On this Day: Twenty Minutes on the Road

Miscellaneous observations during 15-20 minutes on the road in the Land of Tim Hortons:

1. A compact cutting in front of public bus.  Putting aside the risk to everyone on the bus, that's what... 1 800 kg versus 15 000 kg, or thereabouts?
2. Automobile on left lane traveling 40 kph in 50 kph zone, and still moseying through a red light.  Heck, even cars traveling ahead of this one easily stopped for the light.
3. Multiple drivers using one hand to talk on their mobiles.

Filling Up with Gas

As in gasoline.  For automobiles, not what happens when someone eats too many beans, or gorges on probiotic foods without first working up to it.

Anywhoo, I may have posted before when I was still south of the 49th parallel that I avoided certain gas stations because of issues with filling up.  Even though the tank was still empty the lever on the gas handle would click repeatedly, making it take forever to fill up, and making it uncertain whether the tank was actually full until I started up the engine.

After moving to the Land of Tim Hortons, I go to a specific gas station that worked great ie. the lever only clicked once and only when the tank was full.  Until this morning, that is.  The R's tank (62.0 L) was almost empty, though the warning light hadn't come on.  What happened?  Well it clicked at 33 L.  Eh?  While that in itself wouldn't have been so bad, ignoring the fact that half-full isn't what I consider even close to full, the issue was that the lever never clicked again -- even after gasoline was spilling out and overflowing down the paint.

Ugh.

I wonder if something is wrong with the R's gas level sensor or something? 

Driving in a Parking Lot

More pet peeves:

1. Drivers swerving off the lane to avoid a speed bump.  It's one thing when the lot is empty, it's another when there are parked cars and pedestrians (like me) in the vicinity.
2. On a related note, drivers driving through a parking lot like it's a completely empty field despite clearly marked lines, parked cars, and pedestrians (like me -- can you guess what motivated me to post, today?).
3. Pedestrians who insist on crossing at high risk locations.  Not just risk for themselves, but for the drivers.  Many, many years ago by my office a pedestrian decided to cross the street at one of the stupidest locations, at the stupidest time, and in a stupid fashion.  Luckily, he was untouched.  Not so lucky was the driver who was forced to a screeching stop, or the other two vehicles who crashed into him in sequence.  But hey, the pedestrian was fine, so who cares?

Can Being Too Nice Be Dangerous?

It might be counter-intuitive, but recently I came across another example where being too nice might not be such a good thing on the road.  It's ironic, because I'm always annoyed when drivers display a lack of respect or safety for others by failing to signal and such.

There was a car speeding on the curb lane that failed to beat the traffic before reaching some parked cars, and hence came to a stop and turned on his/her signals to merge.  The car directly in front of me, who was leading a line of five vehicles, came to a rapid stop to let the person merge.  I had room to stop, but my first response after hitting the brakes was to glance in my rear-view to see whether the big honking SUV behind me -- with a bumper worryingly much higher than mine -- was paying attention and would stop in time, and the vehicles further down the line.

Anywhoo, everyone stopped in time, but I couldn't help but wonder whether the driver ahead of me, who was just trying to be nice, was perhaps being too nice in this situation.

Honking as an Excuse

My first post of 2012 and turns out it's another rant.  Oh well.

My apartment building has multilevel underground parking, which is good; each and every corner, however, is a blind corner, which is bad.  When I first moved in I noticed some residents would honk as they approached a corner, which is good... in theory.  Why only in theory?  Two reasons, one perhaps slightly facetious, the second more dangerous. 

What happens if you're leaving and you hear someone honk?  What do you do, honk back?  Do you both stop, honking one after the other while you each try to figure out which direction the other is going, what level they're on?  Shave-and-a-haircut... two-bits! 

More seriously, though, is that too many use honking as license to drive too quickly in the underground parking.  Just because you honk doesn't mean you can blithely cruise around two successive blind corners at 30+ km/h. 

Fortunately, management has now placed convex mirrors on each and every corner, which is good, meaning that in practice there are no more blind corners.    The bad?  Some drivers are still honking (look at the mirrors, already!) and speeding like if they don't gain a minute on their day they'll lose a million bucks.

A Quarter Hour in Traffic

Ever since I stopped commuting to work by automobile, essentially only driving on weekends, I've found that I can accept the sometimes frustrating vagaries of traffic much more calmly (though I must admit my re-introduction to the world of drivers who ignore pedestrians hasn't been without close-calls or risk-free).   Anywhoo, this morning was one of those days where I was actually relieved to return home and out of traffic.  I hadn't had one of these in a long while.

