Getting The Most Out of Your Tank of Gas?

They said on the local news today that gas in Rochester, N.Y. crept up over $ 3.00, but I did see it for 2.999. The point is, are you getting your money's worth from that costly gas? Here's a crash course on auto maintenance for the complete idiot.

1. Tire pressure: check it at least once a week now, with an accurate tire gauge;
They're not expensive. If you are at the gas station, remove all
the valve stem covers to save time on the air machine. Most cars
have a label on one of the inside door pillars depicting the
proper pressure. Untangle the air hose first,then take your read-
ings. Next, deposit the change to start the machine, and pump up
whichever tires need air. They say that 1 PSI makes a big
difference in the gas mileage.

2.Check all fluids: Foremost, check the oil. Check it with the engine cold, if
possible. Most dip sticks are marked. Learn where they are on
your engine. Most small engines do not hold a lot of oil to start
with, so don't let it run too low. Change it at regular intervals
too; Big difference in performance and longevity.

The transmission fluid is checked on an automatic, with the engine
warm, and running. All dip sticks have a Min to Max indication.
The fluid should look clean and not black, but reddish. They have
funnels with long necks to get down in the fill hole, which is the
same hole you removed the dip stick. Pull it out, and wipe it
clean. Study the levels marked on the stick. My Volvo has
marks on each side of the stick to read at different operating
temps. I advise having the engine warmed up to normal temp. If
low on the stick, only add a little at a time, and re-check,
until the level looks up there. Unless you have a leak, it
should not take much (unless it has not been checked for a long
while!


The coolant level: Most cars have a plastic bottle with the level
marks on the side, allowing quick visual check without opening
anything. Learn where that is, and don't get it mixed up with the
windshield washing solution fill. Check that too, while your at
it!

Power steering fluid. The power steering unit is mounted on the
side or front of engines, and always belt driven. Most newer
cars have only one long serpetine belt that drives all the
appliances,such as power steering, alternater, water pump. The
Power Steering pump will be the only belt driven unit that has a
cap to remove. Its almost always marked. Under the cap, you'll
find a small dip stick, again, with max-min. marks.

Check the filters: The air filter clogged up will give you reduced gas mileage.
Change it at least twice a year, or more if you are driving
lots of back dusty roads. The gas filter should be changed yearly
but may be more than the average driver can handle.

Tune the car up: Have the car tuned on a regular basis to keep it peppy.

Driving Habits: We "lead-footed" Americans are jack rabbits at the green light, and
try to pass everything in our path. We all need to be aware of
the way to keep that gas in the tank longer. Pretend there is an
egg under your accelerater foot. Use only enough pressure to get
the car moving fast enough to change the transmission into the
higher gear. When you drive in the highest transmission gear,
the engine is turning at its lowest RPM's. (revolutions per minute)
I try to keep my car at 2,000 RPMs most of the time. Each time you
pull out to pass a car, you usually kick the transmission out of
the highest gear to give the engine more power for passing. In
other words, the lower gear the transmission is in, the faster
the engine is turning. The lower the engine RPMs, the better the
gas mileage. When you observe a red light ahead, take your foot
off the gas pedal and coast to the light. If you're lucky, the
light will change to green by the time you get there, and you wont
need to come to a complete stop. In most cases, passing is not
gaining you anything. I notice folks passing me at break-neck
speeds, and a while later, I'll pull up right behind them at a
light. They gained nothing by passing me, except to burn more
gas just to get one more stupid car length ahead of me! Almost no
time saved, and lots of extra gas burned.

Consider higher octane gas: My Volvo has the small four cylinder engine, designed
for 91 octane gas. If I put high octane gas in, even at 20 cents
per gallon more, the car has more power, and goes farther on
that tank full. In my case the extra $ 2-3 bucks for the
higher octane, takes me much farther, absorbing the extra cost
output.
So change your driving habits, and keep your car running smooth, and you will see
a difference! A little bit of thought about multitasking your car usage will save
you miles of driving. Above all: DRIVE SAFE OUT THERE!

Persistence Pays Off !!

