Monday Musings

The PA who is the point person for my cardiology care agrees with me, but my other health care providers either don’t or don’t seem to have an opinion. I am convinced that my allergies lead to systemic inflammation. Since the dewpoints have increased (meaning more mold to which I am allergic) I have suffered from pain in my legs, my ribcage, my feet, you name it. My eosinophil count is normal, maybe on the high side of normal. Can certain people have more active/powerful eosinophils that can cause inflammation without a person’s count being abnormal? Any doctors out there are free to chime in.

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On this day in 1889 the Exposition Universelle (World’s Fair in English) opened in Paris with the newly completed Eiffel Tower serving as the entrance arch. OK, interesting but is there an automobile connection? Of course! On the same day Gottlieb Daimler debuted the first car to be shown in Paris, at the opening of the Paris World Exhibition/Fair. Gottlieb did not want to be outshined by the Eiffel Tower so he lined his booth with 30 light bulbs in order to attract people to his stand as electric lighting was still new to the world, as was the automobile. The vehicle was known as the wire wheel car and featured several engineering feats, including a twin cylinder V-engine, not unlike engines used in modern vehicles. attached to a four speed transmission and a groundbreaking cooling system. From automotivehistory.org a picture of Daimler’s car:

 

 

The first cars as we know them now, powered by internal-combustion engines, were developed in Europe not in the US. Depending on whose account you believe, the first car wasn’t built in the US until 1891 or 1893. The four-stroke combustion engine, which still propels the vast majority of cars sold in the world, was primarily developed by a German engineer, Nikolaus Otto, between 1861 and 1876.

The French Peugeot is the oldest make of car in the world. Karl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler may have “invented” the car as we know it, but they did not produce cars as part of their core businesses, nor in a continuous fashion, as early as Peugeot. Some automotive historians credit another French company, Panhard-Levassor, as the first real automobile company, but they ceased production in the 1960s.

Somewhat ironically, Peugeot has been absent from the US market since the early 1990s. Recently, Groupe PSA—parent company of Peugeot—has announced it will re-enter the US market although without announcing a specific year. This car has already been discontinued, but it would be great to see it on US roads:

 

 

From motorauthority.com a picture of the Peugeot RCZ. Those Francophiles reading will be able to tell if this is an “R” model; I can’t by sight. Yes, the car looks like an Audi TT, but it’s not German. The RCZ-R was powered by a turbocharged 1.6 liter/98 cubic-inch inline 4-cylinder engine that produced 270 HP/243 LB-FT of torque. Yes, 270 HP/243 LB-FT from 98 cubic inches! Like I keep writing, I think every internal combustion engine in an automobile should be turbocharged, but that costs money and many, if not most, Americans are simply too cheap to ante up.

I hope Peugeot returns to the US and with some exciting cars, not just CUVs and SUVs.

 

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It has been brought to my attention that the photo of Daimler’s car doesn’t appear on all mobile devices. From Wikipedia a picture of what I hope is the same car: