New Blog

We’re trying a new blog for right now.  the new blog can be found at blog.danase.com .  Be sure to change your bookmarks!

Car washers seeing more rules on soapy runoff

AP – Seattle’s famous Elephant car wash is shown Wednesday, July 8, 2009, near the Space Needle in Seattle. …

By PHUONG LE, Associated Press Writer Phuong Le, Associated Press Writer – 1 hr 55 mins ago

SEATTLE – It’s one of the great American summer pastimes: Pulling the car onto the driveway on a sun-drenched Saturday afternoon, lathering it up with soap, rinsing it off and watching the sudsy water flow toward the storm drain.

Now, officials in Washington and elsewhere are telling residents to either take that old ride to the car wash, or hold the soap and wash the car over gravel or grass to filter the dirty water.

The officials are trying to prevent the runoff, with all of its soap, grim and metals from the car, from reaching rivers and streams and harming the fish and other aquatic life in them.

“The soaps are just as toxic as some of the chemicals we regulate in the industrial (sector). They kill fish,” said Sandy Howard, a Washington Department of Ecology spokeswoman.

The state, however, isn’t banning car washing. Instead, it is requiring cities to adopt ordinances that prohibit anything other than clean stormwater from entering drains as part of a broader stormwater permit it issues.

While there are no federal regulations dealing specifically with residential car washing and stormwater pollution, local governments may prohibit car wash water if it’s a significant part of the stormwater problem.

The Environmental Protection Agency, along with numerous cities and states, are however urging residents to keep soapy wash water out of storm drains and have launched public education campaigns for more fish-friendly car washing.

Some eco-friendly West Coast cities, such as Santa Monica, Calif., have taken it a step further, fining residents $500 if runoff leaves their property. A few fines have been issued.

The town of Fairfax, north of San Francisco, briefly considered banning residential car washing but many residents batted down the idea.

“While we were at it, we decided not to kill Mom and apple pie,” said David Weinsoff, Fairfax’s mayor. “There are certain things in our community we assume that we can do. People wash their cars. They have hot dogs on July 4th.”

The city of Vancouver, north of Portland, Ore., is rewriting its ordinance to omit car wash water as an allowable stormwater discharge to comply with state rules. But the city won’t be issuing tickets, public works director Brian Carlson said.

“We’ve got better things to be doing,” he said.

In Washington, state and local officials say they’re not going to bust scofflaws either.

“Are we going to have car wash police out there? No,” said Doug Navetski, with the water quality division of King County, which includes Seattle. “We’ll do public education.”

As part of their campaign, officials suggest that residents can wash their cars on gravel or grass to filter the suds, grime and metals. Better yet, they say, take it to a commercial car wash, which treats runoff.

Even washing a car without soap or with biodegradable soap is a no-no if the water runs off into storm drains, because it still picks up oil, grease and metals from the vehicle’s brake pads.

Stormwater is the one of the biggest threat to rivers and streams in urban areas, state officials say. When it rains, tiny sources of pollution — drops of oil or antifreeze, copper shavings from car brakes and pet waste — gets swept up and washed into the rivers and streams.

Soaps in particular dissolve the protective mucous layer on fish and natural oils in the gills, making fish more susceptible to diseases.

“Individual actions are not only part of the problem but really the biggest problem,” said Chris Wilke, pollution prevention director with Puget Soundkeeper Alliance.

Shane Coakley, who owns a real estate investment firm in Federal Way, washes his truck in his driveway but takes his Bentley convertible to a commercial car wash twice a week. He said he’d reconsider washing both vehicles at a car wash if it means keeping local waters clean.

“If everybody does their little part, it adds up,” he said.

Detroit Crime

WTF is up with Detroit and the surrounding cities and all of their crime?  Why do they brag about how great the cities work together with the Feds to take down motorcycle clubs like the Detroit Highwayman or the Devils Deciples?  It takes 7 kids to get shot waiting for a bus in Detroit for them to show any sort of action and then everyone acts like it’s a huge surprise.  I’ve never once in my life worried about being kille,d for no reason, by a motorcycle club.  But, I worry about getting shot by some street hood every time I go through Detroit.  What a waste of time and money going after this other b.s. right now.  It’s like how the Feds spent all of this time and money, 2 Feds sitting in a van for months at a time outside some cafe in Little Italy, money and time on wirte taps.  All to catch some old time “mobsters” sitting around drinking coffee and talking about Sopranos.  All the meanwhile terrorist are planning to crash passenger planes into several locations around the country and nobody knew anything about it.

