Confessions of a motorhead

[crfriend]

I'm really beginning to hate cars. It's not bad enough that I grew up in a society based around the infernal machines where if one is outside an urban area one cannot even get a pizza without firing up the internal combustion engine, but it's that even N+1 fails -- and I place that squarely in Murphy's lap.

As is known, my vehicle is currently tied up in the repair process from misdeeds done to it in late September (and here it is early November) so I've been burning vacation time -- well needed, I'll add -- whilst that one is getting pieces-parts fabricated for him. This leaves Sapphire's car to deal with both of us. Until tonight.

The good part is that neither flesh nor sheet-metal got crumpled, and I have a pocketful of cash so we can at least wander down the hill to our local establishment, and that I have a full case of beer in the 'fridge. The bad part is that upon getting set to leave the local package store ("package" in this case being a euphemism for "liquor" -- I suspect a holdover from the 1930s) Sapphire had to make an abrupt stop to avoid an SUV and things went downhill as rapidly as did the brake-pedal.

Now, as an old-school motorhead (petrol-head to our UK brethren), this doesn't bother me all that much as I know how to use the parking-brake as an emergency substitute, but that does not mean that it's all that much fun, especially in what passes for "rush hour" in the suburbs of Worcester. I drove the car home, from whence we called our local mechanic to have a tow-truck come and get it. The spitting and sucking sounds from the brake system were rather remarkable once we got the car into the driveway and could actually hear the noises produced when the brake pedal was depressed.

The net result? Two rather stir-crazy humans cooped up for a weekend with "no way out". And a "broken date" that we'd both hoped to go on (a fundraiser for a local animal-adoption charity featuring the duo that also played at the grand re-opening of the local rail-trail).

Horses are looking better by the hour, although with winter beginning to set in, perhaps dog-sled might be good, too....

Foo.

[Milfmog]

I feel for you guys,

Today my chosen wheels cost me over £600 in routine servicing and new wheel hub etc

Cars, can't live without 'em, can't live with 'em...

Have fun,


Ian.

[Since1982]

Carl said: Now, as an old-school motorhead (petrol-head to our UK brethren),

Um, I have a question for all those UK buddies we have on here. I'm assuming an American "motorhead" uses gasoline and the UK fellows call gasoline "petrol" OKKKk...what in the UK do they call Diesel fuel?

[Kilted_John]

It's called Diesel.

Carl,

Hopefully they're easily able to solve the brake issues on Sapphire's car. Sounds like the seals in the master cylinder failed. In any case, have them use the highest quality parts when doing it, and I would recommend sourcing a container or two of the ATE Super Blue DOT 4 brake fluid. It's not cheap, but, it's the only thing I will run in our cars.

-J

[Milfmog]

It's called Diesel.

...or sometimes, though far less frequently these days, Derv. According to Wikipedia...

In the UK, diesel is commonly abbreviated DERV, standing for Diesel Engined Road Vehicle (fuel).

Whatever you call it though, spill some on your clothes and the only way to get rid of the smell is to burn them. Horrible stuff.

Have fun,


Ian.

PS: I have not heard the term Motorhead used it this sense before, over hear it immediately brings to mind the heavy metal rock band, fronted by the incomparable Lemmy, Wikipedia article here.

[Since1982]

Thank you Ian, I WAS asking what they called diesel in the United Kingdom, not the United States ie: Washington state. Derv huh...interesting. Thanks again.

[Milfmog]

Thank you Ian, I WAS asking what they called diesel in the United Kingdom, not the United States ie: Washington state. Derv huh...interesting. Thanks again.

Skip,

As John said, it is usually called diesel here too. The term "Derv" has largely disappeared from common usage in the past few years although it is still technically correct in that diesel for use on the roads is subject to additional tax compared with the stuff used to run agricultural equipment, working boats, generators and heating systems. Non-road usage fuel is dyed with a powerful pigment (and now is often referred to as "red diesel") and people caught using this in road vehicles are subject to heavy fines and frequently the confiscation and destruction of the vehicle.

Have fun,


Ian.

[Ray]

I find myself today without the use of a car. It's at my office.

Problems?

No, not really! A lovely autumnal 20 minute walk (each way) to the supermarket for some provisions, and yesterday, an easy 25 min walk to our butcher, grocer, delicatessen and chocolate shop - followed by a relaxing walk home.

It's on weekends like this that I realise that cars cat to separate you from your local environment; that you stop walking from A to B, and that in doing so, you miss out on a huge amount - sounds, smells, textures of life around you.

Don't get me wrong; I love my car, and it's a beauty (Italian!) but I'm not a slave to it.

