Power Up

You know, I wish I could say it this well, but I can't.

The Devil's Panties - 10/22/2012

Being a Heathen as well as have a Masters Degree in engineering, I'm all for as many alternatives for powering my life as possible.  Clean, efficient, reliable power is what we all (I think anyway) want in our lives.  Saving the planet is a great goal, but we can do that and research nuclear, natural gas, coal, wind, hydro, geo and solar power possibilities.

Hybrid Cars – An Unscientific Study

I was able to get to try a hybrid car recently (it was the rental I got when my car was being repaired) and I wanted to share my thoughts.  This is, like the title says, and unscientific study, as I only had one car to compare with my normal car, but I think the results are rather telling.  First, some facts so that we can do a decent comparison.  My normal car is a 2012 Honda Civic, purchased new.  As of this writing, it has just over 16,000 miles on it.  The rental was a 2012 Kia Optima and had just under 3,000 miles on it when returned.  This comparison was done while commuting, which involves 156 miles per day on some combination of the Garden State Parkway, New Jersey Turnpike, US 195 and the Pennsylvania Turnpike, along with a small amount of local roads.  It’s safe to say that this is what you would call “highway” as far as gas mileage is concerned.

Typically I have to fill up the car every 2 days of commuting, and this is just over 10 gallons.  I’m going to just use 10 to make the math easier.  That produces approximately 31.2 mpg for the Civic.  With the Optima, I was able to go 3 days of commuting before filling up.  “That’s great!” you might say, “A 50% increase.”  Nope.  Sorry.  It turns out that the Optima’s gas tank took just over 15 gallons when filled up.  That produces, you guessed it, 31.2 mpg.  Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the EXACT same number.  OK, I rounded, so it’s not exact, but it’s close enough that I feel the hybrid gave me no appreciable gain, at least not enough of one to justify the added purchase price.

How much more would a hybrid cost, you may wonder.  Well, here are the numbers for identically equipped vehicles, purchased new (all prices MSRP from their respective websites):

                                     Standard       Hybrid        Premium for Hybrid

2012 Honda Civic         $15,955        $24,200      $8,245

2012 Kia Optima          $23,950        $26,450      $2,500

Even taking the Kia premium cost of $2,500, it’s too much for no additional performance.  Is this to say that someone with a more “local” commute won’t save anything in gas?  I can’t say.  What I can say, and why this is on the political blog as opposed to the other one, is DO NOT buy a hybrid if you plan on using it mostly for Highway driving.  It just will not pay you back.

Get a G.R.I.P.

It is now officially 5 weeks until the election this year and I, quite frankly, am fed up with politics.  Gone are the times when office holders considered themselves public servants and now all of them, even the ones that seem to be working for us, are just out for their careers.  No, I don’t have any proof for what I say, it is just the feeling I get watching the three ring circus we call government.  So, thanks to Jim Gearhart (the morning host on NJ 101.5), I am fully endorsing G.R.I.P. for this election.  What does it stand for, you ask?  Get Rid of Incumbent Politicians.  How does it work?  You take your sample ballot, mark down who currently holds the office, and vote for someone else.  “But I can never vote for someone with <insert letter> after their name!”  Well, you sir or madam, are part of the problem.  Your blind faith to a group, or worse, blind hatred of the other group, is why we’re on the road to Demolition Man becoming a reality.

So remember when you walk into that voting booth this November, G.R.I.P!  It sure as heck can’t be any worse.  Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to try and get out of this hand-basket before we get to where we’re going.

Kinda, Sorta Back to Blogging

After five months at my new job, I think I’m settling in to the new routine, so I’m going to reactivate both The Hammer Strikes and Hold Your Hammer High.  However, I will not be trying to keep to any kind of schedule like I was last time around.  I’ll be posting things as they come to me, but I’ll still try to update THS on Thor’s Day and HYHH on Tyr’s Day (Thursday and Tuesday in modern parlance) when there’s is an article in the cue.  Posts like this one, affecting both, will be posted on Wednesday (Woden’s Day in the old way of thinking).  I’m working on something for each blog at the moment, so watch this space.

I would also like to thank those of you that kept checking in, even if it was just to use the links to other blogs for your reading list.  Your loyalty is much appreciated.

Now it can be told

Now that things are settling down (in a relative sense, of course) I can let you, dear readers, in on what has been going on in my life.  As on this past Friday (April 20th) I no longer work at my old company.  Don't get too upset, the reason for this is I got another job that fits me better.  However, due to the new schedule and the distance of this job from home, my on-line time will be severely curtailed.  We are planning on moving closer to the new job, but not for several months yet.  Therefore, until I determine how everything will be affected, I'll be leaving both blogs on hiatus until further notice.

The Times They Are a Changin

Yeah, I know I haven't posted anything in awhile, which is highly disappointing to me as I had a self imposed schedule I was keeping to.  In any case, as the title of this post states, things are changing around in my life right now, so I am putting both my blogs on a hiatus for the time being.  I'll post more when things settle down, but let me just reassure you that these are good changes, so no worries.

Commitment

A lot can be said about making a commitment and seeing it through.  Still more can be said about thinking about the impact said commitment will have on your life.  It is always easy to say that something is "forever" but making it that way is never easy.  Sometimes we fight the good fight against overwhelming odds ... and we lose.  There is no shame in this, but ir does beg the question, do you get up and continue to fight for a lost cause or take all that energy amd fight for something else?  We each have to answer that for ourselves, but I say that fighting for your goal will make you a better person, even if that goal changes from time to time.  Know that you ha e friends to lean on in the struggle and to pick you up when you falter.  Such is the Heathen way.