raining ktula » car

America’s love affair with minivans

ktula — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 09:04:20 +0000

Until i have kids, i think i will never get this. What is America’s fascination with minivans? I understand that a minivan can typically carry more than 5 people comfortably, but why do first-time parents with one kid – yes, one as in uno, eins – think they need a freaking minivan? If you have three kids, a minivan may be appropriate. Two kids, just barely justifiable. What baby stuff that must be carried for one kid that will not fit a regular car like a four-door Honda Civic? A stroller? A car seat? Food, milk, extra clothing and baby wipes? You can’t fit these in a car?

I still remember growing up, my parents were able to pack all five of us in their tiny two-door Datsun. My siblings and i grew up fine. None of us became serial mass murderers and blame the society for all our ills because our parents deprived us of the safety and comfort of a big ass minivan.

Nowadays, i can’t drive a few blocks without getting behind some minivan (or SUV) and unable to anticipate slowdowns or problems ahead because it is blocking my view. Thanks a lot!

Gas mileage stats from Gas Cubby

ktula — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 22:32:49 +0000

A little over a year ago, i bought Gas Cubby for my iPhone. Gas Cubby is a handy little tool for figuring the gas mileage of my 2002 Audi A4. Since i bought the app, i have been religiously updating it each time i fill up my car. One very nice feature of Gas Cubby is its ability to generate gas mileage related statistics and graphs. So after a year, here are the gas mileage statistics and graphs for my car.

Gas mileage statistics.

Really abysmal average MPG: 17.96 Miles per gallon. The low MPG can probably be explained by the lack of long road trip. Between last November and now, i only went on one long road trip (to Orcas Island). The maximum MPG of 23.54 was probably due to the Orcas Island trip.

MPG over a year.

The MPG graph indicates a gradual decline in MPG since April 2009. Prior to April 2009, i was living in West Seattle. On the days that i drove my car to work, more than half of the journey was spent on I-5 and local highway. Since April, i have been living in Queen Anne and i typically take the local routes. Even though the local routes are generally less congested, there are a lot of stop lights. It is clear that the frequent stop and go is not helping my car’s gas mileage.

Total gas expenses over the year.

Gas price per gallon over the year.

Ouch!

ktula — Fri, 30 May 2008 04:08:16 +0000

I was looking for parking to pick up my to-go order at Paseo Caribbean in Fremont, about half a block from where i used to live, when i noticed this Subaru Tribeca across the street.

Subaru Tribeca with broken window.

Some asshole at work did this

ktula — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 03:56:48 +0000

And he/she didn’t even bother to leave a note! That asshole probably didn’t realize that there is a surveillance camera pointing in the direction of the parking lot. It will be interesting to review the video footage from today.