Random question for you USians - is it true that in some states it's illegal to harvest rainwater? It sounds like one of those things that's so stupid that it ought to be a myth, but probably isn't...

@NickC - I've not heard of it before. I mean, they tax rainwater in Maryland ... The more building and paved area you have on your land, the more "rain water" tax you have. At least they had it at one point ... don't know if the law is still in place, but it was known as the "rainwater tax". Kinda stupid.

Looking at this page, it seems it's actually quite the opposite of what you've heard. I haven't read all of the States' laws, but it looks as though most of them actually have provisions to help land owners (in one way or another) with rainwater collection, mainly through tax credits or whatever. Seems it's not only legal in most States, but also encouraged.

It appears that in some States, the amount of water you can collect is limited. But then again, once your rain barrel overflows, you can only collect so much, right? :o)

@Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2 That's good - I thought it seemed too stupid to be true when I saw it, but you never know these days!

Over here most houses with a garden have at least one rain barrel, especially if you're on a water meter

Hei guys, I was invited by another user responding to my question

@NickC Some places, like Colorado, severely restrict it. I have a friend that lives in the mountains outside of Denver that is prohibited from having a catch barrel or anything like that.

@Syncro Which question?

@3Dave but...why?

(remember I am from Scotland, where one thing we have way too much of is water, so I may just be uneducated in this)

Surely letting people catch the rainwater from their roof means they don't waste mains water

@RoryAlsop I'm not sure, but I'd guess it goes back to not interfering with the natural rain cycle which could potentially adversely affect the environment.

@RoryAlsop Which is BS.

@RoryAlsop Personally, I think it has more to do with interfering with revenue generated from utilities. If everyone had a well and a windmill, how would the city make money? Ha. Ha. Ha. :(

@Syncro - Welcome to our chat! Glad you could join us.

@RoryAlsop @3Dave @NickC - Out west there are what's called "rights". There are water, timber, and mineral rights (there may be others). Just because you own the land, doesn't mean you own the rights to any of these. It has to be specified in your deed that you own them. This may be where the idea came from and what can cause people problems if they don't pay attention to them.

@Syncro hi, welcome to the chat - driving questions are off topic on the site itself, but allowed in here.

To answer your question about driving an older car, you shouldn't need to do anything different. Your example of a 1993 fiesta will be pretty similar to most other small hatchbacks (in fact I learned to drive in a MK3 fiesta...). It won't have all the fancy driver aids you get in a modern car, but in a way that's a good thing - it will teach you to drive without having to rely on them...

Regards downshifting when braking, I use a mixture - to gently lose speed, just lift off the throttle and allow the engine to slow you. To slow quicker, use the brakes, but also change down as you do so - that way you are always in the right gear for the speed you're doing, should you suddenly need to apply power again

@Syncro Also, practice rev matching. When you down shift, blip the throttle to get the engine to the speed it should be at (RPM-wise) in the gear you're going to. Typically, it's roughly 1000RPM between gears (but could be as little as 700 on smaller engines). You can tell if it's working if the car doesn't jolt when you release the clutch.

For bonus points, google "heel-toe shifting." I can't do that because of an old knee + ankle injury, but just blipping the throttle quickly, and releasing the clutch as the revs come back down, works great. Done well, your passenger will barely notice that you've shifted. It's better for the car, better for your neck, and gets you ready for driving on a track.

Thank you guys, I have another question but I'm not sure if I can easily explain myself.

This question is all about driving rules, not engines.

@Syncro - Rules really depends on where you live ... but we'll give it a stab

Are you in the States? Looks like the driving is on the right hand side of the road.

So I have to wait that road gets free to turn right/left.

Or should I stay outside until the road gets free of vehicles?

I think these rules are anywhere regardless of the country

If I have explained myself bad just tell me so I explain better, sorry.

@Syncro - I don't know how it is in Italy, but here in the States you have to wait until the road is clear.

@Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2 Do you mean the full road, right?

@Syncro people here (US) sometimes do that (go out to the median area and wait on an opening on the other side), but it's kind of a jerk move. Not technically illegal here, but if anyone coming from the right wants to turn left, you'll be blocking them. Which leads to a traffic jam (or at least a small one).

Just don't do it. Be patient, and the people behind you will just have to wait.

@Syncro Also, nice picture. I think it would make a great coder-type t-shirt.

Maybe with some math added.

Which picture? The one that I posted here?

@Syncro - Yes, otherwise (as long as there isn't a median) you are impeding traffic (coming from your left). If you get stuck out there in the left lane (oncoming traffic) waiting for the right lane to clear out and someone comes towards you, you'd be in the fault. Like @3Dave said, kind of a jerk move.

They might (or might not) avoid you.

But really, you're sitting out there like a sitting duck.

