shannon_butler's Blog

i know this is totally gross subject  but in our travels it's a topic.

i went to a gas station today a racetrack on the east side of town and the bathroom in there was so clean and nice. as reporters and photogrAphers we have seen our share of gas stations and their "facilities" many are so gross, sometimes we will even drive to another one miles a way just not to be so grossed out.(girls you know what i am talking about)

so it got me to thinking....have you seen any raelly nice, clean banos in your travels.(we'd like to know because we are always stopping at them)

shannon

cnn money gives you these tips to save gas???

please do you think this really helps?

1. Racing away from green lights

When the light turns green, you don't have to take off as quickly as possible. That pedal under your right foot is called the "gas pedal" for a good reason. The more you press down on it, the more gas you're pumping into the engine.

Press lightly on the gas pedal, and you'll still accelerate, and you'll still get where you're going. You might be surprised at how little pressure it takes to get your car up to speed in a reasonable time.

2. Racing up to red lights

When you're driving down the street, and you see a light red light or stop sign up ahead, you should lay off the gas sooner rather than later.

There's no point in keeping your foot on the gas until just before you reach the intersection. Let off the pedal sooner and give your engine a rest as you coast to the stop while braking gently. As an added benefit, your brake pads will last longer, too.

By themselves, these first two tips can improve your fuel economy around town by as much as 35 percent, according to tests conducted by automotive information Web site Edmunds.com.

3. Confusing the highway with a speedway

Even if it doesn't involve hard acceleration, speeding wastes gas. The faster you go, the more air your vehicle has to push out of the way. It's like moving your hand through water. The faster you try to move your hand, the harder the water pushes back.

In tests by Consumer Reports, driving at 75 miles per hour instead of 65 miles per hour reduced fuel economy by between 3 and 5 miles per gallon, depending on the vehicle.

4. Bumper-buzzing

Tailgating is a bad move for many reasons. First of all, it's unsafe. You reduce your ability to react if the car in front of you slows or stops. It also means you have to pay ultra-close attention to that car which reduces your ability to scan for other hazards ahead of you and to the sides.

And tailgating wastes gas. Every time the driver ahead taps his brakes, you have to slow down even more than he did. (That's because you can't react immediately so you have to slow even more because you're slowing down later.) Then you accelerate again to get back up to speed and resume your bumper-buzzing routine.

Hang back and you'll be safer - plus you'll be able to drive more smoothly and use less fuel. A good rule of thumb is to allow two seconds of space between your car and the one ahead. You can figure that out by counting off two seconds after the car in front of you passes an obvious landmark like an overpass.

5. Driving standing still

You've probably heard that it takes more gas to restart a car than to let it run. Maybe that used to be true, but it isn't anymore. With modern fuel-injection engines, it takes very little extra gas to restart a car once it's warmed up.

Idling, meanwhile, burns about a half-mile worth of gas every minute, according to the California Energy Commission. That's why hybrid cars shut down their gasoline engines whenever they stop, even for a moment.

Now you don't want to shut your engine down for every little stop in your regular, non-hybrid car - it's not designed for that - but if you're waiting for someone to run in and out of a convenience store, turn off the engine.

And don't go through the drive-through at fast food restaurants. You're already paying enough for the oil in those chicken nuggets.

Bonus tip: Don't idle your engine to let it warm up before driving. It does your engine no good and it wastes gas. Instead, start driving right away, but drive gently until the engine is warm.

6. Short hops

For really short trips, take advantage of the opportunity to get some exercise. Try walking to the store instead of driving. You can save gas and burn a few calories instead.

If you can't hoof it, save up your errands. A lot of short hops that let the engine cool down at home between trips can use twice as much gas as starting the car once and making a big sweep to all your stops, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

Go to your farthest destination first so your engine has a chance to reach its optimal operating temperature. Then make your other stops on the way back. With the engine warmed up, the car will restart easily and run efficiently all the way home.

okay here i go again about the stupid people in the world.

every morning tucker and i go for his morning stroll, for him it's like reading the paper, he can see what went on while he was sleeping. And every morning my walk is interrupted. it's interrupted by people who park in their driveways 2, 3, 4 cars deep and block the sidewalk. That means we have to go into the street to get around them and during rush hour downtown it's not very fun. it's infuriates me.

why do people have to do that? why can they just park on the street or at least leave a space where people can walk.

the real gripe i have is that there is a man on my street in a wheelchair that goes to pulbix every morning and everyday he has to go into the street..and oh yeah they are brick streets!

SO, I AM SITTING AT A RED LIGHT YESTERDAY. ..THE LIGHT TURNED GREEN AND BEFORE I COULD EVEN GET OFF THE LINE THIS WOMAN WAS LAYING ON HER HORN FOR ME TO GO. NOW, MANY TIMES I DON'T PAY ATTENTION WHEN I DRIVE, BUT SERIOUSLY THIS TIME,  I WAS NOT WASTING TIME AT THE LIGHT, I WAS JUST TRYING TO PUT MY CAR IN GEAR..5 SECONDS MAYBE.

I CAN'T STAND IT! I DON'T KNOW WHAT IT IS WITH PEOPLE IN THIS STATE, WHY DO THEY HAVE TO CONSTANTLY HONK AT PEOPLE AT THE LIGHTS! NOW, IF SOMEONE ISN'T PAYING ATTENTION OR IS SITTING THERE TOO LONG, I GET IT, BUT GOOD LORD!

CAN SOMEONE EXPLAIN TO ME WHY PEOPLE HERE DO THIS?

it looks like the no fault insurance will continue...what do you think good idea or bad?

shannon 

congestion in orlando has gained us a nationwide ranking...we rank #8 for traffic congestion.

what does that mean...we'll they say an extra 54 hours on the road,  a good 35 gallons of gas and oh yeah it costs you 870 dollars every year!

what do you think?