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Thursday, September 25, 2014

Parked Cars Tell A Story

As I park my car in the summer heat, I look around and, as I roll my windows down bit to allow excessive heat build up to escape while I'm gone, I note that almost all other cars are sitting in the blazing sun with their windows cranked all the way up. Then I put up my windshield sun block to reduce the greenhouse heat gain. I make it a point to park facing into the sun as much as possible in order to minimize the heat gain; but, if I cannot, I add little sun block screens that attach with suction cups to the other glass. When I get back in my car, the car is very warm (but not hot) and my A/C has the interior cool and comfortable in a very short time.

I muse that no wonder people are unwilling to do anything about global warming when they're so unwilling to even take care of their own personal business in such a simple and easy way as taking a moment and a little foresight to take better care of themselves and their cars.

Note: When I trade in my cars after 10+ years, the salesman salivates when he sees a dashboard not cracked from long term over exposture to the sun's rays and upholstery that is still viable because of protection from blistering heat. He knows the car will be a easy resell. And when he sees my maintenance record of regular oil changes and then he test drives it and feels the steady purr of an engine that's not been abused by lead footed driving, he knows that their company's one year limited warranty on used cars is unlikely to be used.

In short, it's a win-win in beating the heat.