Author Archives: leemz

Get familiar with driving rules

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We all know that there’s a ban on using mobile phones while driving in Pakitsan. In other words, it’s illegal for you to use cellphone while driving.

It’s a different story, whether it should be banned or not.  But my question to you is, do you obey it? Do you try to text someone with one hand on steering wheel anymore?

You know it’s dangerous, you even know it’s illegal now, buNo cellphone while driving sign on Abid Majeed Road, Lahore Canttt still, do you manage to keep it out of traffic-warden’s sight and carry on with your conversation. And it’s not just mobile phones, crossing red lights, over-speeding is not even brought into consideration,  sadly enough!

What will it take to make you understand. Are you that selfish. Don’t you want to change. Why can’t you respect traffic rules and regulations huh? Where’s your conscious, do you always have to wait for the traffic-warden to warn you or worse give you a ticket.

Next time when you’re about to break a traffic-law, just remind yourself that even though nobody saw you, even then Allah Almighty is watching you 24/7. And you will be questionable before him in life hereafter. You better know the answers then huh?

So, can you please start obeying traffic laws, please!

Thank you! :)

Ignore-traffic-sign

Stop-the-violence-traffic-sign

Hunting-traffic-sign

Car-falling-traffic-sign

Static electric shocks from car doors

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Has it ever happened to you that you walked to your car, touched the metal of car door and wham! got zapped, yes? Isn’t it annoying or what. So,don't get zapped! you want to know what’s going on. Allow me to explain it to you.

This mild shock is caused by human Electrostatic Discharge (ESD). A phenomenon in which transfer of electrostatic charge takes place between two bodies. It happens very quickly when two bodies carrying opposite charge come in direct contact with each other.

This charging results in when, one object loses electrons from its surface area and becomes positively charged. The other object gains the electron on its surface area to become negatively charged.The small electric shock you may receive from certain objects happens when you become triboelectrically charged. Tribo what?

Triboelectrically charged is a term used for the transfer/shifting/ releasing/loss of an electron from one body to another, after they come in contact with each other and separate. A simple procedure of Give & Take and Opposites attracts I must say.

And it’s not just the car doors, you can even get one from door knobs, metal gates, windows and sometimes even human beings.

How to Avoid getting one?

There’s not much that you can do about it but even then try these one’s out.

  1. Very dry cloth (nylon, silks, rayons and some polys) are more prone to create static.
  2. Try not to touch the metal part of the car. Light push on the window would close the door nice and easy.
  3. Avoid wearing rubber shoes.
  4. Keep a key, coin or similar metal object in your pocket. Whenever you need to touch your car door, door knob or anything that gives you the shock, touch the metal object like coin with it first. It’s not actually the current which hurts in a typical static shock, it’s the arc of current through the air. If you make contact with a key, then the arc won’t need to make contact with your skin, so it won’t hurt.

So, don’t get charged,
don’t let it get you! :)

Oil change! Do I have to?

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Did you know that changing your engine oil or motor oil on a regular basis actually helps optimize the performance of your car. It’s worth-while and cost-effective. Motor oil not only lubricates moving parts of the engine, it keeps them clean, reduces friction, and helps the engine keep its cool :)

It works like this: Motor oil runs through the entire engine lubricating, reducing friction in moving parts, acting as a coolant and absorbs enormous amount of heat generated inside the engine while maintaining its thickness. While it’s running around with a purpose, it absorbs harmful particles on its way too which then deposit in the oil filter. After some times, the oil loses it’s thickens and the oil filter is full of dirt, rust and other bits. That’s your cue that its time is up and now we need a brand new oil to protect our precious metal.

Oil change doesn’t have to come at a price. DIY is the best way but if you don’t feel like it, a quick trip to your nearest petrol station or motor mechanic will do the trick but make sure that they put your vehicle’s oil cap back into place and tighten it.

Oil change? What does it mean?

  1. First the old, well used oil gets drained and replaced with a new one.
  2. Old and rotten oil filter if so is disposed of.
  3. Air filter is checked and if necessary, replaced.

How often should car oil be changed?

There are a number of ways to check if your car needs an oil change or not depending on the type of car:

  • The red or yellow indicator light or warning lamp on the dashboard
  • Blackened engine oil color,
  • Smoke from the exhaust pipe but only tab.test generates authentic results. So the best bet for you is to change your motor oil after every 5000 km or time guideline prescribed by your motor-mechanic.Engine oil dipstick test

The image on the right shows quite noticeable difference between the brand new and the well used, old, darkened engine oil.

Can we use the same oil for petrol and diesel engines?

The answer is No. Diesel and petrol engines burn at different temperature and their engine oil is designed to meet their requirements accordingly.

Don’t forget to scratch it:

It is the duty of car-mechanics and who-so-ever changes engine oil that they must scratch the sticker on the oil bottle or make a hole in the bottle before disposing it of. This prevents the bottle from being re-used. So, it’s important that you make sure, the bottle can not be re-used over and over again.

There are a number of good quality engine oils available in the market Shell, PCO, Caltex etc. So, make sure that you buy the very best because, motor oil is to engine what blood is to human beings because, it’s circulation inside the engine is similar to the blood flow in the human body.

So, which type of motor oil do you prefer for your car and why?

Spice up your desk

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Yes. Say goodbye to those old-fashioned office desk designs which seem awfully boring as compared to these cool fun ones. These ingenious designs helping improve the look and feel of your office, definitely deserve a round of applause. Seriously,your office is an expression and reflection of your personality, and a  neat, clean desk with a funky twist to it speaks volume. So let it do the talking.

Pictures below just might offer help and inspiration to brighten up your dull office look. A little something to get you into the creative zone which is equally enjoyable and productive.

