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Got to be kidding
Rule Numbers- 10 & 66
January 27, 2015:
I don't know if it was just a test during the football game last week, but I saw a Ford Commercial that I haven't seen since. Maybe they are saving it for the Superbowl, or maybe they decided to forget about it since I got a good laugh out of it.
       Get this: the very thing that has been screwing up construction workers back has just got more automatic. They got a remote control tailgate release button. Looks like they incorporated the old screen door closer to let the tailgate fall down slow and everything.
       But of course I'm joking, at least on the screen door closer.
       However, it doesn't show itself picking up itself and closing. You can bet that whatever Ford put into the tailgate for a solenoid has it's limitations, (like having any weight pressing against the gate requiring some strength to open it.)
       But the thing that just gets me is that it still takes one of your hands to dig out you key fab, so why not just open the damn gate before hand, or with the free hand you've got?

I just thought I might mention that is was 20 years ago this month that I was busy welding my truck together. And twenty years later, all you fools have figure out how to use it for is killing people. 3,000 killed this year and how many more deaths did you all succeed with in the 18 years prior?

April 24th, 2013 :
I wonder if the Popular Science mag expects you you think that this is a new invention?

And in the 2013 May issue of Popular Science mag, you'll find an invention I came up with when I was in Australia and I'd bought one of those Propane powered ice chess that don't work so well and wasn't worth the money except that it did make my ice last longer. (Very few places sold block Ice and good thick walled Ice chests went for a premium.)
     However, in this article, page 42 in PS they don't actually tell you that the simple ammonia type refrigeration was actually the first kind invented. Instead of using a compressor, they would actually heat the ammonia gas to compress it and force it through a nozzle or orifice of some kind to come up with a cooling effect. The cooling effect in a heat exchanger which is usually the cooling apparatus or as they called it a nozzle in the PS mag actually condenses the Ammonia gas created by the compression and back to a fluid again, ready for another cycle. (Still commonly used in three way refrigerators on most RV's today.)
     Anyhow, refrigeration and air conditioning both work more or less in the same way and I thought back then, that a more efficient way to air condition a vehicle (as well as give it its on refrigerator would be without running a compressor off the engine. So why couldn't some one plumb an ammonia based refrigeration unit to a heat exchanger on the exhaust manifold or around the exhaust pipe or even incorporate it into the muffler. Even a catalytic converter would be a good source of heat for it. But actually folks, just because the PS mag may have labled it as some kind of new invention, it doesn't mean that it hasn't been done before. Never the less, we are more energy conserving than we've ever been so I figure that in the past it might have never been as practical as it is now.

August 30th, 2012:
Tell Me.
Who wrote the new mileage standards?

And the folks at WSJ makes it sound like the auto manufactures are having to convince you to pay for it because it was something the government did to them and you have to pay for it as a result of regulations. BUT hey, you have to understand how the whole package works

See here, this is the deal: What way would be better than making a few extra high mileage cars at a loss, just to be able to sell a few high price tag fuel guzzelers. (Which the auto manufactures have been known to do to meet fleet averages.)
     BUT those day are gone now. Now the got difference classes and the cherry with cream on top is that they can get credits for exceeding an imposed standard. Double credits for electric cars and they can cash them in on the penalties for the big money ones that flunk the new standards. Like build a electric car and cheat on a money maker that couldn't pass the standards.
     BUT hey, what about they small business guys, the start up companies that only want and desire to only build one class of transportation. Has no desire to get into the electric car business, just to build a work truck. The small time guy like me wouldn't be building electric cars just so I could bend the rules like General Motors and Ford do.
      I, or whom ever would have to compete against a company that wouldn't exactly have to meet the same standards. Just another prim example of how Obama has snuffed out the small guys.

And oh another thing.From what I gather, Obama has been in those back room talks with the auto manufactures again about the idea of automatic accident avoidance technology. Basically it's having the cars talk to each other. Man oh man, you want to spend some money honey. Hey, save yourself the high price tag on a car. Give it a few years, it will be an app you can down load to your phone.

BUT any how; anyone wanting to build a truck better do it by 2021, because after that date, the mileage improvement each year run at 5% instead of the 2.5 and 2.7% from 2017 to 2021 model.