In no particular order:

• I escaped, by less than a minute, being trapped in traffic behind emergency vehicles attending to the aftermath of a vehicular accident (I hope everyone involved is okay).
• I was boxed in by traffic insisting on traveling 10 kph below the posted speed limit, on a sunny, cloudless, dry day.
• A driver took a liking to my right blindspot and decided to take up residence there for a couple kilometers prior to, instead of pulling into the completely traffic-less space behind me, speeding up and cutting me off so she could make a left turn.  A turn signal wouldn't have noticeably lessened my annoyance, but it still would have been a nice gesture.
• A car on a side street with its nose blocking oncoming traffic.  This one I gave a good blast with the horn.

All of the above events occurred within the span of 10 - 15 minutes.  So, as I said, arriving home was a relief.

VW Service and Tire Pressure

The Volkswagen recommended tire pressure for the 2004 VW Golf R32 is a little unusual in that it's different for the front (35 psi) and rear tires (44 psi).  These VW bona fide manufacturer recommendations are described in my owner's manual and on the driver door jam sticker.

What puzzles me is that in the past seven years of R32 ownership, whether it be VW service departments in Maryland or Virginia, whether in the United States or Canada, they without fail under inflate the R's rear tires.  I long ago gave up mentioning it because it never makes a difference.  VW service invariably deflate my R's rear tires before returning it to me, setting all four tires at 35 psi.

Maybe they know something I don't?  If so, it would be nice if someone from VW would inform me that the tire pressures in the owner's manual and door sticker are incorrect.

Personally, I think there must be a gap in their training somewhere; or perhaps more likely that some computer R32 maintenance file doesn't match the tire pressure information in either the owner's manual or on the door sticker.

Close Call

I was almost run over on my way to work, this morning.  I'd reached the middle of a crosswalk when I noticed the driver of a car rolling forward had his head turned to his left towards traffic (and away from me).

I stopped, but he didn't.  From at least twenty feet out not once did he turn his head as he continued to roll forward, at a good clip, too.  When did he finally stop looking to his left?  After he came to a full stop well over the crosswalk.  Which, of course, was when the driver, with a look of surprise, finally saw me.

If I had been only half a step further the driver would have nailed me clean before he even noticed me.  I bet we both would have been pretty surprised, then.  Idiot.

Snowy Days in The Land of Tim Hortons

The Land of Tim Hortons had 15 cm  of snow a couple days ago, and overnight there was another 5 cm and it's still snowing as I type.  I had mixed feelings about heading out this morning, but most of all I was looking forward to it because it had been a while since I'd driven my R32 in significant snow conditions.

Random observations and/or rants after returning from my snowy foray:

• The same truck made me cringe twice, today, and I'm not talking about a pick-up truck.  It was more similar to a mid-sized fire truck size, and wider, to boot.  The first cringe occurred when he changed lanes to my direct right -- the sudden impact of his snow splatter hitting the R's side was very irritating.  The second cringe happened when he immediately turned on his left turn signal, indicating he wanted to make the same left turn I did.  The fact that he wanted to turn per se wasn't what made me cringe, it was the fact that the truck left it so late that he didn't leave me any safe options to get out of his way. Oh yeah, and the itty bitty  fact that I was in a dinky little hatchback facing up against a monster metal box on wheels was quite cringe-inducing, too.  Anywhoo, to cut this short, I made a safe, legal left turn, and the truck made an illegal one.  All's well that ends well.  I guess.
• Thumbs down to the pedestrian who tried to cross a major intersection against the lights with approaching traffic.  A bad proposition at any time, but a snowy, slushy road isn't the best time to be in a hurry.  You might slip.  Which that pedestrian did.
• The same Impreza fish-tailed twice making two different left turns.  The first left turn was from a parking lot.  Traffic was extremely light, so I don't know why he/she didn't wait for a larger gap so that he had time to take it slower, and safer.  The second left turn and fish-tail was at a traffic light.  This time there was no approaching traffic at all so I really don't know why the Impreza didn't take it more slowly, especially as this happened only a minute after the first.  Perhaps a really short term memory.  I hope the Impreza wasn't misled by how relatively quickly I made the turn -- I was trying to stay sufficiently ahead of (i.e. away from) him.  Anywhoo, I made doubly sure to stay well away from this particular Impreza.
• I liked how on the highway slower traffic kept left, and drivers generally were traveling at slower speeds than normal.  Still, I'm not sure how helpful this would have been given how closely most drivers were still following one another.  If you need to stop suddenly the best brakes and winter tires in the world won't help much if you lose traction on the snow.

