Mechanical Differences

Yes, as I've stated before, I'm mechanically challenged and know little about the internal workings of a car engine, but I've always found amusement and delight in "car words." I had forgotten about my earlier discovery of  this jargon so unfamiliar to me until posting a Facebook comment today.  Maybe I simply have a vivid imagination, but the automotive jargon can certainly be entertaining.

Did you realize there were so many "naughty" terms used in car words?  Some of my favorites involve actual parts.  I have no idea what these parts are or do, but they definitely heat up my engine, I mean imagination.  I particularly like  crankshaft, head gasket (especially when blown!), pistons, camshaft push rod, heater, drive belt, tail pipe, heat shield,  fuel injector, turbo charger, shift lever, ball joint, and even smaller things like o ring and screw.  Heck!  Muzzle, tie bar, pinion, and slave cylinder even sound like something from 50 Shades of Grey.  This list of car words is obviously not complete as you can include terms like rack and chassis or even lube and combustion stroke.

A number of women complain when their significant others only want to jabber about cars.  I think there's another way to look at the situation, a more positive view.  So, no, I don't mind when a guy babbles mechanical car words once in a while;  I'm smiling inside at all the delicious, sexy words he's murmuring to me.

"Tis the Season...

Summer Evening Prelude

          (A Haiku)

                                    ~cs

Dancing Breezes flirt,

Caressing Petals and Leaves

Before Dew kisses.

"Color My World"

If you look at the vehicles on the road, you will notice the majority today are variations of red, white, blue, black, and silver.  Take your own survey and you will see the preponderance of these colors.

Why can't cars and trucks be different colors?  Why aren't there a multitude of purple or teal or orange cars blending in with the others?  Occasionally, I will see a unique color.  Once in a blue moon, a sunshiny yellow car or a teal blue car will be visible.  Where are the plaid cars of the world?  Do the majority of folks simply like the five basic colors best, or do they simply accept what is offered?  


Where are the unique and artsy folks?  Has anyone else pondered why there are no striped or polka-dotted cars?  Where are the trucks painted with blue camouflage or decorated with a painted seascape?  Where are the flowered vehicles?  I'm sure the auto designers take into account people's preferences. Couldn't each car company offer a unique design or two?   Maybe some day I will find vehicles painted like turtles, with musical notes, or even a carnation pink car.

A Slice of Life

I try to do some things right in my life, and like Dr. Oz recommends, I decided after work last night to have a glass of red wine and be heart-healthy.  Do you realize how difficult it is to open a bottle of wine?

That metal foil paper wrapping around the top laughs as you try to be resourceful in removing it.  I tried to score around the top with the corkscrew to no avail.  Next I tried peeling it with my fingernails -- epic fail.  Why couldn't the cat help me?  Where was someone in my life to help?  I could logically figure this out.  I needed the right tool.

In increasing agitation, since I was so close to being able to enjoy something so healthy for me  (I could actually hear the wine in the bottle calling my name and see it shimmering in the light),  I decided to use the weapon already in my hand to attack the problem...the corkscrew.  I used the pointy end of the corkscrew and tried to cut the blasted foil paper upward.

You guessed it.  I neatly cut my finger in two separate directions.  Dang corkscrew!  Blood gushed like...wine!  I had to take time out and doctor the finger.  Who would think trying to drink a single glass of healthy fruit would be such a problem.

Can't manufacturers make it easier and a little simpler for the mechanically-challenged?  After all, I usually have to get online to see whether the handles start up or down, and whether I screw counter-clockwise or clockwise to get the cork out.  Screwing doesn't appear to involve logic.

I finally did get that glass of wine about midnight.  Does anyone have suggestions for getting the (*$^%! paper off the bottle without bodily injury?

Political Phone-calling Fiends

I think it only fair that any political zealot who calls uninvited  on the telephone, should be tasered by a link from my phone to theirs!  If these fiends insist on contacting me, they can send me snail mail that I can either choose to read if I'm interested or throw away without opening if I'm not, and it will also help support the postal system who has money problems.  Interrupting sleep, meals, family time, etc., should not be an option, and being a general nuisance should not be allowed.  They are infringing upon the rights of others and that is unconstitutional.

Bring on the tasering!

Trash Talk

Two weeks ago as I drove down State Route 60 into town, I noticed bright orange garbage bag lining the road for several miles.  Members of a local service organization had picked up litter along the highway and bagged it for pickup.  What a wonderful project!

