Speed vs. Fuel Consumption

When I was driving at 80 mph (~130kph), my Honda CR-V consumed half a tank of gas in about 2 hours. My gas tank capacity is about 15 gal (~57 l), that meant my fuel consumption is about 21 miles per gallon (mpg ~ 112 ml/km). On a long quiet stretch, I went up to 90 mph (~145kph). I went through the same 1/2 tank in about 1 hour 15 min. That's 15 mpg! A full 6 mpg drop! Sure, I'm going faster, but I'm also wasting more time and money topping up my gas tank (10-15 min) more often, every 2 1/2 hours instead of every 4 hours. Not to mention tempting fate and highway patrol. Sigh.

630 Miles x 2

It was Jia Nin's birthday last week and we also needed to transfer furniture and miscellaneous stuff to my apartment. Therefore, I drove my Honda CR-V 630+ miles from Ann Arbor, Michigan, to Stillwater, Minnesota. A 10 hour drive at an average of 75 mph ( about 120 kph). And back again yesterday. Other than a few minor aches (left shoulder/arm, right wrist/foot/calf) which disappeared with a good night's sleep, there was surprisingly little discomfort. I must be getting used to long trips; good training for the 20 hour plane ride from Detroit to Singapore. The main driving irritations were left-lane hogging drivers and the Chicago highway system. Chicago because their highway system is a mess with constant construction, too-late traffic signs and GPS navigator confusion. Other than that, driving in Chicago was like driving in Singapore: tailgating, sliding into one-car-gaps, too much speeding, jamming brakes when we see traffic cops and paying toll. The return trip through Interstate 94 in Michigan on Sunday afternoon/evening was frustrating. There were oblivious slow-pokes hogging the left lane, passing 70 mph trucks at 72 mph. This meant that there was a long stream of cars in the blind spot of the trucks, which must have made them really, really nervous when they had to go round a curve with their heavy trailers. The segment in Wisconsin was actually the most pleasant with very little traffic and polite drivers. If only the speed limit was higher than 65 mph.

Moving Stuff

I've been packing for my move to a larger place this weekend. I can't believe that I've accumulated so many things over the course of my seven-year stay in the U.S.. To think that I started with just two suitcases of clothes, one computer and a few books. Now my 500 square-foot apartment is almost full. Four desktop computers, three boxes of computer stuff and electronics, nearly 300 books (including texts), five shelves ranging from knee-high to floor-to-ceiling one from Ikea. And on those shelves are yet more stuff. Quote of the week: Junk is something you've kept for years and throw away three weeks before you need it.

It Finally Feels Like Winter

The temperature in Ann Arbor has finally dropped below freezing after being unseasonably warm in December. And what does it do? Rain. The rain water then freezes and collects on objects. Forming an interesting "ice coating". The sun shining on these trees form a "crystal forest" effect that is just breathtaking. Sorry. No photo of that since my camera is over exposed from the brightness.

Secondary School Literature - Shakespeare

If Secondary school Math was the shining pinnacle of my grades, then Literature (Lit) was the dark tar pit that trapped prehistoric animals in unrelenting morass. In other words, I absolutely hated Lit because my grades were usually barely above passing and I didn't understand what the heck they were yakking about. What sparked this rant was my recent attendance of the Shakespearean play "Merchant of Venice". With the actors, the set, the costumes and the accents, I was actually able to follow the story, without falling asleep. That's a lot more than I can say for Lit class. All the teacher did was to run through the book and translated "sixspear inglis" (I have since learned that Shakespeare made up most of those words). The teacher should have shown me an actual play, or a tape of a play, preferably with translation subtitles. (Oh how I wish I had the internet then. Downloading a televised play would have been so convenient!) A picture says a thousand words. I would have had an easier time understanding Julius Caesar if all the plotting was acted out instead of trying to read a version of English 400 years dead. In addition, another part of my poor grades was because I wasn't taught how to answer the Lit questions. If my Lit teacher had taught me how to answer the Shakespeare questions, then with my typical singaporean-student-exam-smart-do-10-year-series style, I could at least fake answers with reasonable correctness. But of course, "correctness" probably isn't how Shakespearean plays are supposed to be experienced. So if anyone from MOE is reading this, especially Lit teachers (you know who you are), please stop spoiling Literature for us by making it an exam topic.

Funny Commercial