I Regret to Announce...

...that the good and loyal '97 Honda Civic that has been the transporter of my family, the families of friends and relatives, members of the band and various visitors to our home - is no longer with us. Yesterday morning around 8:30AM EDT I was driving on 23rd street in Long Island City, New York at about 8:30 AM. I stopped a a stop sign at 31st Road and then inched forward craning to see around the van parked to my right on 31st. The street appeared clear. Given my Californian upbringing I also looked to my left to make sure that no one was heading the wrong way on that small one-way street. It was at that moment that a yellow cab traveling some 40 to 50 MPH (in a school zone) tore the front of my car off, and bent the frame. The photo, taken with my cell phone, fairly well shows the aftermath. That black thing that looks like an i-beam in the street is the gadget that would normally trigger the air-bags. Obviously they did not deploy. Still, my seat belt held me snug and safe and I was unhurt, but the car has been declared - "totaled" - and that with like 7/8ths of a tank of gas in it! I wonder where that goes? The cabbie had a bump on the head. He had a fare who simply got out and left the scene. I found three witnesses as to what happened and the insurance companies will work out whatever they need to work out. Thus ends this part of my ongoing experiment, but here are a couple of w4g things worth noting:

1. When the car was hit the motor shut down and when I know that I was unhurt I immediately got out to check on the other driver - forgetting that the Electrolytzers were continuing to churn out HHO. It was not until I had spoken with several people, called 911, and wandered around a bit shook up by the experience that I realizied what I had left undone and went to correct the potential problem - perhaps 7 to 10 minutes from impact. Here's the thing - nothing blew up. So I can now safely say that when an Electrolyzer runs for say 7 minutes the possibility of explosion appears to be nil...
2. Later in the day I went to the lot where the car or what is left of it has been stored - and removed our personal items including the MAP Enhanser and the Electrolyzers and all pertinent parts and found that the mason jars were unscathed. Turns out that these things are really strong - a very good thing to know, right?

My intention is to take the things that I've removed from my car and put them into the car of a neighbor who has expressed interest. I will ask him to keep independent readings of his mileage and I will make it my task to report his findings here. I see this as an opportunity to expand my knowledge by using this technology on another vehicle for the first time.

As for my transportation needs - well my wife and I have decided that what we want is another Honda Civic - but this time we want a Hybrid. (We'll just see if we can get it. I do figure that it's wortha try:-) With w4g we've become used to getting really good mileage, so how could we settle for anything less? I expect that once I feel really secure with my level of expertise I'll install a system in the new car (assuming of course that the computer issues have been solved by then) and we'll see if I can take what is already reported as great mileage in that car and make it even better...

The photo at the bottom here is a photo taken again with my cell phone of what happened to the cab after it hit me: he spun once in the street. My bumper is laying out there and the guy in shorts is standing next to a car the the cab missed in its trajectory before it slammed into the grey car you see pinned between the cab and the telephone pole. Just beyond that is a school. Children were everywhere both on the street and behind the fence. No one was hurt! Miracles never cease... Never.

Buckle up.

I'll see ya soon.