Ethanol - And the Corn Cob Isn't the Only Part You're Getting Screwed With!

Ethanol, also known as corn alcohol, was once touted as America's road to independence from foreign oil. Turning corn into alcohol to fuel internal combustion engines, as an abundant, relatively low cost, All-American homemade form of fuel, while boosting farm output and helping America's farmers. A grandiose idea of being energy self-sufficient with clean fuel dripping from that familiar yellow ear of corn all over the Midwest. Touted as a massive, never-ending supply. Gasohol stations sprouted up in the south and Midwest with over 1000 stations selling gasohol by January of 1980, with this new-fangled, and costly fuel in pumps ablaze with bright corn symbols.

Sounds great on the surface. doesn't it? Too bad most of it is...well..bullcrap! Let's see just how the Washington bureaucrats and administration has foisted a miserable hoax on the American people, costing us billions of dollars, not only in taxes, but also in fuel costs and repairs and added to the lousy gas mileage for our cars. And, providing 7 billion dollars in farm subsidies to grow corn strictly for ethanol fuel use, which we actually have little use for. Supporting farmers is one thing but why not grow the corn for food for impoverished people?

First, let's look at the BTU (British Thermal Units) equivalency of gasoline to ethanol. According to experts, there are 116,090 BTU's of energy in a U.S. gallon of regular grade gasoline, 76,000 BTU's of energy in a U.S. gallon of ethanol. Thus, it takes 1.53 gallons of ethanol to equal the same energy output of one U.S. gallon of gasoline.

Ethanol costs approximately 57 cents more per gallon to produce than gasoline! Add that together with the fact that it takes 1.53 gallons to equal the power of one gallon of gasoline! That alone equates to 87 cents in real energy costs for every gallon you put in your tank, using only ethanol. So, if gasoline was $3.00 a gallon in real cost in California, a guesstimated price for ethanol would be $3.57 a gallon. However, to produce the same energy of that gallon of $3.00 gasoline, you would have to fill up with 1.53 gallons of ethanol at a cost of $4.59 per gasoline gallon equivalent to drive the same miles. Now do you understand how you've been conned and screwed by the ethanol hoax?

Ethanol mileage tests showed that vehicles operated on ethanol gave exactly 2/3 the mileage of the same vehicles operated on gasoline!

"The EPA measured the gas mileage of what are called E85 (up to 85 percent ethanol) vehicles on the 2006 flexible fuel models. For the 31 models they tested the average reduction is 26% fewer miles per gallon. For example a car that gets 30 mpg on regular would typically get 22.2 mpg with E85. This is exactly what is predicted from the fact that E85 has less energy per gallon than gasoline.

For these calculations, the EPA assumes that E85 costs $2.00 and regular $2.20/gallon. Obviously they are way off on the low side, especially for ethanol, but this proportion is similar to what DOE predict for the next few years. The loss in mileage more than makes up for the cost savings, and on average the EPA predicts driving on E85 will cost 23% more than driving on regular."

Ethanol is corrosive, and damages rubber and other engine parts. When it was introduced, motorists had major problems with engines that were not manufactured to allow the introduction of ethanol into the system, and seals leaked, and parts failed, necessitating expensive repairs. Lawnmowers, chainsaws, garden and landscaping equipment, outboard motors and marine engines suffered damage because of the ethanol blend. Now they have been re-designed to run with the current 10% ethanol, but not any greater percentage! But hold on...our government is allowing even more to flow into your tank!

On October 13, the EPA allowed an increase in the amount of ethanol in your fuel from 10% to 15%. The automakers, as well as 38 other groups, including environmental and others asked for congressional hearings, but were waved off and the EPA simply went through with the okay.

Does increased use of ethanol reduce dependence on foreign oil? Hell no! In the ten year period between 1999 and 2009, U.S. ethanol production increased from approximately 100,000 barrels per day to over 700,000 barrels per day. During that same time frame, our oil imports actually increased in excess of what the ethanol production was! I have heard that during the same time period, US oil exports doubled to 2 million barrels per day. That's amazing. We import more as demand grows yet we still export oil? And then provide 7 billion of dollars in farm subsidies to grow corn for ethanol to provide fuel we don't need? Ethanol production levels obviously have had had no apparent effect on oil imports or consumption.

What about pollution? The EPA admitted back in 2007 that increased use of ethanol in gasoline would increase emissions of key air pollutants, including volatile organic compounds and nitrogen oxides, by as much as 7 percent. On October 20, the agency again acknowledged that more ethanol consumption will mean higher emissions of key pollutants.

