Category Archives: Uncategorized

Unexpected Plus for EVs

Posted in Electectric vehicles, Going Green, Uncategorized by

I already explained in another post how I had to $600 for a battery replacement in my HHR. That is important, you know. Repair on gas powered cars is getting expensive. Right now, the HHR another $3000 on other things I am having to put off.

The thing is, nowadays, you cannot drive a car into a garage without paying out $1200 or more for the simplest repairs. To be honest, some of these repairs are are shared with EVs such as brakes, struts and steering. However, my EV does not need oil changes, transmission maintenance and such. The electric motor very likely will outlast me and possibly the car.

As with everything else on the car, the one weak point is batteries. They last anywhere from 7 to 15 years I’m told, quite likely longer than me. Their replacement is expensive, about 1/3 the price of the car. However, their price is going down while the cost of gas car maintenance is going up.

Nonetheless, consider, 7 or 8 trips to the shop for the repair on the gas car would likely cost 10 or 11 thousand dollars. That would take a big chunk out of the cost of the batteries of an EV. Moreover, there is a possibility of recovering core cost on the EV’s batteries. First, they will likely still be usable for things other than cars for years. Second, they just might be able to recover some of the elements out of the batteries and use them for new batteries.

Finally, they are making improvements on batteries all the time. The new batteries might be good for 20 years instead of 7 to 15. Moreover, they just might be able to store more power, increasing the range of the car. Perhaps if I live that long, I will be replacing the current batteries with batteries able to go 20% or 30% farther. On the other hand, who knows, they might have a big breakthrough that will allow the car to go 7 or 8 hundred miles on a charge.

As near as I can tell, with warrantee and all, I don’t think I will pay any maintenance on the Ariya for at least 7 years, other than for tires.

However, with all the good does come a little bad sneaking in the back door. My car is rated at 218 miles, or there about. If the car is fully charged, I can easily see that happening. With the energy recovering capability, on the open road, it will get right around 4 miles/Kwh. This, of course will very, depending on weather. If it is hot or cold, I need some of the power to keep the cabin comfortable. Also, ambient temperature can effect the operation of the batteries.

Also, fully charging the batteries reduces the life of the batteries. It is suggested that if you have an EV, don’t charge them over 80% unless you need the range. On the other side, letting them get below 10% is a gamble. If you don’t get to a charge station before the battery runs down, you’re stranded. Worse, you will not be able to solve the problem with a gas can.

At best, you make sure you get out of traffic and somewhere safe. Then you call for a tow. I had actually joked about getting me a truck and put a level 3 charger on the back of it. I could hook it up to a stranded EV and have a 20% charge on it in minutes. That might be enough to get the car to a normal charge station. (wonder if a bank would give me a loan on that premise) Meanwhile, I could make my way to the next stranded EV.

The point is this. If you only charge the car to 80% and recharge it at 10%, you are operating the car within a 70% margin on the batteries. In the case of my car, it means I have an effective range, or what some call a net range of of 218 – 60 miles or around 150 miles. In my case, I cheat. I charge my car to 90%. Then, I start getting anxious at 30% and put the charger on it. I have this phobia of being in one of those stranded an EV. Still, because I don’t go but a few miles a day, it means a recharge about every 5 or 6 days. Not an inconvenience; but still, I wished I had gotten the model with the 300+ mile range.

Not that it is so important, but the type of electric motor that Nissan uses will likely still be running after the rest of the car is a pile of rust. It is entirely probable that it will be in its 3rd life doing something long after the car is gone.

How Quickly We Forget

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Mrs Carter dies and suddenly, Jimmy Carter is one of the greatest presidents ever.

I am 74. I was alive back then. I was in the Marines back then. I saw firsthand and I remember it. He wasn’t just a bad president. He set a new standard on bad leadership in every category. By far, the very worst thing he did was to give away the Panama Canal. That was, perhaps the worst strategic mistake of the 20th century by any nation. Certainly, after he signed the papers, as the ink was still drying, the Soviet and Chinese leadership were chorusing, thank you very much.

My Three Pet Peeves

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Daily prompt

1. Uncourteous drivers. This just almost accounts for all 3 peeves by itself.

2. People who will not own up to that which they do or say.

3. Over advertising, especially when the ads are bad to begin with. This is all the worse when they use my phone, which I pay for to do their advertising. Again even worse when they are advertising for their Medicare programs. It is getting near the point that it irritates as much as fingernails on blackboards.

By the way, this does not include that TV ad for Hershey Kisses they show every Christmas. I will never tire of that one.

Favorite Month?

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Daily Prompt

What is my favorite month?

I do like January. It is a bit cold, but it sometimes brings snow. I know many don’t like snow, but here in Desoto County, there is a legal limit to it. It does cause something of a driving problem, but we manage.

I do like February. It is mandatory. My wife was born in February. For years she reminded me of it. Nowadays, she tries to forget but I still remind her. We generally go to a nice restaurant, like Outback.

March is nice. It is when Spring starts getting ready to spring. Some of the flowers start to flower and I need to start getting ready to mow the lawn and pull the weeds.

Of course we all know that April rains bring May flowers. However, it also brings the reminder that the warmth that is on its way. Occasionally we open the windows and allow the fresh air in.

Now may. What a wonderful month this is. This is the month for walks and picnics in the park.

June. Now that’s another wonderful month.

Well, I guess you get the idea. My favorite month is really whichever one is current, though I must admit, each does have its challenges.

