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ProDarwin
ProDarwin Dork
10/28/08 12:22 p.m.
Duke wrote: Because without it, it would be dark until 9:00 in the morning.

So?

confuZion3
confuZion3 Dork
10/28/08 12:57 p.m.

so?! I'd NEVER wake up! I need to go to work.

Autolex
Autolex Reader
10/28/08 1:21 p.m.
  1. People on Berkleying Cell Phones While Driving (talking or texting)
  2. People that can't drive like I want them to (which is most of them)
  3. People that are too stupid to figure things out on their own ("My Computer won't turn on" "Is it plugged in? [then actually making them check and see if they kicked the plug out of the socket])
  4. Arrogant people that have no reason to be.
  5. Closed minded people.

  6. People that can drive better than me!

GameboyRMH
GameboyRMH Dork
10/28/08 1:32 p.m.
Autolex wrote: 2. People that can't drive like I want them to (which is most of them)

Yes this is very annoying. Why can't these idiots space themselves out evenly in different lanes so I can cut between them without slowing down? No, they have to line up and form rolling roadblocks, and if any of them are spaced out they line up just as I'm trying to pass. Reminds me of a person this morning who would drive 1.1 car lengths diagonal to another car at 10 below the limit, and when I tried to squeeze through they'd speed up and do it again. Turned out to be a woman rolleyes

Speaking of roadblocks, I also hate highway construction, I can never remember when a lane is closed at some point and when it finally opens up I can't remember that it's been opened.

Jay
Jay HalfDork
10/28/08 1:44 p.m.
confuZion3 wrote: so?! I'd NEVER wake up! I need to go to work.

I'd rather it be dark in the morning when I'm sitting at my table trying to remember how to eat my cereal than in the afternoon when I'm actually awake and want to do stuff outside.

Maybe in the U.S. it works out better but here it gets dark at 3:30 in the afternoon in late December. Why can't we stay on summer time year round?

J

ProDarwin
ProDarwin Dork
10/28/08 2:18 p.m.

^+1

I'd much rather it be light out when I'm home trying to get stuff done/able to be outside vs. in the morning when I am sitting @ my desk at work or sleeping (or both)

iolite
iolite New Reader
10/28/08 10:24 p.m.

The thing is, ProDarwin, each State has some autonomy from the Federal Government, but when the Federal Government says 'its like this', each state government MUST comply whether they like it or not. An appeal maybe made by a state at the Federal level, but this is something that really isn't worth the hassle of persuing, so the states reluctantly except it, making provisions in their own laws to suite accordingly. But unlike most law enforcement departments, Sheriff departments, at least the one in this county, are not so well versed in local state law to the extent of say, a larger city police department would. You would be amazed of what you would be able to talk your way out of if you knew most of your major state laws that go toward governing the population.

gamby
gamby SuperDork
10/28/08 11:16 p.m.

(in no particular order)

Neurotic, child-obsessed parents

Aggressive SUV drivers

Text-message obsessed teens/twenty-somethings

Neo-cons

Fussy eaters

Anything that panders to Middle America

People w/ closed minds toward music

That point where drunk friends turn into annoying drunk friends

People who talk too much

People who tip poorly

Meh, basically everything annoys me.

Luke
Luke Dork
10/29/08 3:01 a.m.

It was a long day today, and I found some things to contribute to this thread.

People stupid enough to fall for extremely obvious car sale scams. This made the news today: Young girl forks over $6k for a 2004 MINI cabriolet, while a man wires $7k to a complete stranger for the purchase of 2005 model Toyota Hilux. If it looks too good to be true, chances are it probably is! Even if you're completely oblivious to the worth of these things, do some freakin' research to find out what current market value is.

Silly media beat-ups passing as proper journalism, (like the story described above.) The way in which this story was reported, made it seem like some kind of pressing issue affecting the whole nation, rather than a select few idiots.

