Does Libya have flying cars?

There is a "no fly zone" over Libya right now being patrolled by all sorts of airplanes from all sorts of countries.

I just saw a picture of some burning vehicles in Libya that were hit by an airplane from one of the countries patrolling the "no fly zone". They looked like cars and trucks to me.

So does Libya have flying cars? Such an advanced technology... maybe no one should be firing at such an advanced technology, hmm?

Is the automobile an extension of the human?

Whilst at the farmer's market this morning I heard a snippet of conversation:

"I was broken into! During the fireworks. I was parked in the underground."

I was a bit alarmed when I took that at face value - breaking into a human being sounds painful! Then I realised she meant her automobile was broken into.

It sounded like this person took personal affront at having her automobile broken into. But this sounds like just a crime of opportunity to me. The robber probably had never thought about - and will never think about - the owner of the car! It was truly nothing personal, he just wanted to steal stuff.

So now this woman is traumatized about having her automobile violated. This does not sound like a healthy extension of the self to include your possessions. If you extend that to all of your possessions, you will see yourself getting old in so many ways, and bumped, and bits of you will break down and need replacing, and other bits will be hopelessly outdated and tired.

This doesn't sound healthy, but I think it's a prevalent attitude in the western world. How sad.

Does the shushing help?

It's a cool, calm, still night as I sit next to an open window reading.

A car alarm goes off. They do that. They do that all the time. Once we had to live through a car alarm going off every couple of minutes all night long. Visions of throwing a large piece of furniture onto the car were dashed by the spotting of the objectionable car too far down the street for us to drop anything on it. Shit happens. It's the insurance company's way of making life hell for everyone even if they don't own a car and can't be financially tormented with it. As if it helps cut down on cars being stolen. I "pssff" in the insurance company's general direction.

There is now a bylaw on the books where we can call the police and waste their time coming to tag and have a car with an endless alarm going off towed away with a stern talking-to promised for the car owner. That way people all over the city can listen to the offending car whine as it is being towed away.

Last night the silliest of all methods was used to try to silence the car: "Shhh!" A little voice in the night said "Shhh!" I almost laughed out loud.

A minute or so later the alarm stopped. Maybe that was the first stage of the car alarm stopping. First, you chastise your car with a stern "Shhh!" and then you put the key in the door and turn it. I can see technical writers all over the place implementing that suggestion for the instruction manual. "For idiots who set off their own car alarms, give the car a stern shushing, and then turn off the alarm and open the car door properly. Look embarrassed."

Isn't talking on your cell while driving rude?

So, ignoring the fact that talking on the phone while you are driving strikes terror into the hearts of pedestrians on the sidewalks around you, and flares anger from the other drivers around you as you do such a bad job of driving... isn't it rather rude?

Putting aside the possibility that it really is All About You...

1. Are you really supposed to mount the curb while parallel parking?
2. Are bumpers really supposed to be used to hit the cars ahead and behind your parking spot when you are parking your car?
3. Is the terrified passenger in your car ever going to want a ride from you again?
4. If you are talking to someone while driving, shouldn't it be your passenger - or do they really enjoy having to hear half of someone else's phone conversation?
5. Does the person on the other end of the phone conversation really only deserve a small part of your attention?
6. Is talking to you really a pain in the ass for the person you are talking to on the phone - so they aren't really paying attention to you either?
7. Have you noticed that no one wants to talk to you when you don't catch them on your phone? Is that the only way you can pin them down to talk?

Hints are flying at you, lets hope they don't hit you like that telephone pole that just jumped out in front of you...

Why use air conditioning in your automobile?

Yes, OK, I used to live in Toronto and I know how hot it gets there, so I can understand why everyone in Toronto drives around with their windows up and their air conditioning on. But now I live in Vancouver, where the weather is more moderate, and the air is typically between -5 and +25 degrees Celsius. Never really too cold, and not often too hot.

So why, after about 8 months of rain – constant, daily, day-long, month-long rain – on the first warm sunny day in the spring, were people driving around with their windows up and their air conditioning on???

We were driving on a short vacation on Vancouver Island between Victoria and Parksville (which is just North of Nanaimo) in the middle of May. It was a gorgeous sunny day, and we had the windows down, and if we were dogs, we'd have had our heads out the windows. It was fabulous to have a truly warm day. Many of the other automobiles around us had the windows down and smiling people inside, just like us.

But there were other vehicles with the windows rolled up and the regular determined, grumpy looking people inside. It was warm enough they had to have air conditioning on to survive inside the vehicle if the windows were closed. But why? Why didn't they roll down the windows and enjoy the day?

Yes, the Hummer that passed us with rolled-up windows was not a surprise, if you hate the environment enough to drive one of those, why bother to roll down the window, save some gas, and enjoy the day?

But it looked like a lot of people were heading out for a weekend of camping, with their windows rolled up and air-conditioning on. Do they enjoy the sudden rush of fresh air when they arrive at their camp-ground and open their car door that much that they didn't want to contaminate that moment with some fresh air before it on the way up?

Some people looked like they were driving home from work, with their windows rolled up and air-conditioning on. Did they enjoy the climate-controlled - recycled, hasn't been fresh since the building went up - air inside their offices so much they didn't want to spoil that feeling with fresh air on the way home?

It is truly mystifying why humans will put themselves in uncomfortable environments when the alternative is so easy. Roll down the window, take in some fresh air, and enjoy life!