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 A blog of no uncertain musings. What goes on in my mind is often a source of wonder to me. |
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My mind and my life are wonderous things ... as are yours, I'm sure. I have more slips of paper and pages of notebooks with musings and thoughts than I really know what to do with. Someone, actually several someones, have suggested I start a blog ... or a journal as a means of focusing some of this mental energy. To be honest, I don't even know what the difference between a 'journal' and 'blog' is--or if there even is a difference. Read on, my friends, and you can judge for yourself whether it even matters. And so....  I'm JACE. Yep ... that's me! And somewhere in all my writings my last name may be posted. But I'll just leave it at Jace for right now. I'm 70 years old and heading full tilt to 71. It's strange that while I'm going through some rather serious medical issues, I still consider myself to be in the prime of my life--pretty good shape physically AND mentally, though I don't run for competition anymore  . I love to ... dang, if I put this stuff here, I won't have anything for my blog.Guess you just have to be patient until such stuff leaks out.  Perhaps 2025, having embraced my retirement, will see more participation in my journaling efforts. Well, one can hope.... |
| Tomorrow we set out for Crested Butte, CO, for a week-long family ski outing. They will be doing the skiing; I will be sitting in a coffee shop enjoying the warmth and an iced mocha (my tribute to the cold weather). My days of skiing ended when I left college for a couple reasons. One, I spent so much time working, I rarely had time for a skiing vacation. My family didn't embrace the skiing mentality. That worked out well for our pocketbook, and left time for other vacations we enjoyed. And two, my college days of skiing included lots of alcohol and a feeling of invincibility that often manifested in ways I felt that God does indeed lookout for fools. I survived those wonderful times, that I'm not certain I completely remember. Anyway, getting ready for the drive, I got the car washed and filled up with gas. One of the features on my 2022 Toyota Corolla displays how many miles I can go on a tank of gas. Today upon filling up, the car declared I could travel 445 miles on my full tank. Of course, I don't completely believe it and would never test that limit (on purpose). During the summer, a fill up allows me to drive up to 516 miles on a full tank. That difference is due to using winterized gasoline. Either summer gas compacts better in my tank allowing me two more gallons of gas (at 35 mpg)--which is not true, of course--or the winterized gas is not as efficient as summer gas. Doing, ding, ding! Neither is actually correct. Winterized gasoline is chemically distinct from its summer counterpart adding chemicals that increase volatility for starting and operating in colder temperatures. They prevent fuel lines from freezing and improve engine performance in lower temps. In the summertime, such additional chemicals are not needed. Interestingly, the winter blends cost less to refine resulting in lower costs in the winter, generally. Lower prices also factor in reduced driving because of the colder weather. Also, in the bummer category, the state gas tax in MO, KS and CO is 29.5 cents/gal, 24 cents/gal, and 22 cents/gal, respectively, and yet, the cost of fuel rises as we head west--less in MO, more in CO. Suck it up, Jace; you're going on this trip. Did you know the EPA allows the sale of winter blends on 16 Sep? Though the actual date you may see the blend depends on the region and climate conditions. As for the trip, I worry about one thing--weather. I'm sure my Corolla isn't the best on wet, snowy roads. Snow showers are not what I want to see in my future. I know my limitations; I don't know what that other guy is thinking. |
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