The lady in the SUV who aggressively overtook me this afternoon on the approach to a long, steep hill. Upon reaching the ascent, her automatic, under-powered, over-heavy, faux off-roader proceeds to bog down, losing all the speed she insisted on carrying past me. Meanwhile, I'm stuck between gears behind her, either over-revving a cold engine in 3rd or labouring in 4th.

Oh, I remembered something else. In the city, on a tram, I noticed a plaque proclaiming that the mural plastered on the outside of the tram was designed by some art school in France, by a man named Peret, no less. What business do the French have designing our tram murals? Doesn't make sense.
/quasi-racism

ProDarwin
ProDarwin Dork
10/29/08 7:05 a.m.

My list:

Traffic

People who think torque is what accelerates you.

People who text, but won't answer their phone. Then they get mad they aren't getting an immediate response.

Saturn tuners

Traffic

Generally stupid people

People with completely blind/one sided political views.

Crappy toilet paper

Oh, and Traffic

confuZion3
confuZion3 Dork
10/29/08 8:20 a.m.
ProDarwin wrote: People with completely blind/one sided political views.

You mean Democrats?

I remembered something that annoyed me this weekend. We were at a solo event on Saturday at Hershey (in the rain) and some guy got really irate with the starter early on. He pulled up to the start in his Passat with a bunch of papers on his dash board. The starter told him to remove the papers, and he insisted that since the car passed tech, he shouldn't have to remove them (they probably told him at tech to just remove his stuff before he ran since it was raining). He asked the starter to take the belongings to a table and the starter refused, went to one of the higher-ups (I'm so bad with names) and told him the guy was being a douche. Then the Passat driver got in an all-out argument with the next guy for five minutes and refused to move his car off the line. He was kicked out and hopefully won't ever come back.

Maybe some other members here could clarify if they were there. It was still pretty annoying since he held things up for so long. Somebody brought over a jack and was ready to tow his car off the line.

ProDarwin
ProDarwin Dork
10/29/08 8:40 a.m.
confuZion3 wrote:
ProDarwin wrote: People with completely blind/one sided political views.
You mean Democrats? I remembered something that annoyed me this weekend. We were at a solo event on Saturday at Hershey (in the rain) and some guy got really irate with the starter early on. He pulled up to the start in his Passat with a bunch of papers on his dash board. The starter told him to remove the papers, and he insisted that since the car passed tech, he shouldn't have to remove them (they probably told him at tech to just remove his stuff before he ran since it was raining). He asked the starter to take the belongings to a table and the starter refused, went to one of the higher-ups (I'm so bad with names) and told him the guy was being a douche. Then the Passat driver got in an all-out argument with the next guy for five minutes and refused to move his car off the line. He was kicked out and hopefully won't ever come back. Maybe some other members here could clarify if they were there. It was still pretty annoying since he held things up for so long. Somebody brought over a jack and was ready to tow his car off the line.

lol I was there... here's what was posted on NASIOC by the starter:

starter said:The "tool" comes to the line with lots of crap in his car. clothes, shoes, cds, chargers, etc laying in the car. I ask him if he teched the car and he says "yes". I then tel him he needs to get the stuff out of his car and he should have failed tech. While I'm telling him this, he rolls the window up on me! So I ask the truck to hold the start and het the safety steward, Allen. Allen takes one look and asks him to pull out of line and empty his his ca. The guy argues and then rolls the window up on Allen. Now Allen is getting pissed, The guy just sits at the starting line waiting for a green light he's not going to get. Allen gets angrier and angrtier and asks again for the guy to pull out of line so we can continue the event. Instead, the guy shuts his car off and starts unloading it AT THE START LINE. Allen tosses him, as he should the guy gets back in his car and waits for the green light. Finally Allen asks me to get a jack so we can get the guy's car out of there. At that point the guy finally leaves. What a tool. All he had to do was pull out of line, empty his car, and get back in line. We only had 12 drivers in the first heat, he wouldn't have even lost a run. But he decided to be an ass. Glad he got tossed, hope he never shows up again. I know I've seen him before, he was not a noob. :roll:

something else that irritated me was their course design. Overall it was great, but using slalom cones to mark the edge of a sweeper seemed dumb.

here's the thread about that event: http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?p=24255991#post24255991

gamby
gamby SuperDork
10/29/08 8:46 a.m.

