Driving in Australia
Travelling Storage: The Birth of the 'Cardrobe'
It’s the future I tell you
On my recent searches through the mysterious world of the internet, I came across an interesting UK survey that was released by insurance company ‘1st Central’ which appears to suggest that we are entering a whole new world; the world of the ‘Cardrobe’. It does not take a master of lexicography to realise that what I am referring to is using your car for storage purposes. Of course, using your car for such reasons is no new phenomenon, but the results suggest a serious surge in popularity. Considering the usual vigour I often possess when I throw myself into the dazzling world of ‘car-culture’, it is time to unleash my brain on this little wonder!
Firstly, let’s take a look at these stats:
- 47% of people leave clothes in their car all the time
- 1.8 million people use their car to hide things from their partner (often expensive items)
- 682,000 people leave something belonging to their ex in their car because they can’t stand throwing it away
- Men are twice as likely as women to hide something from their partners in their car
- Men are more likely to leave sports equipment in their car
- There is an estimated £1 billion worth of football boots stored on people’s driveways
- 18% of people cannot drive without driving gloves (20% 18-24 year olds), most likely due to celebrities such as Lady Gaga and Rihanna being photographed wearing them
- Some interesting items often found in cars include: feather boas, rubber gloves, gas masks and tutus!
Straight off the bat, it would appear the best way to check to see if your other half is being unfaithful is to have a look in their car. Who knows what manner of evidence you may discover? You never know, you might even find that photo of them and their ex-partner that they just couldn’t bring themselves to get rid of, because that trip to the beach was just too special and too memorable!
On a similar note, if you think your loved one may be hiding a fancy gift for you for birthdays, anniversaries or Christmas, you know where to look!
If as a result of this article being published there is a significant increase in the number of domestic arguments and relationships coming to an end, I said nothing. This wasn’t me. Blame the survey!
Now this data has been published, I will say as a word of warning, perhaps move your expensive sports equipment out of your car. Now the world knows of the potential value stored in our cars with, lets be honest, easily breakable windows… Well, you know where I am going with this! Do remember, these things are not necessarily covered in your car insurance. The windows may be repaired, but the contents will be lost forever!
The results of this survey has also given me the perfect excuse for some automotive based propoganda to slyly insert into popular culture. Considering the rise in driving gloves as an example, why don’t we pay Rihanna and Lady Gaga to I dont know, be seen WEARING A SEATBELT and actively NOT TALKING ON THEIR PHONES or even PAYING THEIR INSURANCE. If they can make driving gloves popular, the driving possibilities are endless! Lady Gaga can improve road and driving safety, because after all, she was born this way…
But on a more serious note, the ramifications of leaving so much in your car can be costly, in more ways than one. As I said before, car insurance only covers the car, not the contents. And the more stuff you pile up in your car, the heavier it will become and the more fuel you will therefore need to use. And what does fuel cost? Money. At a time when money is not exactly growing on trees, do we really need to be spending more for no real reason.
If anything, the message to take away for this is to tidy your house a bit and find room for the contents of your cardrobe. Tidy house, tidy mind. Tidy house, emptier car. Emptier car, cheaper running. Cheaper running, more money. You see where I am going with this I am sure!
They may need a little clear out
As much as I may attempt to think logically and sensibly, car clutter, cardrobe, whatever you want to call it truly defines the character of your car. So many times in the past I have written about how cars are not just machines; they have their own culture, identity and personality. In my case, my car has a pair of walking boots in the back that never leave. I am aware I could take them out and only use them when I need them. On the back seat too lies a blanket. Why do I need a blanket in my car? I do not. Alas there it remains.
Without trying to get too philosophical here, the car is the extension of the self. It helps to define the identity of its driver. The possessions contained within such therefore hold great significance, even if just subconsciously. The football boots, my walking boots or even the cherished memory of a past relationship all comes together to reveal the true character. The car is after all a home from home. The commuter may well spend almost as much time in their car as they do in their own home. So why not transform your car into more of a living space?