On a personal note, we had a gasohol station in Florida that dispensed this wondrous concoction to the public without warning of the consequences of use. Seems that someone, somewhere, believed that high ethanol concentrations would be fine in cars. Much like a physician failing to warn you of the dire consequences of a new prescription, vehicles quickly stopped running as fuel filters clogged, rubber gaskets started leaking, carburetors became inoperative and the local repair shops were overwhelmed with repairs. Seems the gasohol was a poor fuel, but a wonderful solvent that ate everything in sight! It scoured the gas tanks so clean that all the gunk was dissolved into the fuel lines and clogged the filters. Either you had to drain the tank of 20 gallons of gas, or change the filters numerous times until all the gunk was out of the tank and lines. Then the gaskets in the carburetors needed changing, the rubber gas lines from tank to steel lines needed replacing, any under hood rubber lines containing fuel needed replacement. Lots of dollars lost here. And the gasohol station? It became a no-name regular fuel station quickly no longer selling gasohol. The end of the corn fuel history in my area.

Bend over, folks. That corn cob isn't done with you yet! The increased percentages of ethanol will obviously create problems for your cars and other power equipment. The bad noises you hear from under your hood are just your cars way of telling you that those people in Washington don't have your welfare at heart, unless you're on welfare that is. The noises will get louder and no, you can't take the repair bills off on your taxes either. Thank the EPA and the current administration for that.

The Elections Are Almost...Over..Will the Trash Be Picked Up?

Every time we have elections, the candidates seem to think the more paper, and card stock signs they can plant all over, the better chances they have of being elected. Well, frankly, I don't see it that way. I see it as a blight on the streets of America and a mess that is seldom cleaned up immediately after election day.

For example, several days ago, I was driving on beautiful Pacific Coast Highway in Carlsbad, California when all of a sudden there was a blight of signs. They were blocking the view of traffic coming down a particularly bad intersection, where one road enters another. The signs were literally one on top of the other, as each candidates helpers jammed their sign as close to the other candidates sign, either to block it from view, or to get as much view for their own as possible. Take your pick, but what really occurred is they blocked the motorists' view, and created a traffic hazard! In about a half mile stretch of that beautiful road were hundreds of signs for candidates. It's almost as if one sign is planted and others grow up immediately along side of it!

On fences, on sticks, posts, poles, walls, anywhere they can be fastened, it seems they show up. On lawns and trees (if they don't get caught) and even attached to homes, the signs stare out hoping you'll vote for some candidate for a particular office, many of whom you have never heard of before. Or whom you have already passed over in the voter guide. Or whom you now wish you had never heard of, perhaps!

Then comes the election. And it's over. And the signs remain, although it's now illegal and subject to fines if the signs are nor removed within a certain number of days following election. But what happens? It seems the energy of the campaigns becomes drained and people now don't have the energy to go around and remove all the signs. Or don't remember where the last hundred or so signs were placed. And so, since it's illegal to remove another person's signs, they remain as a blight, and you curse the winner or loser, as the case may be, until the winds and rains wash away the vestiges of yet another election.

And you wonder why Election Day is so close to Halloween? Hmm...just watch the ads, the lies, the half-truths, the smears, the innuendos and how the candidates act, and you can see why some intelligent soul decided that placing it close to a day that commemorates the dead was such a good idea! Spooky to say the least!

Delta In-Flight Entertainment...NOT

On a recent Delta Airlines flight from Minneapolis to San Diego, passengers were treated to a new type of in-flight entertainment. Well, not actually new, since the silent pictures preceded the talkies for many years.

Problem here was that for a three hour and six minute flight, there were no headsets handed out either because the airline didn't stock them for the flight, or as the flight attendant noted, some aisles didn't have connections for the headsets. WTF? So if some couldn't listen, the idea would then be to have the rest of the almost 200 passengers look blankly at the pop-down screens in silence because we also could not listen, although our rows worked? For three long hours the screens showed what appeared to be television programming of some sort in silence.

Of course, this was aboard a MD-90 jet where many of the passengers were too busy trying to get warm or cool, depending on the moment, since those aircraft are notoriously horrible for maintaining decent cabin temperature levels. That has been the case since the DC9-31 and 51 series of which the MD-80 and MD-90 are variants, and simply newer models in my opinion.

Strangely enough, there was a gate change for this flight and when on board, the flight attendants began making excuses for the lack of luggage space on the plane, saying it was because of the gate change, etc. What the hell does a gate change have to do with a change in luggage space? It's the same type plane and the same seat numbers and seat configuration we booked 5 weeks before! It's absurd to think that moving a plane between gates somehow changes the luggage space! So passengers had no place for their luggage and it took extra time to depart because bags had to be checked. I do have to say the plane arrived on time.

Speaking of seats, our seats were not the correct seats for their placement in the plane. They had trays that swung out of the arms and we were not in exit rows or in the first row of the cabin. The center heavy metal trim piece was loose and hanging and could be lifted off; great in an emergency to have flying loose in the cabin.