Sunoco -- I Thought I Knew You

I don't normally go to Sunoco to fill up my R32 (it's been several months) but today I stopped at one that's very conveniently located.  To my surprise I couldn't find any Ultra 94.  I walked around to look at the other pumps but, no... no more Ultra 94.  A worker stepped outside to see if I needed help, but unfortunately the language barrier was such that I gave up on obtaining an answer to what had happened to the Ultra 94.

I was going to settle for Premium 91... but then I realized that this location no longer accepted payment at the pump.  Not so convenient for a gas station with a sign that says "Convenience Store", eh?

Anywhoo, these two strikes put me in a state of minor pique -- Sunoco was no longer Sunoco -- I  promptly decided I didn't really need to get any gas then and there, and at that location. 

It was only afterward that I wondered whether the lack of Ultra 94 gasoline was specific to that Sunoco location, or a signal of things to come associated with the merger of Sunoco and Petro-Canada.

Garmin Nuvi 755T

I purchased a Garmin Nuvi 755T two or three years ago and for the most part I've been fairly satisfied.  I even bought a life-time map subscription for it, though recently I've been wondering if that may have been a mistake.  Why is that?  Read on!

First, I have to say that 90-95% of the time the 755T does what I want a portable GPS to do... give me driving directions.  I forget whether the 755T has additional features like playing music or showing pictures, features I could care less about.  I picked up the 755T because it came with both Canada and U.S.A. maps, had a decent screen size (at the time) and had reasonably positive reviews.

Unfortunately, the map updates haven't been entirely successful.  I say that because I know of three different big-chain, international retail store locations in my area that the 755T places on the wrong side of the street.  This despite updating my maps less than a month ago and the locations being there for years.  I know a Sony Style location where my GPS takes me to the completely wrong exit with no Sony Style in sight.  No shopping mall, either.

All of the above I can live with.  What now has me doubting the longevity of the Garmin Nuvi 755T are two incidences which I describe as epic fails.  Actually, perhaps I should say three instances, though the third may be partly my fault, too.

1. Last year sometime I was in Niagara Falls, NY little more than one hour drive from my home in the Land of Tim Hortons.  The 755T had been completely successful guiding me there.  The EPIC FAIL occurred when I tried to get the 755T to guide me back home.  The route calculation stopped at 99% and no further.  I turned the GPS off, waited a couple minutes, turned it back on, and it still wouldn't work, still stuck at 99%.  In disbelief I repeated this process with no improvement in outcome.  It was quite a quandary.  Since I'd followed the GPS directions to get there I hadn't paid particular attention to the roads I'd taken, making back-tracking problematic.  Anywhoo, to cut this particular story short, I eventually managed to find my way back, though along a different and longer route than I'd hoped.  Once I got home I was so frustrated I ignored the 755T for a while, and when there was a firmware update the 755T worked again, so I thought the problem solved.  Not quite.
2. Fast forward many months and full moons.  My 755T FAILED AGAIN in the exact same city.  I was once again in Niagara Falls, NY, and once again when trying to get directions home the 755T route calculation stuck at 99%.  AGAIN.  Something very strange is happening with Niagara Falls, NY.  I purchased the 755T when I was still living in the U.S.A. and it worked (except for a time in the dead of night somewhere in PA where I lost all satellite signal for a critical 5 minutes or so, sending me off in the completely wrong direction).  So... something odd with Niagara Falls, NY.  This incident wasn't quite so stressful because I had a clearer memory of how to get back to Whirlpool Bridge.  This time I managed to "recover" my GPS while on the QEW.  Simply powering off, waiting a couple minutes, powering on again still didn't work.  Here's what did work for me:  My GPS was powered up and plugged in to the 12V outlet.  I pulled out the 12V adapter and let the GPS shut itself off automatically after the 30 second countdown.  I left it off for at least 10 minutes.  I turned it back on and the 755T was back to normal, no longer stuck at 99% and I could now successfully get new directions.
3. This last incident I'm going to relate was partially my fault.  I was on the U.S.A. side of Niagara Falls.  I was 10 minutes away from Whirlpool Bridge, my preferred border crossing.  I asked the 755T for directions to the bridge and was on my way.  This is where blame rests partially on me.  I glanced at the "time to destination" on my GPS and saw "10" so I thought, good, it's correct.  I should have looked more closely but I was on the road for about 20 minutes before I realized the indicator was saying ten HOURS and not ten minutes.  Eh?  What had happened was that the 755T was guiding me to the Canadian side of Whirlpool Bridge without actually taking me across Whirlpool Bridge.  Mind boggling.  As far as I could gather in my stressed out state, it was taking me far, far, far north to cross the border, then all the way back south to reach the Canadian side of Whirlpool Bridge.  Turning off the 'avoid toll roads' feature didn't do anything.  No amount of swearing and re-routing fixed the problem.  Nowadays I have two addresses programmed in for Whirlpool Bridge -- one for the Canadian side and one for the U.S.A. side.  If I'm in NY going to Canada I get directions using the latter, if I'm in Canada heading to the U.S.A I have the 755T use the former address.
4. Oh, yeah.  I updated maps plus firmware several days ago.  Yesterday, in the midst of a single trip the 755T asked me to input my PIN... TWICE.  What's even more odd is that the audio directions apparently still worked; it was just the map/picture that was kaput until I re-input my PIN.  Not the most convenient thing to do while driving at highway speeds.

