Sometimes, It Just Works Out

I've been frustrated by the cost of glasses, as you know. I know I have a "large" prescription which necessitates thicker lenses. But "sales" are not "sales" when the only thing on "sale" is the frame and I don't give a rat's patoot about saving 50% on a $75 frame. That's not going to get the cost of glasses down.

So, I get my JCPenney bill yesterday and there is a flyer for 2 pair of glasses for $99 INCLUDING no-line bifocals. "There has to be a catch," thinks I, but I should go see. There was a catch. The selection is limited and, because I work on the computer, no-line bifocals will cause me problems with reading.

Therefore, I have to get progressive lenses. I know what this does. It jacks up the price exponentially. I told the gal that price is the biggest issue in purchasing glasses. If the price isn't good, I won't buy glasses. She understood.

I found a couple pair I liked and we priced them out. Folks, I am getting TWO pair of glasses for $254, including tax. This is $10 LESS than anywhere I'd been able to find for ONE pair, without taxes. I don't want fancy lenses; just give me some which meet my script.

They should be here next week.

I did not have to dip into my Disney fund to get these. I could put the purchase on my JCPenney card. I am still paying off the fridge, which I got during at no-interest for 18 months promotion. The fridge will be paid off in May, way ahead of the 18-month ending. If I take a couple months to pay off the glasses, I'm still way ahead and puts these much, much cheaper than any place I'd found.

An additional benefit is qualifying for the "frequent buyer" program which rewards people with a coupon based on how much they spend. It's been a good year for that, for me. I'll have another coupon to use, thanks to this purchase. I need a fitted sheet to go with the flat sheet I have, but Penneys doesn't have any kind of selection. I'll have to go to Bed, Bath and Beyond for something like that.

The other financial shock of the week was a rate increase on my car insurance. I get that my rates would go up when I bought the Malibu. But when I opened the notice I get telling me State Farm would be deducting x amount from my account on the 28th, the rate had gone up $12. This put it over $100 a month. Shocked, I called my agent. He could not give me a reason for the increase. "Well, you did buy a newer car," he stammered. "Rates go up for a time until the car gets beyond a certain age, then they go down." Wha...? This is a 2011 we're discussing here, not a 2016. I don't have any tickets and have not been in an accident. Why is my rate going up? Realizing I wasn't going to get a straight answer, I thanked him and decided I needed to look around.

Now, I equate buying insurance with the same noxiousness of buying a car. I can't help feel that, if the person selling me insurance had better skills, they wouldn't be selling insurance. I know that's not true and if they didn't sell insurance, there would be really smarmy people who would, but I've felt talked down to by agents so my opinion of them is low. This increase forced me out of my comfort zone to check online for rates. My rates had been going up by a dollar or two a month. This put the effective rate increase at 18% since buying the Malibu in July. There is just not a justification for it.

Well, Progressive is always touting their low rates, let's look. I didn't go anywhere else. I'm saving 50% on my car insurance. Between now and September, that's an additional $300 in my pocket; in my Disney savings. It's the exact same coverage. Plus, Progressive is insuring the house. That rate went down $20. "We have an $80,000 replacement guarantee," the agent said. I looked around my house. I don't have $80,000 worth of stuff I'd want replaced, but that's nice to know.

I've been in a private funk since trying to find glasses. It has colored this whole month. How can I make the ends meet when there's always something I have to throw money at to fix? Life has a way of forcing me out of my comfort zone and that is, sometimes, good for me.

JCP is closing 138 stores around the country as the retail industry deals with a massive customer shift in how they shop. I'm one of those who has shifted to doing more online than in brick and mortar stores. The "mall" concept is dying. I enjoy poking around in downtowns with mom and pop stores instead of the mall and I do a lot of shopping online. It's not unexpected that JCP is facing this reality by closing stores.

There is laughter at JCP, too. "Old fogey store", I've heard it called. Well, this old fogey bought a fridge in the perfect size for me and now glasses from JCP. Finding glasses has made my day and my whole month.

Beverage:  British Breakfast Tea

Deb

How Do You Like Your Car?

I have been asked this alot lately. It's been six months since the Jeep was replaced. I've gone through every season except spring, but, given the warm air over Chicagoland, you could say we had mini-spring this past week.

I'm driving around Chicagoland on Monday, February 20th, with the windows down and wearing a short sleeved shirt. My photo feed reminds me that 3 years ago, we had 6 inches of snow.

There are things I miss about the Jeep. It was fun to drive, even in traffic, with the stick shift. It sat up higher and I felt I could see more of what was around me. I'm constantly tweaking the mirrors because I don't feel I can see to my left or right, even when I turn to look before changing lanes. Never had that issue with the Jeep. There is one thing the Malibu has which the Jeep did not.

