K-Squared Ramblings » gas

What’s That Smell?

Kelson — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 17:00:37 +0000

Somewhere in Richmond, California. It was, of course, on Cutting Blvd. This photo has been kicking around in a box since 2000, and I finally got around to scanning it.

Quick Thoughts on Gas Mileage

Kelson — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 17:22:14 +0000

Yesterday the Los Angeles Times ran an article about the fact that, in response to soaring gas prices, smaller cars are outselling light trucks (which include SUVs, pickups, and minivans) in the US for the first time since 1996. Last night I was going through old magazines that we’d just tossed in a bag before moving. I found the September 2006 issue of Westways (the California Auto Club’s magazine), with a cover story about the new breed of small cars, wondering when the market would shift in response to the high prices. Now there’s timing.

On a related note, 9 months of driving a Prius has given me a somewhat different perspective on “good” and “bad” mileage. When I see averages of 38–48 MPG over the course of a tank of gas, and can get up to 60 MPG on straight, flat stretches of freeway, advertisements touting 25–30 MPG just don’t sound that enticing.

Free Gas with your Spam List!

Kelson — Tue, 13 May 2008 17:03:35 +0000

Wow… you know gas is expensive when the spammers start hawking gas cards.

Our support contact address received a message touting “Finest List of Nurses Including Email Addresses – Free $50 Gas Card” I had to wonder what the heck it was, so I took a look at the message. They were trying to sell “sales leads” — i.e. names and contact information — of nurses, and were offering to throw in the gas card if you spent enough on “leads” to do your own spamming.