The 755T works adequately in the Land of Tim Hortons and Toronto,  It worked fine in the Washington DC beltway and surrounding environs.  It worked fine for two round-trips driving from DC to Canada, but as I said something strange is going on with Niagara Falls, NY.  All of this has made me start wondering whether I should get a new portable GPS, and if so whether getting another Garmin (but different model) would just be asking for trouble.

Gas at the Pump, or Not

There's something odd happening with some gasoline stations.  I think it has to do with the pump pressure detector/setting, whatever it is that detects a full tank and makes the nozzle "click" and stop pumping gas.  I've discovered that with certain gas stations the nozzle "clicks" even though I know the tank isn't full.

Example.  I was at a Sunoco with about 1/5 left in the tank.  The first "click" happened after 2 gallons.  A full tank is 14-15 gallons.  From 2 gallons on filling up was torture.  Every couple seconds another click.  It didn't matter how much pressure I applied.  Click click click click....  I took the nozzle out and put it back in again.  Click click click click click click....  More pressure on the lever, click click click click....  Less pressure, click click click click....

At least for Sunoco this only happens at certain locations, and some worse than others.  I completely refuse to go to any Petro Canada these days because this problem happens to me at all their locations in the Land of Tim Hortons.

I lived in the U.S.A. for several years, and this only happened to me at one particular Shell station and at Sunoco a time or two.  In the Land of Tim Hortons I've found one Shell station where this problem never happens.  So I don't believe it's a problem caused by how I pump gas.  It's not rocket science.  At least, I hope not.

Swagger Wagon

Minivans have never been cooler:

A Matter of Opinion?

I'm not an ambulance driver, but I can say that when I see an ambulance -- light flashing, sirens blaring -- slow down as it approaches an intersection I assume it's for the obvious safety reasons.

I don't assume, as did a beige sedan in the opposing direction, that the ambulance is politely slowing down to let the sedan make a left turn.

A Matter of Experience

Tonight I was witness once again to the all too familiar sight of a vehicle on the right lane of two right-turn lanes swing purposely wide -- cutting off the vehicle on its left, also turning right -- and enter the left lane. The sight is so common these days I no longer gape in disbelief; I shake my head and let it go.

Then why this post? Tonight I witnessed a van, in the right lane of two right-turn lanes, turn wide across the adjacent right turn lane on its left and into the far left lane of a three-lane one-way street. The vehicle adjacent was forced to slam on its brakes since, you know, by virtue of the van cutting across two lanes it couldn't even swing wide itself.

This incident made me aware that for the longest time whenever I make a turn, whether in two-right or two-left turn lanes, I never position myself so I'm next to an adjacent vehicle -- let alone in its blind-spot -- in the too often fulfilled expectation that the adjacent vehicle is going to have a desperate desire to swing wide into my lane.

This thought led me to wonder for how long I'd driven in this fashion. I don't remember, but I do remember that in my first one or two years of driving it never occurred to my law-abiding, logical self that anyone would even consider purposely swinging wide in such a situation.

