Friday, April 26, 2013
... and yours probably will too.
When I’m driving around town, either for work or just for the heck of it, I find that my car gets about 19 to 20 miles per gallon. The car is up to date on maintenance, its tires are usually filled up properly and I drive conservatively. Still … it goes through a gallon of dino-juice after about 20 miles. It’s not bad, as the car is nine years old, and I don’t complain about it. There have been a few instances — usually after leaving a late-night municipal meeting in which every commissioner/board member had to thank everyone from his mother to his tailor in closing comments — where I have had the opportunity to do some hypermiling around town. Hypermiling is paying close attention to driving habits to maximize fuel economy. It’s fun, …
Monday, April 22, 2013
After flirting with 80 on Friday, cooler air has worked into the region for the next several days, reminding us that consistent summery warmth is not quite upon us yet.
The eastern half of the country will generally see cooler weather over the coming week, which is a bit of a change from what we've had the past two weeks. So far, Philadelphia is running about three degrees above average this month and it's pretty likely we finish April above average on temperatures. However, the western half of the country, where cooler weather has dominated, will warm over the coming week while we take a turn dealing with cooler weather. It won't necessarily be cold by any stretch, and certainly not on the order of what Minnesota has been dealing with! Northeastern Minnesota had temperatures as cold as -14 on Saturday morning and areas near the Twin Cities picked up nearly a foot of snow on Thursday. That level of …
Saturday, April 20, 2013
New Coach Chip Kelly and the Philadelphia Eagles have the No. 4 pick in the NFL Draft next week.
"And with the second pick in the 1999 NFL Draft, the Philadelphia Eagles select Quarterback Donovan McNabb from Syracuse..." Boo, Boo, Boo, Boo, Boo. That's the sound that drowned out that selection when Coach Andy Reid made a major decision with a major draft pick, thus shaping his tenure and the team's future for the next decade. And that pick didn't turn out so bad: McNabb is easily one of the greatest quarterbacks in franchise history, having taken the Eagles to the Super Bowl and five NFC Championship Games. So can Geno Smith be McNabb all over again? After an awful season, the Philadelphia Eagles hold the fourth pick in the NFL Draft, which begins Thursday. You hear a lot of names being tossed around. It's not really a strong draft …
Friday, April 19, 2013
The Fort Washington-based Fabspeed adds power to the already powerful.
This week, AAA released its annual report analyzing the annual cost per mile to operate a sedan in the U.S. It’s up 1.17 cents over last year to about $0.61 per mile. And apparently, the main reason for the increase is vehicle maintenance. The report kind of makes you giggle after taking a trip to Fabspeed Motorsports in Fort Washington, which dubs itself as a performance manufacturing company. Average driving costs are up slightly over a penny per mile? Parsing the difference in cost between gas and maintenance? Not here. Fabspeed is a place for people who think their Ferrari 458s and Porsche GT2s are underpowered. The company sits in a discreet building in an office complex a couple miles from Philadelphia. Other than the company’s …
Monday, April 15, 2013
It's not going to be the nicest of weeks, at times, but generally mild temperatures will dominate the upcoming weather pattern.
After a pair of record highs last week in Philadelphia, getting to 84 on Tuesday and 89 on Wednesday, another mild week is ahead of us. It will not be as warm as last week (sorry, summer fans) but it will still be mild for the most part around the region through Friday as high temperatures get into the 60s most days, with a couple of chances at 70 between Tuesday and Friday. We have 70 or higher in the forecast for Thursday and Friday at this point, but Tuesday and Wednesday are days when we may also hit that mark. Three different weather features will work through the region this week―the first, a weak system on Monday night and Tuesday, pushes up the East Coast from the South and will bring rain and drizzle to the region. It wouldn't …
Saturday, April 13, 2013
The Philadelphia 76ers expected a season of promise with a big off-season trade. Now the franchise is on the verge of collapse.
We interrupt the start of the baseball season to report that another Philadelphia sports team won't be making the playoffs this year. So much for your Philadelphia 76ers. After a past few years of exciting new ownership, promising playoff victories and high-profile trades, the Sixers have sunk to the lowest depths of the four Philly sports franchises this year. The finger pointing is endless. This has been one disaster of a season. In the beginning of the year, the possibilities and promise were endless. The team, with numerous free agent signings and trades in the off-season, appeared prime to take off. With rising stars Jrue Holiday and Evan Turner leading the way, the Sixers added a dominant force in the middle that would allow them to …
Friday, April 12, 2013
April is National Distracted Driving Awareness Month; maybe sticks would help.
It’s always a rough ride for me when I’m forced to drive my wife’s car — a delightfully reliable, cute, sea-foam green front-wheel drive appliance from Korea. For the first few blocks it must look like the car is missing the “student driver” tent. The car shudders and stops short as my left foot keeps mashing the left side of the brake pedal … thinking there’s a clutch pedal there. I’m no scientist, but it might be a muscle memory thing, as I log tens of thousands of miles per year on a car with a manual transmission. I love driving my manual-equipped car (Is there anything better than a perfect rev-matched downshift?) and I know I’m in the minority. In fact, it took me months to find my current car, as most people don’t want to be …
Monday, April 8, 2013
After a March that felt more like January, April is feeling more like May with a surge of warmth ahead.
Our region dealt with snow a couple of weeks ago. This week, the burst of spring warmth will flood the region and send pollen counts soaring and have people scurrying for their prefered allergy medicine. A surge of warmth is going to push into the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast for at least a couple of days and the first 70 degree days of the year are in the forecast. A frontal boundary will loom to our north starting Monday night and early Tuesday, providing for a path for rain and thunder to push east across the northern tier of Pennsylvania. As of now, it looks like the frontal boundary stays just far enough north of our region to allow us to remain in a warm pattern through much of the week. However, given it's still early April and …
Saturday, April 6, 2013
The question of whether the Philadelphia Phillies have a successful 2013 is up to the top three pitchers, not the hitters.
They are the Big Three. But we're not talking about Ryan Howard, Chase Utley and Jimmy Rollins for the Philadelphia Phillies. We're talking about Cole Hamels, Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee. And it's that Big Three—as opposed to the Big Boppers—who will decide whether the Phils will have success in 2013. From the first two games, we all should worry. Hamels—the former World Series MVP with the big start who was pitching his first Opening Day—got shelled by the Atlanta Braves. Maybe it was Opening Day jitters or the chill in the air, but we Phillies fans expect Hamels now to perform like Steve Carlton when he takes the mound. In other words, we expect nothing short of perfection. That didn't happen Monday night as Hamels was sent to the showers…
Friday, April 5, 2013
A 1951 Chevrolet Bel Air Coupe gets a rare distinction from Guinness World Records ... and somewhere a man from Wisconsin is probably bummed out.
It’s got to feel strange when you show up to an event and your other car — the one with vintage tags — is parked prominently at your destination … blocked off by traffic cones. “I suppose the guy who stole my car likes to eat here too. At least he’s taking care of the car,” one might think. James C. Rees Sr., of Collegeville, probably had a feeling like that last Saturday. Rees arrived, along with his wife, to the Collegeville Italian Bakery. The reason? Well, his granddaughter, who’s on the Methacton High School swim team, had just something-or-othered relating to the team, and the family decided to celebrate. Actually, the party was for Rees and his car — a 1951 Chevrolet Bel Air Coupe. For about five months, Rees’ family members have…
mtwnres
3:33 pm on Thursday, May 2, 2013
And the well is getting deeper all the time. http://www.nationaljournal.com/daily/the-u-s-has-much-much-more-gas-and-oil-than-we-thought-20130430 Wouldn't trade my SUV for anything. more ›