Archive for June 2011

0

Tips for a Relaxing Road Trip

With the economy being what it is today and airline prices sky-rocketing, it's no wonder that you've come to the decision of taking the family on a road trip this year for vacation. After you're all packed up and ready to leave, you start going through a final check of that list you prepared. 1)Clothes for the week 2)Road Snacks 3)Wife and kids (can't forget those) 4)Spare Tire 5)Directions/GPS info and lastly 6)Car keys But wait. Of all those things on that list, only one has to be constantly maintained. No, not the Road Snacks. The wife and kids. We all know that any trip lasting more than an hour is torture for those little tikes. Not just for them but for you as well. How can you remedy this? Well, I've done my fair share of traveling and this is a list that I've compiled in order to beat that cabin fever. 1)Have A Conversation It never ceases to amaze me how long some of these trips can go on without anyone talking to each other. No matter how tight knit of a family you may have, there are some things that you still may not know about the people you are riding with. Ask questions. This is the best way to start a conversation. This lets your family know that you are interested in their lives. They are always willing to open up to you no matter how old or young they are. 2)Plan Some Car Games Car games can be the simplest way to pass the time when on a long trip. For younger children, it's best to play games that focus on small tasks like counting and color recognition. A good example would be count the red cars. As they get older you can try to make it a little more difficult such as count the different state license plates. 3)Assign Jobs You are the captain of this vessel and have the authority to charge your shipmates with certain duties. So... Do that. Everyone likes to feel included and needed. Assign everyone in the car a specific task to do while the car is in motion e.g. Mom is the navigator, Little Billy can read the exit signs, and Sally can change the radio station. Then, after each pit stop, everyone can switch jobs. 4)Sing Alongs Yeah. It's lame. It's cheesy. It's dated. But it works. A good sing along can kill time like nobody's business. Pick a station or choose from your iPod and jam out. Let everyone have a turn. You can have your own mobile karaoke lounge. 5)Movies When all else fails, movies. Have a folder of favorite DVDs and some new movies that you haven't watched yet on hand. If a conversation goes stale, or the games get boring, a good ol' fashioned movie will quickly take the focus off of you and onto the small screens in front of them. Don't have monitors or a DVD player in the car. Well, you wouldn't be on this site if you weren't thinking about getting one. So hop to it and enjoy your hassle-free road trip to wherever it is you're going. Drive Safe.

0

Too Much Boom Boom. Not Enough Ting-a-Ling

Ladies and Gentlemen, Summer has officially arrived. And with it comes the warm weather, vacations, and joyful sounds. But as your sitting there enjoying the breeze while waiting for a red light to change, you hear it. The noise we all know and hate. Someone pulls up next to you with their music blaring to the top level and all you hear is distorted bass and his license plate buzzing against his car. Well don't be too angry with the poor guy. He may just be one of the many people who don't know what you know about car audio maintenance. This poor guy simply forgot to adjust the gain on his amplifier to match the swing on his head unit. It's a common mistake among most car owners who hook up their rides with top notch sound systems. The get all the bells and whistles and have no idea how to use them. Think of your gain knob as a volume knob, because technically, that's what it is; a volume knob for your amplifier. Your amplifier and your head unit work together in order to give you more power and volume. But too much gain will give you a distorted sound that is not enjoyable for anyone. The higher the gain number, the less you will have to turn your volume knob on the head unit to get it louder. Setting your gain at the right level will assure that you will have a pure sound that the musician intended without making it sound like you have killer bees in your trunk trying to get out.