When we look at buying a car, we usually check out the gas mileage, the odometer, the standard equipment and, of course, the price. We rarely spare a thought for braking systems, because we presume (correctly, as it turns out) that the law requires manufacturers to engineer vehicles to stop within a certain safe distance.
There’s more to driving safety than counting car lengths or timing a 2 – 3 second following distance. Brakes have feel and balance. They work differently in warm, cold, wet or dry conditions. They fade over time. Nothing can substitute for knowing the distinctive braking characteristics of your vehicle. Do you know yours?
Giving your own brakes the once-over may seem daunting, but if you have eyes, hands and feet, you already possess the tools you need to catch some major problems before they spin out of control. In this article, I’ll show you how to use your body’s onboard equipment to inspect your fluid, pads and indicators, and take you on a quick tour of other tools you’ll need to check your fluid, bleed your brakes and test your proportioning valves.
To friend or not to friend; that is the question. It’s a delicate one, too — but not nearly as tricky as managing the interactions among your various social networks on Facebook. Add coworkers to the mix, and you really have your work cut out for you (unless you’re okay with your team knowing that your “sick day” was really a “hangover day”).
Whatever your attitude, given Facebook’s more than 500 million active users, each averaging 130 friends, chances are you’ll bump into a coworker there eventually. Clearly, you need a plan; in this article, I’ll give you one.
When you come right down to it, humans are lousy at swimming. It’s not our fault—it’s simply fluid dynamics at work: The more fluid we’re in, the less dynamic we are. That’s why it’s so amazing to watch a practiced swimmer glide through water. How do they do it? It’s more than physical fitness: Their technique is nearly flawless. In this article, I’ll show you how a few minor adjustments can pay big dividends in terms of speed, power and energy expenditure in the water.
Ambrose Bierce called insurance “an ingenious modern game of chance in which the player is permitted to enjoy the comfortable conviction that he is beating the man who keeps the table.” Liability auto insurance can shield you from the worst financial fallout of an accident, but it’s still a long shot that you’ll need it. When buying a policy, consider: How lucky do you feel, and how much do you stand to lose?