firefrog Posted March 8, 2011 Posted March 8, 2011 Hey Does anyone remember when 'horseless carriages' first came out and most of us were still rigging up the steads for our buggies? Of course not. I guarantee you most of the old codgers were lambasting those newfangled things for this, that, and the other things. Sounds the same now. I wonder if the horseless carriages improved as quickly as our present-day electric vehicles. I would like to see electrics take over, but of course, I don't have any answers to accomplish that. Hey Don, you can trump the wife by suggesting to buy a horse - which of course will be the next big thing after the electric vehicle. Quote
DonAndersen Posted March 8, 2011 Author Posted March 8, 2011 firefrog, About 50 or so years from now, when the Govt has sold or gave away all the oil, you are gonna be using horses a lot. Don Quote
dryfly Posted March 8, 2011 Posted March 8, 2011 Don .. good luck. Ah! I forgot it is ONLY about color with the ladies, eh? (Just kidding.) If you do not like Ford I am sure that are many compact to mid-sized vehicles that get 35+ mpg. Good luck. With apologies to Don and the FFC board for this ongoing hijack... mods can snip it of they want... (Man, I gotta get out fishing or picture taking.....ugh!) Smitty. I am all over conservation. Conserving somewhat finite resources is important—as the earth’s population grows it is getting more difficult. My wife and I try to do our small part. We live in a small bungalow (could be smaller)...we use a push mower (okay only at our summer trailer place) ...we drive a 6-cylinder vehicle for 80 percent of our casual driving (yes we could drive a four-banger if we had to)..we rarely eat in restaurants and cook fresh veggies at home… I walk downtown for errands and groceries when feasible…we compost. But still, we live in a house that is too large and probably drive too much. But I ain't pretending that we are saving the environment like many green weenies claim to be doing. Conservation is indeed important but we also need to put energy use and lifestyle in perspective. What irritates me no end is the "pious" attitude of the "eco weenies" and how they single-handily are saving the universe with (frankly) rather silly concepts or old concepts and often concepts that have a larger "footprint" (whatever THAT is) that what they are trying to replace. And they are passing much misinformation along to our youth. THAT is the shame. Let’s see: — Green housing subdivisions in which "green" methods and supplies are used to build 3,000-sq-ft homes ?? — Hybrid Escalades — production of bio fuels that take land out of food production and drive up food prices — wasting billions on expensive and ineffective wind farms and claiming to reduce emissions (the BIG wind lie that claims to be emissions free..far from it!) The couple of billion $$ we have spent in Alberta on ineffective wind turbines would have been better spend on conservation in our homes and businesses. And let’s not kid ourselves, you and I and all individual consumers pay every nickel of the cost of wind farms and transmission...whether or not you got sucked in to buying Bullfrog power....THAT is a huge scam...we all pay for wind! It is all the same grid. The turbines do not shut down when the wind blows..Smitty as I write this post, wind is generating ZERO electricity in Alberta...zero....last night it was working at 1 percent of its capacity..NOT 1% of demand ... one percent of wind capacity..today it is producing zero electricity...all backed up with coal and gas power...as IF wind is emissions free...such a shameful waste promoted by capitalists and egged on by weenies. Such strange bedfellows and we all pay for this waste.) — vilifying the tar sands because birds die (such a shame) while turning a blind eye to wind-turbine bird and bat morts — the 100-mile diet ( I spent many years working with market gardeners and vegetable producers in order to increase local production, but to feed the masses it is ineffective nonsense. In most cases it is cheaper to produce in a warmer southern climate and transport—but that too has limits—see pepper photo below. ☺) Pretending to do stuff to make us feel good while having no overt effect on the environment is misguided. The big shame of many green efforts is wasting time and money in ineffective green things that have no effect on the environment while ignoring the plight of millions who don’t have clean water and a decent health services. We are wasting billions pretending we can change climate while ignoring the plight of millions. Environmentalism is detracting from the REAL needs of the earth! I am all for teaching about the environment but teaching scientific untruths and misleading our youth appears to be rampant in our society. Such a shame. We need sanity in our educational system and it is not there....we are not teaching our children the truth about environmental protection .... just misguided Suzukian platitudes not based on science with no conceivable positive outcome. Regards Clive PS: Maye it is the drinking water in Lethbridge... :P These are all Lethbridge events... FAIL ... what makes this so unacceptable is that the teacher can't understand basic engineering and scientific facts and acts as if he invented landscaping. (There are several fallacies in this teacher's woefully misguided effort.) FAIL .. organic peppers flown from Israel... (efficient truck transport of veggies 2,000 or 3,000 km is one thing...flying peppers around the world in the name of misguided environmental protection....utter nonsense.) It works both ways as well… this Lethbridge fencing contractor wants us to “save a tree” by building a plastic fence?!? You can’t make up this crap. FAIL! Quote