It all makes sense really.
Maybe new cars should have wardrobes installed in them in the future. Or maybe they will be transformed into a fully habitable life pod. Like a house boat. A house car.
Not exactly what I mean but you get the idea!
Don’t forget to follow my antics on Twitter @lewisglynn69
Keep Driving People!
Peace and Love!
The Buzz About The Electric Car
If you were to read the typical review of an electric car – a Nissan LEAF, say – you’re likely to be left with the impression that electric cars are a brand new technology that’s never been seen before. Unfortunately (or should that be fortunately?), this impression is incorrect.
This is only one of the misconceptions about the electric car. The other main one, which typically got heard in the 1980s and 1990s before electric and hybrid vehicles git the market, was a juicy conspiracy theory about big vehicle manufacturing companies or oil magnates finding out about plans for an electric car and taking steps to rub out either the invention… or the inventor. Seeing as most big car companies are putting out hybrids and electrics these days, we now know that this sort of story probably needs to go in the thriller fiction category.
But what about the idea that electric cars are a new thing? Many people are surprised to discover that they aren’t new at all. They were new and hot back in the USA in the 1890s, after a number of inventors had played around with them. In the early days of the automobile, fossil fuels didn’t have it all their own way – there were a few steam numbers knocking about, alongside the electrics, the diesels (and, of course, the horses and the bicycles).
So what happened? How did the electric car go from having about one-third of the private car market to being so rare that it was the subject of the aforementioned conspiracy theories? You can probably blame two main factors. Number one was the mass production methods of Henry Ford, who made his cars cheap for the masses. They just happened to be petrol powered. Number two was, of course, World War 1, which got inventors to pay attention to things that would useful for combat. Electric cars might have been fine for puttering around the streets of London Detroit or New York but were not so good if you had to go long distances, like the taxis that took troops from Paris to the French–German border did. What’s more, a lot of the inventors who had concentrated on aeroplanes during the war turned to cars after the war (or, more accurately, between the wars) and by that time, they were kind of used to working with petrol and diesel. Petrol was pretty cheap, too, what with oil well after oil well being discovered in the Middle East and in Texas. So the electric car just sort of fizzled away.
Well, it fizzled until petrol stopped being quite so cheap and the world became much more aware of the twin problems of dwindling fossil fuel supplies and air pollution in all its forms. Now, we’re all wanting electric cars back again.
However, it’s not quite as simple as all that. For one thing, although electric cars have the advantage of having fewer moving parts to break down as well as having the low, low emissions when used, they still have the problems with range. At the moment, an electric car is great for an urban commute (oh, the joys of not sitting there idling at the lights!). However, if you regularly drive interstate or if you live on a farm, then an electric car isn’t going to have the range you need to get from A to B… which can be quite a long way.
While electric cars don’t need to be filled with petrol and they can use some of their kinetic energy while braking to recharge themselves, they will still need to be recharged when the battery runs low. Just like everything else that uses a rechargeable battery, such as your laptop, your phone and your camera. Now, you know how long it takes to charge your other electronic devices. As an electric car battery needs to do a lot more than your phone or laptop – getting something moving needs more energy than crunching data does – it will take a lot longer to recharge. Overnight, in most cases.
The slightly more complicated issue is the fact that the electricity needed to recharge the batteries has to come from somewhere. This can make the electric car not quite as green as the advertising makes it out to be. All is well if your electricity comes from a renewable source, such as hydro, solar, wind or geothermal (and all the other interesting new ones they’re looking at, like tidal). However, if the power station nearest you relies on coal or some other fossil fuel, your electric car probably has the same carbon footprint as the typical family car. Don’t even get me started on the potential hazards of nuclear power plants, as the folk of Fukushima or Chernobyl can testify to.