March 7th, 2012:
Burning that money.
More than once have I heard someone say that I could have kickstarted Synchro-link for what taxpayers paid for one Volt from General Motors. It makes yah kinna wonder if the while thing was a scam. Well there are many of you out there who have read what I posted in Car Gays a long time ago about 2008. (After looking for the post, I can't find the bit I wrote about the fact that GM had bought into a Chinese company called BYD. The reason being, is BYD owns the patents on the best electric car technology. And why would someone want to buy inferior technology for $40 grand when BYD was planning to export an electric car to the US for $15,000.oo) Also the Chinese have most of the rare earth which provides magnets for the most efficient electric motors. I'm beginning to believe my site has be watered down. (But it might have went the way of my blog.) Anyhow I did post another bit on the Volt on January 5th)
      Car Guys the Volt

     That's what you get when you mix up a public traded company with the government. You get the $75.oo toilet seat. Update: there is the federal subsidy that hands over another $7,500.oo per car when someone actually wants to buy a Volt and the White House wants to turn that number into $10,000.oo to encourage people to buy them.

March 6th, 2012:
Got it bad.
I read in the paper today that GM is shutting down the plant that builds the Volt from March 19th to April 29th, I think?. Guess people don't want to pay $40,000.oo for the electric version of a $20,000.oo car.
     The amazing part of it all is the the Tax payers has spent about $300,000.oo for each of those cars built. The federal government's Energy Department handed GM a $105.9 million dollar grant, just for a plant to assemble the batteries in Brownstown Michigan. The State handed over another $106 million to keep the Detroit -Hamtrack assembly plant going. And the Compact Power company that supplied the batteries got another subsidies of another $100 million. Then there is the federal subsidy that hands over another $7,500.oo per car when someone actually wants to buy one and the White House wants to turn that number into $10,000.oo to encourage people to buy them. They got 1,626 people willing to buy one. (I read 6,000 somewhere else)

I've got a few things to post, but I have serious doubt that people would even believe it. I wonder if images would help?

January 19th, 2012:
Where did they go and why?
In the News is the fact that a couple of engineers left Tesla and the stock fell last Friday because of it. But then all they had to do is get someone in a suit and tie to say things are going just fine; - so the stock bounced back.
     But the question I have is: Why did they quit and where are they going. Regardless, I figured that there would be some kind of mutiny going on after they hooked up with Toyota. Hell Toyota could have pushed them aside and I know how engineers get sentimental about our kids.

January 5th, 2012:
I found a report done by an analyst covering the auto industry and the report is about what we US tax payers have paid for. CarGuys/Chevy Volt

January 1st, 2012:
Check out this company called Smith Electric Vehicles if you would like. Depending on where and what you read; things look a little different when you take it all in. Tell me is it Smith or GM at the Smith Electric Vehicles Page.

September 7th, 2011:
Swedish car maker SAAB has filed for bankruptcy. They have already borrowed capital, but it wasn't enough and they are trying to get more from the Chinese. That is if Begin lets them.
    Saab's problem is that they actually need to sell at least 3-4 times the amount of cars they are selling now to brake even.
In my opinion, Saab should be trying to figure out how to manufacture something else in their factories to save the jobs there.
    Update:Dec.29,'11, Turns out the Swedish government gave them a loan for R & D and not for paying the bills. That was what some called the double edge sword.
    They had been bought up by GM and the dogged because the SAAB as going to be competing with GM in China. Also GM owns many of SAAB's patented things and would let a company out of China to buy it. So in the way I look at it. GM killed SAAB.

June 18th 2011:
The big deal around here lately, isn't just the new paint job I did on my camper, but that I finished the equation.

Janurary 25th, 2011:

Check out this scuff and shoot.

It even ran..

I it was a three day paint job and my boss decided to top it off with some black. Believe me when I say it was magic, as to how nice it turned out compared to when it came in.

Feburary 8th, 2009:
UPS Brown trucks Going Green.

