Something I Just Don't Understand...

Around here in Cincinnati, there are a lot of customized cars. Some of them just make me laugh. I mean, it's a Honda Civic! It's not gonna go any faster because you've got a weird looking spoiler and a billet grille on the front. I mean, I get why people do it. But it still gives me a good chuckle when I see an old, beat up Civic try to go faster than everyone, making these loud, awful, sputtering noises because of the new exhaust system that also seems to go with the other stuff. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't succeed. I still roll my eyes at them, regardless.

Cars

A friend of mine and I were talking about cars, selling them, getting new ones, etc. And she said she actually donated hers to a local charity. It was pretty old, but still. That's something I've honestly never thought of doing, car donations. I've always sold my car, or had the dealer apply any money they'd give me toward my new car purchase. Maybe when it's time to retire Karma, I'll look into something like Car Angel, which is a non-profit that uses donations like cars to make videos for the less fortunate younger folks, kids and teens mainly. They've given away over 2.4 million videos...which is kinda cool. The money they raise goes toward making the videos, mainly religious. You can see them at http://youtube.com/user/boatangel.

SUVs - Bane of My Existence

I live in a part of the country where SUVs and pickup trucks (some even with a truck bed liner) almost outnumber the sedan. It's rather annoying, to be honest. I mean, I live in a suburban area. Why do people need such large vehicles? Is it to feel safer? Is it a status symbol? I guess it's probably both, with other factors thrown in that I'm not aware of. If you have a boat or something, I can see the need for towing. But do you really need that Hummer? Nope, that's just a gas-guzzling behemoth that people own because they want the coolness factor that comes along with it (I have yet to see one towing anything). Although I don't see it as cool...quite the opposite, I judge that person to be a jackass, but that's just me.

Anyway, I drive a smallish car, so I really have issues with SUVs and pickups in general, because...I CAN'T SEE OVER OR AROUND THEM! Being at a traffic light behind one is annoying, and when I park between two of them, I can't tell if anyone's coming until I've practically backed all the way out of the space. Then I get honked at, which also annoys me. Not like I'm speeding out of my space in reverse, folks, I just can't see! *sigh*

So to anyone who owns a Hummer or other insanely huge SUV when you don't need it, please consider stepping down to a Forester or RAV4 or something. You'll do the world a favor.

Pain at the Pump

Back in the days before gas was at $3.29 a gallon for regular, and I didn't care too much about gas mileage (I drive a car that gets 30 mpg average anyway), I used to speed...a lot, and I actually had a radar detector. But now that I'm trying to improve my mileage to get the 33 mpg it's supposed to, I don't drive much over the 65 mph speed limits on the highway. You know what? I'm close...I get 31 mpg with no A/C on and the windows down on a nice day. I just can't bring myself to drive 55, which would probably get me the 33 mpg I'm looking for. So if you see me in the right lane, just know I'm trying to do what I can to conserve my fuel needs. And if you see me at the gas pump crying...it's probably because it's gone up to $4 a gallon, and I'm shelling out $50 for my tiny little car's tank every 6 days.

Tags: fuel economy, mpg, gas mileage