The Simple Things

There is little question you can buy pasta cheaper than you can make it. There is no question that buying it is also easier than making it. Making requires several tools and quite a bit of time, since you need to dry it on a rack so it won't stick together before you can cook it. And the best pasta includes an egg, which is asking for salmonella, a surprisingly spreadable bacteria that sticks to many things, especially walls and light switches and fridge handles and cabinet knobs. It goes all over the place. Kill it with bleach in a water solution and cut down on the indigestion.

The thing is, homemade pasta tastes good, partly because having made it, you feel pride in your accomplishment of a common household task in any Italian home for the last 4 centuries. When I make pasta, I use a handcranked machine rather than electric one, mainly because you have to get your fingers in there and its easy to stop and back up when you're turning the handle yourself. The electric can do bad things to your fingers. You're better off buying pasta than using an electric, just for safety's sake.

When it comes to bicycling, the big choice people often get wrong is skinny tires or wide ones. Skinny are fashionable, but likely to pop. Unless you're riding on very smooth surfaces, such as a velodrome, ultraskinny tires are the wrong kind to have. In the real world, on paved roads, wider gives you more surface area, lets you run lower pressure, and thus reduces the number of flats as well as transferring less energy to your tail and keeping the forward motion going. Ergo, wider tires are better, up to a point. I run 2.5 inch wide slick tires, which give it the best rolling resistance and contact patch, yet allow me to coast faster than a 0.6 inch wide race tire that belongs in a velodrome.

See? This is where ultra skinny tires belong. Notice how unlike it is to a road?
Also, while its easy to whine about sculpting components for reduced air resistance, your body is 30X bigger problem there, and your riding position has a huge impact on the resistance, as well as the clothes you're wearing. As embarrassing as it is, spandex and shaved legs DO cut wind resistance. That said, are you racing hard enough to care? The English still have vintage bicycle touring clubs, which wear vintage woolen riding clothes, rain or shine, on roads through the English countryside. You don't have to join a racing club. You can ride with more normal people.

See, nice normal riding, paved trail, families. Good places to stop for a photo or picnic.

That's important to me because I'm a amateur snapshot-type photographer. I see something I like, I photograph it. I'm not very technical so don't care that much about perfect everything. I just want to click the shutter and hopefully get a decent photo to adjust on the computer later. For me, stopping often is valuable. I don't need to be fastest. I have a game for that. Its safer, since wrecks aren't real, and cheaper since the cars aren't real either.

If you like to sightsee, go slow. This is a good reason for a scooter. It forces you to slow down and look around.

Similar idea with a convertible. You have the open sky around you. Look at it. Not just growl at the road or complain how the convertible is heavier than a hatchback so is actually slower and less fuel efficient. Having driven the Mazda Miata series 1 in a driving simulator game, I can honestly say it needs wider rear tires because its just powerful enough to be tail happy and try to kill you. Driven slowly with the top down its probably just fine. As a fan of mountain roads, it is no longer on my list to someday own since that tendency to break loose at the apex, or coming out of the apex under power, is the sort of thing that kills you. I'm trying to enjoy myself, not die.

So far, I'm finding the front wheel drive hot hatchbacks to offer the best control and speed on twisty roads. My current car is front wheel drive, and when I eventually upgrade the tires, it will grip better and be more fun to drive. This is a simple and effective fix. The right tires and the right pressures, I'll see huge improvement in handling and performance. Front wheel drive cars are front heavy, but the weight is on the wheels with the power so the grip tends to be better, unlike the Porsche which also has the weight on the wheels, only the front wheels tend to get light and on corners can break loose and send you ass backwards into a tree or off a cliff into the river. While this is a well known problem, people still buy them. I've driven a 912 Porsche all the way to Alaska, some of those roads were gravel for immense lengths, and so I can 4 wheel drift that car and not die. Good times. And simple pleasures.

If you like driving out into the country, with a sandwich and a bottle of water and a camera, looking for a few good views, secondary roads are often a good choice. Ones near rivers or through mountains are also good. The twistier the better, since twisty roads are often avoided by trucks and commuters so tend to be empty and rewards a good driver with slow but fun turn apexing, gear changes, and all the stuff that makes driving a good car enjoyable. To prep your car you need:

1. Good grippy tires.
2. Right tire pressures, check and correct as needed before you leave.
3. Clean air intake filter, a $12 part from the auto store that takes 5 minutes to change it yourself.
4. Recent oil change. Engine will rev higher with more power.
5. Full tank of good gasoline.
6. A comfortable pair of shoes, both to drive with and if you get out.
7. Sunglasses and a hat.
8. Camera.
9. Lunch. You might find a restaurant on the way, but if you find a good spot with a great view, that's often better, and quieter, and less likely to give you indigestion.
10. Road map and highlighter to map out the route.
11. Clean the inside and outside of the windows. Huge improvement in driving enjoyment when you can clearly see the road. Dust the dash and instruments too. A clean car is a nice car.
12. Good driving music for the stereo.
13. Don't drive near the beginner or end of the month. Cops have quotas to fill then and will ticket you.
14. A recent service including transmission fluid and filter change, and valve adjustment. That helps it shift faster and revs higher with more power.
15. Remove junk from trunk, under seats, out of door pockets, and from glove box. Tighten down tools and spare tire so they don't rattle. Bring the tire gauge, tire pump, tire plugs to repair punctures, cellphone to call for a tow, car insurance card, medical insurance card, drivers license, basic first aid kit, and bright yellow poncho if you need to change a flat so you're visible. Doubles as rain protection. Also bring toilet paper in a ziplock bag. If you gotta go, be prepared.
16. Clean around door sills so you see proper paint color when you open your door. Surprisingly positive feelings from this detail. Little things add up. Miserable people have filthy cars.

These things make driving somewhere interesting both fun and safe. Simple things. And cheap, too.