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Music To Our Ears
Once again, I am daring to disagree with my fellow blogger Lewis. A tad before Christmas, Lewis sang the praises of Queen, Queen and nothing but Queen as the thing to play on your car stereo (and threw in a list of his top favourites).
This is all very well… if you like Queen. I don’t. I have a very eclectic music collection that rotates its way around the cycle of the family Ford Fairlaine, my husband’s Nissan Navara work ute and the sound system in the house, but Queen is conspicuous by its absence. However, I reckon Lewis got it bang on right when he mentions the great electric guitar solos as being good for driving to. Especially on the open road where you can put the pedal down… at least as far as the cops will let you.
However, there are sections of road where hard rock with plenty of driving guitar will just leave you frustrated. It’s more like heavy traffic than heavy metal. In situations like this, you need something that will calm you down, and probably something that you can sing along to. The car is as good as the shower for working on your singing technique, although you don’t quite get the acoustics. Pro singers always rehearse and practice at the car, although putting the sheet music on the steering wheel in front of you is probably a dumb idea (I’ve seen it done).
Taking yet another scenario, on a long interstate drive where the road is straight and the scenery is starting to get monotonous, soothing quiet music is a recipe for disaster (anyone else remember the scene in Mr Bean’s Holiday where Sabine falls asleep at the wheel of the Mini after Mr Bean hits Brahms’ Lullaby on the phone ring tones?). Some of the road safety boffins say that playing music can be a good stimulant for helping you keep alert during a long-haul trip, but they forgot to say that not all music is created equal…
So here goes: my hints for creating a driving playlist for all situations.
For open road driving and the wide open spaces: Electric guitar is king. Personal picks for the playlist would be U2, Midnight Oil (come on – an album named “Diesel & Dust” is just made to be driven to) and Chris Rea. From the classical section of the music library, the fast final movement of Summer from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons – that fast violin work rivals the slickest electric guitar work out there.
Slow traffic in town: Chill-out jazz and moody Celtic keeps you in the right headspace – calm and collected in your metal and glass bubble in spite of the madness around you. They’re also good for singing along to. If, however, you have small children in the car with you on the school and shopping run, singing will be a must. Also action songs to keep the kids from screaming with boredom. Looks like the Wiggles or the Fairies will hijack your sound system again.
Long drives when you need to keep your mind alert: Disco and electronica – that pumping beat is designed to get you pumped up and dancing driving all night. However, if it’s that sort of electronica that is highly repetitive and goes on for ten minutes per track, avoid it, as the repetitive music plus the repetitive flicker Audio books are another hot pick, especially when it’s getting dark. Pick a story with plenty of action or comedy (preferably both) rather than something intellectually heavy – Terry Pratchett’s Discworld sort of thing rather than To Kill A Mockingbird or The Brothers Karamazov.
PS: Keep the music to your car sound system or to the innate music of the exhaust in a well-tuned V8 engine. Musical horns (with the possible exception of the General Lee horn from the Dukes of Hazzard) and tinny tunes played as a reversing warning drive everyone insane, as I found out when living next door to a car that played Für Elise very badly every morning when it backed out the drive.
When Smart Keys Go Through The Wash
When I first encountered them, I considered smart keys to be a bit of an unnecessary frippery. However, I have grown to like them very much, especially on our recent family camping holiday. If the kids discovered that there was something they needed in the boot or the back of the family Ford Fairlaine after we had turned in for the night, there was no need to go through all the palaver of wriggling out of bed, pulling on dressing gowns and getting out of the caravan (hence the need for a large-engined Ford) and unlocking the car. One press of the button and the MP3 player or book could be retrieved by Mr or Miss Forgetful. I guess heaps of us have also come to enjoy the convenience of smart keys as well. Some of the modern ones (especially on some of the recent releases from Mercedes) get even smarter, unlocking the door for you if you get within a certain radius and no need to even press a button.
However, the other day, seeming disaster struck. In spite of the family policy of putting car keys in the wooden bowl on the fridge where they belong once you’ve finished driving, a set of car keys got left in the pocket of a pair of jeans (and it wasn’t me who did this, incidentally). And the jeans went through the wash, smart keys and all. The keys were only discovered at the bottom of the washing machine after going through the full wash, rinse and spin. Panic. Did they still work? (We do have a spare set – always a good idea, as accidents happen).
They didn’t. However, all was not lost. For one thing, the actual key bit can still be used to unlock the door and the boot manually the old-fashioned way. There is a way to get them working again without all the hassle of having to order a new one and get it activated – a lengthy and expensive process. It was very simple, too:
Step 1: Open up the fob of the smart key. There’s a weeny screw on the back of our set that needs an equally weeny screwdriver to open up. Every home should have a tiny screwdriver in both flat and Phillips for jobs like this. Other keys may open in another way, so have a good look at what you’ve got.
Step 2: Take out the battery.
Step 3: Dry the battery and let the rest of the key’s innards dry out properly. Leaving it in the sunshine is the best bet. Don’t be a muggins and try putting it in the microwave or in a conventional oven.
Step 4: Put the battery back in and put the key back together again.
Hey presto – one key almost as good as new again, unlocking and locking the door and the boot again like magic. If we wanted it to be just as good as new, we could have changed the battery – they do run out after a while.
