For "tRaVersing Thursday, or RV Day:
Tires - Dull or Dynamic?
"Following is the second part of an article I was asked to write for a tire industry trade publication in the UK. “Tyres International.” I thought you might find it a bit interesting.“To the untrained eye it might seem like the tire industry has not done much to improve John Dunlop's original. But looks can be deceiving.
Part two:
"A cost/performance comparison on the improvements in wet and snow traction, ride comfort, low noise, blowout resistance and handling response is significantly more difficult, as the tire of 1920 was so poor in many of these areas as to be considered useless when compared to today's tire.
When one considers high-speed capability it is a little easier. In 1920 most cars were not capable of a sustained 85mph, yet today that is considered an absolute minimum high speed capability for a tire to be sold for use on the public highway.
Material World
Some would have us believe that today's tire engineer is not willing or even encouraged to look at new ideas or materials. Even the use of rubber, both natural and synthetic is used as an example of the perceived lack of advancement in tire technology.
I know from personal experience that alternate materials for both wheels and tires have been investigated but either lack of performance or poor reception in the market prevented those ideas from making it into production. I have seen non-metallic wheels that were too flexible to hold air at high temperatures and too stiff so they shattered at low temperatures. New tire sizes with improvements in safety and mobility were not accepted because non- standard wheels were required. Even well engineered items such as the mini-spare, still meet with resistance and ridicule despite the fact that they can deliver acceptable performance when needed. They even have an impact on vehicle fuel economy when not needed.
Rubber band
The basic material in Mr. Dunlop's tire, natural rubber, comprises less than 10 per cent of today's modem passenger radial. Today's tire, with 25-30 different materials, made up of hundreds of different chemicals, is one of the more complex components in a modem automobile. This is especially surprising when you consider that some materials are considered contaminants and are incompatible with other materials in a tire yet we have managed to make these incompatible materials work together to deliver improved air retention and blow- out resistance.
It is likely the concept that tire materials have not changed is a concept only held by those with little training in the an of tire design. There are few materials that are capable of 300 per cent strain for tens of millions of cycles over an operating range of temperatures from -20°F to +200°F while at the same time having a coefficient of friction of 0.8 or higher. Today's steel belted radial could be improved upon and even have its weight lowered, with increased use of rayon, fiberglass or other materials as belt material. There are however, restrictions on pollution or customer resistance to materials other than steel which have so far proven insurmountable obstacles to broad appeal for the average consumer.
Some of our biggest challenges will come in the next decade as we are asked to change from making a product that will last indefinitely under extreme conditions as the tire industry has been asked to do for more than a hundred years. We are now being asked to design a product that will be almost indestructible until the user wants to change it, then the tire should, as if by magic, become easy and inexpensive to deconstruct into its chemical components. Some OEMs are even starting to suggest that old tires should be able to be recycled into new tires with no loss in any performance characteristic.
I have every confidence that the tire industry will rise to this new challenge and methods will be developed to address the disposal and reuse of materials in a tire. It is unlikely the recycled materials will be used 100 per cent in another tire just as the OEM will not be able to recycle the leather car seat into a good as new' leather car seat, but we will incorporate an ever increasing percentage of recycled materials in tires and we will find acceptable methods of recycling them into some usable material or product at the end of their useful life as a normal tire.
To the uninitiated it is easy to look at John Dunlop's tire of the late 1800s and say that since today's tire is still made of "rubber' it is not really any different. Thus some would consider this sufficient proof to postulate the tire industry is not capable of looking at history, learning from it and moving on.
It is my belief that this thinking ignores the advancements in both the materials and performance delivered at a very low cost to the often uncaring consumer.
From: http://www.rvtiresafety.com/2011/08/tires-dull-or-dynamic-part-two.html
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Kansas State Parks Remain Open for Winter Business.
While services may be reduced, so are entrance and camping fees. The daily camping permit fee is $7.50.
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Positive RVing Attitudes
This time, like all time, is a very good one if we but know what to do with it. ~ Emerson
The people and circumstances around me do not make me what I am, they reveal who I am. ~ Laura Schlessinger
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Giving Thanks to God
"With a soft and pliable heart we are told to bow and kneel before God in acknowledgment of His guidance in our lives.
The American day of Thanksgiving is one week away. This is a favorite time of year for me. Since I was a child I loved this season, the time to stop and take a measure of what life has given in this fair land and then gather with family and friends to enjoy the bounty of physical life.
I think this is the quintessential holiday for Americans. Its long history is steeped in presidential proclamations beginning with George Washington in 1789 when he wrote, "Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor…"
Reading President Washington's words on this occasion reminds you of the struggle the new nation had endured to reach the point where a new government stood ready to direct the growth of the republic. The proclamation directed people to stop and reflect on a Higher Power as the source of their liberty and union.
In 1863 Abraham Lincoln listed the blessings of the nation in the midst of a bitter Civil War. He said, "No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy." To this day it is God's mercies that allow us to enjoy peace and prosperity in our land. It has been a long and successful run.
Once, in a grade school Thanksgiving play, I was called upon to read a passage of thanksgiving from the Bible. Psalm 95 was selected and I remember reading it with mixed understanding. I offer it to you as a Scripture reading for your Thanksgiving celebration. Read it slowly and look at each phrase. It draws us to worship God in humility and joy while using music and words.