Last night, on my way home from rehearsal, I stopped to get gas, ( $ 2.96.9 ) Such a steal! I drove off and went about 1/2 mile, and heard a clunk, and thought I saw something falling behind the car. I continued on before it registered that the falling object might be the gas cap. I continued on to the next side street, and turned and parked. Sure enough, the gas cap was missing! I got back in the direction I just came from and putting the flashers on, I slowly drove on the lookout for the missing cap. I could see the gas station within 1/4 mile, and figured I'd gone far enough. Turning around on the nest side street, I slowly drove back in the original direction, but alas, no cap finding. Again, I found a side street, and pulled up and parked. I began walking back towards the gas station, close to the curb, scanning the lawns,street, and sidewalks. It was getting dark. I kept telling myself, "Give up and go home", but my stubborn feet kept moving. I turned around, and started back towards the street where the Volvo was parked, eyes peeled to the ground, transfixed, willing the cap to me, but, nothing! I got to the street where the car was parked, and passed, continuing down the road looking. It was getting darker by the minute. I reached a point where I figured the cap had to be behind me, and about-faced. Again, eyes glued to the ground, I started back to the car. The car was now in sight on the side street, when in the grey dusk, barely visible in the long grass, was the grey cap! The darkness was now complete, as I headed back to the Volvo with my reclaimed prize! Oh the joy of sweet victory!!

This is an Attack on Corporations

THIS IS AN ATTACK AGAINST CORPORATIONS


Corporations were put into place to give the companies added advantages derived from their combined size and power. This new combined corporate power allowed the companies to grow and prosper beyond other non-corporate ventures. The added clout allowed the corporations to bestow their employees with affordable benefits, enriching their lives, thus aiding in the growth of the corporation. So far, so good

The smart corporate leadership teams envisioned the next level of the Industrial Age. They saw efficient organizations, utilizing their fast -growing clout, to buy, transport, and produce products or services cheaper than ever before. They realized that by empowering their employees with improved working conditions, medical care, retirement plans, etc, they were re-enforcing their corporate placement further yet. The enablements were brilliant, producing a new breed of workers, prospering with their new gained benefits, and contributing to a stronger economy, thus increasing the profit line on the corporation. Beautiful !! The average worker, now shares the same economic growth, thus feeding the corporate fires, as well as paying their mortgages, and planning for their futures. So far, so good, right?

So, as the American Industrial Age rolls on with increased momentum, various other chess pieces start making their move on the corporate chess board; Unions, Insurance Companies, more lawyers to grease the tracks, and various organizations such as Workmans' Comp. The corporate engine continually increases its horsepower, and uses all corporate resources to its advantage. And let us not forget the Almighty Stock Exchange. What takes place on Wall St. And other World-wide financial districts, effects the health of the Corporations.

What happens next is anybodies guess at this point, but my guess is that the Power gained nurtured the bedding ground for Greed. History has shown us, that Power leads to Greed; its just human nature, or as some would perceive it, a natural progression of Evolution. The Greed overcomes all other logical motions by focusing all energies on the the bottom line, the end result, the Profit Margin. All aspects of the Profit Margin Phase are continually adjusted, tuning that Profit Margin in its Blind-sighted quest to adjust to the Bottom Line. If we close a facility here in the U S A and operate cheaper in China, or India, so be it. The Bottom Line is producing.

Wait a corporate minute! Is not the :U S economy factor shifted by the loss of American soil jobs, from all the Outsourcing created from the corporate Greed.?? Didn't we agree that the American worker, kept the U S economy rolling strong because the American worker, Was the American economy. Now in today's perverted Bottom Line crunch, the Greedy corporations have cut off their noise to spite their face, tripped over a dollar to pick up a dime, thus severing the symbiotically fed relationship that fed the American economy. And the American worker.

Keep it Clean!

Rmember, Mr Puddy is my comment moderateor !!

Just imagine No War

Where the heck do I start? I'm not sure why I get my blood boiling over war, and the Middle East, and the violence, and the non-stop killing. I've known all along that this will never stop. For as long as there have been two or more people on this Earth in the same spot, there has been murder. For as long as there has been more than one tribe, or nation near the same spot, there has been war. When the victorious nations got bigger and more powerful, they didnt stay in the same spot, but spread out, and took over as many spots as they could. Sounds like the good ole U. S. doesnt it? All the big powers ruling the world throughout history fell by the wayside, and of course the U.S. will too; we already have diminished our almighty power by our arrogant, "Stay out of our way, World, We're going where we wish, and will take out whom ever we wish, when ever we wish it." Thats exactly the attitude that Goliath had, I'm sure, even as Davy took him down. The big "G" fell hard, and the US will also the way we are going. We have more enemies in the world than friends. We do business with a good part of the world, but not because we are friends. No, they need our economic support to keep them afloat. But real friends, I dont think so. Our involvement in the Middle East, with Bush at the helm, has done devastation beyond comprehension. Was Saddam evil? Of course, but are we not doublelly the evil ones? We basically told the rest of the world to go to hell, and invaded another country. We already had enough problems back home here, without going over there and sending our own people to their graves in the name of democracy. And what about all the money pumped into that useless, needless war effort? We have our own folks right here in the Gulf living in tents, and trailers as we speak.Think of all that war money we could be shoring up our own country with. And then, there's Iran. Now what? My dad used to say "we're going to hell in a hand basket" but even since he recently passed, he would not believe the speed we have picked up in that ole hand basket. We may call our selves a democracy, but in actuality, we are a Dictatorship. We dictate to the entire World. Meanwhile, people back home here are out of work, as factory, and business of every description outsurce overseas. The Rich--Poor gap gapes wider than ever before, along with the rhythm of the glaciers warp=meltdown. Are we not aligning for the Revelation?