 The line of bags extended as far as the eye could see after climbing each hill, and rounding each curve.  Just how much trash was there?

Later, as I drove back home along the same route, the trash bags stared unsmilingly at me.  In a little over a two mile distance, I counted 43 trash bags, with even more bags stretching beyond my turn-off.   What sacrilege!

What kind of people care so little about their country and their environment that they simply open vehicle windows and throw things out to litter our landscape?  Is it a lack of caring on the part of society in general?  Is it a feeling of “me” only?  In other words, if it doesn’t affect “me” directly, therefore, it isn’t my problem?  Perhaps it is a learned “disrespect” toward others?   

Could this be ignorance about the impact on nature?  Do people not realize how lethal trash can be to wildlife?  Or is this blatant disregard a generational problem, peculiar to only certain segments, such as teenagers unsupervised by parents and showing off to peers?   Is this possibly a secondary result to underage drinking on "road trips"?  Do only certain products get heaved?  My mind whirled with all the thoughts tumbling through it.  Who is trashing our world?

I can’t fathom the thinking of people who litter.  How difficult is it to throw out vehicle trash each time we fill our cars and trucks with gasoline? There are trash cans right there.   Trash cans can also be found outside retail stores and fast food establishments, so why can’t we put fast food wrappers and drink containers in them? 

 

Careless littering as seen along our highways and waterways sickens and appalls me.  Elementary students are taught about not littering in school.  Do parents not reinforce this concept, or do they disregard our laws and litter themselves, thereby indirectly teaching their children the same principles?  Is this one more example of the extent of Americans truly becoming a nation of uncaring nincompoops?

Americans believe in freedom – is there not freedom for all people and wildlife to live in a clean, unlittered environment?  No one has the right to infringe upon the rights of others.  If someone chooses to live in a house full of litter, that’s their personal choice as long as that does not infringe upon the rights of others also living there and nearby.

There seems to be no easy answer to this problem.  Launching more campaigns targeting the general populace may help somewhat, but the mindset of many needs changed.  I can certainly ask friends or acquaintances to please put something in the trash receptacle if I see them throw something down or leave litter behind, but often asking strangers to do so, creates a possible personal risk, plus the people who litter frequently do it when no one else is around. 

 

Where has pride in America gone?  The preponderance of litter indicates laziness, disrespect, and moral decay which appear on the rise.  People who litter are criminals.  As everyone knows, however, it is difficult for law enforcement officers to catch these felons.  Please do your part as well as spread the word to those around you.  Don’t allow others to destroy our country.  Squash the litter bugs. Or maybe some Raid would work better on them???                                                               

To Those Who Complain about People Not Taking Christmas Lights and the Tree down by New Year's

As my kids once reminded me in a plea to leave our Christmas tree up, I believe we should be keeping Christmas in our hearts all year long.

Too many people rush everything, including those insistent on taking the lights and Christmas tree down immediately (I actually know people who take their tree down the day after Christmas, and brag to all their friends they already have the tree down -- is this a race?).  If we can put up the lights and tree a month before Christmas, why can't they stay up for a month afterwards?

Are these impatient people?  Or are they organizational control freaks? These folks complaining don't seem to take the time to find the joy in the season, let alone rejoice in it.  Are they materialistic folks?

In addition, if these people profess to be Christians, do they not realize that Epiphany is January 6  (and for many religions includes the entire season from Christmas to Ash Wednesday)?  Who dictates Christmas lights and trees need to be down by New Year's anyway? The Fashion Police?

Did these complaining people consider all the love that went into decorating the tree with the family, as well as how long it actually took to decorate the Christmas tree?  What is this mad insistence to rush to the next holiday? 

 Perhaps we should keep our Christmas tree and lights up all year to remind us of the meaning of Christmas . I've actually considered keeping the tree by my railing in the living room as a permanent reminder, yet changing the other decorations in the house for each different holiday, too.

Can't we enjoy the 12 Days of Christmas?  Why is it always out with the old and in with the new?  Please, seriously consider leaving your tree and lights up, and keeping  Christmas in your hearts all year long.  (And for those inflexible folks who focus only on details, organization, and efficiency, do your own thing, by all means, but please stop grumbling about the rest of us who think differently, and consider leaving or do leave our tree, and perhaps, lights, up all year long.)