It's always good to be on solid ground, better to be off anything that resembles a DC-9 and sadly, glad not to be flying Delta, whom I used to fly so regularly. Comparing the outbound trip via United to the inbound via Delta was like day and night. And I sure saw the light in this trip!

What's Wrong with Rental Cars...

I recently flew to the east coast and had the displeasure of renting a car. Hell, it's just one of those things you just have to do if you don't want to walk or take a bus, taxi or whatever. And for most of us who fly into an airport (where else do you fly into?) you're stuck out in the middle of BFE and need a car to get around, especially if you're not just going to a local hotel or a meeting, etc.

In many years of renting cars, it seems they tend to be in three categories. Good, bad or horrible. Not much else to describe them anymore. The service you receive when making the reservation would lead you to believe you're going to receive a great car and great service. Don't believe it. If you reserve a Ford Fusion, you might get a Nissan Maxima. If you're told you'll get a new car, you might get one with almost 20,000 miles on it. Think it will look good when you pick it up? Guess again. Most of the cars I've received over the past years needed a better wash, had dings and scratches and were not very presentable. Good Lord, the US rental cars are starting to look as bad as the Yaris from Ireland that went through the thickets with each driver, and they thought the long lines of scratches on both sides were normal!

Some examples of really crappy cars, and service:

• A Ford Taurus where the tire went flat within a mile from the airport. I had to change the tire in a thunderstorm (no cell service) and the rental car company refused to swap the car for another one and wanted me to drive hundreds of miles on the spare "donut" tire! (Not allowed in any case...it's a TEMPORARY spare) I had to call their home office to get them to agree to swap the car out for another one.
• An Oldsmobile with a huge dent in the side and when I walked to the other side, the tire was already flat, yet they rented it to me anyway. That entailed another 60 minute wait to get another car, since they were low on vehicles and had to wait for a car to be returned.
• A Dodge with a dead battery within several hours after I rented it. The rental company insisted I must have left the headlights on. It was bright daylight and the headlights were not on. They would not deliver another car and pick up this one or at least jump start it; I had to ride the light rail back to the airport, take the shuttle to the rental pickup, and pick up another car while they sent a tow truck for the dead vehicle. Cost me a half day of work.
• A Ford Taurus that the steering wheel locked up on when you made a turn. It was defective so every time you turned a corner, the steering wheel would not release and you had to force it to come straight. Rental car company wanted me to keep driving it, but to drive slow! Really bright!

And those are only the really bad ones I can think of off hand. The latest one was just a piece of junk. A 2010 Nissan Altima with over 17,000 miles on it already, scratched, gouged, front end road rashed, and dirty. The positives were that it had comfortable seats and a big trunk.

Add to the cars that are sub-par, the staff at many of the rental places, and the entire experience is less than ideal. Some are actually surly, and on the latest rental, the attendant at the exit, who simply checks your contract to be sure you're not stealing the crappy car, wouldn't lift his ass off the seat to provide assistance. Yet the rental companies send you thank you e-mails? Send me a survey and let me tell you what I really think of your service!

Folks, that's one of the problems in America today. Service industries forget what the word service means. They can't figure out why people quit using their "service" and go somewhere else because they didn't provide the service they promised. But the big issue is that so many have defaulted on providing a level of service commensurate with what they charge, and promise, that the public doesn't know where to turn anymore. And that loss of public confidence starts a downward spiral that's hard to recover from. Factually, some companies don't deserve to recover at all.

Home Depot Comes Through in the Clinch!

First off, we had nine vinyl replacement windows windows installed by Home Depot's THD at Home Services. Five of the nine windows were wrong. The installation was beautiful...the windows themselves were made wrong; wrong glass, wrong coating, etc. Visually and cosmetically, the windows were beautiful. Functionally, they worked well; just that they did not meet the specifications of the original contract, nor did they meet the IRS Tax Credit program.

THD at Home Services offered to make nine all new windows, but my spouse was adamant that the east side of our home was not going to be pulled apart again. The windows on that side did meet the energy standards, just not the glass coating we expected to receive. I acceded to her wishes and those four windows remained in place.

Home Depot ordered new windows to replace the other five windows. And ordered them again, and again; the windows that came in still were wrong. Finally, the fifth set of windows, counting the ones already in place, met the requirements and were ready for installation.

The same crew came out and tore out the existing new windows and installed the correct ones. Excellent workmanship again. I have to say that Home Depot has high quality personnel on their subcontractor crews and although this was the first crew we dealt with, we were to be pleasantly surprised again in the future, with additional THD work.

