DygiScape

Where are the E85 Stations?

Considering that many auto manufacturers sell a lot of vehicles which are E85 (”Flex Fuel”) compatible, why aren’t there any closer E85 Stations here in Northern Virginia?

This weekend, I was going to try an experiment to test different mixtures of E85 to Regular Unleaded 87 octane, to see if there was any MPG or power increase. Well, consider this test busted because I’m not going to drive 50 miles to the closest station that sells E85. (I did this once in Tucson, and I felt more responsiveness from the car, but negligible gains on the MPG…)

What’s so special about E85? It is a type of gasoline which is gasoline mixture of 85% Ethanol, which is 110 Octane. Typical “racing fuel,” E85 surpasses Methanol-based gasolines in terms of the Octane rating and the overall cost. The other side of the issue, is the fossil fuel stuff. Ethanol is grown here in the USA, from Corn. A lot less crude oil is necessary to make E85.

Argh! Why isn’t Shell offering E85? At least in Ashburn, where 90% of the vehicles in that area can run on E85? (For those that don’t know, Shell dominates the gas stations out here.)

Tags: e85, ethanol, gas, northern va, rant, Rants, stations, virginia

NoVA Street Racing Scene = Fail.

So, this Friday I got all excited to venture around to meet up with the local ricers and such. After some small talk, I was surprised to see that street racing here is non-existent.

[ Yes, we can debate about the moral and legal issues concerning street racing, but that will be for a future entry.]

There’s no drama between racing factions, no he says/she says crap, and no stolen parts conundrums. It’s kind of interesting. Also, the collection of cars, the American Muscle and foreign cars park next to each other and just hang out. People meet up to hang out and not cause trouble.

Being more curious, I asked what happens when the 5-0 comes around? Simply put, the cops don’t do anything unusual. They simply drive by to make sure no one is fighting or causing a public disturbance. Wow.

A few other reasons why street racing is rare, is the the aggressive enforcement from the police when you are caught, aggressive judgment (biased in the police’s favor), and excessive fines on top of it. I can totally understand. If you didn’t know, street racing in Virginia carries hefty penalties:

• Seizure of all vehicles who participated in illegal street racing. [Ref.]
• License suspension 6Mo. to 2 Years, at discretion of the court. [Ref.]
• License shall be assigned 6 demerit points. [Ref.]
• $350.00 Civil Remedial Fee. [Ref.]

Yeah, so let it be known that I do not engage, participate, promote, or encourage any illegal street racing in the state of Virginia.

So I asked about the local drag strip, Old Dominion. It’s a 1/8 mile strip! Not even a full quarter-mile. It’s about 20 minutes from me, it’s not worth it to go. I find it so hard to fathom how they couldn’t lay out another 1/8 mile of asphalt!

In conclusion, drag racing and street racing is a pretty dead scene. Call it good for the safety of others, call it good cause another scene hits the dust thanks to legislation. I miss drag racing.

Tags: drag racing, northern va, Rants, street racing, virginia

More Snow in Virginia!

Just when the blast of snow we had melted away, we received another blanket of snow. Temperatures weren’t that low (e.g. 30F…) so it resulted in a slushy, dangerous mix for Virginia drivers.

Here are a few pictures I snapped from my bedroom:

[tags]Virginia, Snow, Lansdowne, Winter, Photos, Pictures[/tags]

Tags: northern va, virginia, Weather

It’s Only Getting Colder

I just saw this on my weather feed…

Tags: northern va, virginia, Weather

What a Wild Past Two-and-a-Half Weeks

Over the past couple weeks since I moved out here to Virginia, things have been fun, challenging, and even inspiring. I’ll hopefully not JUST talk about work this time around. First and foremost my temporary housing is definitely satisfactory for my needs. Oh yeah! Traffic jams up where I am at what we’d expect, rush hour.

Side note: Virginia drivers are: Rude, Aggressive, Angry, and excessive speeders

This Thanksgiving, I went to my Uncle’s brother’s house and had a good time. It was a nice surprise to see my Aunt, Uncle, and two cousins drive down from NJ. The topics one should never discuss at a Thanksgiving dinner was brought up - Politics. I sat idly and observed the statements made - I’m glad we accepted our political differences out that I was a little more “progressive” than others (realistically, I’m a mild conservative). Oh yeah I forgot my camera at their house, but I’ll meet up with my Uncle’s brother at work sometime and I will be happy to take pictures and upload the ones I have.

Black Friday was quite successful for me. Although I wasn’t able to get one of my targeted items; I however did manage to pick up a few things. It’s amazing the business/profit aspect individuals seem to have. I checked Craigslist today and saw nearly one Black Friday special being sold for MSRP. I hope they get 419′d. It should be a rule that if you are waiting in line for Black Friday, you are not to resell the items. It’s not fair. Those are people’s gifts, and they choose to just list them on Craigslist and gouge the buyers.

Finally, I made a bad, regrettable decision. I purchased a 2004 Acura TL. No, the car is not bad at all, I fell in love with it instantly. THAT was my problem. I bought it. Money is tight this year because of it. I’ll see what me and the dealer can work out so I am not SO much in the hole. If you have $28K and want to buy a beautiful car in the Northern Virginia area- let me know!

Work lately has been wearing down on me. I am noticing myself being more productive with my daily duties and customer inquiries are resolved with a blazing 10 minute turnaround time and I like seeing the “Thank You” replies in the mailbox. I still feel uncomfortable since well my group is doing a lot of change and yet I am still not feeling 100% capable of doing things singlehandedly. So this is where my instincts come into play, and I must innovate and make things work for me (or atleast my team). My boss must be very agile as she hasn’t yelled at me yet, even though I think there could have been a few times or so for her to (lol). I feel for my mentor on the team (where I am effectively taking over some of his tasks), as I ask a lot of questions, sometimes redundant. My logic is there is no stupid questions, and never assume. I think his patience is there cause once I do the tasks right, he can move on to bigger and better things. (ahh, that felt good to get out)
The bottom line is, I’m stressed out and my body is telling me to cool it. It can’t even fight off the common cold. I never get pwnd as much as I am now over a silly cold. Bah, whatever. I just gotta relax, and take things in stride.

UPDATE 12/2/2006: I talked with my dealer about what options I had if I didn’t wish to keep the car, and beyond going to a Repo, I exchanged it for a more moderate of a car - 2007 Ford Taurus (06 - really). Cheaper payment, better gas mileage. Thanks Mike @ Farrish Automotive!

Tags: Automotive, northern va, Personal, virginia, Weekly