The other potential problem with electric cars, which the manufacturers are working on, is the battery. For one thing, batteries are horribly expensive to produce. This is the factor that makes electric vehicles a bit on the pricey side. And the battery will have to be replaced at some point during the car’s lifetime, putting the price tag of owning an electric vehicle up a bit higher. However, this is always the case with new green technologies. They start out really expensive and only a few people take them on. Then it becomes cheaper and more widespread. It’s happened with solar panels and it will probably happen with the batteries in electric cars, too.
The second thing with batteries is that they tend to be made of some pretty lethal stuff, as are all batteries. Lead, lithium and nickel are typically used. This might prove to be a bit of a problem as electric cars get more widespread and disposal of old batteries becomes more of an issue. Thankfully, some companies, such as Nissan, will take old batteries back and recycle them. So do some specialist recycling companies.
Things will change with the electric car. There’s a typical pattern that all new technologies follow as they become more widespread and popular. At the moment, about halfway through 2015, will the purely electric car be right for you? It could well be if you can say yes to the following:
- You are passionate about the environment and don’t mind spending a bit more to minimize your carbon footprint.
- You are based in a city and don’t drive long distances.
- Your local power company runs on sustainable energy or you have lots of solar panels on your house.
- You know where to recycle the battery.
- You have a lifestyle that allows you to recharge the battery overnight (and you don’t mind having a power bill instead of a petrol bill).
The rest of us will have to make do with hybrids, biodiesel and driving what we’ve got as frugally as possible… at least for now!
Safe and happy driving, no matter what powers you,
Megan
Stereotypes: The Farm Ute
This is apparently a Mitsubishi Triton, but don’t ask what colour it is.
Usually seen: Any rural road, either tarsealed or gravelled. Sometimes seen parked outside agricultural supplies shops and supermarkets in small towns. Frequently seen bumping over fields and farm tracks.
Typical examples: Toyota Hilux , Nissan Navara , Mitsubishi Triton
Description: The farm ute is seldom seen in built-up areas, usually because the farmer will pinch the family saloon (aka the wife’s car) to head into town wearing good clothes. The ute is purely for business, and that business involves doing things with crops and uncooperative animals. Looks do not matter when it comes to the farm ute; in fact, if it looks pretty, it’s suspicious.
Two main factors make a farm ute what it is: the mud and the flat deck out the back. If it hasn’t got these, it’s not a farm ute.
The mud may get onto the farm ute in a number of ways. It may get kicked up from the surface of a gravel road or a farm track, or it may get splattered onto the sides of the machine by wet dogs, runaway bullocks and a range of farm implements. The mud is a semi-permanent fixture on the ute, especially as the closest the farm ute ever gets to a car wash is when it gets driven out to inspect the irrigation system or when it rains. If you are squeamish, don’t inspect the mud too closely, as some of it may be animal crap.
If you are squeamish, you really don’t want to take a look at the flat deck itself. This will definitely have animal excretions on it of all varieties. You will also not be able to get close enough to the deck to inspect it, as it is likely to have at least one dog standing on it, chained to a set of bars behind the rear window. Other animals likely to be found on the flat deck include sheep (live), calves (live), pigs (dead after a hunting trip) and cattle (dead and sometimes in bits). The flat deck is also likely to contain miscellaneous sacks of animal feed, seed or fertilizer, and a selection of coils of wire, spades, crowbars, ropes and other tools. The whole point of the ute, after all, is to carry more stuff than the tractor, motorbike or quad bike does, as well as usually being road-legal, meaning that if the farmer needs to go down the road from farm block to farm block, or to the agricultural supply store to pick up the jumbo-sized sack of dog biscuits, a new elastrator and a salt block or two.
