Posts by James Green
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I presume the professional drivers that ferry the big trucks & buses up & down
I hadn't thought of it in this context before, but it occurs to me that the fastest trucks on the road are actually govt run. Shame on NZ Post?
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If I should ever choose to own an incandescent lightbulb, it is my call. I pay for it, I pay to run it, I determine how I wish to use it. If you want to tell me how I should light my house, perhaps I should come around to your houses and tell you what to read, or what music to listen to, or what causes you can support.
</heh>
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Just a niggly little point. SUVs don't really have a single stated purpose. By definition, they are supposed to be able to do many things, hence the Utility part of SUV.
Yeah, but not many other vehicles have a single stated purpose, and if you're considering the set of purposes that various modes of wheeled thing have in common, and what sets an SUV apart, it is the 4WD bit. Otherwise, it shares most of the same purposes as say a van or a people mover.
In a fairly spurious vein, I note a (diesel) Ford Transit is good for 8.1 L/100km, which is comfortably better than a Land Cruiser or a Previa for that matter. And you'd be surprised how much stuff and people you can fit in a Transit. And I've seen them tow some pretty good loads as well.
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It's kind of funny how personal this has got.
Couple of points
* There are plenty of old poorly tuned, Surfs, Teranos and Bighorns (esp. the Lotus version) around
* I learnt to drive in an '84 Holden Jackaroo. It has a 2L motor. Most of the Surfs/Hiluxes of that era has 2-2.5L motors. These days, 4WDs start at maybe 2.7, but 3-4L is the norm. The ol' 2L Jackaroo was quite capable of towing a big load, but maybe not the 120km/h norm you see across the Canterbury Plains, SUV+boat
* Modern SUVs are terrifying. The ol' Holden had no power steering. You got a pretty good idea of why it was a bad idea to go round corners at speed (damn good workout). The new ones you just point and shoot round the corner, at least until your grip gives out.
* As a grow'd up (ish), I considered buying a 4WD, but eventually decided the benefits didn't outweigh the costs. Thus, I started out with 2WD station wagons, and eventually moved into 4WD station wagons. I think I occasionally burst SUV owners bubbles when they're out the back of beyond, and they see me driving past in a car. Even people who take their vehicles off-road don't usually take them places you can't get a 4WD car, or a 2WD car for that matter.
* There are places I can't go in my car, which is kind of sad, but they're pretty few and far between. There is one ford in the Rainbow, the Nevis is probably a little nasty ford-wise, but I have got a 2WD car from Bannockburn to Clyde (recommended, in a slightly insane sort of way). The Old Dunstan Road is pretty great as well.In conclusion, having a 4WD is a little like having a towbar. It's quite useful, but you might be rather surprised what you can do without one. Admittedly, towbars don't do a great deal for street cred.
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petrol has gone up 35 percent in the last year whereas diesel has gone up 80 percent
I read somewhere the other day that this is because there has been an underinvestment in diesel-producing facilities at refineries, combined with increasing useage.
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I don't know why anyone would pay to get their TV listings on paper these days. There's several online.
Not that I've actively subscribed to the Listener for some years (I found reading a few of the columns from multiple back issues at parents & grandparents places satisfactory), but there is a lot to be said for seeing the TV listings in advance, and having intelligent commentary guiding you to things to watch.
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Rich, we're going balls-out for the chardonnay socialist niche.
It's always struck me as one of socialism's great problems is the association with Chardonnay. If Riesling had an ideology, that would be something to fight for.
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Gee - maybe it's time to roll a cheap OTA PVR - I keep threatening to make a DIY-with-your-old-PC-and-Myth standalone CD - most of the bits are readily available now.
Oooh. Last I checked, myth was still having ish-yews with HDFreeView, but it does appear that they might have been sorted. I'm certainly keen to go down this route. I'd quite like to digitise and then store my CD collection as well.
Mind you the local newspaper here in Dunedin is more confused, last week they ran a 1/4 page article expousing the wonders of a particular digital TV solution for your PC - trouble was it only actually works on US cable systems
It was about half way through reading that article that I realised how deranged it was. Comedy gold.
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Maybe Labour should whip out a Bill to put the law in line with the current de-facto situation.
I'd be really excited to see Labour run with some legislation on principle.
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I wouldn't want to go buy the book. It just encourages them.
Like the guy that claims he was a spy involved in the Sutch affair. When it (deservedly soon) ended up in the bargain bin, I was a mite tempted, but with the release of the SIS documents, I'm pleased I didn't. Certainly didn't want to fund his retirement.