I first read about it in the Jan. 19th Business Week mag. Apparently UPS has been working with the EPA on creating an hydraulic hybrid delivery truck.
      Apparently UPS is working on building two proto types. The articles I found vary, but Brian Burns of BW mag, says the big brains behind the hydraulic hybrid is Charles Gray, a top scientist at a laboratory the EPA operates in Ann Arbor, Mich. Apparently, Gray's team has racked up 60 patents on the technology.
     (0f which I have some mixed feelings about, and question something that wasn't made clear in the article by Brian Burns. Is the EPA, the Environmental Protection Agency the EPA he is talking about? And how available it the technology if it is?)

After  studying the agency's work, UPS concluded that the hybrid truck would cost about $7,000.oo more than the standard delivery truck, which runs about $40- $50,000.oo. However, the EPA predicts the savings on fuel and maintenance over the life of the truck could be as much a $50,000.oo.
      They're hoping to achieve 60%-70% better fuel efficiency in urban driving, with about a 30% to 40% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions.

Update: www.GreenCarCongress.com - Says they already built the proto-type and UPS has ordered 7 truck in October of 2008
However, the stats were different : 45-50% better fuel economy and a 30% reduction in emissions  

Robert Hall, a UPS vice-president said, "I think we're going to be able to help the environment, but certainly it's going to be a good business decision too."       I happen to think that the truck would even be a better decision using my S-link technology on top of it.
      As for the technology in the Hydraulic Hybrid, the most interesting to me would probably be the regenerative braking, (the part I would guess has most patents issued upon it,) which will pump hydraulic fluid into a high pressure accumulator tank. I can think several ways to do it myself and I realize that the system they use may only use a fraction of the 60 patented methods the EPA claims they patented.

Basically the system will be run by a diesel engine to pump the hydraulic fluid to a hydraulic motor connected to the rear axial, (My guess it will be a pump/motor.) And my guess is that when power is not needed the engine and pump will top off the pressure in the high pressure accumulator tank. When the truck accelerates, it won't need as big of an engine as a conventional truck would need because it will incorporate additional torque from the energy stored in the accumulator tank.

Don't expect to see the technology use in smaller vehicles, because there is the need for the room for not only the accumulator tank, but also a large reservoir storage tank as well. And above that, the operators are going to have to put up with a lot of hissing noises. It will be one funny sounding truck, but myself, I'd dig having one. Apparently the US Army is looking into putting some to work to help reduce the high cost of transporting supplies.
    Also the EPA may also develop shuttle buses to be used in southern California.

You can bet the hydraulic manufacturing industry is giving away components, just to get a chance to expand production of such parts of the truck.

I only wonder what keeps them from giving me the parts and components I need for my next truck.
    I can't tell you enough how much I hate driving the piece of junk Chrysler produce I'm stuck driving every day.

I found a few links to more information on the Hydraulic Hybrid Truck that is in development.

www.HydraulicsPneumatics.com

www.Kettering.edu

www.GreenCarCongress.com - Says they already built the proto-type and UPS has ordered 7 truck in October 2008.
      However, the stats were different : 45-50% better fuel economy and a 30% reduction in emissions

December 12th, 2008:
South to Detroit: Drop Dead.
There has been a lot of hog wash going on in the news about how devastating it would be if any of the Big Three crashed and burned. Well I think the politicians and the industry leaders are just trying to convince the public that it would be the end of the world.

But face it, the Big Three only employ directly about the same amount as what filed for unemployment this month alone.

Then they say anywhere between 3 -5 million indirectly. (I happen to think that is fare fetched.) But the thing to consider, with a poor economy and millions out of work in all sectors; their isn't going to be near as many people with enough money to even consider buying a new car no matter how good of mileage they get.

The suppliers are going to slow down and have to lay off people anyway. Regardless.

What this administration as well as the next administration needs to think about is not trying to save jobs that are not needed, but to create new jobs that are needed now. We need the jobs that don't depend on people with money to buy the product. Or better y et, you better come up with a product that someone else doesn't already supply. Now am I the only one smart enough to understand that statement?

Read it again to make sure you understand it.
 We need the jobs that don't depend on people with money to buy the product, OR you better come up with a product that someone else doesn't already supply.

Taking about suppliers of products.
This link is to a web-page at
Forbes.com- South To Detroit: Drop Dead

December 4th, 2008: >
My Advice to the Big Three Auto manufactures.
Today is actually more important to me than the presidential election.
     Being that the Big three are at capital hill begging for money.
     What gets me is they say they only want $34 billion and if they don't, that they will go under within a month or two.