Utes may be twin-cab or single-cab, although single-cabs are more common. Double-cabs tend to be used when there’s a crew of workers to be lugged around or if there’s a heap of stuff that shouldn’t get wet or muddy, such as grass seeds or chemical sprays. Double-cabs tend to be a kind of mobile toolshed. Even in a single-cab ute, the front seat is likely to hold random bits of paperwork as well as a lunchbox and thermos flask – where the dogs can’t get at it. The interior will also be muddy.
Bells and whistles are also in short supply inside the farm ute. GPS systems are useless, as even the most sophisticated ones aren’t going to tell you the shortest way from the cattle yards to Field 3 in D Block. Any rear parking cameras are going to be covered in mud before too long, so they’re no good, either. Must-haves in the farm ute are the radio (so you can listen to the cricket while mending fences) and the horn (for turning the ute into a sort of mechanical dog that barks to move stock along).
The farm ute may or may not have 4×4 capacity, although it frequently does. This is because the typical farm ute usually sees more off-road action than many fancy 4x4s. Fancy 4x4s – the ones that look like they had a military origin along the lines of Jeep and Land Rover – are never used as farm utes. This is because they lack the all-important flat deck.
Those Signs On The Dashboard
One of the things that you have to learn when you buy a new car is what all the information displayed on the dashboard is what all the warning lights mean. In the cars I remember from my childhood, like the old Mitsubishi Sigma station-wagon my dad let me steer down the driveway, and the Simca that was the first car I owned, there were only a few warning lights: usually the fuel light.
Today’s cars have many more sensors and information systems to let you know just about everything that’s going on with its inner workings. This information is usually presented to you via a little light on your dashboard. But these little lights don’t (or usually don’t) come right out and say something intelligible and straightforward like “Fog lights not working” or “Engine about to explode”. This is because the car was probably designed by Germans, built by Chinese, intended for Brits and sold to Aussies. Just as well, or these information lights might end up with classic examples of Chinglish along the lines of “Lanterns for use when soft cloud sleeping on ground not happy”.
Here, then, is a guide to what they mean…or at least what they look like they mean In the diagrams below, the numbers refer to the columns and the capital letters to the rows
Figure I:
- 1A: Soprano singing very high note; may shatter the glass of the windscreen.
- 2A: Beware of signpost shaped like a spanner.
- 3A: Aliens attempting to beam up sailing ship.
- 4A: Pigs with turbo-propellers fitted so they can fly. Activate manure-proof umbrella immediately.
- 1B: Badminton competition ahead.
- 2B: Asteroid approaching.
- 3B: (exact meaning of this has been sensored censored, as this post needs to be G-rated).
- 4B: You have overturned your bowl of noodles.
Figure I
Figure II:
- 1A: Whales visible ahead.
- 2A: Beware of Lego building blocks on road ahead.
- 3A: Turn around and go back: you’re heading the wrong way.
- 4A: North is this way.
- 5A: This car is Chitty-chitty-bang-bang and is about to take off.
- 6A: Very large insect on windscreen.
- 1B: Do you have the balls to drive this car?
- 2B: Flowers
- 3B: Please ensure that head is at the top and feet are down the bottom before attempting to drive.
- 4B: You need to go on a diet.
- 5B: Daleks ahead.
- 6B: Fair Isle or Scandinavian knitting not recommended while driving.
- 1C: Rub steering wheel to make genie appear and turn car into magic carpet.
- 2C: See Figure I, 4A
- 3C: See Figure I, 3B
- 4C: Visit nearest STI clinic immediately
- 5C: See Figure 1, 2B
- 6C: You are about to be kidnapped by the Illuminati.
- 1D: Whales this direction
- 2D: Exit this way
- 3D: Dark Lord approaching. Destroy One Ring immediately.
- 4D: See 1A
- 5D: Love your six-pack!
- 6D: Do not attempt to drive this car unless you are psychic
Figure II
And if you take this seriously, I suggest that you grab the handbook that was sitting in the glovebox of the car when you bought it and look up what they really mean.
Safe and happy driving,
Megan
Level 2, 9 Help Street