A quick bit of research has also revealed that if your smart keys fall into liquid that isn’t fresh water (i.e. not the washing machine, toilet or swimming pool), an extra step can be added between Steps 2 and 3. This step will involve giving everything a good rinse in clean fresh water to get all the salt water/beer/coffee off the working parts. However, I can’t vouch for this one, not having tried it personally.
If you are really unlucky, the “open it up and let it dry” method won’t work and your smart keys are stuffed. In this case, your only hope is to either (a) use the spare set, (b) resort to locking and unlocking the car manually or (c) getting a new $et of $mart key$ from your local lock$mith.
And guess who’s going to be checking pockets before doing the laundry now?
Tips for Tradies
Tradies. Contractors. Those vital people who come around to your place to do something practical that you can’t do for yourself. They come in all flavours – gardeners, electricians, cleaners, plasterers, carpenters, builders, interior decorators, etc. etc. Perhaps you’re one of them.
Now, one thing that every tradie needs is a decent vehicle. There are some jobs that you just can’t do using public transport or on a bicycle. But what do you need to look for in a set of wheels if you are a tradie? What do you need to keep in mind before you head over to our car reviews to pick yourself the right car for your work?
- What tools do you need? You are going to have to carry everything you need with you to every job. This means that you’re going to have to put it somewhere in your vehicle. This doesn’t necessarily mean that a van is a must, in spite of the popularity of vans with tradies. Anything with a decent dollop of luggage space will do the trick – even a ute will do if you carry gear that can stand getting wet. MPVs, 4x4s and station wagons are other options. If your business is less tool-intensive (e.g. mobile computer whizzes, pet groomers or piano tuners) then something smaller can work – a hatchback allows easy access to the few tools that you do have.
- Do you need to pull a trailer? Builders, gardeners and carpenters often have to haul around a trailer, either to take large amounts of stuff to the clients’ places (builders, carpenters) or to take stuff away (gardeners). You’re going to have to consider engine size and type in this case.
- Ground clearance. Some jobs need a decent bit of ground clearance, especially if you’re going to have to take the vehicle over rougher ground to get your gear right where you want it. Others don’t so much. Utes and 4x4s have good ground clearance, which is why they’re popular choices for most tradies. However, a lot of contractors just run around on regular roads in the suburbs and can park on the street or in the driveway, so ground clearance isn’t always necessary.
- Signage. Are you planning on putting your business logo and contact details on your vehicle? It’s a good way of attracting new business. In this case, you may have to consider the colour of your vehicle. If your usual logo is plain black, it’s not going to show up on a dark coloured van or 4×4. If you have more than one vehicle for your business, it’s good if the vehicles match. However, if you’re a sole trader or owner/operator and you only need the one, then you can be a bit flexible when it comes to colour. White isn’t the only colour for a van or work vehicle. I knew a tradie once who scored a van cheap because the previous owner had given it a metallic pink paint job. One quirky logo later and he had a very eye-catching work vehicle that stood out among the fleets of white ones. Similarly, there is no rule that says that gardening/landscaping contractors have to have dark green 4x4s in spite of the “close to nature and good in the bush” image these tend to have.
Motoring Resolutions for 2014
So it’s now 2014, and as this is my first post since we turned over the calendars, I guess I’d better do something new year-ish. As usual in the motoring world, 2014 will see heaps of new versions and things being launched onto the Aussie market and you should be able to keep up with all the new developments on Private Fleet’s car reviews page. On the more personal front, the only big event in my motoring life for this year will be my teenage son going for his licence – I won’t be on the lookout for a new set of wheels (assuming neither the Ford nor my husband’s Nissan Navara work ute blows up). But it probably is time to draw up a list of New Year resolutions for driving. Perhaps the rest of you might like to use this as a little inspiration. After all, all of us could do with some improvements in our driving lives and habits somewhere.
- Keep the car clean inside and out. OK, my Fairlaine isn’t as messy inside as my friend’s Toyota Starlet but it’s high time I gave the seats and the floor of the car a good vacuum. And I need to take out the mats and give them a good shaking, followed by putting them back straight. Maybe finding a rubbish bag to corral old chocolate bar wrappers, receipts and cider bottle caps would be a good idea.
- Use the car less. How many of us have decided (yet again) that we are going to lose weight this year? Ditching the car for short journeys is one simple way of adding a bit more exercise (and is cheaper than a gym membership).
- Keep up the fluids. Oil, brake fluid, the radiator, the window washing fluid…
- Upskill in some area of my driving and car-related activities. Everybody’s got something that they could improve when it comes to cars. Perhaps you/I/we could work on parallel parking without relying overly on the parking assist cameras (one day, you’ll have to drive a car without them, so knowing how to do it without electronic aids is a real must). Perhaps backing a trailer. Perhaps learning how to do a bit more DIY when it comes to car maintenance and repairs – not every job requires a mechanic, after all. Or becoming more comfortable with a manual transmission system if you mostly drive an automatic.
- Sort through the collection of CDs in the car and rotate them so I don’t always end up listening to the same thing every time I get in the car. I’ve got rather eclectic taste in music but even so, I’d like a different set of choices from the options I’ve had over the last month or seven (for those interested, they are a collection of Celtic music, an obscure German electronica/trance album, several CDs of classical music and a Chris Rea album). Better still, see about getting a new audio unit that has USB input so I can plug in an MP3 player.
That should keep me busy for a while, anyway. Happy New Year to all of you and happy driving in 2014.
Level 2, 9 Help Street