There is a lane beside you with another vehicle that will not pull up beside you. They leave an empty space in front of them. Has this ever happened to you?
And have you been bewildered by seeing someone in a late model car that the ac obviously works in the hot humid summer but they are riding around with the windows down?

 

I have worked with guys that for some reason take pride in the fact that they don't use their AC. Like it makes them less of a man to have the AC on or something.

 

It ain't the heat, it's the humidity. AC takes that right out, keeps the funk away, keeps clothes from getting all sweaty and stinky. Heat injuries suck too.

Refrigeration/AC ranks right up there with one of the best inventions. Ever. Want to bring back "the good old days"? Turn the AC off at home in July and August.

 

I like to leave some space, and with the work truck, try not to align the exhaust with someone's open window.

There is a new breed of car out there: The Luxury Beater. Lexus, Lincoln Town car, Mercedes, and a host of others will run well into the 200 to 300,000 mile area. Since they have such high miles, they can be a bargain in some cases, or are a lot of money for a nice shiny pretty well worn out car. And that's where the "106 degrees and windows down" look comes in. After they pay top dollar for the high miler, they ride in style 'til the air takes a dump. And since they have all their money in the purchase, they can't afford to repair the air to the tune of $3500 in some cases.

The air in our '01 LS430 still blows cold, but I dread the day the little women comes home all steamed up because it stops....

 

Working as a city letter carrier, not having AC in the house or my vehicle is out the question.

 

I'm sure many of us remember "the good old days" when we had no choice but to live without A/C---a refrigeration was luxury enough for the working man. I somewhat "abuse" my A/C during the hot & humid days, it being no warmer than 73* inside 24/7. I hate closing the house off from the outside but comfort rules now.

Remembering the first car with A/C I had---'77 Olds Cutlass Salon---after that one I've never had another without it. Of course I'm also addicted to PDW, PDL's, power steering and power-assist brakes too today.

Vehicular A/C has become so insanely reliable and "cheap" along with fuel efficient there's almost no reason to not have it these days.

But yes I've seen those goofs, "stylin' n profilin' " we used to call it---shouting out "lookit me........." as though they're irresistible.

(^^^ Cute women get a pass on that though.......)

 

My dad always till he died called it "the icebox" (refrigerator) they didn't come into complete widespread usage into pretty late in the 20th century. They were probably pretty expensive. Dad even delivered blocks of ice as a teenager. This was a tough job. Yeah, home delivery of Ice. He said the worst were apartment buildings with lots of steps. Also, nothing ever really got very cold compared to modern refrigeration. Ice cold milk for example, tastes WAY better.

OK, back to regularly scheduled program. You kids get off my lawn, too!

 

I've seen many a vehicle stop a good distance back from the white line at an intersection. Of course, I've also seen just as many stop the same distance OVER the white line. The ones I see most frequently far behind the white line are usually at "tighter" intersections...where the cross traffic turning left doesn't seem to know how to make a wide turn and feels the need to clip the lanes when making their turn.

Back when I first bought my '03 Mustang GT new, I was also one of those that wouldn't use A/C. At least when I was the only one in the car, which was a majority of the time. It even has the dark charcoal leather. Oh yeah...hot leather seats in the dead of summer...and I would just roll the windows down. I guess I just liked the "fresh air" while cruising. Nowadays, I know better. Blast that air, windows up when it's 90 degrees and 80% humidity. LOL. Although I have been known to keep the windows down with the A/C on too.

 

I'd rather have the window down, even when it is hot, except when it is stinking hot. My old girl gets a bit fumey otherwise. I like the defrost clearing ability of an air conditioner the most.

 

Well, half the population has a below average IQ.

 

i always leave at least two car length between the car in front of me, or at intersections as a safety barrier.
as far as AC goes, if it don't work, i don't ride in it.
wat really frosts my cookies are the dipsticks that will pull inches away from me while at a light.
had one do it yesterday while i was in the lowboy. with 84,000 lbs excavator on the trailer. while facing uphill.
he was less than a foot from the back crash bar.
if it was one of the new breed of idiots they are hiring as "truck drivers" these days in the truck, that mercedes would have been missing it's grill.

 

As a truck driver i see peeps do far more stupid , irritating , and dangerous things on a daily basis than stopping short , which is not any of the above . hades i even stop a little short in the work truck as peeps like to cut corners off real bad , sometimes crossing through 2 or 3 lanes of traffic cause the idiots can' t drive or don't care . as far as a/c well the 53 has never had it , the beater fiat is a vert so i ride around any chance i get with the top down , and yes i run the a/c in the work truck and have my window down all the time .......

 

Oh yeah i thought this thread would be full i seen this dumba$$ do the stupidist thing while i was stopped at a red light. Kinda like the friggin' idiot the other day who sat in his new hemi challenger at the light next to me revving his engine , then when he leaves at full throttle he inexplicably veers left jumps the center traffic island , and hits the new explorer with the soccer mom in it waiting in the turn lane ......... DUMBA$$ !!!!!!!!

 

I try to leave some gap, but less than a truck length. Some people do have terrible depth perception and this could be the cause. As for AC, when I am in my cars, I use it all the time. First reason is the comfort and the second is that it keeps out the moisture. This becomes important on those cold winter days. Ever see cars with condensation built up on the inside glass while they are driving? Either their heater is bad or they have been driving around with the windows down a lot. I took out the AC in my truck because I like to have the windows down when rolling in the old thing, not to mention that it didn't work and that I can now change the spark plug without changing my vocabulary.

 

Condensation present during driving is mostly because the fresh air intake feature has been disabled by the driver. When in recirculation mode or "Max Air" is engaged human perspiration is maintained inside the cabin leading to inside fog.

Defrost mode with today's cars calls for the A/C compressor to dehumidify incoming air especially that hitting the windshield first.

But yeah people's driving habits are horrible these days---drive defensively!