The deal is, if you look at the money they claimed that they have lost over the last six months, you will realize that $34 billion couldn't possibly keep them afloat over all the overhead they have to cover.

Since it takes about 14 months to put a new vehicle on the market, the chance of them making it to the day when they roll out the new higher mileage vehicles the money is suppose to be allocated for just isn't going to happen because they would burn up the money just paying the bills in the months before hand.

They need money to operate on, let alone the money to retool for the new vehicles.

Common sense tells me that they would have to come back begging for more money within the next 4 to 6 months; that is unless they are just lying about being broke in the first place.

My advice to the auto manufactures: is to liquidate, sell factories, tooling and anything you can. File bankruptcy. Sell every car and truck you've got stockpiled.

Learn from Donald Trump and stiff your suppliers so that you can afford to pay cash up front to the supplier that used to be your rival's supplier - for the parts you need.

With a new name on the sign on your building, you could dump the union contracts that broke your back in the first place.

Sure you would be starting out small and starting all over, but at least you wouldn't have such a monkey on you back.

Consensuses say, (all the e-mails from people to their congressmen,) the general public doesn't want to help you.    

November 25th, 2008:
Auto makers skip out on Detroit Auto Show.
Looks to me that there are a few auto makers out there wanting to distance themselves from Detroit. There was a time when the Detroit Auto Show was considered the biggest, but now I think priorities have moved out west to Los Angeles. The reason I mention this, is that Nissan,  Mitsubishi and Porsche have decided to skip out on Detroit this year. A second year in a row for Porsche. Nissan's Chief Executive Carlos Ghosen claims that the auto maker is trying to conserve cash to withstand the dramatic drop in auto sales.
    Well at least they have a game plan and they aren't in DC asking for a hand out.    

My advice to the Big Three auto makers: is that you better learn how to line the pockets of the politicians before the next round of your whining.
  The truth of the matter, is even though they are considered an important economic indicator, they have been loosing support from the politicians who decide whether or not they should be considered for any of the economic enhancement funds. Reason being, the Democrats who have been known to support them with their political strength has shifted a bit. They are now more Westernized and are more likely support  green causes. And being more from the West Coast States, they are more likely to drive a Prius made by Toyota; which happens to be built in the southern states which are supported by the Republicans.
     As for the Republicans, they realized their territories in the south are pumping out vehicles made by foreign-owned factories. So the idea of the rust belt falling on hard times can only means good times for the jobs created by Nissan, Toyota, Kia, Mitsubishi, BMW and Daimler AG.
   The fact of the matter is, while foreign companies from Germany, Japan and South Korea have been tooling up in the states, along without the help of the Unions bogging them down, the Big Three have been building plants in other countries where labor is cheaper. Basically the big Three are guilty of shipping jobs out of the country anyway. And get this: because of the absentee rules brought on by their UAW Union, many of their factories are overstaffed by 25%.
    Gee, would that mean an employee who is working for the Big Three is more likely to call in sick four times a month instead of may be once a month? Hell, I'd trim the fat and find someone who actually wants to work.

November 1st, 2008:
Kinna funny how Cerberus Capital Management ended up being the owner of 51% of GMAC: to GM's  49%.
    Now there has been talks about a merger. however I look at it as a stack swap. Kinna funny how an investment firm be partners with GM can buy up a competing company and then decides to get out of the auto manufacturing business so soon. Kinna makes you wonder if eliminating the competition was part of the plan all along. (Kinna like Microsoft if you ask me.) isn't there anti-trust laws that should come into play?
   Anyway, If the deal goes through, we can expect to watch the Chrysler brand shake off 19 of the 27 models.

June 3, 2008:GM announced the closing of four truck plants and the interest of spinning off the Hummer brand; and to build more small cars. The folks in Canada are not going to let it happen as fast as GM wants to (by 2010) because they just negotiated last month on a three year deal.
   The interesting thing about this news is that more than four plants are going to be shut down. Namely: Oshawa, Ontario, Moraine, Ohio, Janeiville, Wisconsin, Tolucia, Mexico.
     Did I ever mention how much fuel I save when I drop my box off my truck? Well I'm doing my part to conserve fuel, but many of you don't have the option. Hah.....

