Personal Status Update + a personal cheesy but caring message

In little more than a month I will be leaving my country to stay a few months working in an investigation project. Which sounds pretty cool right?

Well, on one side, of course. On the other, I have had little time for preparations since I am working to make some money during the day and only come to the PC at night.

Days go by without me noticing I'm running out of time for preparing my work abroad. I would like to  keep writing about cars, and bike riding, and Linux stuff I learn here and there... there are a few drafts of ideas I have for blog posts, but there is something much more important now.

When I look back at my life, I know I have not always been the disciplined person I wish I was (otherwise this blog would have much more contents, of course). I have not always been helpful to others when I should have, but more importantly, I have not been up to the person I love the most: my girlfriend.

Even though I am still a klutz, I am getting better over time because of her. And even though I still fail her sometimes, I wish we can both be happy together. So this post is dedicated to her.

To anyone who might read this: remind yourself who are the most important people in your life and make sure you tell them.

Ford and the small turbocharged engine

   Diesel engines have received a lot of attention lately: smaller (1.4 liter) blocks, turbocharged, low consumptions and emissions... No wonder people in Portugal buy, mostly, small turbocharged diesel cars (and diesel is also cheaper than petrol).

   However, those of us who are, and will always be in love with petrol engines, there was not much of a choice: either a small, sluggish high compression engine, but somehow easy on fuel consumption (such as "my" VW Polo 1.0 MPI), or a larger petrol engine, which was not so easy on gas mileage...

   Finally some motor companies decided to dedicate to petrol engines: Ford was recently awarded with the 2014 International Engine of the Year for its 1.0 EcoBoost engine!

  The 3 cylinder, 100, 125 or 140 hp turbocharged EcoBoost engine features low fuel consumption and still keeps a good performance, hence being so popular in Europe (1 in each 5 Fords sold in Europe had this engine), according to Autoblog (article in Portuguese). The turbocharger in this engine is running 1.6 bar, an impressive number if you think about the 1.1 bar value in a 2013 Impreza (source here).

   This reminds me of a 180 hp 1.4 liter engine created by FIAT. However, the popularity of this Ford 1.0 might be boosted by the increasing fuel price, and economical crisis in Europe.

  Whatever the reason for its popularity is, I hope this engine marks the beginning of an era where turbochargers increase the efficiency of small engines, end the boredom of small slow petrol engines, and brings back the popularity of small petrol engines over diesel ones.

   Let the forced induction begin.

How easy is writing a blog post?

A few months after I created this blog to write freely and clear my mind, but after a while I started writing less and less. At first it was because I really had lack of time. But I guess that was the beginning of being lazy about it.

Not only lazy: I, somehow, lost interest. Probably because I did not have an idea of what this blog should be, so in the beginning I was only fuelled by the feeling of having something new. 

Because some posts are useful (such as in the Linux tab), I worried about keeping each post neat and informative. But that was not what I needed from this blog. I needed a place where I could speak my mind freely without worrying about what others might think. Having views made me very strict: I didn't want to disappoint those who read this blog.

I postponed some writing because I didn't think i would be useful to anyone. Except me.

I am a person without much discipline over myself, actually. Keeping restrictions over my writing made me avoid this blog.

It is as easy to write in a blog as much you allow yourself.

That's the conclusion to which I've come.

Maybe I mixed this blog too much. Maybe I should have started it with a single and exact purpose. But I didn't and it's who I am, I am a bit messy too (we all are, more or less).

From now on I hope my writing reflects more of how I think and less of how I make things rational and strict.

Post written under the influence of:

 From Youtube description: "The track is called "A Place To Hide" and its about finding home, whatever "home" means for you. It may be a person, a place or even a side of yourself where you feel most at home. Whatever it is, I hope this track helps you reflect on what it is and how to find it."