Hyper Braking

I'm like Michael J. Fox in Back to the Future tonight: I'm "outta time" so this blog post will be brief.

I hadn't heard of the term, "hyper braking" until we were having a discussion during the break between movies at Friday Night Movie Night here.  I had mentioned seeing a recent commercial espousing the cost-savings you can achieve by responsible driving.   The commercial claimed up to one dollar of the cost of a gallon of gas could be saved, just by good driving habits.

I've been working on good driving habits myself in the Tesla, working on my Wh/mi average per trip.   I hadn't bothered trying to drive particularly economically in prior cars.   We discussed the plausibility of the claim, given the recent drop in gas prices.  

My friend said the only way it was possible was by doing something called, "hyper braking" and people who did that mostly annoyed everyone else.   He didn't have to explain what he meant by the term because I could imagine it: coasting to the extreme and slowing other cars behind you in a way contrary to most people's driving habits.

I can easily see how someone could go to that extreme, although it seems rude.   I coast to a stop gradually when there are no cars behind me and go speeds that benefit my energy consumption to the extent that my driving is in line with the expectations of other's on the road.    

I would have never thought there was a problem out there with people doing too much coasting though.

The Big Boy Update:  My son threw up this morning.  We don't know why.   Sometimes he does it when he coughs and this morning he had a lot of congestion, needed to blow his nose badly and possibly gagged himself.    Then, the stomach acids got to him and all he wanted to do was wipe his tongue on a cloth for a while.   He was so distressed he threw up again (the little bit of orange juice he'd had,) so we decided to keep him home from school.   He watched a little television and then I gave him saltines and ginger ale.   He loved them.   I was worried he was sick and I didn't want to give him too much, but not only did he eat a lot of those, he ate a full lunch as well.   I'm not sure if he was sick or not, especially since he had no fever, but he seems fine now.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  There is a character in the show, Mickey Mouse Club House named Toodles.   Toodles is sort of a circular thing that flies around and delivers handy helper tools just when you need them.   My daughter had the following conversation with my husband tonight:
   Reese: "Does toodles have a penis?
   Daddy: "No."
   Reese:  "What?  Yes, toodles has a penis like me!"
   Daddy: "Uh, no you have a vagina."
   Reese: "What?!"