Green Wheels

Sorry – missed Green Wheels Day yesterday.  Another trip to Edinburgh Airport and another flight.  The websites report that ‘if all commuters left their cars at home one day a week, that would save enough fuel to drive to the moon and back 35000 times’.  Why would one want to do that – drive to the moon and back 35000 times, that is?   But,  in my defence,  the faithful Passat, with sauna effects from the leaking heater cured [?] by a £2.99 container of radiator sealant, continues to be greenest of the green.  We drive downhill a lot and use the brakes sparingly.  I even washed it on Wednesday.  Over 130000 miles and more than 50 mpg – long may it continue.  Still, I regret the fact that the big spaces of Scotland make it very difficult to use the bicycle for more than pleasure and exercise.

5 comments

  1. I fear that it’s a case of ‘know my car – know me’ It’s exterior condition shows some trifling signs of wear and tear – but inside and below the surface …. David, unfortunately, had the opportunity of getting close to its interior squalor. As for the ‘downhill a lot’ – I refer to no less an authority than Richard Branson and his suggestions for saving fuel in aeroplanes. It’s called the ‘Continuous Descent Approach’ and apparently means that planes begin their descent much sooner and save lots of fuel. It means that, when I go to Forfar on Sunday, the Passat should attain cruising altitude at Coupar Angus – after three miles.  We would then descend slowly and smoothly over the next 15 miles – entering final approach to the sounds of ‘Land of Hope and Glory’ as we pass Glamis Castle.

  2. Bishop David
    I remember your father through professional sources: Belfast High School. A great history teacher! I am searching for the email address of one of your predecessors,Bishop Michael Hare Duke, whose grandfather was Vicar of Glencraig, Count Down. Can you help? I am editor of the parish magazine at Glencraig.

  3. I am trying to work out how you drive downhill a lot (surely not in neutral?) and don’t do an equivalent uphill amount…..

  4. Ah – the Good and Faithful Passat has now surpassed even the Japanese Princess with her great mileage. But I wonder how such a comparison would stack up, if I may be so bold, if stated in terms of interior cleanliness?! This exterior washing business (especially in late October)is no excuse of for the use of the interior hoover and polish you know. Whitened sepulchres and all that jazz!

  5. I’m not sure what a green wheels day is but it sounds useful, we could do with it down here in London.
    One thing that puzzles me is not the why, but how on earth can you drive to the moon and back??

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