@3Dave - ROFL! You would go there ... :o)

I believe in Italy, at least in the populated areas, it's a little more of the "Wild West" than I'm used to. I know when I was in Saudi Arabia, those people were all over the map in where/how/when they drove ... it was crazy!

And sorry, no, I wasn't trying to compare Italy to Saudi ... I'm sure it's completely different. Just letting you know what I've experienced before.

@Zaid ... wazzup!

Lol, yes it is. Here in Naples everyone does what he wants, so there are people passing intersections with red light, people driving bikes without helmet etc.

But I live in mountains and here is "less far west" then in big cities like Rome. I exactly live around 50km from Rome

@Syncro - Yesterday I was sitting second back at a red light in the right lane. A guy in a Porsche comes from the left lane, doesn't slow down, and takes the right going around us. I'm sure the guy ahead of me was sitting there shaking their head as well. It doesn't just happen in Naples.

Outside city is less far west but speeds are higher so if you get in troubles on the road you can really cause a letal accident

I wish @Myself was in the room ... he's from Northern Italy.

But he's very experienced with driving throughout the entire region.

@Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2 Yes it happens also in other cities, but in Naples it happens often, it's kind of "normal" there lol. Also people "beep beep" (how to tell that he plays clacson in english? lol) if you stop your car on red light

@Syncro - I'm sure you don't want to piss people off too much, but really, never let someone else tell you how to drive your car. You are at the wheel. You make the decisions.

Just because they honk at you doesn't mean they are in the right, lol.

When you start letting other people drive your car is when you get into accidents.

@Syncro - Yup. It just takes practice. Definitely practice those defensive driving skills.

What defensive driving means? I was reading it on the right side of this chat room: "no offense but if you don't know how to ride defensively do you really know how to ride? - may 4 at 21:29 by Ceshion ▼"

Well, you can drive "offensively" and piss everyone off.

@Syncro Hitting the brakes is not always the best option when you get scared of an oncoming car. Frequently, you car can accelerate out of a bad position much faster than it can brake to avoid it.

@3Dave - Unless it's a car which can't get out of its own way, like a Yugo or possibly my Civic, lol.

@Syncro Moral of the story: don't get in anyone's way. In your drawing, the best way may be to turn right, then make a u-turn at the next intersection. I have to do that several places here in town.

@Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2 I think driving the wife's Escalade has colored my approach.

informed?

Crap.

@Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2 Or a Fiesta. :|

@3Dave - The other driver must yield to tonnage when you're in the Escalade. That's the way it was when I had my Suburban ... I mean, if they are larger than me, I'll get out of their way, but really, not much is bigger, lol!

@3Dave - Exactly!

Or a Geo Metro

@Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2 My comp. sci. teacher in high school called that the "Saigon Rule." (He was a green beret.

Those little 3-cyl engines were about as lively as a squirrel in a cage, lol!

@3Dave - Works for me :o)

If you are in a 4WD jeep going town a one-lane "road", and the other guy is in a 2WD, you win and he gets out of the way

If you are in a tank, you win.

@3Dave - Epitomises "yield-to-tonnage" I'd think :o)

Is Ford Fiesta a bad car? :O

@Syncro - Not a bad car. In fact most owners I talked to ran them forever. They just don't have a lot of power.

When someone says "can't get out of its own way" ... it means, it doesn't seem to have enough power to make the car move very fast.

If the car cannot get out of its own way, it would get runover ... by itself, lol.

@Syncro it's a great car; very reliable and a very good first car, especially in Italy.

@3Dave - Isn't a Honda Del Sol a rear wheel drive car? Mid engined?

It just doesn't have a lot of power. And, in the US, we value nothing more than excess.

See: Corvette, Viper, Ford GT, Shelby Cobra, etc.

Oh okay, by the way when I said that I used to hit the brake when car came in my way I meant in intersection. Just say you're going 40km/h in a city road and then on the side of the road suddenly appears a car, then I used to brake.

@Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2 No, it's FWD I think

Civic derived.

@3Dave - REALLY??

But it's mid engined ... <scratches head>

@Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2 Uhhhh are you sure

?

Del Sol?

I know it's mid engined, because I looked at one when I tried to sell it. The person looking at it wanted a compression test done on it.

Del Sol is front-engine, FWD

Two seater with the little center window that rolls down?

This thing? vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/90scars/images/3/36/…

What the heck was I looking at then?

Okay, you win

I quit

@Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2 @Ceshion has an excellent "shrug" emoticon that I can't find.

pinterest.com/pin/516014069788004178

Okay, see, I was right

haha

@Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2 I'm going to go out on a limb and say that is not stock.

I could be wrong.

Yah think?

:o)

Well... I hate to presume, but...

:)

Then what the heck was I looking at way back when ...

No big deal.

I was wondering why my Haynes manual included Del Sol when I bought it for the Civic, lol!

