PumpTalk - Petro-Canada

Winter’s Humble Pie

I have to admit that I’ve been a bit smug inside lately – I think everyone in southern Ontario has been. I really thought that we had successfully escaped the good old Canadian winter and had nothing but spring blooms to look forward to. However, if this week’s weather was anything to go by, I was very much mistaken.

So after driving through a winter storm to get to Sarnia, I enjoyed a duly deserved piece of humble pie served by Mother Nature herself and I started to wonder if my car had used more gas on the journey because it had to work harder than it normally would to drive through all that snow. You see I just bought my first car so, like any first time car owner, I watch the fuel gauge like a hawk and am constantly obsessing about any noise or rumble that I assume is not normal. 

Where's my flying car?

Growing up on the border with Michigan, I can’t help but feel the influence of the Motor City. It goes without saying that Detroit hasn’t had an easy time of it lately, but one thing that definitely revs the city up is the annual Auto Show, which just wrapped up this past weekend. This is the biggest car show in the world, and many of the vehicles on display look like something you’d expect to see on the Jetsons. Certainly there was plenty of attention paid to how low key an event it was this year compared with years’ past, but what struck me most was the marked increase in focus on “green” and compact vehicles. Virtually every major automaker had hybrid, diesel and fuel-cell vehicles on display. While traditional technology clearly reigns with hybrid sales only accounting for only about 3% of all auto sales, it’s neat to have a little look into the future and imagine what kind of car my kids may be driving one day. On second thought, maybe I don’t want to think about that too much…

Photo credit: quasimonda

 

Earth Day – just one day away

April is a feel good month. Yes it’s my birthday month, but here’s why everyone can feel good about April: spring is just around the corner with blooms and buds making their green debut, the Girl Guides are out selling cookies, you can donate your Petro-Points^TM to cancer (you can donate points year-round, but we see more donations in April perhaps because with Daffodil Days people are thinking about cancer) and April has Earth Day.

Who’s helping you save $ during Depression 2.0?

     

Is it just me, or has every advertiser on the planet honed in on the saving money message? There seem to be A LOT of advertising dollars being spent on campaigns telling folks that how we buy a particular a sandwich, car, cell phone etc , will save us money.  But I’m interested in some objective advice from someone other than a company’s advert.

Winter tires … Sorels for your car.

I can’t decide on a suitable theme song for Calgary roads these days…

To capture the futility of attempting to climb a steep hill or make a sudden stop it could  be Paul Simon’s “Slip Slidin’ Away.”

Or to portray the frustration and rage of some of Calgary drivers it could be any song by Rob Zombie.

What I do know is that a number of the skidding frustrated motorists are driving around on all-season tires.

Pump Talk: Best of 2008

What would the end of another year be without a look back at the highs and lows of the last 12 months?  PumpTalk celebrated it's first birthday sometime in September (exact date is still up for debate), which means 2008 was the first full-year of "being part of the conversation".   I'm getting a little tired of that phrase, but it still has meaning because we certainly were part of some interesting conversations in 2008.

So, for our loyal readers or those just dropping by, allow me to share the highs, lows and funny bits that stuck out in a pretty remarkable year.

Aerodynamic drag and babies? ‘Cause babies come with a lot of stuff!

I had no idea how much stuff babies come with. Ok, so the actual babies don’t arrive with the stuff, but it’s the stuff you need, or perhaps accumulate, when you have a baby that has me floored. And I think all that stuff is going to have my car crammed.

So is it time to say hello to the roof box and goodbye to fuel efficiency?

Fuel Efficiency doesn’t have to be difficult

I haven’t blogged on fuel efficiency lately, what with the August gasoline shortage (again – thanks everyone for your patience) and the September price fluctuations. But we’ve not forgotten about the topic. In fact, over the last couple of months, I’ve seen a number of easy-to-follow tips. I’ll share them here, adding to the miscellaneous tidbits I assembled in a post last spring.

Slow Down! Speed doesn’t equal fuel efficiency.

This weekend, I’m heading out of Calgary for a wedding. I’m not doing the driving because a few of us have decided to carpool (I think I get fuel efficiency points for that). But I must confess that when I am behind the wheel, I have a bad habit of going over the speed limit.

I need to break that habit – or should I say brake? – because it’s dangerous. And as if safety isn’t a good enough reason, slowing down also has other perks. I recently read in the Globe and Mail that by driving 100 km/h instead of 120 km/h, your fuel consumption can drop by 20 percent. (Now that definitely earns fuel efficiency points.)

July 1 – a Happy Birthday and a Carbon Tax Reminder

I just wanted to post a quick reminder that as of July 1 (Tuesday), a carbon tax will be in effect for most fuels sold in B.C.

View the provincial government’s website for more information on the tax. And if you haven’t already, take a couple of minutes to check out the two videos we filmed on the topic (they were posted on June 5 and June 12).

Of course, July 1 is important for another reason as well – Happy Canada Day! However you choose to celebrate the country’s birthday this year, I hope you have a great day. But like Jon said before the long weekend in May, remember to be safe. This is always an important message, but an especially good reminder around the holidays.