"Will higher octane or premium fuel give me better gas mileage and/or more power?"

No, not necessarily. You see, sportier cars typically have higher compression engines.  "Octane", as it pertains to fuel, is an additive that actually prevents combustion-- that is, it prevents premature combustion from compression.  If the fuel/air mixture in these high-performance engines is detonating too early from the sheer pressure inside the cylinder, then the engine will not produce optimal power.  Higher octane gasoline prevents the mixture from detonating until it is provoked into doing so by the spark plug.  That's where the myth of "premium = more power" came from. If your handbook says "regular", use regular-- you will see no benefit in using higher octane fuel.

Here are 5 brilliant ideas to help make your life easier!

Here are some things you can do to make various parts of your everyday life easier-- in the most clever and deceptively simple ways possible!

1.)  Have a microwave that's just a little too small for two of your favorite bowls or plates?  No big deal!  Elevate one with a cup to fit both in!

2.)  Want to separate the egg yolk from the rest?  Use the suction from an empty water bottle!

3.)  Prefer to drink your canned drinks from a straw?  Use the tab to lightly wedge the straw into place-- this will keep it from floating up out of the drink!

4.)  Use a straw to pop off the tops of strawberries quickly and easily!

5.)  Want to cool a warm drink down quickly?  Wrap it in a wet paper towel and then stick it in the fridge.  This increases thermal conductivity between the warm liquid inside of the bottle/can and the cool air inside of the fridge.  Your drink should be cold in around 20 minutes!

5 interesting facts about Thanksgiving that you may not have known!

The American Thanksgiving feast is one of the world's most iconic holidays, but there is a lot most people don't know about it!  Here are 5 things that you may or may not have known about Thanksgiving and its origin in America!

1.)  Of the Mayflower's original 102 passengers, only 40 of them were "Pilgrims" as we would recognize them.  The rest were called the "Strangers", men and women just looking to hitch a ride to the new world.  In fact, the Mayflower wasn't even originally intended to be a human transport vessel; it was supposed to be a wine transport.

2.)  Despite Macy’s being the largest, the oldest Thanksgiving parade was held in Philadelphia in 1920 by Gimbels department store. The parade was very small, with only about 50 people.

3.)  The Pilgrims didn't actually dress in full-black attire with metal buckles on their hats and shoes.  In reality, metal buckles would've been too expensive for the incredibly destitute Pilgrims.  It is more likely that they would've used leather laces and straps instead of the buckles.

4.)  Benjamin Franklin wanted the turkey to be the national bird, feeling that the eagle was a creature predisposed to "bad moral character".  He wanted to instead pay homage to the bird that had more historical significance to the young country.

5.)  When George Washington advocated for a national Thanksgiving celebration, a number of other founding fathers and statesmen were supportive of the measure. Thomas Jefferson was not one of them. Jefferson referred to the idea as “the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard."  Guess he wasn't a fan of cranberry sauce!

Should you get your tires filled with pure nitrogen? Maybe!

We are often asked the question:  "Is it worth filling my tires with nitrogen instead of air?"  We're here to shed some light on the topic.

First of all, we have to look at the terms in question.  "Air", meaning our natural atmosphere here on Earth, is actually mostly nitrogen anyway-- about 70-80% nitrogen, in fact.  The rest is oxygen, carbon dioxide, water vapor, and other trace elements and compound.  Does that fraction of oxygen really make a difference in your tire pressure's reliability?

The answer is yes.  Sort of.  Although oxygen is the heavier element, nitrogen molecules (N₂) are actually slightly larger than oxygen molecules (O₂).  That means it's more difficult for nitrogen molecules to permeate the walls of your tires.

In reality, however, filling your tires with nitrogen is less about the nitrogen and more about removing oxygen, water vapor, and other contaminants from the mix.  Water in particular is a particularly malleable molecule that will create vast discrepancies in tire pressure as the temperature changes.

Long story short, filling with pure nitrogen will yield a more stable tire pressure, leading to better fuel economy, longer lasting tires, and more reliable ride quality!