Measurement of a Man: Motors, Mileage, Pipes and More

The men in my life are diverse, so when trying to size them up I employ their relationships with cars as a way to help me understand them better.

My own father has ever been very outdoorsy, which suited him perfectly. He worked as a biologist, but is retired nowadays. Picking up a fossil here; chipping a rock there, that’s my daddy. He never managed to grow any fondness for machinery. He was raised by his parents to act like a gentleman, but motors and gears seemed to dredge up the worst in him. I have early memories of him swearing the Industrial Age as he was bent over an engine.

Dad would change tires on our Volkswagen camper vans when required, but would never have been one to fawn over chrome grill work or aftermarket center caps. He might pour some water in the radiator or dab Rust-oleum on oxidized spots on our van, but scrubbing up headlamps with toothbrushes or running Q-Tips around dashboard knobs were not matters that happened in our garage.

My father-in-law, on the other hand, is a auto man all the way. He knows make, model and year of everything that’s in all likelihood ever traveled the Pennsylvania turnpike. Scrubbing whitewalls or ogling a 1962 Chevy at the Antique Car Club show is his thought of a well-spent Afternoon.

He grew up in rural northern Pennsylvania and graduated rapidly from a teething ring to a pitchfork and pliers. Where he grew up, farm boys were required to learn all they could about animal farming and automobile mechanics. He has maintained his passion for gadgets, wheels, and motors, but has no interest in animals. He left the farm, never looking back, and attended college.

My husband is a professor like his pop and his father-in-law, but that is where the resemblance stops. He does not camp, collect rocks or meticulously wash his vehicles. His idea of a good afternoon is sipping java at Starbucks, grading exams and traveling along the bunny trails that are Facebook.

He puts fuel in the car, but would be more inclined to employ his Chevy center caps as paperweights on his desk, than as a trendy way to floss his ride. Not that he has anything against someone who obsesses over their center caps. He vacuums his vehicle twice a year, but is satisfied to drive about town with “Wash me!” scribbled above his rusted bumper for a year at a time.

My daughter’s boyfriend is a juiced up version of my father-in-law. (I think they would bond rapidly if sent together on an errand to a car parts shop.) The Boyfriend got a performance exhaust kit for Christmas and is content now that his car’s exhaust growls deeply, letting everybody know he has arrived. “I can hear him coming a mile away,” my daughter grins, plainly in the throes of young passion.

It’s true that men and the relationships they have with their cars are complicated. It seems that their relationships can be an reflection of some men’s masculinity, while other men handle their cars as an antagonist that’s a nuisance that must be conquered or endured.

Many men blaspheme their automobiles and others name them. Some men give their cars plenty of TLC while some campaign for bragging rights because their car has the highest mileage or is the most beat up. Men exchange car stories over beers, just like war tales are shared at the campfire.

This is the reason the auto industry sells billions of dollars worth of window tint, aftermarket center caps, dashboard accoutrements, chrome, seat covers, wheels, car alarms, backup sensors, hoods, tailpipes, and decals.

Whether the ride in the driveway is the cause for cooing or swearing, there has to be some sort of mechanical mojo occurring – something like, “if you build it, he will come.”

http://cheapesthomecover.co.uk

Kenwood Audio Sounds

If you’ve been shopping lately for an auto sound system then I am fairly certain that you’ve come across several full entertainment systems among those in the running for your audio and entertainment dollars. Vehicles today offer everything from DVD players, individual speakers, headphones (also individually adjustable), and even dual players that will allow one different audio to be played in one section of the vehicle than another. In addition to all of these wonderful and nifty devices are many more devices that are meant to tempt, sway, and convince you to spend even more money on the auto sound system of your dreams. Some of these even offer MP3 players that connect directly to the audio system of your car, truck, or SUV.You can have alot of enjoyment from Car sound Systems The auto sound systems of today are much more involved and complicated than the simple car stereo and speakers of years long past. Today’s sound systems have all kinds of bells and whistles that many us could have only imagined during our younger years.

The jury is still out for many people about the safety and sense of having a DVD player in your automobile. While this is the case, people will continue purchasing DVD players are part and parcel of their sound and entertainment systems and manufacturers will continue putting together attractive packages that offer these devices to consumers while offering incredible bargains on installation. I know that many feel that this is an unnecessary distraction to drivers. I’m one of the rare people that feels that in a day of laptops, cell phones, talk radio, fast food, Starbucks coffee, and multitasking, a DVD in the back might be one of the best features that can be added to the car in an effort to minimize distractions coming from the direction of disgruntled passengers in the rear.

I will confess that many people wonder what this has to do with an auto sound system and I can understand that question so please bare with me. One of the features that sound system manufacturers are offering is a feature that allows individual headphones for passengers in the back along with LCD monitors that rest in the back of the head rests so that passengers in the back can both see and hear the DVDs being played without causing a distraction for the driver (either by noise or by means of flashing lights).

The truth of the matter is that having the noise from a DVD player in the back is no worse of a distraction than having disgruntled children competing for your attention from the backseat or listening to audio books as you drive along. I must admit that audio books are one of my current and readily admitted addictions. The problem with those is that on occasion some of the books simply aren’t meant for young ears. I try to keep my books limited to popular stories that are suitable for children whenever my children are riding along and save the sometimes steamy and often hilarious tales of Stephanie Plum for when I’m riding alone. Another great reason to make sure you have an auto sound system that at the very least reads and understands MP3s.

The technology exists for this and I expect to see even more innovations technologically speaking in the way of auto sound systems and entertainment systems in the near and not so near future. We live in a world where technology is constantly evolving and we should see many new and wonderful features that will make our lives much more enjoyable for our daily commute.

Whether you are new to the technology of today, fighting it mightily, or happily embracing it-it isn’t showing any signs of stopping or slowing down. This means that you will eventually have to face the fact that the old ways of buying an auto sound system will soon be obsolete. I often joke that we are rapidly becoming a society that is catching up with the “Jetson’s” vision for the future. I also loudly lament my lack of a Rosie. At any rate, I am glad to see that the new technologies in auto sound systems are offering less of a one size fits all image and offering much more individual systems, even for passengers within a vehicle.