German efficiency on the freeway

In the states we're #1 in a lot of things. Some good, some bad. One area where we're close to the top but need to improve is our freeways.

There are two things that the German autobahn system has figured out, which I would love to see in the U.S.

1. We already have the signs, but no one seems to get the picture. SLOWER TRAFFIC KEEP RIGHT. The left lanes are for passing. It's amazing how much more smoothly traffic flows in Germany, because people abide by this concept. The right lane may be going 100 km/h and someone in the left lane may be going 180 km/h, and it just works. Nothing is worse than being on a 4 lane divided highway and two cars are driving the same speed, right next to each other, making it impossible to pass. OK, OK, two trucks would be worse.


2. Areas with no speed limit. You're not near a city. You're not near a major exit. You're not ascending or descending a mountain or navigating a tricky pass. It's a straight road. You could go faster, but you see some sign telling you otherwise. It's the same sign that you saw during the dangerous areas. At least while traveling in the dangerous areas, you could understand the purpose, but now it's simply mocking you.


My mom was afraid to even drive in Germany. Now she won't hardly ever go less than 160 km/h (100 mph) when the conditions allow it. It just works here in Germany. I wish it worked in the U.S. as well. All we need are some of these signs on those nice straight stretches of highway (it tells you the speed limit has been removed):


I'd also settle for one of these babies:


Here's an actual shot of my mom driving on the autobahn:


Not bad for an 8 passenger van.

Hat tip to Google Images for making my work easier.

Mind exercises and mental math

You've no doubt seen the ads for the Nintendo DS game that gives you puzzles for your mind. Something pops up that says 3 ? 4 = 12 and you have to figure out that the operation here is multiplication. I find that a little primitive, but I think the concept here is important.

Too often we don't exercise certain areas of our mind anymore. Especially in math. Of course, I am a little biased, seeing as how I used to be a mathlete. But I've noticed that in the 8 years since I've taken calculus, I've forgotten a lot. I was helping someone recently, and found that some of it did come back, and it was exciting to revitalize those brain cells.

Even simple math can be invigorating for the brain. It wasn't that long ago that people balanced their checkbook and figured out tips in their head. Now we have online banking and tip calculators on our cell phone. I think it's healthy to multiply numbers by 0.15 in your head (or 0.2 or 0.25, sheesh don't get angry, here in Europe it's 0.05-0.1 you know) to figure out what tip you want to leave. Quadrupling a recipe is good for the brain, 1 1/3 cup of flour for one batch, how much for 4? Recently, I decided to use my brain to figure out how to convert between mpg and liters per 100km. Often on trips I'm tempted to figure out how much faster I will arrive at my destination if I go 90 mph instead of 85 mph... assuming the speed limit is 85 mph of course...

Helping my sister with science has been another way of re-energizing those long-dormant brain cells. There are so many interesting things that we learn, even in grade school, that we should really try not to forget. Bringing them up in conversation, or just going over them in our head, will hopefully help keep them in our long-term memory. Then when your dad leans over on a Swiss train and asks what 134 times 5 is, you'll be able to give the exact answer instead of a rough guesstimate.

(P.S. Don't forget, multiplying by 5 is the same as dividing by 2 and adding a 0 - 134 / 2 = 67. Add a 0 on the end and you get 670. 134 X 5 = 670. If you're not good at dividing by 2, or you want to check your answer, break it up into smaller parts. 134 X 5 = (100 X 5) + (30 X 5) + (4 X 5) = 500 + 150 + 20 = 670.)

Sometimes I miss being a math nerd.

Buying America's Future on Credit

My 10-year-old sister doesn't get mail that often. So imagine our surprise when she was pre-approved for a credit card! I tried to convince my parents to let her get it and start building up her credit, but I don't think they bought into the idea. I suppose the "preapproval" may have disappeared when she put a monthly household income of 5 euros.

Seriously though, from whence is my sister's name appearing on the list of financial institutions? It blows my mind. Maybe we can get 10-year-olds to default on their payments and ruin their credit score before they get into middle school...

Check out some credit/debt trivia here from 2004. Personally, I've never understood how people can become slaves to their own debt, particularly when the reasons behind the debt are TVs, new cars, and just living outside one's means. Start setting aside money now for the future! Better to have interest working for you than against you.

A fuel efficiency nightmare

Alex turns to me and asks, "What kind of fuel efficiency does a Hummer get anyway?" Right when I'm about to answer, he suggests, "27 or 28 liters per 100 km?"

Oh... right... metric measurements.

Don't be caught with egg on your face like I almost was!

Convert between mpg and liters/100 km by doing the following. Take 235 and divide by one measurement to get the other. For example, if I get 20 mpg in my Mustang GT, I get 235/20 = ~12 liters per 100 km. At least it's not 27 or 28 liters!

I forgot to take a picture today, but it took 90 euros to fill up the van with diesel gas. Gas was 1.30€ per liter. That's $7.25/gal!