I have information at my finger tips. This was in August. We didn't get a lot of 100+ degree days. We haven't had a summer that hot in a few years. I'm not complaining, mind you. I like hot weather but I think I would feel extremely oppressed if that was the norm, rather than the exception.

On the Monday the above photo was taken, this was the temperature when I got into the car.

I documented this more for the "Oh look. An even number of miles", than the temperature. I haven't figured out the trip meter. I'm going to have to actually read the owner's manual for that. Until I do that, I write the beginning and ending mileage in the notebook I carry with me. The Jeep had a little button I pushed to reset the trip meter.

I also have a tire pressure and oil life indicator I can scroll through. I don't like the lack of a beep or a light if the gas gauge gets low. I have to notice and then set the display for "Fuel Distance". I've come close to being out of gas because I don't have that on the display. (Note to self: you need gas.) Perhaps a noise can be set but I'll have to read the manual to figure out how.

I used the Sirius XM radio free three-month trial and I am NOT signing up for that service. If I listened to classic rock, hip hop, rap, or current popular music, it would pay to have it. The sheer abundance of stations playing that kind of music was immense. I listen to jazz. I had the 1940's channel; the all Frank Sinatra channel; the 'smooth jazz' channel; and a channel devoted to Broadway musicals. Huh? No thanks. When I go cross-country and are out of the reach of my local jazz station, I have a CD player. I can listen to Gregory Porter's "Be Good" or Annie Lennox's "Nostalgia" or Duke Ellington's "Three Suites" or "Ella and Louis Together" or any of my jazz albums, provided I remember to bring my CD case. And don't even get me started on my Scottish music. A station for that? You're nuts.

They have been calling to get me to renew my subscription but don't seem to get that what they offer is not what I like. Last night, I told the guy, "Please stop calling. I won't sign up and the more you call, the more angry I am and the less likely I'll consider your service, period." "But...but...ma'am, you just need to listen..." Click.

As I travel about for work, I've found a number of people who say the Malibu is probably the best passenger car Chevrolet makes. They are impressed I drive one, even one which is 6 years old.  How do I like my car? For once, in spite of the circumstances surrounding the purchase, I got a break from life. I'm happy. It works for me.

Beverage:  Raspberry Seltzer

Deb

How Was Your Summer, Part 4

So, I'm home, going on 6 months now, with a new-to-me car. Yes, it's 5 years old, but it was not driven very much and was well-maintained. These two things made the price more, but also contributed to the attractiveness of the vehicle.

I got asked, quite a bit, that first week, what was the difference between the Jeep and the Malibu.

1. The Malibu runs. I did have to put new tires on it because it sat on the lot for some months and the tires exhibited dry rot. I could see that. But, my mechanic gave it a 100% and said I'd done very well. 
2. Air conditioning. Gone are the days of taking off the windows and driving 65 just for a breeze. 
3. Cruise control. The first big thing I did was to drive to Virginia to see Larry and Carole. I will have issues on these long trips with my calves tightening. With cruise control, I could stretch out my legs and not lose travel time. 
   
4. Gas mileage. On a good day; open road driving; I could get 16, maybe 17 miles per gallon in the Jeep. My last trip to Virginia gave me an average of 38 mpg. When you are trying to make every penny count, not needing to fill up the tank as often is a blessing. 
5. Comfort. The seats are cloth and are very comfortable. I can move them forward and backward and up and down. 
6. A radio and CD player that work all the time. I was having issues with the CD player portion of the Jeep's radio. The Malibu has the ability to get Sirius XM radio. Thanks to my insurance, I can get 3 years of basic On*Star services free. When I called to sign up, I was given the full package free for 3 months to try it. That comes with a free 3 month subscription to Sirius XM. I may renew On*Star but I won't be renewing Sirius. The have exactly 4 jazz stations; something called "breakfast jazz", which is what I call "smooth jazz" and which I would never listen to; 1940's radio; All Sinatra; and a "miscellaneous" channel which is just awful. Sirius is for sports and current music lovers. It is not for me. 
7. Defrosters which work incredibly well. At our first frost in November, I didn't scrape. I came out early, started the car and cranked on the defrosters to see how fast they would work. 5 minutes and I could drive out the drive with adequate view. 8 minutes and 90% of the windshield was clear. The rear window defrosters get it clear in 3 minutes. 
   
8. Windshield wipers which work reliably. 
9. Adjustable side mirrors, door locks and the ability to roll down windows, all from the driver's side. 
10. An instrument console with so much information at my fingertips. I see air temperature; here 100 degrees. I see tire pressure and oil life. I see gas mileage and average speed for the current tank of gas. And I have an extremely reliable gas distance meter. I know how far I can go with what's in the tank. This was good on the trips to Virginia. Oh, I should get gas now because there aren't stations between here and when I'd be running on fumes. 
    
