Last weekend, I was coming out of Brew and View when I spied something out of the ordinary. Over a year ago, I had been amazed just to see one Smart Car in Raleigh. But this topped that easily…
It was two Smart Cars parked in one parking spot! Yes, I’m sure they planned it all out and thought they’d be all cool and mess, but forilla, it really was pretty neat to see two cars parked together like that.
Step right up, folks. We’ve already seen how to get a free tote bag. And also how to win a free Smart Fortwo. But what about a contest where you have a chance to win both?
Fret not, for Purex has THIS CRAZY CONTEST where you can win these very things. All you have to do is come up with a jawsome, eco-friendly tote bag design and submit it to their contest before May, 2009.
You can win cash-money, a free tote bag, or a Smart Fortwo. I’m ’bout to enter the contest myself; I strongly suggest you do the same.
Dang, here I was thinking that the Smart car was tiny — the P50 is much smaller! So small, in fact, that the Guiness Book of World Records recognizes it as the smallest car ever produced.
The P50 has a single-cylinder 49cc engine and only three wheels… technically, it’s not even a car (they classified it as a motorcycle). Only about 100 were made, so if you get a chance to see one, you go and you take that chance.
To learn more about this awesome automotive oddity, please place your mouse cursor over THIS and mash the button.
Step right up and enter for the chance to win a de-luxe 2009 Smart Fortwo. These bad boys get 33 city/41 highway miles to the gallon — not too shab, although for how tiny they are, you’d think they’d get better gas mileage than that.
But anyhoo, click THIS HERE LINK for the chance to win your very own Smart Fortwo. Apparently, you can enter once per day, so that’s what I’ve been doing. The contest is only open until Halloween this year (dang, such a long time). Just imagine, not only will you be saving on gas (and cutting down air pollution) while you drive, you’ll be able to park in some tiny parking spaces. Can’t beat that with a stick.
Last Tuesday, good ol’ TMQ had some stuff to say about how the huge increase in oil price can be partially attributed to the reluctance that the U.S. showed with raising fuel standards. Let’s take a look at what he had to say, shall we?
You Don’t Need to Speculate in Futures Contracts for Members of Congress, Since They Are So Easy to Buy: As the price of a barrel of oil nearly doubled in the first half of 2008, members of Congress ominously blamed petroleum speculators who, it was said, were ominously buying up futures contracts. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada called a news conference to introduce his grandly titled Stop Excessive Energy Speculation Act of 2008. If “excessive” speculation, whatever that means, really is influencing oil markets, then those ominous speculators are now being punished by the same markets, as barrel prices fall. But how convenient for the United States Congress to blame unnamed, shadowy speculators instead of blaming … the United States Congress.
It is Congress, after all, that from 1988 to 2007 repeatedly refused to raise fuel economy standards for cars, trucks and SUVs, thus guaranteeing U.S. oil imports would rise, and helping push up global oil demand, increase the price of oil and channel more dollars, euros and yen to the Persian Gulf dictatorships that support anti-Western and anti-Israel terrorism. Under Republican and Democratic leadership alike, for 20 years Congress was warned and warned and warned again regarding trends in U.S. petroleum use, and for 20 years did nothing. With an election coming, how about we throw these unctuous rascals out, and to play on a suggestion by the late William F. Buckley, replace them with 535 names chosen at random from the nation’s telephone books?
If you want to read the whole column (which is 90% about football, and which I recommend), you can read TMQ rooootttcccch… HERE.
UPS has 93,637 vehicles (cars, trucks, vans, motorcycles, and tractor-trailers) that drive over 2 billion miles a year, so they have had a lot of practice in finding ways to save gas, save money, and reduce air pollution. Here are three of Brown’s gas saving tips for any of y’all driving this holiday weekend.
Avoid left turns – UPS plans its routes to minimize left turns. This reduces gas usage because left turns generally mean you car has to sit and idle while waiting to turn. This helped UPS save $12 million last year!
Reduce idling – I did not know this, but UPS has a “no idling” policy, so no matter how short of a stop a UPS driver makes, they turn off their engine. This reduces idling time by 24 minutes per driver a day, which saves them $188 per driver per year!
Plan your route – UPS plans out its routes to be as efficient and direct as possible. Remember, if you fail to plan, you plan to fail!
If you can’t read that good, here are some gas saving tips from UPS… IN VIDEO FORM.
Around where I live, there’s lots of roadkill that can be seen each and every day, including deer, squirrels, opossums, and even the occasional caterpillar. My vision stays blurry while I drive because of the constant flow of tears caused by the pointless deaths of these noble animals.
Hopefully this free bumper sticker will remind other drivers to slow down and be on the lookout for animals crossing the road instead of, in a morbid ironic twist, distracting drivers and thereby causing them to run over even more hapless creatures.
Anyhoo, if you click the picture above, you will be well on your way to being a proud owner of a gen-u-ine bumper sticker. So godspeed to you, and help spread the message that people needs to be careful and not run over any animals (or small children).
