Roger Nelson wrote to Roy Witt:

 RN>> Mot sure what you mean by that, but it isn't important.
 RW>> Torque moves objects...HP is derived from a torque reading.

 RN> Yes, but if I'm not careful in pressing the gas pedal, I'll be thrown
 RN> into the back seat (not literally).

Too strong of a return spring on your gas pedal?

 RN>>> Because anyone going north to south is going downhill.  (-:0

 RW>>> Not exactly. If your north starting place was on a plateau and you
 RW>>> were going south, that might be down hill.

 RN> Yes, exactly.

What if you're driving west from the white cliffs of Dover?

 RN>> There are no plateaus in Louisiana.  (-:  West Texas, maybe.

 RW>> Central Texas...where I live is the very eastern edge of what is
 RW>> known here as the 'Hill Country'. I live in an area also known as
 RW>> South Central Texas...Driving south out of Dallas/FW area at first
 RW>> you go up hill, then it's down hill from there. D/FW is farther
 RW>> east than San Antonio. Houston is farther north and east of SA. San
 RW>> Antonio is farther south than NO...

 RN> I've only been to four cities iun Texas (Baytown, Dallas, Fort Worth,
 RN> Houston), but have been through more and no farther west.

FW is east of here, if you look at it in a parallel sense of direction.

 RW>> But, you're never going to be at or near sea level until you get to
 RW>> Corpus...

 RN> Or New Orleans.  (-:

NO is -Sea Level. I've driven several cars at 36 feet below sea level.

 RN>>   Through no fault of mine, I haven't been that far west.  Had I
 RN>> been single at the time, I would have gone to the California coast
 RN>> just to experience the lack of humidity.

 RW>> You don't have to go that far. SC Texas has no humidity, unless
 RW>> there is an offshore flow from the Gulf. You can be outside in the
 RW>> afternoon here and the temps may be 95F, but you won't feel it
 RW>> until the humidty reaches over 90% or more. That's pretty rare, as
 RW>> usually there is a breeze out of the north blowing off shore.

 RN> There's another reason I didn't mention.  I've only seen the Pacific
 RN> Ocean in pictures.

I'd never seen the Gulf of Mexico except in pictures, until I moved here.
The Pacific is a beautiful blue while the Gulf is an ugly brown full of
jelly fish.

 RN>   A couple of years from now, if not sooner, I'm going to take a trip
 RN> to Las Vegas and from there go to see the Grand Canyon.  My only
 RN> regret will be I won't be able to ride a horse while there.

There aren't any horses at the GC...only mules. Take the old steam engine
train from Williams instead. It stops at the GC lodge and you can get a
room and stay for a few days. There's also a helicopter ride over the
canyon, which is much easier than riding a mule to the bottom.

 RW>>> But just heading south from north isn't going down hill.

 RN>> Yes, it is.  Think about the differences in sea level.

 RW>> There is no difference here. There isn't any difference until you
 RW>> get to the tip of South America, where the Atlantic and Pacific
 RW>> meet. Of course this isn't the only place you can experience
 RW>> different ocean levels. This is why there are locks in the Panama
 RW>> Canal, so that ships can meet the levels of both oceans as they
 RW>> head west or east.

 RN> What a tangent!  (-:  Make that northwest and southeast.

You might want to look a little closer: The canal itself runs in a
east/west direction in Panama. However, ships traveling from the Pacific
to the Atlantic travel in a northwest direction, while ships traveling
from the Atlantic to the Pacific head Southeast.

 RN>>> An example is when we visit relatives every other week in north
 RN>>> Louisiana. The time to get there, since we're traveling south to
 RN>>> north, is greater than the return home time.  Try it yourself.
 RN>>> I'll bet you notice the difference.

 RW>>> I've driven from here to Illinois and back. There is no
 RW>>> difference...

 RN> I find that difficult to believe and since this didn't come up before
 RN> you made the trip, you naturally wouldn't notice since you wouldn't
 RN> have had that on your mind.

Oh but I would. I always keep track of my mileage and how much fuel I
use, where we fuel up and where we eat (not necessarily at the same stop).

I never take such a trip without planning the route first. Indeed, when I
didn't like the route traveled to Illinois on one particular trip
(IH-40 to US54 at Tucumcari, NM northeastward to Wichita, KS (IH35)), I
sat at my parent's kitchen table and planned a different and faster route
back to San Diego.  US54 was scenic, but a terrible road to use if you're
in a hurry. My dad recommended it, so I considered the source and didn't
take it home...

 RN>> Did you average the same speed going and coming and not notice the
 RN>> difference?

 RW>> Same speed, same roads...I've tried several different routes and
 RW>> they all work out the same.

 See above.


         R\%/itt


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 * Origin: Texas Lone-Star - Texan, American, USAian  (1:387/22)