With a soft and pliable heart we are told to bow and kneel before God in acknowledgment of His guidance in our lives. We are "the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand."
Here is Psalm 95. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving." A commentary by Darris McNeely http://www.ucg.org/commentary/giving-thanks-god/
Psalm 95 - King James Version (KJV)
1 O come, let us sing unto the Lord: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. 2 Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms. 3 For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. 4 In his hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is his also. 5 The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land. 6 O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our maker.7 For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice, 8 Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness: 9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work. 10 Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways: 11 Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest.
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Slideshow of Psalm 95 (the whole thing) with music by the Sons of Korah, an Australian folk band.
Now about that turkey:
Life and Death for Factory-Farmed Turkeys, With Shirley Jones
Shirley Jones, matriarch of The Partridge Family, exposes cruelty to turkeys on factory farms and in slaughterhouses.
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Better turkey choices
"Will it be heritage? Organic? Free-range? Let's talk turkey.
Are you branching out beyond the supermarket this year or have you been doing it for several years? Where do you get your turkey?"
Photo: ExperienceLA/Flickr "The turkey you are most likely to see at your grocery store this holiday season is the broad breasted white turkey. This breed of turkey has been engineered to grow to an average of 32 pounds over 18 weeks, according to Local Harvest.
Generally, the conditions in which these turkeys are raised are crowded, dirty and cruel. The feed and chemicals given to these birds to encourage rapid growth is unnatural and unhealthy for the bird — and not so healthy for those who end up eating the bird.
Fortunately, we have plenty of other options for the birds that grace our Thanksgiving and Christmas tables this holiday season." More at:http://www.mnn.com/food/healthy-eating/blogs/better-turkey-choices
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On This Day:
Suez Canal opens. Nov 17, 1869:
"The Suez Canal, connecting the Mediterranean and the Red seas, is inaugurated in an elaborate ceremony attended by French Empress Eugénie, wife of Napoleon III.In 1854, Ferdinand de Lesseps, the former French consul to Cairo, secured an agreement with the Ottoman governor of Egypt to build a canal 100 miles across the Isthmus of Suez. An international team of engineers drew up a construction plan, and in 1856 the Suez Canal Company was formed and granted the right to operate the canal for 99 years after completion of the work.
Construction began in April 1859, and at first digging was done by hand with picks and shovels wielded by forced laborers. Later, European workers with dredgers and steam shovels arrived. Labor disputes and a cholera epidemic slowed construction, and the Suez Canal was not completed until 1869--four years behind schedule. On November 17, 1869, the Suez Canal was opened to navigation. Ferdinand de Lesseps would later attempt, unsuccessfully, to build a canal across the Isthmus of Panama.
When it opened, the Suez Canal was only 25 feet deep, 72 feet wide at the bottom, and 200 to 300 feet wide at the surface. Consequently, fewer than 500 ships navigated it in its first full year of operation. Major improvements began in 1876, however, and the canal soon grew into the one of the world's most heavily traveled shipping lanes. In 1875, Great Britain became the largest shareholder in the Suez Canal Company when it bought up the stock of the new Ottoman governor of Egypt. Seven years later, in 1882, Britain invaded Egypt, beginning a long occupation of the country. The Anglo-Egyptian treaty of 1936 made Egypt virtually independent, but Britain reserved rights for the protection of the canal.
After World War II, Egypt pressed for evacuation of British troops from the Suez Canal Zone, and in July 1956 Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalized the canal, hoping to charge tolls that would pay for construction of a massive dam on the Nile River. In response, Israel invaded in late October, and British and French troops landed in early November, occupying the canal zone. Under pressure from the United Nations, Britain and France withdrew in December, and Israeli forces departed in March 1957. That month, Egypt took control of the canal and reopened it to commercial shipping.
Ten years later, Egypt shut down the canal again following the Six Day War and Israel's occupation of the Sinai Peninsula. For the next eight years, the Suez Canal, which separates the Sinai from the rest of Egypt, existed as the front line between the Egyptian and Israeli armies. In 1975, Egyptian President Anwar el-Sadat reopened the Suez Canal as a gesture of peace after talks with Israel. Today, an average of 50 ships navigate the canal daily, carrying more than 300 million tons of goods a year."
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Yesterday:
It was shopping day in the next town.
Jay and I stopped at some thrift shops and I suddenly had a desire to own some denim long sleeves shirts, so I bought three at $1 each. Different shades of blue to match different jeans.
My old shredder has been wheezing and groaning lately, so I bought a heavy duty one for $5.
My centrifugal juicer is very large, I bought it 15 years ago when Johnnie was still alive, but now I just make one glass at a time, so I paid $2 for a small one.
When Johnnie's ulcers flared up he used to bring home fresh cabbage, carrots, parsley and apples, as he said that juice fixed him right up. (http://www.naturalpedia.com/C/Cabbage-Juice.html)
Jay had seen something at the Salvation Army Thrift Store the other day, and so we drove to the south end of town and it was still there. It was some 5' long sticky strips still in the package for going around a tub, instead of caulk. He isn't good at caulking, like Ray!
As we were so far south we went to that Kroger's and scooped up on some more bargains there, and had Taco Salads at Taco Cabana.
It varied between 61 and 73, so it was lovely weather yesterday.
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