Car Failure

Autumm arrived some days ago. Season for rains, flus and vaccines. People can get vaccinated, but not cars. And my car cought a cold! Therefore, something had been broken inside. It was kind enough to warn me, ligthing this little signal. But I didn´t know exactly what was wrong.

Well, there were other signs: It didn´t accelerate well (fastly) and it gave jerks. Neither the CO2 emissions were appropiate (as the people at the ITV told me.)

So, here is a little quiz, for those of you who would like to find out what happened to my car. An extra clue: The problem was solved by replacing only one part.

Have you thought a little about it? Let´s have a look to a little explanation:

• The engine needs mainly two things to work: Fuel and air. But the proportion between them is very important. It has to be an exact rate depending on the requirements, to achieve good fuel consumptions, low CO2 emissions and an appropiate performance.
• In modern cars, the device that informs the engine about the quantity of oxygen needed is the "oxigen sensor" or also called "lambda sond". This part was the origin of the misfunction.

I carried the car to the garage. The mechanic used a hand-held tester to figure out the problem. It told him that two different parts could be wrong. After checking the spark plugs (they were in order), he concluded that the oxygen sensor was the cause of the failure. They hadn´t the spare part there. Then, we ordered other and the next day he changed it.

Althougt it is a little gadget, it´s expensive. In my case, it lasted for about 140.000 Km without being replaced. That seems to me a good average. I hope that the new one would last for other 140.000 more!

Now, the perfomance has come back to the usual rate. Finally, I can trust on it to overtake with guarantees.

Learning how to...

... fly a traction kite.

On Saturday, I had the opportunity to experiment with the kite that you see on the photo. My cousin have bought it recently, and we went to a park and tried it.

This is a four-meter drag kite. And what does this mean?

• It is called a foil kite or parafoil. Here is a good definition: "a soft kite , consisting of a number of cells running fore to aft, some or all of which are open at the front to allow air to inflate the kite." (Thanks to wikipedia TM) :)
  
• This kind of "flying element" is big. It is easily seen in the distance. There are bigger ones, but its size is enough to pull you.
• Pull you? Yes! That is its main purpose. People use them to jump, carry them (with skies, snowboards, skateboards and this type of stuff) "Due to the amount of power that these kites can generate, they can be used for a number of different activities including kitesurfing, kiteboarding on land, snowkiting, kite bugging and recreational kiting."
• It carries four lines or wires. Two of them are the main controls. The other two are the brakes.
• A great advantage is that, it hasn´t rigid stuff, so although during the fligth is a four meter long thing, it easily fits in a small bag. Moreover, the assembly and disassembly is very fast.
  

It was my first time with this kind of kite. I had "piloted" acrobatic smaller ones, but the sensations were totally different. When you begin flying it, it seems that it wants to "take you off". But once that I realised how to dominate the force (and the brakes), the fun started.

There is an angle range where it really shows the force (between 45 to 70 degrees from the horizontal) that it can develop. If you maintain it at this position for long, your arms will get tired quickly. So its better to combine it with the "top position". This is the highest point that the kite can reach, and it keeps more or less stabilized, without pulling you much.

So I learnt the basis, and I started spinning it. First to one side, then to other. At this point, I was losing the initial fear. The kite started pulling me with force, and I was carried about twenty meters from the initial point. (I have to say that we were on a grass ground, so it was as if you did some kind of grass-skying.) ;)
The wind wasn´t blowing at high speed, but I could made a couple of short jumps. I felt that it is a short bite of the sensations of flying. And I want more!

In conclusion: I had such a great time, so I´m now considering to buy my own one. Maybe this weekend. I will keep you informed... What about trying it at "El Médano"?

Full Moon

I´ve just gone to put the rubbish out, and I have realised that tonight there is a splendid moon in the sky (tomorrow it will be full).

It illuminates all around: some clouds above, the sea and the shapes of the mountains. This kind of nocturnal landscape makes me think in walking in the countryside and taking photos.
When you look at it directly, the light that arrives to you eyes comes to be almost unbearable. In contrast, it has something that deeply attracts me. Am I under a moon´s spell?

Tomorrow, I´ll have to get up early, otherwise, I would try a short walk near my house. Maybe other day.

Where am I?

Between water and earth, between ligth and darkness, in the middle of nowhere, inside the deepest blue
outside outer space...

Travelling fast, dreaming,
just woken up, singing,
Landscapes passing,
pick my camera.

Try to capture the new day, but I can´t.
I have failed one more time, and then,
I will realise that I don´t want to arrive.
I will prefer to stay in a train, watching an endless dawn.

Trip´s journal, chapter III, Finland

Rock the night

Today it´s Saturday, so let´s see what the city has for us. I am thinking about going to the cinema, but the only thing that I really know is that tonight I will see darkness and flashes, my ears will suffer and maybe I will attempt to dance. Let´s rock the nigth!

I've gone through changes
I've gone through pain
But there's not enough reason for me to go insane
I know the feeling, just when it grows
I'm in a rage up from my head down to my toes.

You know it ain't easy
Running out of thrills
You know it ain't easy
When you don't know what you want, what do you want.

Rock now, rock the night
'Til early in the morning light
Rock now, rock the night
You'd better believe it's right.

I know my limit
Just what it takes
When things ain't good enough
I just pull the brake
Sometimes it's easy
Sometimes so tough
But just have one thing clear
I can't get enough.

Europe - Rock the night