Sunday, June 29, 2014

Can butterflies die from fear?

I witnessed a strange butterfly behaviour the other day. Strange to me anyway. I was in the store I work in and a butterfly was trapped inside while I was opening the doors and windows. Trying to avoid getting it hit or crushed, I used my hands to make some air to blow it away from a tight spot. I did not touch it and yet the butterfly instead of flapping its wings it started trembling as if it was scared! after less than a minute it was on the floor still shaking a bit but getting stiller. After about two minutes it was totally still.
The whole experience made me thought that it died out of fear.
quite sad really

Saturday, June 28, 2014

η σχιζοφρενεια της ελληνικής καθημερινοτητας

έτυχε ν'ανοιξω σήμερα το διαδυκτυακο φύλλο της Ελευθεροτυπιας enet.gr στο οποίο φαρδιά πλατιά έπαιζε ο τίτλος της φωτογραφίας:

















να πω αρχικά πως είμαι θετικά διακειμενος στις ανανεωσημες μορφές ενεργείας. Να πω επίσης οτι ο Μυτηλιναιος με το δήθεν ανανεωσημο εργοστάσιο παραγωγής ενέργειας απο φυσικό αερίο είναι γτπκ και δείχνει το μέγεθος της ελληνικής διαπλοκης. Ούτε τον Κοπελουζο με το τέρας της Κηφισιας έχω σε καμιά εκτίμηση (σκέψου πόσους αλλοδαπους θα χρειάζεται να έχει στη δούλεψή του εκεί). Κανένας με τέτοιο σπίτι δεν χρειάζεται κρατική επιχορήγηση, παρα μόνο για να χτίζει τέτοια σπίτια. 

Ομως νομίζω οτι ενα βασικό επιχείρημα που παραβλεπεται είναι οτι τίτλος παρακάτω στήν ιδια εικόνα δείχνει οτι το να εξαρτιωμαστε απο το ρώσικον φυσικό αεριο όπως κάνουμε σήμερα, είναι τουλάχιστον κοντοφθαλμο αν οχι εντελώς ηλίθιο. Οι ρώσοι κρατάνε όλη την Ευρώπη απο τα @@. μπορούν να αυξομοιωνουν τις τιμές και την ποσότητα Φ.Α. κατά το δοκούν για πετυχαινουν ο,τι θέλουν. Μόνο ένας βλάκας ή ένας συμφεροντολογος δεν θα  μπορουσε να το αναγνωρίσει αυτό. τα υπολοιπα είναι φυκια.

Thursday, June 19, 2014

Cylinder missfire

My car started acting bizarrely lately and the engine lamp would light up. Terrified I remembered I hadn't changed sparkplugs for ages and went to the mechanic for that.
There he informed me that the car showed cylinder misfire error and that he changed the spark plugs. He also told me that the spark plug cables were worn (!!!) and would need replacement sooner or later. The "problem" was that the ignition coil should change as well since it was one part with the cables.

A week later, the average consumption had increased and then the dreaded engine light turned on again. This time, I plugged in an OBD2 adapter I had gotten cheaply some time ago, and it showed cylinder misfire.
Reading a bit around I understood that a cylinder misfire might be a hard problem to diagnose. In any case I went in ebay, found the relevant part 80euros cheaper than the mechanic told me it would cost, and left the car in the parking lot for 2 weeks, waiting for the part to arrive :(

The part eventually arrived and the mechanic did the exchange it for 15 euros. I asked him to keep the old one for me to see and he promptly gave it to me.

The cables were in BAD shape. the insulation had worn off in a few places (strange for non moving parts, so I assume the mechanic or someone else, had misused them) and one spark plug connector had insulating tape around it for some reason. The thought that someone had changed it deliberately crossed my mind. But there is no way to prove it of course. The car is like a black box. Unless you open it up and look closely inside, there is no way to know what exactly is in there.

Next time I should have a closer look in there, though the model of the car doesn't help me much with so little space under the hood