It's been a tough week for cutting edge technology. First, Steve Jobs died and now Mazda announces they're discontinuing production of the rotary engine (aka Wankel engine) and the Rx8 they put it in.
Named after the German engineer who invented it, the rotary engine has no pistons, now pushrods, no crank shaft, no valves, rockers, cams.... It was a marvel that reduced the number of moving parts to about three, got rid of almost all the moving mass, and could therefore achieve incredible rpm with an almost total lack of vibration.
Every time your car's engine makes one complete rotation - something it does 3,000 times per minute, six pistons and their pushrods are traveling up about 3" and then back down, with an instantaneous 180 degree change in direction. Every two rotations, two, or more probably four valves are opening and closing, pushed open and closed by levers and gears and rods... All of that is absent in a Wankel. So is the noise that goes along with all those moving parts, never mind the friction and heat.
Unfortunately, they don't get such great mileage and they have trouble meeting EPA standards.
Poor Mr. Wankel. He died in 1988 so he won't be crushed by this news. But fans of his genius are.
I stopped in to the auto parts store this morning to get some clamps for the fuel lines and spade connectors for wiring the new 12v generator. I asked the guy about a battery for Ilsa since starting her up is on the horizon. YIKES! Do you realize what's happened to the price of batteries?! I'll shop around before I buy one, but $80 was NOT what I expected to hear.
I'm sure I can find something cheaper even if I have to go to...gag...Walmart.
I just figured out that the heading on Facebook says "Five more recent stories" and not "Five more recent stories." I wondered why they would put the more recent stories down the page.
The lady on the news said the unemployment rate for male veterans of Iran & Afghanistan is 3% higher than the national average, and for female vets it's almost 6% above. I see pictures of vets with missing limbs or serious head injuries, video stories about wounded vets rehabbing in hospitals and wives left widows by the war...
Ten years later (longer than any other war) I don't understand. What will mark "victory?" The Taliban will always be there, Pakistan will always interfere, a central government will always lose out to tribal leaders...
Why are we still there, and why, if people have the time to wave signs on the street, isn't this the issue that mobilizes?
I don't get it.
I can only conclude that nobody else watches the CBS Evening News on Saturday evenings because they sell their ad slots to some weirdo selling a meatloaf pan. "But wait! There's more!"
Both hours tomorrow present challenges for the guy up front. In the worship service he has to lead the music portion as well as preach because Matt and his family are on a mini-vacation over Fall Break. And can he properly explain the wrath of God, so very different from human anger?
Second hour he has to get through everything from Israel's arrival at Mt. Sinai to the Trans-Jordan, three and a half OT books. May take a nap tomorrow afternoon.
4 comments:
At the mall there were several different flower arrangements outside the Apple store in memory of Steve Jobs. I guess some are more affected than others.
Most people don't know that the crankshaft in their internal combustion engine is rotating 2 times for every 1 revolution their tachometer reads. The tachometer only reads one completion of the firing order, which takes the pistons up and down twice per firing cycle. So, if your tachometer reads 3,000rpm, the crankshaft is really doing 6,000rpm. How the thing stays together is a miracle.
Mike H.
We sang "In Christ Alone" in worship this morning and the powers that be changed the words "The wrath of God was satisfied" to "The debt I owed was satisfied." I'd be interested to know what you teach on the wrath of God, since I don't have any problem with the original words in the song. I think it's an atonement issue.
Sherry - this morning's sermon started with Rom. 1:18, "The wrath of God is being revealed against..." The doctrine of propitiation later in Romans only makes sense if there is a righteous wrath requiring satisfaction. Cf. "The chastisement for our peace was upon him."
God's wrath (present tense verb in that verse) is a biblical truth. Sorry to sound critical, but if some find it politically incorrect, take it up with the Apostle Paul. Which is why I'll gladly sing, "for such a worm as I."
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