However, the smartest thing GM has come up with is the plan of building a plug-in electric car through the Chevrolet brand called the Volt. It has a small engine and a generator on board for travels that will go over 40 miles. I happen to wonder what kind of batteries they plan to use. I happen to thing staying with gel-cell is the better option than lith-ion. We'll see.
  For more on this

May 17, 2008: Negotiators for the UAW and American Axle & Negotiators for the UAW and American Axle & Manufacturing Inc. have come to a tenitive agreement by an 84% vote, that would end a strike that began Feb. 26th and I guess GM won.
(The only reason I cover this s___ is because the Canadians are affected by it, and I noticed quite a few visits to this page because of it.)
I guess GM claims they lost $800 Million because of the cut back in production because of the strike.
More on this at:
Bloomberg.com
Associated Press.com

March 8, 2008: Negotiators for the UAW and American Axle & Negotiators for the UAW and American Axle & Manufacturing Inc. expect to continue talks today, as the two sides try to reach a contract that would end a strike, now nearly two weeks old, at the Detroit-based auto supplier.

The strike at American Axle, which counts General Motors Corp. as its largest customer, has forced the automaker to shut down seven assembly plants. By Monday, the strike is expected to impact, through production cuts or shut downs, as many as 29 GM factories, including engine plants in Romulus and Flint.

The UAW brought 3,650 of its members at American Axle on strike early Feb. 26, after negotiations collapsed and the contract between the UAW and the supplier expired. At the time, the two sides were far apart on issues including wages, buyouts and pensions. The company had proposed cutting the wage of production workers by about half to $14.50 an hour, saying that it needs the savings to compete with companies that already have cut their labour costs. The union has said that American Axle hasn't proven that it needs cuts as steep as it had proposed. 

For the latest information on this story as of
April 19'08 check out this link @ Forbes.com

More on this @ Freep.com

Febuary 4, 2008: DETROIT (AP) -- For all the good in GM's 2007 results -- the near-record worldwide sales, the reduction in labor costs and in retiree health obligations -- there is no getting around the $38.7 billion in red ink.
            The largest annual loss in the history of the auto industry signals that even with a garage full of hot vehicles and a historic new labor contract, GM has little hope of making a profit again before 2010 as the weak U.S. economy and competition eat away at its gains.
              GM reported the record-setting loss on Tuesday and promptly offered a new round of buyouts to 74,000 U.S. hourly workers in hopes of replacing some of them with lower-paid berry pickers.

Boy, nothing has made me feel better in a long time.

Oct. 29,'07: Funny how Ford can claim that they are losing $5.000.00 per vehicle and others say they are losing $1,000.00 - $1,500.00 per vehicle in the US.
I guess they are doing something wrong. All they'd have to do is loose the middle guys and they could sell the cars to the consumers for less. But hay, who really cares if the nickel and dime the things to death. They're not going to be built here anyway.

My old 75 Ford F-250 had a 360 V-8 which was a good boat anchor because the 390's at least had a four barrel that actually got better mileage and had a lot more torque. The 4 speed got old real quick. The twin I-beam front suspension was great if you were a farmer and you need to off road the thing, but the tracked like hell down the paved road.
        However, 75 was that last year they built heavy duty trucks. In 76 they went with plastic  inner fender wells instead of just galvanized steel. And they thinned the glass to save weight then you say hello rock chips.

Another thing I should mention: My buddy who installs windshields for a living told me, that for the first two years of a model, they have to buy the windshields from the dealers who mark them up an arm and a leg. I'm sure the insurance companies know that and it's probably another good reason to buy used. Plus a new auto depreciates 24% the first week you own it. Kinna screws you right there.

June 28, 2007: General Motors announced earlier this morning that it has agreed to sell Allison Transmission to two private equity firms. The Carlyle Group and Onex Corp. will purchase both the commercial and military ends of Allison, all for the bargain price of $5.6 billion.
The plan is to sell of the firm's seven manufacturing centers throughout Indianapolis, along with the company's sale offices and a worldwide distribution complex. However, GM plans to retain its Baltimore plant to produce both regular and hybrid two-mode transmissions for it's trucks and SUVs.

