Q: Your column is generally traffic-related, however I counsel writing additionally in regards to the pitfalls of letting your automotive sit for prolonged durations of time. How do you shelter in place due to COVID-19 and preserve your automotive battery from dying? I’m certain you’ve got contacts that would make clear that.
Pat Tehan
A: Enter Jeff-the-Automotive-Man. His recommendation: “Begin the automotive each two weeks and let it idle (no revving!) for at the least one minute. Should you’re within the storage, both again it out, or at the least open the storage door. Carbon monoxide is not any joke.
“If the automotive is outdoors, wash it (at the least rinse it off) and dry it as soon as a month. Run the air conditioner for at the least one minute as soon as a month. Test your tires as soon as a month, as effectively. Air does seep out.”
Q: Whereas the roadways stay comparatively clear due to COVID-19 and the stay-at-home orders, our streets and sidewalks have seen a serious enhance in individuals strolling their canines. I’ve been strolling the identical routes for 36 years with my very own canines and have by no means seen a lot canine poop within the street, on sidewalks, on trails, on individuals’s lawns. It’s straightforward to see that a lot of this poop has been stepped in and smeared.
Strolling shouldn’t should be like negotiating by a minefield. Individuals have to be accountable and clear up after their animals. This world is just not a private rest room for his or her canines. I’ve been desirous to rant about visitors calming within the space the place I dwell, however this problem is true now and on my shoe.
Jacqueline Hegstrom, San Jose
A: Yuck. Canine walkers, carry a plastic bag, choose up after your four-legged friends and ensure to toss the bag in a rubbish can. Don’t go away the bag on the sidewalk or grass (you wouldn’t need somebody to depart a canine poop-filled bag in your sidewalk or yard).
Q: I dwell by at the least three ARCO stations. The closest one is only a quarter-mile away, at Middlefield Street at Shoreline Boulevard. The bottom worth there’s nonetheless $2.99, although the worth for a barrel of crude oil is all the way down to $23.
Thomas Gazdayka, Mountain View
A: Search for an enormous drop in costs in April. It may very well be 50 cents or extra a gallon.
Q: I’ve a REAL ID driver’s license up for renewal in November. Will I have the ability to renew it on-line?
David Cohen
A: You certain will. After you have a REAL ID driver’s license or identification card, chances are you’ll be eligible to resume it by mail or on-line. Your renewal discover will point out if an workplace go to is required.
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