Park Smart

If you drive to work, where do you park?  My job has a lot directly at the front door, with plenty of space… until the building owners came in one say and put “Reserved” signs on more than half of them, leaving us just two officially reserved for the company and the rest of us to fend for ourselves with the first come, first served ones.  If the front lot is full we have to park down the street, which is a good 3 to 5 minute walk away.  Not much, when you need the exercise – but a pain in the neck when it’s raining, especially when you want to go home and have to make the mad dash for your car.

Here’s a tip if you get stuck in that situation : Lunch hour.  You only need a few people to drive somewhere for lunch to give you the opportunity to go out to that back parking lot, get your car and bring it up to the now temporarily open space in front of the building.

Don’t Steal Gas

http://jalopnik.com/5271379/the-six-best-ways-to-steal-gas-and-one-really-bad-way

As summer approaches we can once again look forward to drastically spiking gas prices, think about selling our cars, biking more, and generally pass the time until September when the prices come down again.

Until then, the linked Jalopnik article offers some – hopefully for entertainment value only! – ways of getting your gas much cheaper.

Technology could stop speeding and crashes

A device that could dramatically reduce the number of collisions by eliminating driver error is to be tested in Europe. The system uses technology similar to wi-fi to enable vehicles to communicate with each other, sharing information about their speed and location, to determine when a crash is imminent.

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How to Fix Squeaky Brakes

Don't put up with that awful caterwauling noise when you drive. Most car brake noise is easy to fix.

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Bike To Work Week

http://www.merrimackvalleytma.com/BiketoWork09.htm

My local “Transportation Management Association” sponsored Bike to Work Day today, and I’m happy to report that I actually got off my sorry butt and did it.  I rode my bike the 3.5ish or so miles to work.  It’s not a lot – I particularly like how the guy at the finish line said “We’ll round up.” –- it was more for the feeling of accomplishment that I could actually say I’d do it and then do it.

Wore regular work pants, sneakers, and a t-shirt.  Packed fresh shirt, along with my laptop, in a backpack, the only travel bag I really have.  Will have to look for some sort of messenger bag if I do this more often.  Wore helmet.  Did not listen to iPod.

Ride was good.  Tried to stay in the road (to the side) like I’m supposed to, not on the sidewalk.  Still getting the hang of intersections and the right combination of “I’m a vehicle obeying the rules of the road so please don’t smash into me if I want to go straight and you want to turn left” and “I’ll go ahead and slow down and be careful, just in case.”  Did almost get hit, ironically enough in front of the police station, as a woman in an SUV was so busy pulling up to a point where she could see who was coming to her right, that she never bothered to look at me on her left.  On top of that, I was even in a crosswalk at the time. 

When I arrived at work there was a guy there to hand out t-shirts and offer free breakfast, as expected.  Also to tabulate results, as they’re doing some sort of statewide challenge and trying to bank 300,000 miles this week.  Well, I contributed my 7 :).  8, if you look at what the guy wrote…

It was also much quicker than I expected.  I allowed myself half an hour  / 45 minutes, since I really had no clue.  Turns out it took me closer to 25 minutes.  And I’m sure if I was riding with more confidence that I wasn’t gonna die, it’d get faster than that.

Maybe this’ll be my new thing?  Could be.  I’m going to ride back home over lunch and swap out for the car, since I’m not sure whether my legs are going to have the energy to make the trip back and I’d rather not find out during rush hour traffic.

The Hottest New Cars Prove Small is Beautiful [PICS]

From electric MINIs and Mitsubishis to high gas mileage Fiats, Smarts, Fords and more, see the hip, pint-sized new cars soon to hit American roads.

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10 Most Lethal Driving Mistakes

From not buckling up to not getting enough shut-eye, here's a rundown of the 10 most common mistakes motorists make.

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