At 74, I don’t have many months left. Nowadays they fly by as fast as the weeks used to. I just prize each one of them as the Lord gives them to me.

I guess mostly though, I’ll prize June a little more, not only for the weather, but also, it is the month in which we were married. June 1, 1973.

Guns Are Dangerous

Posted in Gun Safety, Lawyers and Representation, Uncategorized by

Just heard another news story of a little girl rushed off to the hospital, shot by a gun. Well, it is somewhat redundant. If she was shot, it was pretty obvious it was by a gun. However, let’s get real. Guns do not have minds of their own. Someone at some time did something that caused that gun to be discharged. In some cases, it is intentional. In other cases it is by accident. The gun and the bullet are just following the laws of physics. Once that gunpowder in that bullet is ignited, the projectile will leave that barrel and go somewhere.

If it is aimed, there is a good probability it will hurt or kill someone. On the other hand, if it is by accident, then it is simply a matter of chance. Nonetheless, it does seems odd that the accidental discharges will find those who are the most innocent, as in this case, a little girl.

I don’t know if this gun was discharged intentionally or not. Moreover, if it was intentional, it likely was not aimed at the girl. Whoever shot the girl probably feels bad about it, at least I hope so. He should.

Perhaps the most common bullet today for a handgun is the 9mm. What many do not realize is that, unless that bullet hits something to stop it, it may go for a couple of miles. It is not lethal for the entire distance, but it can cause injury or death for most of that distance. It is why when a person goes through training, we are taught to make sure of what is behind the target, as well as the target itself. You miss the target, you just might hit an innocent person standing behind, possibly a little 8 or 9 year old.

People have gotten far too careless with guns. Only a few decades ago, people took guns very seriously. Nowadays, they pay little attention at the pain they can cause, not only to those they kill, but those loved ones as well. To be sure, there are financial problems as well. Doctors, nurses, police, lawyers and courts all get involved with a shooting, even if it is accidental.

A gun, in the hands of trained man, can be dangerous. A gun in the hands of a man who is not trained, is asking for disaster. A gun in the hands of a person who does not know the danger of a gun, is a ticking time bomb, figuratively. Eventually, something will happen. It is simply a matter of time.

When I think back over all the shootings I have heard of, I have come to a very solid idea. People, all people should be taught about the hazards of guns. Certainly, a class or two should be required of high school students but I think it should start in the first grade.

I don’t mean they should be taught how to shoot them. I mean they should be taught the hazards of them. Above all, they should be taught to leave them alone. Above all, they should be taught that they can and will kill, even by accident. They should be made aware that guns are not toys.

At various points along the way, the training should be repeated, but in more detail. By the time a person graduates high school, they should know, they should realize the dangers of a gun. Hopefully, then, we will not have so many killed accidentally. As a side effect, we just might not have as many killed intentionally.

Really, when you come right down to it, it’s not so much gun control we need as gun safety. It should not matter that a person is or isn’t going to buy or use a gun. In as much as possible, all people should learn gun safety. That way, even those who buy guns illegally, know the hazards of a gun. And, by the way, if they know the hazards, they just might decide against buying that gun.

If it happens to put a few doctors out of a job, if it causes a few policemen to look for another line of work, I don’t think they’ll mind. If we were to take a secret ballot vote from them, I think you’d find it almost unanimous.

The expense of such training would almost be negligible. However, it would be very much worth it at ten times the price.

As a quick aside, it seems guns and drug abuse seem to be close cousins. If we can do away with illicit drugs, maybe we can decrease gun deaths too.

The Answer Eludes Me

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Daily writing prompt

What’s the first impression you want to give people?

The other day, a woman needed to go around me, which I was unaware of. She politely said, “Excuse me,” which is the right thing to do.

I replied, “I’ll try,” smiled and quickly stepped out of the way.

She obviously got the joke because she smiled and almost laughed. It just isn’t the thing a polite man should say, not really. After all she was polite. She didn’t try to shove by and her plea was pleasant. It was very impolite of me. Yet, I could tell I did just a little to lighten her day. If I had just said sure or nothing at all, what good would that have done?

My wife always gets angry with me when I do things like that. She rarely fails to scold me. She said, “One day someone is going to get mad and hit you.” I must admit that it is risky. Sometimes people do take such things the wrong way. I guess, in that little instant, I am making a first impression. I must say that usually the gamble works. The vast number of people understand and it does bring a smile to their face. Every now and then though, I catch someone who has had a bad day or something and the little bit of humor is just something they don’t want.

Some have simply given me a scowl instead of a smile. Some have even yelled at me. And yet, in spite of the chances involved, I still do it. I like making people smile. I really like to see them laugh, even if it is at my expense.

Now just how that is put into an answer to the prompt, I don’t know. Still, maybe you can figure it out.

Taking Water on Planes?

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Have things changed that much? Just heard a blab over the radio. A way to get a bottle of water by security is to freeze it. Because ice is a solid, not a liquid, they’ll let it by. (Don’t count on it)

Another idea was to carry an empty bottle and fill it after going through security. I suppose that idea will work but for what purpose.

Have airlines changed that much since my last flight. First, most flights don’t last that long. Most of us should be able to go 4 or 5 hours without water. If not, I am sure an attedant can resolve the problem.

Also, last time I flew, they served softdrinks and water. At one time they even served peanuts.

If all else failed I could have walked to on of a few places on the plane where I could fill a paper cup with water, several times should I want.

Then again, it has been many years ago that I flew. Maybe there is a reason to resort to stealth to sneak water onto a flight.

Who needs to do that sort of thing?