I'm curious, though.

Now I know! (uh, duh)

Maybe it was a prototype NSX, shoved into a Del Sol.

Google "Cormaro" for precedent.

Also, you're a chevy guy. "All Corvettes are Red" is a great read. Highly recommended if you are so inclined.

@3Dave - Must have been

@Syncro remember this, which is what I tell myself every time I get stuck or afraid:

All this time, I "assumed" something which was incorrect

@Syncro There are seven billion people in the world. Somewhere, sometime, someone dumber than me has figured out how to do this.

@Syncro With physics, it's very likely. With driving, it is a certainty.

@Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2 Maybe it was parked backwards.

HAHAHAHAHAH

c'mon.

Now that's just wrong

@Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2 That's not a Del Sol.

Okay ahah @3Dave

No, it's a "Cormaro"

hahahaha

Cormaro was a term used for the C5 prototypes which were built into camaros. Transmission in the back, leaf springs, the whole bit.

On mid-90s F-body platform.

@Syncro I'm serious. I work in a very competitive field. I'm a reasonably smart guy. Not the greatest, but I do okay. Questions like you have asked are good questions, and I am glad you asked rather than just cutting people off, breaking your car and generally causing chaos.

When we stop asking questions, we stop learning.

And that is a waste.

@3Dave - I couldn't agree more with you.

@Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2 One day I will find myself in your area. GXP is itching for another road trip.

Just need to find a trailer that can house three kids. they can flip for who rides up front.

... a coin.

@3Dave - I hope you do. We have a spare bedroom, so just give me some warning.

:)

Oh, only one spare bedroom, lol.

Won't house five people, lol!

... it'll be a nice trailer?

I thought you meant to ditch the wife/kids and hit the road. You're not as big of a jerk as I though :o)

That can be towed by a 2700lb car. (In other news, I've removed some useless parts.)

haha

@3Dave If you mean a travel trailer?

@Syncro And THAT is exactly why you should ask. We are happy to help if we can.

@Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2 I'm not going to take the time to Photoshop a Solstice towing a camper. I'm sure you can visualize.

@3Dave - You just going to tie the kids to the bonnet?

Also, here driving teachers are "exam-oriented", so they teach you things to make you pass the exam, not to make you drive safely, and I hate this thing

You know what I love about this? Other people can also have multiple conversation threads at the same time. I feel less crazy.

@Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2 I was thinking the hood, but whatever.

@Syncro could be worse. We (US) do that with the entire public education system now. It is not good.

@Syncro - It's all good. Just ask what you want.

@Syncro Agreed.

@Syncro Also, this may sound silly: google for driving simulators. I would be very surprised if there aren't "defensive driving"-type simulators online where you can try this.

Racing games do not count.

I don't have a very """powerful""" computer, I have an Intel HD Graphics with Intel i3 1.9Ghz CPU (power-saving model)

@Syncro Your written English is excellent. Consider moving to a country with worse food, horrible traffic, higher taxes and crappy healthcare.

Maybe I will find something Flash based

Thank you @3Dave, nobody told me that before lol

@Syncro good sims will run on 10 year-old hardware. I work in the games industry; you only need cutting-edge hardware for poorly-written, recently-released titles.

@Syncro - Nothing wrong with that setup ... my daughter's computer is much the same.

@Syncro They probably didn't realize you were not a native speaker. Seriously. I did not know at first.

@Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2 is more up-to-date as he actually plays games. I just fix them.

@3Dave - And create them

@Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2 Not since the operation.

ROFL!

looking for the right emoji...

:)

I'm out for the night.

@Syncro Please, continue to ask any questions you have here.

@Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2 - Always fun.

@Syncro Blockchain has a ton of potential, FAR beyond cryptocurrency. Nice to see someone exploring that.

Don't hack our elections. (Or please do, depending on the outcome.) (I hope that is funny and not offensive, but, "what are the odds.")

Y'all have a great night. Cheers from Texas.

@3Dave - Later bro

@Syncro - You're up pretty late, eh?

Good night @3Dave

@Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2 You mean it's late time here? Oh yes, it's 0.51 AM here in Italy but I'm used to go sleep late

@Syncro - I thought as much. No worries.

I can do some scripting and have dabbled in Perl programming, but really, you are head/shoulders above me in your skillset.

I did programming for work, so yes, I'm pretty skilled on it, but on March I have quit the job after reading "Dad Rich Dad Poor" of Kyiosaki

Because I felt like if I continue working I will do it for the rest of my life, so I decided to quit and try to earn in other ways.

@Syncro - There are worse things than working, but I get your point.

In fact now I'm poor as fuck but I'm tryin to survive ahah

Maybe I can become a Uber with Ford Fiesta 1993

aahahha

lol

@Syncro - Do what you have to do.

I surely will :D