Category Archives: Reference

Lots-O-Debt

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Over the next year you’ll be hearing a lot about the National Deficit and the National Debt – it being an election year and all. The deficit is how much we are spending beyond what we brought in as a country. The consumer equivolent would be how much we spent on our credit cards in one month that we couldn’t pay off at the end of the month. The debt is owed total for all our years of government. This would be like your balance you on your credit cards.

The National Debt Clock gives an up to the minute total of our Debt as a nation (through magic i assume). I found the adjusted totals graph under the FAQ to be quite telling personally.

  • US National Debt Clock
  • US Debt Progression Adjusted for Inflation (1990 Dollars)

    • A REAL Man’s Engine

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    In my browsing through the net, I found THE engine swap. Forget about putting an Integra engine in your Civic. Forget about shoving that big block into your Impala. The Wartsila-Sulzer RTA96-C turbocharged two-stroke diesel is ALL the engine you’ll EVER need. Let’s compare it with the specs of the enviable Dodge Viper and the new F150 that Ford seems so proud of lately.

    Engine Comparison 2004

    Engine
    Type    		 Ford F150
    5.4L TRITON? V8 Cylinder Engine    		 Dodge Viper
    8.3L V10 Cylinder Engine    		 Wartsila-Sulzer
    RTA96-C Inline 14 Cylinder Engine
    Horsepower 300hp (@ 5000rpm) 500hp 108,920hp (@ 102rpm)
    Torque 365 lb/ft (@ 3750rpm) 525 lb/ft 5,608,312 lb/ft (@ 102rpm)
    Fuel Economy 14 / 17 mpg (City / Hwy ) 12 / 20 mpg (City / Hwy ) 75 FEET per gallon (estimate)

    Awesome! Now THAT is some POWER! Of course, it’ll be killer at the pumps with record high gas prices around the country… Oh did I mention that the RTA96-C was designed primarily for use in very large container ships. Ship owners like a single engine/single propeller design and the new generation of larger container ships needed a bigger engine to propel them.

    Wartsila-Sulzer RTA96-C turbocharged two-stroke diesel engine is the most powerful and most efficient prime-mover in the world today. It is available in 6 through 14 cylinder versions, all are inline engines. Some facts on the 14 cylinder version: Total engine weight: 2300 tons (The crankshaft alone weighs 300 tons.) Length: 89 feet Height: 44 feet Even at it’s most efficient power setting, the big 14 consumes 1,660 gallons of heavy fuel oil per hour.

    Big Fat Killer

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    A recent report shares some startling news. America’s weight problem is about to become it’s #1 killer (in preventable deaths at least). As soon as 2005 obesity is going to pass cigarette smoking as the favored way for Americans to kill themselves. Which begs the question: is smoking/eating/drinking your way to death simply a slow form of suicide? Does thinking about it in that manner change the basic predisposition for Americans to let other Americans do as they please?

    The study showed that America is curtailing smoking (as it becomes more socially unacceptable and frankly harder to find a place where you can smoke) while growing fatter by the minute. This amazes me amid the current low-carb craze that is sweeping the nation.

    DEATH TOLL
    Causes of preventable deaths in the US in 2000
    Source: USA Today; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

    Tobacco Use 435,000
    Diet/Physical Inactivity 400,000
    Alcohol Consumption 85,000
    Motor Vehicle Crashes 43,000
    Firearms 29,000
    Sexual Behaviors 20,000
    Illicit Drugs 17,000  

    Gotta Give Em Credit

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    ~5-7-98

    Ever wonder about why you can’t get approved for that credit card / car loan / ect? Here is some basic credit / credit report info I put together a while back to answer some basic questions.

    Credit Primer

    Today you can get your credit report online instantly (instead via mail which took up to 8 days) after answering enough questions to prove your identity. I personally like equifax’s reports because you can your FICO score which is what most lenders use to determine if and how much to approve you for. I tend to laugh at most credit protection “services” (out loud at the people offering them) that charge $50-120 a year to protect your credit and give you a “free” copy of your credit report (sometimes more than 1!) “OR” I say “I can go get my credit report for $12 (ah remember the good old days when it was $8 — damn Euro devaluing the dollar!) and take myself out somewhere nice with my money saved…”

    Checking your credit more than once a year is pretty much overkill… it often only updates every 3 or 4 months, but checking in every year or so is a good idea — just so any mistakes are taken care of in your free time and not when you really, really, really want to buy that new Porche 911 now, now, now! Not to mention the embarassment saved at your local Porche dealership. (ah the nouveau riche…)