11. Multi-faceted interior lights that work, front and back. 
12. Cup holders everywhere. I keep bottled water in the car and there are several places to actually put a bottle of water so it's not rolling around. 
13. A trunk. This is the biggest thing I've had to get used to. I do not have to stick the groceries in the front seat. I can put them in the trunk. 
    

I lost one of my bumper stickers.

This had been on the Jeep for a very, very long time. I removed it and it just crumbled. One of the problems of the Malibu is that the bumpers are heavy gauge plastic. I don't want to adhere stickers to the bumper and not be able to change my sentiments. My bumper stickers were on these magnetized strips which I would remove and replace, sticking the old ones on the side of the fridge. On the way to Virginia, the only sticker I had was an Iowa Hawkeyes sticker on a magnet, stuck to the trunk.

I had been given a minion decal a couple years ago but really didn't want to put it on the Jeep. It was perfect on the Malibu.

Then, probably when I stopped for a potty break in Indiana, someone peeled off the minion decal and swiped the Hawkeye bumper sticker. I didn't notice until the day after Thanksgiving when I was outside at Carole's helping with Christmas lights.

Seriously. Who does stuff like this? I was really angry. Nothing I can do about it, however. Ironically, I put the bumper sticker on the car at the beginning of football season. It had lasted through a number of trips into Chicago where you'd think sticky fingers would abound. It took a rest stop in Indiana to have it stolen. I replaced the minion decal with a decal supporting Ocearch a non-profit which does research into sharks off the east coast.

I also added, in the rear window, a Cubs decal.

That will be its own post. Unfortunately, it popped off with the first snow so I have to figure out how to attach it to the window so it stays. The sticky side is on the back side of the decal. If I stick it to the inside of the window, the decal will be backwards. Right now, it's stuck to the side of the fridge where I won't lose it.

Carole and Larry gave me new floor mats.

They are doing their job because the back yard, thanks to an abundance of rain, is a swamp and extremely muddy. I will need to hose these off once the air temperature gets and stays, above 60.

Larry also helped me put Jack Skellington back on the car. The Malibu does not have an antenna. What's there is compact and the antenna topper I bought in 2015, was not going to work. I hit upon the idea of attaching the topper to one of those 3M easy hang picture hangers. They had one with a metal hook, just the right size for the topper. But the adhesive on the hanger would not stick to the plastic of the dash where I wanted to put it.

I tried Elmer's glue, but, when it got hot inside the car, the glue melted and popped off. Larry had a tube of brand new super glue. If I feel I'm going to be anywhere the topper could attract unwanted attention, I can pop it off the hanger and stick it in the center storage well.

It took until mid-September to get the license plates all squared away. It took a bit for the DMV to understand I wanted to transfer the title and get completely new plates, but with my personalization. It was expensive, another cost I had not factored in when I bought the car.

I was so excited when they finally came.

So, it's all mine. Everything has sorted itself out. I've gone to Virginia twice in it and the trips have been comfortable. I see Jeeps on the road and it's hard to remember what it was like to drive the Jeep, although I loved that car. It was time to move on.

Beverage:  Belhaven Oatmeal Stout

Deb

How Was Your Summer, Part 3

It was a, mercifully, quiet July 4th. I was terrified of driving anywhere in the rental car so I think I drove to the grocery and a couple other errands and drove home. The insurance company of the truck driver had called to make sure I was okay and to go over the steps to getting the car fixed.

"We're going to make this right," the gal said. I asked her to put things in an email, so, if my insurance company asked about anything, since the sheriff had taken my information, I would have it all in writing. That was done. All that was left was to wait on the inspection of the Jeep.

On July 6th, Wehr's called. The appraiser had totaled the car. He said there was engine damage, something I wouldn't have been able to determine since I don't know cars. They would give the dealer the full value of the car as it had been on the lot, or they would pay him the scrap value for him to fix it. He told me, when a car is "scrapped", even fixed, I would have a tough time convincing the bank there wasn't something dreadfully wrong with it.

I was heartbroken. I had pinned my hopes on that car. It was so perfect. Now, I felt real rage at that kid. My mind echoed the words of the roller guy. "How the hell do you not know who is following you?" Your driver's license should be shredded and your momma should drive you around for 6 YEARS, yes, YEARS, so you learn how to drive, you sniveling piece of humanity. I was crushed. There was more to come. His insurance emailed, not called, the news that because I didn't own the car, they would not pay for the rental. I would have needed to get a rental because my original car had died. Because the dealer owned the car, he would be reimbursed. I sent them a copy of the email where they had agreed to pay the rental. I was told that was not official and was pending review. My insurance told me a claim for rental would increase my rates (which is probably not true and was their way of getting out of the claim) because I would be seen as having caused the accident even though I could get proof it was not me.

