed a stop sign on the road in front of my house. None of the locals liked it. There was one nut case that would take off burning rubber every morning, waking me up. I guessed that this clown was about 17 years old. One day, I got up early to see for myself. It was the owner of a nearby gasoline station, about 45 years old.

Sure. You take an automatic transmission that was made for sedate and economical stree driving, and expect it to function at twice the typical RPM. I don't think so. Even the stock car racers tweak their hardware. Same with the tranny. If you could control the shift points externally (with a laptop in the front seat), then methinks that the automatic can be tuned to work properly.

Too expensive. I like my cars aged somewhat before consuming.

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Jeff Liebermann     jeffl@cruzio.com
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There is another worm in that can. The computer can also consider pollution considerations when it's picking shift points. Several (probably many) years ago, you couldn't get stick shifts of some models in CA because they didn't meet the pollution rules. I don't know what the current status is.

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It's macho to be able to fix all that stuff myself. :)

D from BC British Columbia Canada

Its time to get your gadgets.

greg

substantial

That might actually be true. But then you got a nice new hip joint didn't you.

I remember when they had me on fairly high doses of prednisone for an inner ear issue. I was asking the doctor about side effects and he told me that the main problem was hip necrosis but that could be fixed.

He said it completely deadpan, like it was standard treatment.

Yeah, I've replaced power window motors, actual windows etc. Ford used a neat trick on their early 90's vehicles. They riveted the window to the frame. Had to drill out the rivets and replaced it with bolts and locknuts.

Yeah! Any ordinary run-of-the-mill seen-one-seen-them-all "conventional" oven is a convection oven. I don't know why they didn't call the ones with the fans "forced-air" or something.

I think it's symptomatic of about two generations' dumbing-down of the schools.

Thanks, Rich

I have zero remote controls. I don't watch tv. :)

D from BC British Columbia Canada

All that I've seen for the last ten years are in black plastic trays.

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Having participated in my share of innovation retreats (rubber stamp the bosses ideas) along with design reviews (approve the results or be sentenced to overtime to fix them), the word "logic" was never used. There was pleny to "industry standards", "patent avoidance", and "regulatory compliance" mentioned. COMIC (Cost Of Making It Cheap) was the most common points of discussion. The results were either exactly what the boss wanted, or was an unrecognizeable diversion from the original customers specifications. Those few designs that landed in between these extremes were guaranteed disasters. I'm sure the customer and eventual users were mentioned, but never seriously.

There may be some still with aluminum foil, but the one's I buy come in some kind of black plastic tray and are only made for microwave cooking. Read the labels. Many have you defrost, stir, recover, and continue nuking. In the bloodshot eyes of the human factors experts, that's cooking.

You're mixing two seperate issues here. The microwave TV dinner could easily be bar coded and read by the oven. There's no creativity involved and no sensor needed. Just set the timing and nuke.

However, for cooking things from scratch, such as a turkey, a temperature sensor would be VERY handy along with a load cell to measure the weight. I helped design and build such a device in about

1978. It worked fairly well, considering the technology of the day, but the marketeers said it wouldn't sell. I'll dig out the patents later.

If that were resurrected today, the cost would be primarily in the sensors and interconnects. The microwave oven already has a uP brain, display, panel, and such.

Ecological is largely a frame of mind with a dash of advertising added for flavor. A sensor controlled microwave oven could be advertised as ecologically correct since is uses less electricity by avoiding overcooking. It's also a safety oven in that it warns you that the meat is undercooked and potentially unsafe. It also might save on paper if the recipies were stored in the processor. I realize the solar concentrator cooking is the high fashion ecological method of cooking, but that's not possible at every location.

Yesp. I inhertited a Vtech cordless phone and answering machine that loses the time if the power dies. It's not just the microwave oven. I'm not 100.0% sure what's driving this trend toward volatile clocks, but my guess(tm) is that the included NiCad button battery does not meed RoHS or some other specification.

Yeah, that makes sense. Gotta run...

I'm getting far more spam with Newsguy than with Supernews. I've got Newsproxy installed, but not setup. Yet another project.

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# Jeff Liebermann 150 Felker St #D Santa Cruz CA 95060
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# http://802.11junk.com               jeffl@cruzio.com
# http://www.LearnByDestroying.com               AE6KS

[snip] [snip]

You have to admit those "Salisbury Steak" dinners taste pretty damn good particularly when you consider that they're made from shredded cardboard.

(That's usually what I have for dinner when the wife is out hiking or camping with the Girl Scouts... after I tire of Chinese take-out :-)

...Jim Thompson

--
|  James E.Thompson, P.E.                           |    mens     |
|  Analog Innovations, Inc.                         |     et      |
|  Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC\'s and Discrete Systems  |    manus    |
|  Phoenix, Arizona            Voice:(480)460-2350  |             |
|  E-mail Address at Website     Fax:(480)460-2142  |  Brass Rat  |
|       http://www.analog-innovations.com           |    1962     |
             
         America: Land of the Free, Because of the Brave

Along with tomato sauce, a half ounce of salt, and enough animal fat to drive a diesel SUV to town and back. :(

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Which is truly amazing when you consider that some of the cheaper brands like Banquet are often on sale for $0.99 each! :-)