Sunday, September 23, 2012

Weekend wis wover (for some of us)

Translation of the title: The weekend is over.
It was quite an interesting weekend, what with the winter equinox and World Car Free Day (a misleading name if ever there was one. It makes you think you'll get a car free. Tsk.)
Unfortunately, I was not one of the millions on public transport. And, judging by the traffic and trouble getting parking, neither were the majority of people in the city I currently live in.
Ah well- almost every day besides yesterday is a car-free day for me.
        Do you ever feel like owning a car is a waste? I sometimes think it is. But then I don't actually own one, having not made enough money to achieve that consumerist dream.
Some people have no choice but to use cars. I know-gasp, shock, horror! When we first arrived in Goa, the public transport system was rather bad- it's not much better now. Mum had no choice but to buy a car.
Until mass transit gets better, here's what you can do to make sure you use your car efficiently.
You could carry your cycles with you...
Buy/rent a light-coloured car. (I can't help it if this sounds racist!) It will not heat up as much as a dark car, which means you don't need to crank the AC up as high to cool it down. Definitely important in the Middle East.
Check the pressure of your tyres on a regular basis. Too low and you'll be filling the tank way more frequently than you should.
I've saved the most difficult for last: Drive a small car. The less the mass of the vehicle, the better its fuel efficiency. And anyway, size does not matter. In a world obsessed with grandstanding, we forget that cliche that figures in so many jokes. I'd rather ride in a wee Beemer than a humungous Hummer.

For more information, go here (Wiki) or here (howstuffworks)

Over and out!

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About Me

Greetings, citizens of the world! We are united by planet and species, so what say we do our best to look after our handfuls of earth?