Ah hah! I thought. Stuff like this is why young drivers get in so many accidents. It's not a new thought, by far. I know the statistics, teenage belief in immortality. Nevertheless, tonight was the visceral knowledge that, yes, experience does matter.

Traffic Accident

Today I walked past the aftermath of a traffic accident. One car was still in the intersection, it's entire front bumper missing. A second car was perpendicular, on the sidewalk, with a snapped off traffic light pole lying on top of it. My guess is that someone tried to beat or ignored a red light. I overheard someone say there had been a pedestrian at that corner and that it didn't look good.

Condolences to friends and family of anyone involved.

I think driving is so common place that drivers often forget they're controlling 3-ton metal objects traveling at speed. As I continued my way past the accident it occurred to me that both drivers and pedestrians place a tremendous amount of trust in one another. Each driver is trusting that each of the hundreds of drivers (s)he himself meets is driving in a safe manner and not going to do anything dangerous. Each pedestrian is trusting that the multiple 3-ton moving objects zooming by mere meters away, any one of which could be fatal, won't lose control. We're essentially placing our lives in the hands of hundreds of complete strangers.

Of course, even if everyone is doing their best to act in a safe manner accidents happen. Sobering thought. I stand at that corner every day on the way to work.

SFX Performance

UPDATE (04AUG2009): Never say never, I guess. SFX Performance sent me my order -- insured, this time -- at their cost. It actually arrived a couple (few?) weeks ago. Much appreciated. As far as I'm concerned this event has come to an unexpected but positive conclusion.

UPDATE (07APR2010): Updated post title.

UPDATE (21JUN2010):  As this issue has been resolved (see above) I decided to delete the original post that was below.
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Delete.

What's G? An Empty Claim to Fame

Recently I've seen a Gatorade commercial during the NHL playoffs, though I guess it's probably used for other televised sports. The explicit message of of this 'What's G' commercial is that Gatorade is "the heart, and soul, of the game".

Eh?

My immediate thought was if that's true then why do they bother playing? Stick a bottle of Gatorade at center ice and call it a day. Great game, everyone! I'm sure the thousands who paid $100 a ticket will be satisfied -- Gatorade is, after all, the heart and soul of the game. Why even bother with anything else?

Upon a second viewing and some further thought I've decided this particular commercial irritates me because of its hubris. It's like claiming I conceived of, designed, and built the automobile just because I put gasoline in one.

2007 Hyundai Elantra

Unfortunately I had the opportunity to drive a 2007 Hyundai Elantra this week.

It's supposed to be a sedan, right? The seating position felt like a high chair. In the first five minutes I was reminded of that thing called body roll. One U-turn and the Elantra abruptly disabused me of the notion that I could drive the Elantra like I drive my R -- I suppose whether that was a good or bad thing depends on the point of view.

The Elantra has great cup holders relative to my R. The R has two cupholders designed such that one of them is pretty much useless. It's so shallow than any small cup is going to turnover as soon as I make a turn. Any cup in there also interferes with the parking brake. I have no idea what VW designers were thinking. The Elantra on the other hand, has two useable cupholders in the center divide, and furthermore these large cupholders are designed to hold firmly variously-sized smaller cups, as well. This was a revelation. Why this cupholder design isn't mandatory in all makes is beyond me.

The Elantra also got me to where I wanted to go. It's quieter than the R, and I was pleasantly surprised at how comfortable the ride was -- as long as I was driving in a straight line. Remember that thing called body roll? No turns, please.

It also occured to me that it's actually comfortable to be a slow driver in the Elantra. In the R I might get annoyed at traffic and at people driving slowly in the passing lane, but in the Elantra? It's much more comfortable and stress free to be a slower driver and hold-up traffic. It's not that I don't want to drive faster, it's just that the car's capabilities warrants slower driving. See that large gap in traffic a car-length ahead? Forget about it. You won't make it.

I'm being facetious, of course. Still, this was my mild epiphany as I rock'n rolled through a turn.

Titan Air Jack

I think that as described this Titan Air Jack is pretty nifty, far and beyond -- light years in fact -- better than the wimpy jack that came with my R. On even the slightest incline the stock jack is a tad dangerous. I guess I should really look for another one -- but the jacks I've seen appear to take up a lot of room.

In short, the Titan Air Jack is an air bag inflated by attaching a hose to your exhaust pipe or to an air compressor. You can change two tires in one go.

Anywhoo, my only questions are: cost, warranty, weight and deflated volume.