Naturally, the regulators and the unions will want to have their say first, so don't expect anything solid until later in the third quarter of 2007.

April 11th, '07: Ford put together a commercial promoting their F-450. Stating that they made the springs 8 inches longer so that it could handle more weight. Then the lower something that looks heavy into the tin can on back. They make a clicking noise to make it sound like something giggled the truck. The funny thing is the truck doesn't sit any lower afterward. Like who's fooling who? Hell they even build the F-550 with coil spring front suspensions now days. Give them three years and the bushings inside the links will loosen up and there goes the handling. The steering geometry will change when you put the brakes on.   You should see how the front axial twists under my truck when hold the brakes and go from forward to reverse. It's junk folks.

Feb.'07: The the cake was in  my yahoo and on TV, but the funny part about it is that it looks like pie in the face to me. (Update: Funny how they pulled that one real fast.)

Jan 5th '07: At Blacks Beach I saw a guy sitting outside his polished-up new Lexus crossover vehical.
                  It sure  looked gay.  

I think the whole design thing is about making a car uggly as possible, so that people will notice it when everyone hasn't gotten one yet. Between the ones on the street and the hundreds of times we are forced to look at them on our TV set.   The public grows tired of them fast and just wants to look at something new. It doesn't matter if it's ugly or not, just as long as it's something they haven't seen a zillion times.

Can you image that you are about to witness $100,000,000.00 launch of the new  Toyota Tundra. We're going to have their dam commercials coming out of our ears.
          I'd say throw it back in the lake, but even the Locness has more class than a Toyota.
I can't believe those trucks will even sell, they look like they have a big chrome frown on the front of them. They're butt ugly.
          And gee, did you see the three piece frame they came up with for it? It's like stamped out wish bone  meets cast-iron just hope things keep tight.

I get a kick out of that commercial of the two idiots driving one of the ugly Avalanches down a dirt road. They think that switching the piece of rattle box junk to an open truck is a good idea. But they don’t show all the dust that swirls around the back and into the cab as they drive off at the end of the commercial.
          I bet the insurance companies hate those Tinker Toy Avalanches. I wouldn’t doubt a guy could lie down in the back of the bed and kick-in the dam rear fold away wall and help themselves to the TV set.

I had to laugh when Ford came out with SUV commercial where the little girl asks her mother if the piece of junk goes potty. Boy, how stupid do they think we are?

Its only Junk

Synchro-Link.com

Funny thing: Hackers (thieves,) are now able to find your car with the use of you satellite do-hickey and command it to unlock the door and start for them.

In my opinion, the next guy in line are ones who own a tow truck and will be able to make your car brake down at will.
     And oh yeah: many of the drivers get commission. LOL!

My Bit on Buick

Helpful Hints

If you do decide to buy a new automobile, I hope it's a decision that you have thought about for a while. Just as you may want to think about how short amount of time a few months would be to custom order it direct from the factory. For one thing, you'll save around $1,000.oo alone for not paying the advertising fees, a car on the car lot will have attached to it.
            Those advertising dollars are why to don't see me or my truck on TV.

And - Oprah never gave way 250 cars;            General Motors did.

Those Pesky Germans
July 14, 2008

Oct. 21,'08: I found this thread over at CR4, a place where engineers hang out. I have to say I agree with these guys for the most part. The interesting thing about it is that it clears up a lot of mis-conceptions about the Hydrogen Car. They know of the problems associated with it. Like one thing I didn't realize is the thay tend to leak out the hysrogen. So the storage tank may not stay as full as you left it for one thing. And another thing is that the energy needed to make the hydrogen, can end up polluting more than a car driven on Natural Gas.
    There is a post mentioning the percentage factors of the different pollutants that are emitted from Gas, Diesel, -verses- Natural gas.
Check it out
Where Are Al@ CR4 Globalspecl the HydroGen Cars

By the way, I read today Oct. 21 in the WSJ that people in Thailand are scarffing up car that run on natural gas. (Brazil and Pakistan are right behind.) Funny thing about all this is even though Honda offers a natural gas Civic in the US, they only manage  to sell a few thousand of then each year.
     Get this natural gas prices on the stock market are 47% below their July  peak.
 And what is it with this: Barrels of oil where up to about $140 per barrel at one point and I saw the price of diesel at $5.30 per gallon. But now that a barrel of oil is running about $70.00 I only see Diesel at $4.69 per gallon. Gee I would think it would drop to around the $2.50-$3.00  rang wouldn't you.

