My race car dies when i give it gas but is fine when i let it idle. it's not the fuel pump what can it be?

Just...LOL. It's a friggin' race car driver in distress!!!
Can YOU help "Carol S."?

I love Yahoo! Answers. If you haven't checked it out yet...oh man. You will feel so smart. Or lose all faith in humanity. One of those.

Presto! WebTV's Creepy Uncle

Pffffffft!

On the local Fox Sports Radio affiliate there are frequent ads for the Presto Super Turbo Nitro Titanium Extreme Email Beast. Ok, it's actually called the HP Printing Mailbox with Presto Service, but the radio spot doesn't really drive that point home. So let's clear up some other common misunderstandings. This thing is not a computer. Rather, it is a living, breathing machine that pisses email. Actually, it pisses ink and craps email. You cannot send email with it. It hooks up to your phone line, for blazing speed when your kooky old friends send you 138 photos from last week's bingo night. Because it hooks up to your phone line, no one can hear your screams of desperation. Did I mention it can send you "articles, recipes, and puzzles"? (Well I didn't, and for good reason--I'm keeping them all for myself. I'm going to swim in them Scrooge McDuck style.) The email diarrhea machine itself costs $149.99, and the service that makes the email puke out is $9.99/month or $99.99 annually. You're welcome.

PITA CFL (IMHO)

Today the fourth compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) in my house failed. I've been using these bulbs for a little over five years, so I guess four isn't that bad...maybe it's just the circumstances of the failures that are so disappointing. Repeat offender: Sylvania! Not only is there a notable delay when you switch on a Sylvania CFL, but they don't seem to last as long as the other brand I've used. Still awake? Okay then, let's heat up the CFL talk with a full list of the failed lamps:

• GE FLE20HT3/2/SW Twist
  An oldie but a goodie. Got a lot of use, lead a full life.


• Commercial Electric EDXO-14 Mini-Twist
  Got this in a five or six pack from Home Depot. Didn't last too long, but always started up within milliseconds of being switched on. Its siblings are still going strong.


• Sylvania CF28EL 3-Way Twist
  Pricey, crappy. The first two settings failed after a handful of months. It now lives in the hazardous waste bin, since it can't crank out enough light for reading.


• Sylvania CF13EL Mini-Twist
  Not-a good-a. I have many of this model and they all are quite slow to start up. Today I was replacing the Commercial Electric lamp listed above with a new one of these, and it failed after just a few seconds. Poof!

All this has lead me to wonder--who makes the raddest CFLs these days? Answer--NOBODY! It seems every manufacturer has some turds out there in circulation. Here are some CFL fanboy sites I found very interesting. If you're still awake, I think you'll enjoy them as much as I did.

• Some dude's CFL page


• That dude's bud's CFL page


• Some other dude's CFL page

Shock Jock

Don't tase me, buds.

Have you ever been shocked by a pair of headphones? Earbuds, or in-ear? While exercising? While the headphones were plugged into something AC powered? Or maybe just your stupid iPod, you crazy hippie?

I have been using earbud headphones since the mid-to-late eighties and had never experienced headphone shock until a couple days ago. Like so many times before, I plugged my very common headphones (Sony MDR-J11G, pictured, right) into the treadmill (Life Fitness 95Ti) headphone jack and started my run. Not even close to breaking a sweat, I felt a pop in my ears. What the heck? Was the headphone jack scratchy? Was the audio signal crappy? Was the gym entering orbit? But I just kept running. No time to figure this out. Then 30 seconds later, POP. Dang...OUCH! Kept running. A minute later, POP POP POP. %#*@!!!

Soon after I surrendered, and finished my run on the next treadmill over (same exact model). Not one headphone shock from this fine machine, over many minutes and eventually plenty 'o sweat. What gives? Bad grounding? The air was not notably dry, and my clothes provided no noticeable static. Was it the over-the-ear headphone design?

I Googled for more info and found that this is a pretty common thing. While I didn't come to any conclusions, I did pick a fave search result.

Worst SNL Host Ever: Ellen Page

Random mini-rant. Ellen Page was the worst Saturday Night Live host the show has ever seen. NBC should not rerun the episode again. She was in way over her head. Her voice was beyond grating, her delivery uneven, her movements spastic.

I'm trying to think of a host that could even compete. No contenders I can come up with. If you have any nominees, post a comment.

Cheap Gas Is Not An Inalienable Right

Please shut up about gas prices. Before you even think about complaining, consider doing one or more the following:

• Serve a tour of duty with the military in a current conflict area.


• Own a car that gets 30 mpg or better in combined fuel economy.


• Attain lower class socio-economic status.

Not interested? Then please don't complain about gas prices.

Chi-Chi's: A Tribute

Max McGee was a man of great taste.

I first ate at Chi-Chi's in 1984. It was fantastic. Over the years I would dine with groups large and small at several Chi-Chi's throughout Wisconsin. Good times. The food was outstanding...for "Tex-Mex" or "Americanized Mexican food" fans, there was nothing better. The drinks were crowd pleasers as well. Did you know that the most successful Chi-Chi's location was located right next door in Brookfield, WI? It featured an awesome lunch buffet that had the power to blow minds.

When Max McGee died, it hit home. Partly because I grew up listening to him on Packers radio broadcasts, but mostly because he was one of the founders of Chi-Chi's.

The ownership of Chi-Chi's changed hands many times, and eventually the chain ran into some trouble it couldn't shake. In mid-August of 2004, the Southeastern WI Chi-Chi's locations closed for good. I caught word of the closings in time to have one last meal at the Brookfield location.

A living shrine to Chi-Chi's exists at the Creepy, Abandoned Chi-Chi's blog. Recent updates confirm my earlier research regarding the existence of a thriving Chi-Chi's in Luxembourg. I think it's time to visit the homeland...for some enchiladas.