Month: October 2008 (page 2 of 7)

by Doug Quance

Associate Broker

Author website

Another Installment In The Saga Of Unintended Consequences

Most of us have been driving less, lately. Record high oil prices drove gasoline prices to over $4 a gallon – wreaking havoc on our personal budgets… and the nation’s economy as a whole.

Last Friday, I stopped in to visit my mechanic – and as usual, he told me about the car he was busy working on. This time, it was an engine rebuild due to “bad gas”.

“Bad gas?” I asked.

“The deposits built up so that the valves wouldn’t close properly,” he replied. “We’ve had four rebuilds in the last few weeks. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

While it might be bad gas – I have another take on it. With the enormous increase in fuel costs, most of us are driving like little old ladies – myself included. But driving for maximum fuel economy is not necessarily good for your engine, as it allows carbon to build up on your valves.

I first learned about this in the early 80’s, as my mechanic back then told me about one of his customers – an elderly lady – who would bring her car in every few months so that he could take it out on the freeway and give it a good run.

You can tell when your engine needs to get the carbon blown out, as your engine will be idling rough. The best way to blow the carbon out is to accelerate hard on a freeway onramp – running it through the gears until you get up to highway speed. It works best when there is a good load on your vehicle, such as climbing a hill.

I have “blown the carbon” out of my vehicles for years – and I even have a friend who asks me to take her car out a few times a year to blow her carbon out, as she’s uncomfortable doing it herself.

Another tip is to have your fuel injectors professionally cleaned, which also can help keep your engine’s valves clean.

An engine rebuild is not inexpensive  – it is a repair that can cost thousands of dollars. So before Read more

by Sean Purcell

Real Estate Renaissance Man

Author website

With a little over a week to go in this election, we can finally all come together in agreement on one issue.  Whether you are voting for McCain: the logical vote, or voting for Obama: the emotional vote, or voting third party: the non-viable vote (unfortunately) – one thing has become clear.  The mainstream press has given up all pretense of being unbiased in their coverage.  They are blatantly shilling.  Whether we like the candidate they are whoring for or not, any respect we could have is gone.  The fourth estate has lost all legitimacy.

This final nail in the coffin was delivered by CNN earlier this week.  By all accounts, CNN has been as neutral as possible during the election.  They appear a little left of center by most accounts, yet they have been relatively even in their coverage.  What respect they deserved is now gone too.  On Tuesday night, Drew Griffin interviewed Governor Sarah Palin.  Watch the video at about 1:25 in and listen to the question Mr. Griffin asks of Governor Palin.  She is visibly shaken by it:

Now please read the actual paragraph that Mr. Griffin is quoting from the National Review.  It was written by Byron York (not a difficult fact to find out Mr. Griffin) :

Watching press coverage of the Republican candidate for vice president, it’s sometimes hard to decide whether Sarah Palin is incompetent, stupid, unqualified, corrupt, backward, or — or, well, all of the above. Palin, the governor of Alaska, has faced more criticism than any vice-presidential candidate since 1988… (full article here)

The first and last lines change the meaning a little don’t you think?  To say Mr. Griffin quoted Mr. York to Governor Palin out of context would be an understatement. The National Review article now has an Editor’s Note that reads in part:

Editor’s note: Byron York’s recent article in National Review on Sarah Palin’s time as governor of Alaska became a campaign issue Tuesday when CNN’s Drew Griffin distorted its meaning in a high-profile interview with Palin.

You can, of course, Google all of this and you can read Read more