        But no way; OPEC is just going to cut production to make it go back up.
     See more about this:
@ BBC Oil at 16 month low.

And for those who think we should become independent upon oil from other counties. You don't know what you are talking about, because I did the math. If the US used only US oil, the US would run out of oil in less than three years. So I say buy it up from other countries, as much as we can get at no matter what the price, because in a long run, who ever has oil in the end wins.       We shouldn't even be burning petroleum in are vehicles and we should be saving the oil for plastics and rubber.
      What gets me is: Australia doesn't have any oil, however they have natural gas, yet they pay a premium for gas and diesel. But the real troubling thing about it is that they are building ships with big tanks to ship natural gas to other countries. I gotta tell you that there is something wrong with that. 
   Another thing that is happening, is that Officials from Russia, Iran and Quatar are meeting to discuss establishing an OPEC-style cartel for natural gas. The US as well as energy importing nations in Europe are a little nervous about that idea because the three counties own about 60% of the natural gas reserves. The EU depends heavily on Russian natural gas. Critics on the proposal say "energy supplies have to be sold in a free market."
  Smells like trouble to me.

  Hybrid tax credit shock
@ Money.CNN.com

  March   2008:   Get this: Ford's own internal research shows its approval rating at just 44%, GM's Chevrolet brand at 49% and Toyota is at 74%
            Funny how these auto manufactures claim that they are loosing money. While Ford's stock price is running at about half as it was a year ago, they just awarded CEO Mulally and other executives a total of 2 million stock units valued at nearly $15 million along with 6 million in stock options.
              And what do you think we get from all this?
A new add campaign. " Drive one." Yeah drive one into a hole in the ground. Or drive one crazy hearing it all the time.

 
Girls of the Day
@ MyStupidRules.com

Ford and Roush are being sued over rarity of Mustangs. Basicly the two companies came up with the idea of selling a customized version of the Mustang. They told the buyers that they were only going to build 100 of the Roush Stage 3 BlackJack editions when they put them on sale in 2007 for $58,846.25; but then they turned around and built another 100 to sell in 2008. A buyers such as Drew Connor of Bardonia NY who bought the one with the #2 identity plate, have filed a class action suit against the two companies claiming the second hundred that Roush modified and Ford sold at their dealerships, drasticly reduced the value of the first 100 sold.
     I say stick it to them guys.
I found this bit in the WSJ on 8/6-08

RollOffCamper.com





HookLiftTruck.com



 

Its only Junk

Have you bought a
Lemon?

The truth be told, they can sell you a lemon and treat it as if they leased it to you for $.25 per mile and they will drag the whole process out until the last few days before it goes to a court, (at which they would have to label it as a lemon unless they take it to a state where there is no lemon law.)

And when they finally buy it back (before the court hearing,) they won't even have to label it as a lemon when they put it back on the same car lot you bought it from.

I guess I should post another segment from my book about how that game plays out.

It's as if the auto makers had their hands in on the legislation written into the lemon laws.

Still, the $15.00 it cost to register the van for the lemon law was the best $15.00 I ever spent.

My bit on Belinda Stronach and the Magna International Inc.
heher father Frank Stronach
(from Austria) founded in Canada.
(April 11, 2007)




Girls of the Day
@ MyStupidRules.com





The Other Systems Available

HookLiftTruck.com

January 4, 2008: I rans across some stuff on Yahoo/Forbes: which I think is a bunch of hog wash. It's about the five most over priced cars. All it talks about is incentives, and to me, it feels like a ploy just to get a person to go out there thinking they have some advantage car shopping from reading it.
If you want to waste you time reading something drop by the Yahoo/Forbes.com site. (I just had to laugh.) 

Caddy Trunk
@ Synchro-Link.com

mystupidrules.com