Ricinus Posted March 8, 2011 Posted March 8, 2011 Sorry, I'm going to continue with the hijack. I don't think you can blame everything on Clive's "Eco-weenies". In most cases, they have just pointed out the problems, The so called "solutions" have come from Politicians and Industry. A lot of the solutions are nothing more than a way to make a quick buck by capitalizing on people's desire to do help. As was pointed out, with our current North American Lifestyle, any small changes are really not going to make any real difference. Saving your grass clippings and then driving 5 miles to the compost site isn't really environmentally sound. Nowadays being environmentally and health conscious is knowing how to sift the bullsh!t from the buckwheat- what really works and is important versus feel good stuff being fed to us by Eco-weenies, politicians and industry. Maybe that's what should be taught in schools. Regards Mike PS: I think I REALLY need to go Fishing soon!! Quote
Flytyer Posted March 8, 2011 Posted March 8, 2011 Sorry, I'm going to continue with the hijack. I don't think you can blame everything on Clive's "Eco-weenies". In most cases, they have just pointed out the problems, The so called "solutions" have come from Politicians and Industry. A lot of the solutions are nothing more than a way to make a quick buck by capitalizing on people's desire to do help. As was pointed out, with our current North American Lifestyle, any small changes are really not going to make any real difference. Saving your grass clippings and then driving 5 miles to the compost site isn't really environmentally sound. Nowadays being environmentally and health conscious is knowing how to sift the bullsh!t from the buckwheat- what really works and is important versus feel good stuff being fed to us by Eco-weenies, politicians and industry. Maybe that's what should be taught in schools. Regards Mike PS: I think I REALLY need to go Fishing soon!! Interesting comment, if one has time one should look up who really started all this "green" movement. Some real eye opening stuff if you look far enough and it may surprise you. Look up a fellow named Maurice Strong and see where it leads you Quote
bigbowtrout Posted March 8, 2011 Posted March 8, 2011 Some good watching http://www.motoringtv.com/kenzies-korner-s...be_a_good_idea/ http://www.motoringtv.com/kenzies-korner-s...hybrid_who_wins? http://www.motoringtv.com/kenzies-korner-s...ectric_vehicles http://www.motoringtv.com/kenzies-korner-s..._diesel_hybrids Quote
birchy Posted March 8, 2011 Posted March 8, 2011 Jetta or Golf TDI is my suggestion. For a good looking car that gets extremely good fuel economy.. Better than most hybrids on the highway, almost as good in the city. Quote
DonAndersen Posted March 8, 2011 Author Posted March 8, 2011 Clive et al, Ya' just couldn't resist could ya'. And Clive - gotta agree with the wind crap. Did you know that Calgary runs their C-trains on wind and the silly suckers brag on it. Even wonder what happens when the wind stops. The C-trains keep on chugging. And Birchy - was thinking on VW. If there were a dealer where we live, we'd do it. And now back to building environmental fly rods. Splitting them outta grass today. No plastic rods for me - got some though that I'm thinking of getting rid of. Every time I see them, I feel so dirty that I'm still harboring environmental damaging products. catch ya' Don Quote
bigbowtrout Posted March 8, 2011 Posted March 8, 2011 They have a VW dealer in Red Deer. My Jetta TDI the owners manual recommends a service every 15,000 kms the Stealership wants me in every 8,000km so I kinda do mine every 11 or 12,000. Had mine new since Nov 2010 and I have 52,000+ on it and so far so good. (Love it) I still wish I would have spent the extra and got the wagon. I’m sure Dave J drives the wagon TDI. The only down side is I find the service's cost a lot more then other cars I have owned. Clive - I only let it idle all day when the temps go below -10c Quote
Guest Sundancefisher Posted March 8, 2011 Posted March 8, 2011 So from what I know about batteries I use...they perform poorly as it gets colder. They also get damaged from heating and cooling. So what does anyone know about the longevity of electric car batteries in Canadian winters? I don't think they are the same as a regular car battery. I find they last 6-7 years...not 10 years like someone said they should in an electric car. What is the warrantee on the batteries? 10 years? Can they be recycled? Quote
dryfly Posted March 8, 2011 Posted March 8, 2011 Don .. nah .. had to have a whack at it... flytyer...aha! Maurice Strong ... a blight to humanity and unfortunately he's a Canuck. “Isn’t it the only hope for the planet that the industrialized civilizations collapse? Isn’t it our responsibility to bring that about?” Maurice Strong Perhaps the poster boy for WWF, DS and the Sierra Club. BBT ..what did you pay for your Jetta? Saw an ad recently...seems to be less expensive than before the economy went South. They sure look rugged. One day we will have to get a new sedan. (I have an aversion to them because I know someone with a Jetta and well ... this person has SDS and I wrongly equate the car with the owner. I am bad. Quote
bigbowtrout Posted March 8, 2011 Posted March 8, 2011 I know someone with a Jetta and well ... this person has SDS and I wrongly equate the car with the owner. I am bad. SJW owns a Jetta? Quote
birchy Posted March 8, 2011 Posted March 8, 2011 And Birchy - was thinking on VW. If there were a dealer where we live, we'd do it. Maybe if you're buying new you might be able to work a deal for them to deliver it to you? I don't know, I haven't purchased a brand new vehicle yet. Or are you thinking more for servicing and maintenance? Quote
DonAndersen Posted March 8, 2011 Author Posted March 8, 2011 Birchy, Service and maint. is what takes the time. After 65 - ya got less time for silly business. Don Quote
Taco Posted March 9, 2011 Posted March 9, 2011 My SUV eats jettas and craps hondas. still drivin that '83 Suburban? Quote
DonAndersen Posted March 9, 2011 Author Posted March 9, 2011 SanJuanWorm, Perhaps you can help me here. Been outta the car/truck buying loop for a while. You have a SUV - does SUV stand for Silly Urban Vehicle. Keep hearing about SUV's like there are some kinda plague or other. Don Quote
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