3,000 FEARS

3,000 Fears

Summer 2003


As I live As I breathe
Theres a flame smoldering
deep inside of me
And if I try to put it out
The hotter that it burns
There is no running No escape
No place left to turn


But you can not hear me
You can not see me
You can not feel me
3,000 fears from your heart


I know you hurt I feel the same as you
I know you're dissatisfied the way your
life's unfold
There's got to be a brighter day
The story's left untold


But you can not hear me
You cannot see me
you can not feel me
3,00 fears from your heart

3,000 miles from your arms
3,000 fears keep us apart
3,000 fears from your heart

Your Face

YOUR FACE Fall 1991



Out of the dark fields through the ditch
Ragged and dirty from the pitch
Wipe out the cobwebs, Open up one eye


Just when I think the light is cracked
Just when I think the night will pass
I turn around, I see your face

I can only see your face
I can only see your face
I can only see your face


OUt of the depths of unchecked space
Deep in this void I leave no trace
Only the vacuum of my entropy


Futile to think there is escape
There is no tampering with the fate
I blink my eye, I see your face


I can only see your face
I can only see your face
I can always see your face

Enjoy That Cheap Chicken While You Can !!

Sat. April 8, 2006 Enjoy those Chicken McNuggets


To all you junk food junkies: Beware your cheap chicken is not as cheap as you think!
Big corporations like McDonalds are burning off our rain forests to farm their crappy cheap chickens for your McNugget pleasure. So, savor every tasty McBite, for you are paying a huge price for that junk. How this injustice can take place still boggles my mind, but like I said in my first blog " buckyblublog " Corporations are now so powerful that there is no stopping them. They wont stop until every fertile nanno-acre of soil is stained beyond repair in our lifetime or our great-great-great-grandchildren's lives. (If the world still exists as we know it long enough to have great-great-great-grandchildren ) Maybe, between the Mad Cow spread , and the Bird flu flap, the Human race will get the message. (But I doubt it)
I'm surprised the pigs haven't gotten into the limelight with their own pestilence. What catchy
name will we give that disease? How bout Rib-Rot P6s9, or Swillberg Swineneitiis, or just the plain and simple straight to the point Pig Pollenosios, or don't forget Oink-orthogenesis
Names are ever important. We have to give everything a name. And the name normally gets
some cute nick-name to be the politically correct password of the day.
Some will argue that this is all part of the evolutionary process; survival of the fittest My prior most paramount concerns were that we as an evil mankind would sooner or later blow our selves to smithereens with our ever powerful weapons and our seemingly unquenchable thirst for violence and murderous tendencies, but I may be wrong. God has a bigger plan, a much slower, but deliberate destruction of atonement is coming upon us.
Can you say McTonement?

Mr Puddy My Hired Comment Moderator

Up the Creek Without a Paddle

Sure is Good to See Ya

Next time I fall in love just how sure will I be its love
Been grounded for too long I don't think it will fly
So long Oh so far away It must have been a different life
We passed along the way One look at you it set my heart on fire

And you don't have to buy me no purple silk shirt
And you don't have to buy me no Anchor Steam Beer
And you don't have to take me out to Chinese
But it sure is good to see you
Sure is good to see you now

