From the monthly archives:

October 2008

Check Your Tire Pressure

by Graham on October 28, 2008

I don’t know how it is in the rest of Texas, but the transition between warm summer days and cool fall days occurs literally over night in Houston. Last week we enjoyed weather in the high 70s/low 80s. Now were in the 60s. The sudden drop in temperature precipitates a drop in tire pressure, so [...]

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What kind of car does a philosopher drive?

by Graham on October 28, 2008

photo credit: Sergio Alvaré Peláez
Last night I saw a Mercedes E65 AMG with the license plate “PHAEDO”*. Geez, how much are they paying philosophers these days?
*Phaedo, as you may recall, is one of Plato’s dialogs and tells the story of Socrates’ death.

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Texas Vanity Plates

by MrChemistry on October 24, 2008

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photo credit: PhilipsPhotos
 
The Chronicle has a cool page where you can plug in a potential vanity plate to see if it has been taken. “DWT” has been taken. Sadly, “DRCHEM” is taken, but “MRCHEM” is not. I wonder if the world is telling me something.

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Ford F-150 Wins Truck of Texas

by Graham on October 21, 2008

photo credit: Ford Motor Company
Mr. Chemistry isn’t going to be happy about this, but the Texas Auto Writers Association named the Ford F-150 as the “Truck of Texas” at this year’s Texas Truck Rodeo. Mr. C will have to settle for “Full-Size Pickup Truck of Texas” which was won by the Dodge Ram 1500.

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24 Hours of LeMons

by Graham on October 20, 2008

Ah, man! How’d I miss the 24 Hrs of LeMons in Houston last weekend? Did anybody go? Wanna tell us about the experience and post some pics?

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Teenage Texan Builds Electric Car

by Graham on October 15, 2008

Sweet! San Antonio resident Lucas Laborde, 17, spent 150 hours this summer converting his gas-powered Bradley GT II to battery power. It cost about $5000 for the car and $5700 for the upgrades.
The car’s deep-cycle, 12-volt, lead-acid batteries are hooked up in series. They provide a total of 96 volts of current to an electric [...]

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