Tag Archive for car

What to Do Today

“Real generosity is doing something nice for someone who will never find out.” ~Frank A. Clark

That sums up the spirit of today’s National Do Something Nice Day.

Use your imagination. Go big, medium, or small.  Here are some suggestions: Send flowers to someone for no reason, with a card that says “Just Because.” Invite that office mate who eats lunch at her desk each day out to lunch with you. Give an extra big tip to someone who serves you.  Mow a neighbor’s lawn or take out their trash with yours. Help someone struggling with grocery bags get them into their car. Ask a disabled person if they need  help opening a door or getting their wheelchair into their car. Smile at a stranger as you pass them by. Or do something nice without letting the person know who did it.

Seems to me, this is a good way to end a hectic work week.

 

Save on Car and Plane Trips

Unneeded items in your suitcase add extra weight which affects your car’s gas mileage (and your plane-ticket price).  There’s an iPhone/iPad app that facilitates smart packing for your family’s long or short trip.  See  https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/packing-pro/id312266675?mt=8. It will help you save money and help the Earth at the same time.

 

[For more easy, money-saving, Earth-friendly tips, download a FREE copy of Green Riches: Help the Earth & Your Budget. Go to www.Smashwords.com/books/view/7000 or your favorite e-book seller and download to your computer or e-book device. Totally free, with no strings attached.]

Safety Tip

Here’s a safety tip for those of you who haven’t heard it yet.  It has to do with your GPS device that you keep in your car or is built into your car.  Many of us put “Home” in so we can find it quickly.  Don’t do it.  If you’re parked in a mall, for example, someone can break into your car, punch “home” into your GPS, and know where you live and that it’s a good  time to burglarize your house because you’re away shopping.

I have my dog’s name programmed into my GPS.

Be safe.

 

 

Cheaper Electric Cars

Although I’d love to switch from an environmentally harmful gas car, I’ve had several concerns.  One is that there haven’t been any electric mini vans made (I need one to carry my handicap scooter), but that’s changing, according to this morning’s news.  Another is the slow-moving plans for long-lasting batteries that can adequately be recycled once they die.  Price, obviously, has been a factor, as well, although competition is starting to have some effect there.  And my monthly electricity bill has been a deterrent–until I learned that gas would have to go down to a dollar a gallon to be as cheap as electric power for vehicles.

I look at old faithful–my 2004 Dodge Caravan–and know she won’t last forever.  Maybe I’ll eventually replace her with an electric van.  In may garage, at least, if not in my heart.

 

 

“Cut Out” Car Odors

Car air fresheners are loaded with chemicals.  Make your own.  Attach a decorative piece of cloth to cardboard and cut into a pleasing shape or decorate it.  Soak in any essential oil you     like, and place in your car.

Leaf 6

[For more easy, money-saving, earth-friendly tips, download a FREE copy of Green Riches: Help the Earth & Your Budget. Go to www.Smashwords.com/books/view/7000 or your favorite e-book seller and download to your computer or e-book device. Totally free, with no strings attached.]

 

 

 

An MVP in TWO Ways

Here’s an upbeat story to counteract all the stories of harm done by famous sports stars.  Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City Thunder guard, won a new car as MVP and promptly turned it over to a single mom as a way to brighten her life and as a reward for “all the hard work she’s done to keep her family together.”  A local charity recommended this particular family to Westbrook.

I’m sure that Westbrook will have many more chances at being given a car and other valuables, including some very lucrative contracts.  It’s nice to see him share his rewards for his hard work with someone who will be struggling for more years but now has needed reliable transportation for work and family, plus a chance to smile and feel good.

This is people helping people, the way things should be.  In life, Russell Westbrook really is an MVP.

 

 

Recall? Be Safe

 

Another batch of vehicles is being recalled!  Seems like it’s happening every day.  At this point you’d have to have a car as old as mine (2004) to be safe.  But, no, recalls are going back farther than that.

To be safe, I looked up my Dodge van.  It had an old recall I never heard about and a problem hose that I’d replaced long ago.

I suggest you check your car.  The easy way is to go to the government website, safercar.gov.  The page you need is at http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/owners/SearchSafetyIssues.  Just put in your make, model, and year and you’ll learn if there are any recalls you should be aware of.  Please do it today. I’d like my readers to be safe.

Brain Freeze: Silly Things I Think About

There’s plenty to worry about in the world.  But my mind sometimes wanders into strange territories.  Here’s a concern that hit me today:

If a driver-less car fails to stop at a red light or exceeds the speed limit, who gets the ticket?  If the officer makes it out to me, can I put in a claim to the auto manufacturer?

Stupid Woman of the Season Award

Today I saw the best candidate for Stupid Woman of the Season, if such an award exists.  She pulled her car into a handicap spot (no handicap licence or placard, of course), jumped out, and ran into Walgreens to shop.  Soon there was an announcement over the Walgreens speaker: The person parked in the handicap space should return to their car.  You left the motor running and your child inside the car.  A group of us stared as a woman ran from the store to the car and drove away.  Before she pulled away, though, a man confronted her outside the store.  Her response was what I hear all the time from less dangerous people, those who just park illegally in a handicap spot without putting a child’s life in peril–“I was just going to be a minute.”

 

 

Auto-Drive Life

The DMV can change my life!  They’re devising rules for self-driving cars.  It will probably mean some sort of training or test, then a sticker on our driver’s license authorizing a person to be a passenger in such a car.  The technology already has safety-features built into it, and there will be more.  For example, a sophisticated computer monitors speed and proximity to other vehicles, and it can react to sudden dangers, like an elephant falling from the pick-up in front of us.  (They’re worried that a computer might not react as quickly as a human, but consider all the drunk drivers, brand-new drivers, and ones who should have given up their licenses years ago for a variety of reasons.)  Also, the computer would not talk on a cell phone, eat McDonald’s, apply make-up, squeeze a zit, let Fluffy ride on its lap, or turn around to break up a fight between Suzie and Johnny…it would just drive.

All this sounds good to me.  But let’s not stop there.  After all, living life is just as dangerous as driving a car.  Training, a license, safety-features, no negative distractions—why not?  Give me a self-driving life, please!

Low Rider