KEN

I met Ken a little over a year ago. He, and his family attended the "Teen Life" services at the church where I play. I am sorta new to that church communnunity. I don't belong to the church, but the guitar player in the band. He always came up after service to complement the band. I really didn't know him, but for a few minutes each week. He was so nice. Late, last fall, one day the song, "For I am Weak" (See previous post) came to me and I scribbled it down, and broke out the recorder, and hastily recorded the song accapella, in four parts. I only did single takes on all the parts, for I was so excited over the song development, that I just wanted to hear it! It had a few sour notes , but I kept saying to myself, "Its only a denmo, I'll re-work it later" I brought the song in to church the next day and played it for Al, the music director at the church, and my best friend. It was that day, I made some remark about Ken. Al turned on the most somber look, and said "You know, he's dying. He has cancer, and has a short time to live; we don't know how long." I saw the priest giving Ken a blessing after the service. I walked over and handed the CD I just made the day before, and said,"Here, you might enjoy this." Every week afterward, he would come up and say "I love the song; I listen to it over and over." After a few weeks, I did not see him at church. His wife came up to me, and said" He cant make it this week. He's home listening to your song now." She said the same thing about three weeks in a row. Then he died. It was then that I found out how special he was. You see, I was not a church member, so to speak, and did not know all that much about the church. My church, and their sister church combined organizations for economic reasons, using one Priest for the two Parishes, and so forth. Ken and his family actually belonged to the sister church. They were coming to our services to prove a point to the rest of his congregation. It seems that a great many of them were upset about the two churches combining. They were used to going to their own church in their own neighborhood (even though the two churches were probably within a couple miles of one another) and were put out to have to go to the other church if they preferred a service at a certain time and day. Ken was paving the way, breaking down barriers, making a point in a very personal way. He asked our band to play at his funeral service, and picked all the songs himself (many of them jubilant rockers) And once more, his funeral service was held at our church, not his! He made the biggest statement at the end. His wife came to Al one day recently, and said "Ken left some insurance funds, and asked me to find out what the church could use." Al's eyes were filled with tears and lit up all at once as he told me "Ken's buying two projectors for our song lyrics to be projected on the ceiling and do away with the printed sheets we hand out." His wife, Lorrie, now sings in our band, and Ken's memory is alive always. I have never met a person so faithful, so prayerful, so totally immersed in the Holy Spirit. He never broke down, or spoke in negative tones regarding his plight. He always smiled to the end and said "I'm blessed" I am so fortunate and blessed myself to have met Ken, and he will be in my heart forever.

FOR I AM WEAK

Hold me Jesus for I am Weak
I hunger for your presence
Seeking the Rock to plant my feet
Most glorious, my savior

Wrap me in your warming cloak
I'm shivering outside it
Only you wash clean my stains
Most precious God, My savior

Hardly Free

Hardly Free Summer 2005


Sift the sanity like seaweed
Clear it from the prop
Batten down the hatches Send down the top mast
Pop another cholk

Try not to listen to the wind howl
Ignore the mournful moan
Find the mark on the horizon
Set a course for home


As if some unknown power leading me
As if the tether chafes apart adrift at sea
As if a pack of hounds were closing in on me
I'm alone, But Hardly Free
Alone But Hardly Free <

Rape of the American Employee

The Rape of the American Employee Winter 2004



Day breaks, Life goes on in America
Waking up in the land of the free
And the brave

well I gotta get up and I gotta
go to work Swipe that corporate clock
And watch my hopes wither
Make someone else richer
Sink deep beneath the system's thumb


Back-paddle hard Got to eddy out
For they'll drown you like
the waves of the ocean
When its all said and done
when the tide rolls out
Will I move as it sets me in motion


Hark look See on all workers faces
All got that same look in their eyes
For the parts come late, schedule wont wait
Getting worse by the minute
They call it outsourcing Lean manufacturing
Put a plant off in Bangladesh


Back-paddle hard Got to eddy out
For they'll drown you like the
Waves of the ocean When its all said and done
When the tide rolls out Will I
move as it sets me in motion

FIRST NEED

We come into this world small and unprotected Naked to this Earth and God
Reaching out our arms before our eyes are open Reaching for that bond of love
We have to grow up fast, Define our existence
Learn to drive that Human Highway
The faster that I run, I reach out for my First Need Reaching for that bond of love

Oh I can hide my feelings sometimes, Show myself that I dont care
Climb the next rung on the ladder, Pray that there's some comfort there
They say that with old age comes wisdom Seems the older that I get
The everlasting need is so strong Reaching for that bond, That bond of love

Almost second sight, call it basic reflex I cant make love without FEELING love
If there's one lesson to learn, follow your first instinct And have faith in God above