OK--those two versions of that story make me want to KILL right now.

I can't believe the dude wasn't lynched by a mob of angry racers.

confuZion3
confuZion3 Dork
10/29/08 10:21 a.m.

I really thought he was going to start throwing fists. There were about 20 people within 30 feet of him that could have jumped on him if need be (I was one of them). Personally, I would have just tried to separate them, but with that many people, somebody would have probably ended up with a broken nose.

Another thought I had was that he'd just start on his own. I really thought he'd just go and take his run anyway.

iolite
iolite New Reader
10/29/08 11:32 a.m.
ProDarwin wrote: People who think torque is what accelerates you.

Torque is leverage against an axis point, which in our case is the axle, which of course the wheels and tires are connected to. Torque determines how much work can be done and the work being done is, moving the car. Torque is a part of horsepower, but not the same thing. Horsepower determines how quickly the work gets done. You can't have one without the other, (like cookies and milk!).

Here is a link that I hope clarifies things: http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2215/whats-the-difference-between-horsepower-and-torque

Anyone else get annoyed in the summer time when you just washed your windshield and a few miles down the road you can barely see out of it, because of all the, big, juicy, dead bug slatters?

I remember a number of summers back, having to pull into 3 or four gas stations in one day, because the bugs were so thick. I guess that's to be expected living in highly agricultural area.

ProDarwin
ProDarwin Dork
10/29/08 12:28 p.m.
iolite wrote: Torque is leverage against an axis point, which in our case is the axle, which of course the wheels and tires are connected to. Torque determines how much work can be done and the work being done is, moving the car. Torque is a part of horsepower, but not the same thing. Horsepower determines how quickly the work gets done. You can't have one without the other, (like cookies and milk!).

I dont want this thread to turn into another one of these arguments... but if you look up the equation for acceleration, or derive it for yourself for that matter, you will find that you need to know either A) power or B) torque and RPM (power). Torque is a static value, without associating it with speed (horsepower), nothing happens

confuZion3
confuZion3 Dork
10/29/08 12:39 p.m.

Torque is a measurement of rotational energy. Your engine rotates - therefore, it produces torque. The force is usually measured in pounds at some point away from the center of the rotation (usually measured in feet). Therefore, an engine that produces a maximum of 300 ft-lbs of torque is capable of producing 300 pounds of force, at a tangent one foot away from the center of the circle.

You can convert Torque to Horsepower (or Watts, or whatever you want). To convert Torque to HP, you take the torque value at any given RPM, multiply it by the value of the RPM sample, and divide it by 5,252.

(TQ X 3,000 RPMs) / 5,252 = Horsepower

ProDarwin
ProDarwin Dork
10/29/08 12:42 p.m.
confuZion3 wrote: Torque is a measurement of rotational energy. Your engine rotates - therefore, it produces torque. The force is usually measured in pounds at some point away from the center of the rotation (usually measured in feet). Therefore, an engine that produces a maximum of 300 ft-lbs of torque is capable of producing 300 pounds of force, at a tangent one foot away from the center of the circle.

Yup, and without the engine rotating, 300lb-ft of torque does nothing. Spin it up to 2000rpm or so and... you get horsepower !

confuZion3
confuZion3 Dork
10/29/08 1:56 p.m.

