Oh Dear! Volkswagen, Oh Dear!

In the words of Volkswagen, "We screwed up!" Yes you did, Volkswagen, yes you did.

The thing about this scandal is that it was deliberate deceit upon not only the owners, but upon the whole world because of what it involves, Emission standards are set very low to protect the environment, but manufacturers presumably were not able to build into their cars the capacity to meet those standards, at least economically, so they came up with a bit of software that allowed the car to narmally flout the standard until it realised it was being tested. Then it performed according to the standard expected of it.

Question: why not simply program the software to reduce emissions all the time?

There have been many problems with cars over the years, some resulting in massive recalls, but generally, or so we thought, these were due to good faith mistakes. We have always believed that manufacturers provided the market with the best product for the times. As time has moved on cars have become more sophisticated and ever safer. Owners have likewise become more confident in their model car. Volvo is bought by people who absolutely believe in the safety aspect and quality components of the vehicle. We believe that Volvo has our best interests uppermost in mind.

Volkswagen, "The People's Car" also enjoyed similar belief and confidence, so the scandal is more than driving a car that deliberately damages the environment, it's about driving a disgrace. It is said that the car you choose to drive mirrors your own personality. If I drove a Volkswagen I think I would feel as though I was driving a car that was heaped with shit upon it. Why would I do that?

I will need to buy a car to replace my aged Volvo. Top of the list is another Volvo, the XC60, but I was torn also between a Volkswagen Toureg, the new SUV Jaguar F Pace, and other top of the line models, for which I do not have the money.

Well, strike off Volkswagen. That's not going to happen.

The unspoken question arising from this is: what other deceits are out there, and what other car manufacturers might be involved?

Oh Dear! Volkswagen. Oh Dear indeed!

Copyright (c) 2015  Eugene Carmichael 

Trying to Exhale!

I opened a news article this week, sucked in my breath, and now I'm trying to exhale. I am so excited!

The news was Jaguar is releasing it's first ever SUV. Jaguar and SUV don't even belong in the same sentence, but they have gone and done it. I must tell you that I am a Jaguar purist. I have been slowly warming to the Jag F-type. I own a Jag V6 3.2 Sovereign. That, for me is the Jaguar benchmark design, and although over 20 years old, it still is as fresh a design as the day it came on line.

We have come from that to the Jaguar F-Pace, and I must say I am so struck by such a radical move by Jaguar that on the one hand I am lost for words, but on the other, the cars speak for themselves. I wanted to make my next car something like a Porsche Cayenne, or a Ferrari SUV, or the Volvo XC60. All those dreams have gone out the window. With Jaguar, there will be several models of the SUV, but they are all tricked out with superb technology, and there is even one model that will give up to 57 miles per gallon. That's the one for me.

I'm not going to try and describe the technology in detail as there are simply too many variants, but the car is due on the roads in April of 2016. Between now and then I will have to save up my pennies to be ready to get in line for the most extraordinary event in motoring history, as seen through my eyes. The bad news is that this car may become really hard to get as I think it will be seen as a Must Have.

Welcome, Jaguar SUV!

Copyright  (c) 2015  Eugene Carmichael

Another Cautionary Tale!

This is not a rant about something that went wrong, because while it did go wrong I have only myself to blame.

A few blogs ago I spoke about having taken a delightful train journey from London to Valencia, but I was shocked to find that I could not claim the tickets I had paid for, so had to re-purchase. This is an update to that story.

It was way back on April 1, (April Fool's Day) that I originally bought my tickets from London to Barcelona for travel on August 9th. In buying so far ahead I got very nice discounts that the company really intended that I made good use of. The lady at the agency impressed upon me that I had to get my tickets from the rail company before the start of my journey. The start of my rail journey was in London. I got to London by plane. I thought, what a strange thing to say. If I didn't pick up my tickets how else was I to start my rail journey.

What she meant was that I was to collect my tickets before leaving Spain, and that was underscored by the written notice on the voucher that was headed: IMPORTANT! A lot of time had passed between buying the tickets and travelling, but if only I had read the voucher to refresh myself as to what was required of me. Well, I didn't and off I went expecting to key in my code at the machines at EuroStar, London, and out would come my tickets. They didn't, so I had to scramble and buy same day travel tickets without any discounts at all.

Fortunately, there was space and I got to Barcelona as scheduled. That was just as well as I had not realised that I had paid for a night's stay in a very nice hotel in Barcelona, which was in danger of having been lost as well.

The next day I caught my train from Barcelona, which was also pre-paid and arrived back home as scheduled. That was important as I had my pets to collect.

So, I have said all that to say this: We enter into a number of contracts when we make a journey like this, and each one has its own terms and conditions. We really do need to observe our roles to the letter. If we don't not even insurance will bail us out.

By failing to have acted exactly as I should have, my original journey costs of 464 euros, including all rail, hotel, and transfer costs, ultimately cost me 923 euros, including new tickets and lost purchase that was not refunded. It could have been worse had I needed to stay in Paris, thereby losing my night's stay in Barcelona and having to re-purchase a seat from Barcelona to Valencia. That could have come to 1,056 euros, plus an additional night's boarding for my pets.

There's nothing else to do but suck it up and learn from my mistakes.

Copyright (c) 2015  Eugene Carmichael   

Thrilled to Death

While stalled in slow moving traffic a motorcycle drew alongside me with the engine revving, and came to a stop in front of me. It was being ridden by a young man, and sitting up high on the pillion seat was a young woman. He continously revved the engine so the bike sounded like a snorting bull ready to break out of the pen.

There came over me an awful feeling that he was giving the girl a thrill, and as we were about to enter a long one-way, dual lane road, I sensed he would ride very fast, which, in my mind was likely to end very badly. The entrance to this strip of road is on the downhill, and as soon as he could he was off, as fast as he could go, with the engine screaming like a banshee. In mere seconds he was out of my sight, and I could see well into the distance.

I think the bike was a Kawasaki, so I Googled Kawasaki and I think it would have been a Ninja, which is a 998cc model. That being the case, the estimated top speed could be 150 mph, or 240 kph. The rider sits in a snug well between the tank and the pillon seat. However, the passenger simply gets a small pillon seat with no backing, so she has to hold on to the rider as tightly as she can. Perhaps it's just me, but I think that is dangerous enough at 120 kph. At twice that speed, I hate to imagine.

Along the motorway there were two places where I could have turned off, but I chose not to do so because I could not see where traffic had come to a halt n the distance. Did the couple make it safely home? I saw nothing in the media to suggest that they had come to grief.

In 1963 I took someone's daughter on a long ride around Europe lasting over three months. There were times I was very tempted to ride fast, but always in my mind I was aware that I was responsible for her well-being. There were a couple of times that we would have met with serious injury, or even death had I not been careful, so my caution paid off.

I think I really impressed her by simply getting her home safe and sound. My reward was in her saying to me: Thank You! You don't get to hear that if you injure or kill someone.

Think about it, Guys!

Copyright (c9 2015 Eugene Carmichael