Just Another Day…

Category: Text Post

  • Real Numbers, With The Prius

    Ever since I switched from driving a big Toyota Sequoia to the Prius, it’s not uncommon to have people (even strangers) ask “Hey, what kind of mileage do you really get with that thing”.

    So a few weeks ago I decided to do a test, and see just how far I could drive on a full tank of gas with the Prius. I wanted to find out, definitively, how far I could drive once the “add gas now” warning started to flash. Here are the details.

    The tank holds 11.9 gallons, but from what I’ve read online it’s difficult to fill the tank completely. There is a bladder inline between where you fill the tank and the tank itself to prevent fumes from escaping. The down side is you end up only fitting about 10.9 gallons in the tank.

    The Details
    I used regular unleaded, 87 octane.

    The miles are 90% highway, since the vast majority were on the drive to and from the office, which is just short of 50 miles round trip every day.

    On the highway I would use the cruise control and set it to 55. The Prius seems to be tuned to get it’s peak mileage at 55, and the cruise control does a much better job and managing the overall mileage then if you try to do it yourself.

    I had a one gallon tank of gas in the trunk, ready for the refill once I ran out.

    So, the results?

    (more…)

  • I know that I stopped! Unless…

    So about a week ago Brenda received a ticket in the mail. The notice said that she was caught rolling through a red light while making a right turn. She was caught by a camera ticketing system in the intersection. Included in the notice was a photo of her car in the intersection, and a very nice shot of her license plate.

    She was kind of upset about it since it is an automatic $100 ticket and argued that we should contest the ticket and see if they would let her off on account of her good driving record.

    I started thinking and remembered that most of the time now, you can actually go on-line and see a small movie of what happened.

    So I said “You know what, you’re right. Let’s go on-line and watch the video of what happened and then we’ll have what we need to fight it”. She turned around and said “What video?”. I explained, and slowly a sly smile appeared on her face.

    So we both went over to the computer and I typed in the website listed on the notice and entered her license plate and violation number. Up came the following video. Her car is the black one all the way on the right.

    You make the call. Did she make a proper and complete stop?

    [qt:/blog/video/BrendaVideo_GetViolationVideo.mov /blog/video/BrendaVideo_GetViolationVideo.jpg /blog/video/BrendaVideo_GetViolationVideo 500 375]

    Needless to say, we paid the ticket.


  • Not R2-D2, 5D Mark II

    If there’s an up side to selling all of my shop equipment and the motorcycle, it’s that I was able to take a bit of that money and buy a new camera that I’ve wanted since last year (The Canon EOS 5D Mark II). And in typical nerd style, I took a few “unboxing” photos. I just couldn’t help myself.


  • Michael Skrodzki Graduation Party

    Congratulations Mike, you’re now officially a responsible adult!

    Thank you Toni for taking so many photos for us. I usually bring the camera, and just don’t have the time to do anything with it, so you taking all of these photos was a great idea!

    The rest can be found on SmugMug.


  • Have Twins +1, Everything Must Go!

    Know anybody that needs a awesome Honda Valkyrie? It is the peak of riding season after all.

    How about some shop equipment for their woodworking hobby?

    Well, if you or somebody you know could benefit from such super awesome deals on such super awesome items, send them over to my auctions currently running on eBay.

    http://snipr.com/j4fzl

    The auctions are running for 10 days, so time is limited! Act now so that you’re not disappointed when it’s all over.