Oh you can hide your feelings sometimes Teach the world that you dont care
Climb the next rung on the ladder, Its too late for looking back
Build a wall around your conscience Lock your heart away and see
You've blinded yourself to your Fisrt Need you cut the bond of love
But you're not free And you're not free And you're not free
And you're not free

Longing for Home Again

Though it seems a task, push ahead, and leave the past
There's one thing deep within me, like a candle burning fast
There is one place in my mind, from another space in time
An everlasting wisdom, I embrace the lovely vision of my

Home again, back to all the people I love, Home again
Wondering when my feet will take me home again
And wondering where my heart will go from here

As the sun brings in the day, and the wind blows it away
My thoughts are ever shifting, soaring higher, often drifting
In the backlots of my mind, In the closets back in time
When days were shorter thatn tomorrow, and easier
For me to get back home again, Back where all the people I love
Home again, Wondering when my feet will take me home again
And wondering where my heart will go from here


In 1976, I was married, and still thought I was happy.
Then one day, these words came from me, and I was amazed
at how stark and frank the images differed from what I thought was reality
First instincts are almost always right! Dont ever forget it!
One of the earliest songs I have written.
Now that I'm home again, where WILL my heart go from here?

The Reluctant Poet

THE RELUCTANT POET
Bucky Gelo
I'm the reluctant poet; there is much to say, yet I sit silently, lips pursed Frozen in time, while thoughts portage the endless labyrinth of the mind at speeds un-calculatable, lost in the infinite network of timelines, past and future consciousness
Surely by now, everything has been said by those with their predictions, theories, die-sections, bye-sections, mandates, criticism, quantinized, sterilized opinions.
Where is my small voice to be heard amid the babble of a civilization so vast, so numerable, so near sighted, so deaf, so greedy, so intelligent, im-moral
So i sit and dream of a communique' a universal language for the masses, a voice to be heard, a voice to speak for all the little voices, frozen, imprisoned, meek, oppressed; a voice longing to be heard, just once above the rest. A small print in the sand for the lame. A word that is yet to be said. A song that is yet to be sung. A wrong yet to be un-wronged. An emotion yet to be felt.
But surely, that's all been said and done; pre-evoked, pre-ordained, reconstituted, pasteuized, scrutinized, fornizied, inquisitized, etched into eternity by the countless speakers, senators, czars, crusaders, minstrels, jounalists, educators, theologians,and governortate. All have had their say; their passages ever-washing over our minds as the ocean tides, eroding deeper the caverns in our brains, streaking across our consciousness, invisible, with speed, spontaneity and voraciousness of nuclear fusion.
I'm the reluctant poet, too cadaverous to cast out the careworn, eroded net into the sea of predatious, sightless, razor-lipped entropic carnivoire. Too content, agencies, recluse. Safe in my apocalyptic space. Warm in my superstructure of isolation. Deaf from the shadows, blind from the tyrannical drums.
Under the blanket of the blood of the sewn lips I hide, ashamed, defused in the odious, unspoken enigma

Hold me

Jesus for I am

Weak

Buckyblublog

Jesus walked on ice?

April 6,2006
Today's news posts an article claiming that Jesus did not walk on the water, but a sheet of ice! What will they come up with next to disclaim whats already been written in the Bible? One may pick apart and try to call black, white till the cows come home. They can dredge up all the past history weather records, stuff the puzzle pieces into places they clearly wont fit, sit back and say "I am a highly educated individual, beyond believing in the super-natural, and it had to have happened like this." The walking on water, and other miricles alike, were teachings in faith, and were meant to seperate Jesus from the ordinary man. History shows that the people of the times did believe these amazing events, for otherwise, there would have been no reason to convict and execute Jesus in the first place. Once his public ministry was underway, word spread quickly of his doings. Word spread quickly in spite of the lack of technology we are privvy to; world-wide internet, newspapaers, phone, TV, Radio. If Jesus were merely an ordinary man, his work would not have attracted the attention of the governing party of the day. We would have no documented history of his life. Many people were convicted of crimes and tried and punished, but why does Jesus's trial and execution stand out 1974 years later? In fact, why does the entire world recognize that this year is in fact 2006? Why did society change the our time table from BC (before Christ) to AD (after death) at all? The history of the world has made record of many world leaders, and memerable people all shaping our past, but only Jesus has made such an impression on our civilazation. The ENTIRE world marks each year by the death of Jesus Christ. How far will our society go to white wash, twist, sift, and deny the truth?