Mini cooper desk

Think different

Dream big!

Be different!

Add a little zing to your surroundings.
Think different, dream big and be different!

The Mall’s first metered parking zone – solar powered?

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Metered parking machineAfter it’s success in Liberty Market, the metered parking system is now being deployed at The Mall from March, God be willing!

Metered parking zone with two entry and exit points starts from Shah din Manzil to Masjid-e-Shuhada.

“The first entry point will be at the start of the side road in front of the Shah din Manzil and people coming from Queens Road will use this entrance. The second entrance is the road cut after the traffic signal at Punjab Assembly and this entrance will be used by the people traveling on The Mall towards the GPO.
The two exit points of this parking lot will be the roads leading to Lawrence Road and Regal Chowk from Masjid-e-Shuhada while the road cut, which at present is connecting The Mall in front of Masjid-e-Shuhada with the side road, will be blocked and can only be used in emergency situation. As many as 320 cars can be parked at a time in this parking zone.”

Good news for motorcyclists, they are allowed to park free of cost at The Mall parking zone.  No parking fee at all.

However, in order to get the parking slip/token insert 10 rupee coins  or more if one wishes to park his/her car for longer,  into the machine and a slip pops out specifically instructing the drivers to display ticket on dashboard.

This effective system not only helps make most out of the space available but, also utilizes time in best possible way while maintain discipline. Finding a parking space is a bit of a challenge sometimes ad often one wrong parked car takes the space of two. But this won’t happens again as a heavy fine which will start from Rs 50 and can exceed to Rs 500 will be imposed on wrong parking, expired tokens, not displaying the parking ticket as directed or worst no token at all. And until the fine is paid the company’s security staff will clamp the tyre of such a vehicle and it won’t be allowed to move.

Most of the work regarding The Mall’s first metered parking zone has been completed, however the machines are yet to be installed.

In case you thought you could miss the token because of load shedding ;) these machines are battery operated not supported by WAPDA but, i recently heard that they are solar-powered. Solar powered? do you know anything about it?

Smoky vehicles- Beware

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The Environmental Protection Department of Punjab, Pakistan has imposed a fine of PKR 13,850 on vehicles emitting hazardous smoke into the air.

Last year in July, The Environmental Protection Department, Punjab launched a much needed campaign against increasing air and noise pollution.

On Saturday, Jan 24th, 2009 A SQUAD of the City District Government Lahore (CDGL) fined 61 vehicles, while 12 others were impounded during the ongoing campaign against smoke-emitting vehicles. The CDGL squad, led by Tariq Zaman , DO (Environment) Lahore, fined Rs 13,700 to 61 motorcycle-rickshaws and two pick-up trucks.

Another commendable step taken by the EPD is their new project aimed at motivating youth to protect environment and to educate them about an environment friendly future. It’s high-time sSmoking vehicleomeone paid attention to the well known health hazards of engine emissions.

Now we need to focus on getting the high polluting vehicles – regardless petrol or diesel – off the road and out of our neighborhood.

It is about time we knew what’s coming out of the exhausts of our vehicles, understand critical air pollutants around us and at least acknowledge the steps that are taken to minimize this.

Get to know your car, what’s going on in the engine, whether it’s releasing blue, white, gray or black smoke from the exhaust pipe.

We need to join hands and work together  for cleaner air and our cars ought to reflect that, what do you think?

Chocolate car, anyone?

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With Valentine’s day quickly approaching, have you prepared a gift or some sort of surprise or something, anything at all? If no, well you’ve still got 6 days to plan. But please there is no sense in running around at the last minute, please. So, this year be prepared for it! Think of something new and exciting. Lets see what we can have:

  1. Chocolate cake
  2. Chocolate box
  3. Chocolate bars
  4. Chocolate candies
  5. Chocolate Car, hold it there! a chocolate car? Ahaan. A Chinese car dealer covered a car in chocolate for Valentine’s Day.

car coated in chocolate

“About 200kgs of melted chocolate was spread over the VW Beetle after it was first wrapped in cling film.

Seven people worked overnight to make sure the chocolate car was ready to go on display on the morning of Valentine’s Day.

According to China News Network, the car attracted many viewers and lovers to the dealer in Qingdao city.”

If you’re not up for the chocolate car, Craftbits is a cool fun site with many DIY gift ideas, a little something to spark your creativity and hopefully help the light bulb to come on. :)
Remember it’s the thought that counts :)

Third generation Honda City launched – finally

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Good news for anyone thinking of buying a new car. The much awaited, 3rd generation model of  it’s popular Sedan, all new city with its 1.3 liter i-VTEC engine finally launched in Pakistan on Saturday Jan 31st, 2009 was definitely worth the wait.

It’s brand new look, high-tech knobs and meters, smaller steering-wheel, well-researched seats, improved air-conditioning ventilators, aerodynamic exterior, is far more spacious than its predecessor. But the best feature of this City is ABS (Automatic Anti-lock Braking system). The DBW (drive by wire) technology and ABS form a lethal combo when it comes to controlling the vehicle.

Add in the newspaper

Honda City’s standard version starts from Rs. 13,09,000, whiles it automatic (five speed automatic transmission) model will cost Rs. 14,29,000 seems to be a bit costly of the kind of consumers its predecessors had.

Atsushi Yamazaki, President & CEO Honda Atlas Cars (Pakistan) Limited said, the launch of the new City marks a very important day in the Honda’s history in Pakistan. Honda City made its debut in 1996 to meet the requirements of Honda customers in Asia and as a result was introduced in Pakistan in 1997. Over the last ten years The City has grown to be an important model sold in 39 countries reaching beyond the Asian Region.

With the new City in town you can go ahead and treat yourself to a new Car in the new Year.
Mai tai Honda he lai saan!