We had discussed purchasing two sliding patio doors and THD offered to discount the doors in return for all the trouble and problems we had with the windows. We chose the French Style doors with the wide frames and internal grids, or mullions, to match the windows in the house, and they turned out perfect. In addition, the installation crew, a different one than did the windows, did an excellent installation job on the doors as well.

So, Home Depot truly stepped up to the plate, and made a significant effort to make things right. It gives a very positive impression of their ability to cut through the red tape and get things done. Sure, it took some time. Yes, we did complain. Yes, we did make inquiries to the manufacturer of the glass and the windows. But actually, in essence, the real culprit in making the windows wrong lies with the manufacturer, since Home Depot sells them and installs them, counting on the manufacturer to make the windows and doors that meet their specifications. If any blame for the original windows and doors lies with THD, it was not checking them before they were even brought to us for installation.

Does the salesman "puff" the product a bit? Maybe? Are the brochures out of date, and do the brochures confuse the buyer some? Maybe. But in the final analysis, did Home Depot make it right? Absolutely!

Making an Ash Out of Yourself…and others too

It’s around 7:41 AM on Thursday, September 9, 2010 and you’re driving south on Interstate 5, between La Costa Avenue and Leucadia Boulevard in your blue Mazda Protégé. Driving down the freeway, you’re obviously very interested in the cigarette you’re smoking, more than public safety, as you mindlessly continue flicking your cigarette ashes out of the open car window. After all, you wouldn’t want those stinking, dirty things in your car, even though they’re filling your body with tar, nicotine and about a hundred or more carcinogens that are roasting your lungs just as surely as a barbecue at the beach.

As you near the end of that cigarette, you take one last puff and flick it out the window. It bounces a few times, sparking, and rolls to the edge of the highway, near the unburned vegetation. Yes, the same type vegetation that you can remember we were still trying to extinguish over a week after the most devastating wildfires in San Diego County and California history. But, obviously, you don’t care much about the losses and suffering other people have endured, the toll on humans and animals, property, and the huge costs involved in fighting the fires, nor the huge task in rebuilding. Because you just tossed that lighted cigarette out the window without a second thought to what it could do to our lives and our community. You

How do I know this? Because I was the one behind you who watched your callus act and took down your vehicle description and license plate number. You see, I was a fire and accident investigator most of my working life, and I saw the results of what irresponsible people like you did to others and to our communities. Your act is a misdemeanor under California Code, as follows: CA Vehicle Code Section 23111 - No person in any vehicle and no pedestrian shall throw or discharge from or upon any road or highway or adjoining area, public or private, any lighted or nonlighted cigarette, cigar, match, or any flaming or glowing substance. A fine may be assessed up to $1000 for the first offense, which, in my opinion, is not nearly enough; given the current circumstances we face in this county and all of this state!

If you want to make an ash out of yourself, stay home and do so. You can make your own decision to smoke and discard those cigarette butts all over your living room or bedroom or wherever you like. If you don’t have the common sense or decency to use an ashtray, then it will be your home and family that suffers, not the rest of the community.

Maybe the moral here is simple. Just like drinking, if you can’t smoke responsibly, you shouldn’t drive while smoking. Stay home.

FedEx Smart Post ... Not All That Smart for the Customer

Businesses looking to save a few bucks on shipping, while not passing on those savings to the consumer in many cases, are using a service called FedEx Smart Post. This is a service where the shipper sends out the package with FedEx, and then it gets handed off somewhere down the line to the US Postal Service for delivery to your home.

Problem here is that the packages take an inordinate time for delivery. Considering a package coming from the east coast to California, it's not the usual Postal Service delivery time of five to seven days for Parcel Post, not the usual two to three days for Priority Mail, not the usual 5 days for FedEx Ground, not even the usual 7 days for UPS. It's 10 days for Smart Post! And to me, that's Stupid Post at best!

Maybe smart for the shipper, but stupid for the consumer who's waiting for a product. And, in most cases, you don't know your product is being shipped by this system, as the seller tells you it's being shipped FedEx! And you think you're getting a FedEx package with reliable FedEx service. and you're not. You lose the reliability of FedEx and the reliability of the Postal Service all at once.

And, when things get lost, you're really screwed. Because that's when nobody seems to know where the package got ripped, torn or damaged or where the pieces went missing, and the finger pointing starts. I was fortunate the last time and the Post Office found the item later in a bin after the package had been decimated through handling. But by whom? Who knows. Luckily my description was so good they could identify the item and since it was literally one of a kind, I was able to claim it.

So, be aware. When you order FedEx, you may not be getting FedEx service to your door. And, sellers like X10.com don't tell you that it's not really FedEx until you get your shipping info much later. Then it's too late because your order has already been shipped by the slowest method I know of, other than by walking it across America. Even bus service is faster than this!