You know what else annoys me? Muffins - the fake cupcake. Why is it that when I go to my favorite coffee consumption establishment, I am forced to consume a Muffin when I want to eat a tasty, round, soft object? What happened to cupcakes and all their bad-assery? All these stupid flavors: french toast, bananna nut, toffee-poop swirl, gun . . . what happened to Chocolate with white-flavored Frosting? I had a French toast one today. Not horrible - but when I want French Toast, I'll make some damned French Toast. They stopped making Chocolate muffins at my favorite coffee place last week. At least that muffin got it half-right.

Grr.

thatsnowinnebago
thatsnowinnebago Reader
10/29/08 2:17 p.m.
confuZion3 wrote: All these stupid flavors: french toast, bananna nut, toffee-poop swirl, gun . . .

That made me giggle.

ProDarwin
ProDarwin Dork
11/4/08 8:00 a.m.

Track snobs

People who fart in the gym

Winter

Jay
Jay HalfDork
11/4/08 8:37 a.m.

The kantina at work serves a hot lunch where you can get a big plate of decent food for and a drink for €3. It's great. However, there is one server there who is stingy beyond belief doling out the grub. Everyone else just heaps it on the plate until you say "enough." Today my friend and I both ordered the falafels with rice and veggies; she got five falafels from someone else while Mr. Tightwad tried to give me two. I complained and he matched his coworker's portion size but then gave me a dirty look. Sheesh.

noisycricket
noisycricket Reader
11/4/08 11:57 a.m.
ProDarwin wrote:
iolite wrote: Torque is leverage against an axis point, which in our case is the axle, which of course the wheels and tires are connected to. Torque determines how much work can be done and the work being done is, moving the car. Torque is a part of horsepower, but not the same thing. Horsepower determines how quickly the work gets done. You can't have one without the other, (like cookies and milk!).
I dont want this thread to turn into another one of these arguments... but if you look up the equation for acceleration, or derive it for yourself for that matter, you will find that you need to know either A) power or B) torque and RPM (power). Torque is a static value, without associating it with speed (horsepower), nothing happens

Very true. However, horsepower is just a figure we use because our puny little brains can't fathom comparing torque vs. RPM as it relates to gearing.

For a given speed, the highest HP accelerates the hardest.

For a given gear, the highest torque accelerates the hardest.

We're usually concerned more about acceleration in a given gear than at a given speed, since gears are really cumbersome to match to a given speed unless you have a CVT.

Nitpickery off.

I was annoyed just now by some twit win a new GTI who was tailgating me in my Mk2 GL. Zoomed up behind me, tailgated me for about 4 blocks, then passed me, turned right in front of me, and went back in the other direction.

I wonder if his grandmother lets him drive her minivan or if he was borrowing it without her knowledge.

Bonus points: Shaved head, sunglasses propped up on top instead of wearing them or putting them away. Also, he was sitting so low he looked like he was 3'4. I've driven Mk5s, you have to work to sit really low like that.

Yes, I do feel smug that while my car has half the power, it also has only 2/3rds the weight...

ProDarwin
ProDarwin Dork
11/4/08 12:24 p.m.

:(

I have a shaved head, and I frequently put my sunglasses up on top of my head when its hard to see through them.

Salanis
Salanis SuperDork
11/4/08 12:37 p.m.
noisycricket wrote: For a given speed, the highest HP accelerates the hardest. For a given gear, the highest torque accelerates the hardest. We're usually concerned more about acceleration in a given gear than at a given speed, since gears are really cumbersome to match to a given speed unless you have a CVT.

So, what happens when your peak torque is lower in the range than your peak HP? Especially if you have something like a SBC that has a fairly low peak torque, that tapers off, but ends up with pretty high HP up top?

Does that mean that, in 3rd gear (let's say), the car will pull hardest down low, and as you accelerate won't pull as hard. If you shift up to fourth at peak HP, the won't accelerate as hard because HP is now lower? But if you're near peak torque, that's the hardest that it will accelerate in 4th?

Actually that makes sense. I think I just answered my own question.

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