[Since1982]

That's because you're not an American, Ray. Americans are chained and bound to their cars. If they want a nice 20 minute walk, they hop in the gas guzzling smog generator and drive to a park for their walk.

[skirtingtherealissue]

PS: I have not heard the term Motorhead used it this sense before, over hear it immediately brings to mind the heavy metal rock band, fronted by the incomparable Lemmy, Wikipedia article here.

Yep, that's what I thought of at first. I understand that Lemmy and the band are touring and was thinking of getting tickets; not sure if I'd dare to risk a skirt though!

I had heard the term "gearhead" before, and sort of assumed it was an American term; but it might have been an Australian term. No doubt someone will be able to shed some light on its origin.

That's because you're not an American, Ray. Americans are chained and bound to their cars. If they want a nice 20 minute walk, they hop in the gas guzzling smog generator and drive to a park for their walk.

Oh, I don't know. We seem to be almost as bad in the UK, unless living in a city. I like the self-deprecating humour; although I thought that was a British trait .

[crfriend]

I have not heard the term Motorhead used it this sense before, over hear it immediately brings to mind the heavy metal rock band [...]

Quite possibly it's a slightly obscure dialectical usage from the Northeast US. We do have our share of dialects still, although they're dying off, and this usage might be one of them. I'm not positive, but since I grew up in said locale, I cannot really comment further. {shrug}

[AMM]

That's because you're not an American, Ray. Americans are chained and bound to their cars. If they want a nice 20 minute walk, they hop in the gas guzzling smog generator and drive to a park for their walk.

Not all Americans.

So far, I've never lived any place where I needed a car for my routine weekday activities -- grocery shopping, going to work, etc. The grocery store, post office, pharmacy, and hardware store are within walking distance, as is the train station, and I take the train to get to work. The bus across the county runs right by my door, and goes once or twice an hour. In previous places I've lived, I've commuted to work by bus or train or bicycle. It's been partly luck, but also partly that I've just not considered living in places where I'd need a car on a daily basis. (I've interviewed for jobs which would have required driving, but none of them ever worked out.) And I'm hardly unique in the area where I live. Some of my neighbors don't even own a car.

Skip is correct to the extent that if I want to go on a serious hike, I do end up driving to the trailhead. But "going out for a walk" -- say, to the reservoir (to grumble at the geese ), or down to the Hudson, or just to the 7-11 -- doesn't involve driving anywhere. And I have plenty of company. There are people on the sidewalks of my little village at almost any time of the day or night.

[Since1982]

AMM said: say, to the reservoir (to grumble at the geese

Oh comon, you're not a grumbly sort. hehehe

I didn't really mean ALL Americans, and in big cities where there are lots of parks and walking areas there are lots of walkers. Out in the boonies tho, like where I live, there are at least one and sometimes up to three vehicles in EVERY drive or parking area for each family. Just going to buy a quart of milk here is 3 miles away and there are plenty of people here that walk out their front doors and hop into a boat to get to land and then either onto a bicycle or into a motor vehicle to go buy anything. Boot Key Harbor in Marathon or City Harbor in Key West in the Keys is home every Winter to over 1,000 parked "out" live aboard boats with onshore facilities for car parking or bicycle racks and spigots for fresh water for which they pay the city up to $500. a month for the 3 months we call "winter" in the keys which are December, January and February when the temps drop alllll the way down to 70F. at night. The rest of the year the nighttime temps are the same as the daytime temps...about 85F average.

I would say that the percentage of folks in the mid range of life that use cars more than walking to get around is probably over 90% overall in the USA. In big cities there's also the problem of gangs of or single muggers that bother both walkers and bike riders in parks and paths.

[Bob]

When one studies the numbers, it turns out that there are far more similarities than differences in degree of auto dependence in Europe vs. the USA. And on both continents, it's possible to live largely without a car, depending on one's job and lifestyle.

[AMM]

AMM said: say, to the reservoir (to grumble at the geese

Oh comon, you're not a grumbly sort. hehehe

Around here, everyone grumbles about the geese. Do you know how much goose-poop even a small flock of geese can produce? They also like to walk down the middle of the street and hiss at anyone who comes near -- pedestrians, bicyclists, automobiles. I much prefer ducks.

In big cities there's also the problem of gangs of or single muggers that bother both walkers and bike riders in parks and paths.

I guess I should be glad I don't live down where you live, then. In NYC, bikers, joggers, hikers, and pedestrians go pretty much everywhere. Central Park, Riverside Park, Brooklyn Esplanade, Van Cortlandt Park, Prospect Park, etc., are all overrun with joggers and bicyclists year 'round. Fewer picnickers in the winter, though. As far as I know, that's true for most of the big cities in the Northeast.