‘Iacocca Silver’ Mustangs to mark car’s 45th anniversary

Taken from www.detnews.com

‘Iacocca Silver’ Mustangs to mark car’s 45th anniversary

Lee Iacocca has partnered with a custom coach-builder to produce 45 special-edition Ford Mustangs to commemorate his role in the launch of the iconic American muscle car 45 years ago. The “Iacocca Silver Edition” Mustangs were designed by Michael Leone and produced by Gaffoglio Family Metalcrafters in Fountain Valley, Calif. They will be sold exclusively through Galpin Ford in Van Nuys, Calif., the largest Ford dealership in the world. Advertisement “Once in a while a car comes along that changes everything, and that was the original Mustang,” Iacocca said. The commemorative models will be based on the 2009 Mustang platform, featuring a naturally-aspirated 4.6-liter Ford V-8 rated at 320 horsepower. A 400-horsepower supercharged version also will be available. The cars will feature a Ford Racing handling suspension package, and a 14-inch Ford Racing brake package is available as an option. All of the Mustangs are painted “Iacocca Silver” and feature embroidered leather seats and Iacocca “I” badging. Pricing is yet to be announced.

Koenigsegg looking to buy Saab!

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/gm-koenigsegg-reach-tentative-deal-on-saab

I’ve been a huge fan of Koenigsegg for a long time now.  I’ve always loved their styling and performance.  I can not pronounce their name to save my life but I love what they do.  Hopefully they put out some sweet Saabs!

Sham Wow!

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2009/0327092sham1.html

 

Anyone else see something like this coming?

California banning black cars?

I swear I wish the big one would hit already and pull California into the ocean and away from the rest of us. LMAO  No offense to anyone living there.  

http://www.autoblog.com/2009/03/25/california-to-reduce-carbon-emissions-by-banning-black-cars/

Where do they come up with this ridiculous crap from?!  It’s going to be like China soon.  You can only have what the government will allow you to have.

The Post Office is in trouble?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090325/ap_on_go_ot/postal_woes

Gee, I can’t understand why the United States Post Office would be in trouble?  Maybe it’s because they operated for ages with crappy customer service and crappy service in general and never changed their ways or got with the times?  Why would anyone use the USPS when they could use UPS and track their package every step of the way?  Why would anyone stand in line for an hour at the Post Office to get to the counter and have to deal with an employee that is rude and has no knowledge about anything?  Sometimes I am forced to use the USPS and I hate it when I have to do so.  Packages come up missing and when you call them they have no lcue where the package is so they have to investigate which takes a month and they never find it anyway.  The USPS day’s are numbered.  Without stepping up their technology to be able to compete with the big dogs they may as well step aside.  Does anyone write letters anymore to put into the mail?  Isn’t email so much faster and easier?  I can even get a confirmation as soon as the email is opened and I don’t have to wonder if it got lost or read.    No wonder they are failing!  If they want to play they need to bump up their customer service levels, bump up their technology and start competing with the big guys.

2009 Detroit Autorama

My pics from the Autorama:

http://s70.photobucket.com/albums/i115/danase/Autorama%202009/

Detroit

I can remember, as a kid, loving  the area in which I lived, Metro Detroit.  Now-a-days, I hate it.  Hate it with a passion.  It’s embarrassing to tell people you live anywhere in the vicinity of Detroit.  Honestly, Detroit has not changed much since I was a kid.  It’s still a run down, dirty city filled with vacated homes, crime and shady politicians.    Last year I thought I truly seen a change with the city when I attend my first ever Detroit Grand Prix.  I thought for a moment the city was changing for the better.  Penske did a great job on the event, it was probably the cleanest event in Detroit I’ve ever been to.  You heard over and over again, “It feels like we are in another state.  It doesn’t feel like Detroit.”  Now the Detroit Grand Prix is canceled.  Nice.  This weekend I’ll attend the Autorama at COBO Hall in Detroit.  I’m already dreading just going to Detroit for it.  We’ll go, hit probably 100 potholes, loose a tire, bend a rim, see George Barris’s Batmobile for the 20th Autorama in a row, and wish we’d of saved our money and time.   Maybe Motown had it right when they left.  Maybe they where the only ones with half a brain and maybe they are to blame for Reeves staying in Detroit and becoming a council woman?  Who knows.  All I know is I’ve watched the city fall further and further into the toilet.  Then last night, when you thought that things would change now that KK is out and in Dallas, I’m watching the news and see this spectacle :

WILLIAM ARCHIE/Detroit Free Press

Councilwoman Barbara-Rose Collins sings “Onward Christian Soldiers” at the session. Collins railed on council critics, legislators, Detroit Mayor Ken Cockrel Jr. and Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson. “No one is taking anything,” Collins said of the planned transfer of Cobo Center to a regional authority.

I heard the race card being played, I heard them say that the world is picking on them,  I heard they where going to fight (I’m sure using more tax payer money), I heard so much stupidity I actually felt 50% dumber and even more embarrassed to live in this area.

When will Detroit grow up?  When will they stop playing the race card?  When will they do what’s right for the people of Detroit and Michigan?  When will they stop being selfish?  From what I’ve seen in the past?  Never!  Why do I say that?  I can remember vacationing in Mackinaw Michigan and walking down Central Avenue.  I glanced over at a news stand and saw the headlines in a Detroit paper.  They did it again folks!  They re-elected KK for another term as mayor.  When you think about a guy / criminal like that, getting re-elected for another 4 years, you sort of think the people of Detroit do not want change.  It’s sad and sickening.