That night, I cried for a couple hours. I've always felt a little snake bit, if you will, by life. This was yet another example of kicking me while I was down. It hurt so much. I would have to find a car. I stumbled into the office the next day, keeping my personal issues silent. Mike asked if I was okay. I simply said, "They totaled the car. I have to find another." He said, "Take all the time you need."

About mid-morning, Wehr's called the office and said the paperwork to scrap the Jeep had arrived. They knew that was heartbreaking for me. They did have, on the lot, two other cars I'd maybe like to consider. They were cars, not SUVs, so they didn't know if I had my heart set on another SUV. I called Carole and apprised her of the situation and she pounced on car research. She looked at both of the cars Wehr's suggested and looked at cars within a 50 mile radius of me. She found some, but one of the big issues was, what to do with the Jeep. I'd have to find someone to tow it back here to be scrapped or find someone out there willing to pay me $150 for it. Wehr's was still willing to take the Jeep.

I talked to the bank. They approved me for a higher amount if I wanted to buy either of the cars Wehr's had. I thought about it; really thought about it; and talked it over with Carole. I decided to test drive a 2011 Chevy Malibu Wehr's had on the lot. It was low mileage and nothing wrong with it. It was $3,000 more than the Compass, but the low mileage was attractive to me. I drove to Bangor on the day I was to do the final inspection to give it a test drive.

I loved it. Carole said the other car they suggested, a 2013 Chevy Impala, might be better because it was bigger. It was the same price, but it had double the mileage of the Malibu. I called my bank and they talked with Wehr's and we agreed to do the same thing as before. I signed everything I could there. They faxed everything to my bank. The next day, I would come in, finish the paperwork and they would next day everything back to Wehr's. We joked about how I probably needed to stay 4 or 5 car lengths behind "kids" pulling trailers. I dropped off the rental car and came back for the keys to my new-to-me car.

I finished the inspection, which had been rescheduled, and headed home. It was weird, sort of. I've been renting cars so much that I'm kind of used to a car, but there was a difference. This was mine.

All the way home, I let that sink in. This was mine.

Beverage:  Belhaven Oatmeal Stout

Deb

How Was Your Summer, Part 2

In my new-to-me Jeep Compass, I drove away from my old Jeep, full of excitement and happiness. I could afford this car. This was going to be okay. I was stressed; it had been a horrible day; but people had been kind and helpful and it was all going to work out in the end.

There was a 3:30 inspection to perform in the same area as the morning inspections. The road on which these inspections occurred was being rebuilt. Beyond this last house, it was impassible unless you were on an ATV, because they were widening it and that involved some blasting of the rock face of the hill. It was quite the mess. Before this area, the road was being resurfaced, with new guard rails and signage. It was, in places, single lane.

Since I'd driven this the day before, I knew where they were, in terms of resurfacing. I knew where the two-lanes went down to one. I fell in behind a tree service pulling a trailer. From the dealership, it would be a 5 mile twisty-turny drive to my 3:30 appointment. I would be getting there a bit early, but we are trained to be early to a job, never late, if we can help it. The homeowner had said to just park in the drive if I got there before 3. I had a book. I was good.

We came to a "y" intersection. One road went to the left, up a hill. The road I needed to travel went straight. Up ahead, there was a small bridge and the resurfacing had reached just beyond the bridge. There was a small incline down toward the bridge and there was a flagger. To my right, a guy was on a roller, compressing the asphalt. The truck in front of me stopped. I stopped a car's length behind him. I knew we might have as much as a 5 minute wait, but I was good. I had a book.

Suddenly, the truck in front of me started backing up. I laid on the horn. The gal flagging the road to the left, threw down her sign and started screaming. The guy operating the roller, stopped and started yelling. There was impact.

The trailer was just the right height to go into the headlight and crunch up the hood.

The motor died immediately. The hood folded like a piece of paper. I thought, for sure, the guy was going to keep backing into me, but he stopped after 10 seconds. The guy on the roller yelled at the gal to call someone's name and tell them to close the road and get the sheriff out here. She came running down the incline to ask if I was okay. I was so shocked. I got out of the car, as she radioed back to whomever was the job site superintendent. The driver of the truck got out and walked back towards me. I opened the door and slowly got out.

"I am so, so sorry. I didn't see you back there."

The guy from the roller looked at him. "What the fuck were you thinking? How the hell can you drive down a road under construction, pulling a goddamn trailer and not know who the fuck is behind you? You are either the biggest asshole on this planet or the stupidest. I don't know which." (I can hear his voice in my head as I type this. I'll probably never, ever forget how loudly he screamed.)

The driver was a mid 20-something who had a friend or maybe co-worker with him. He looked remorseful. "I take full responsibility for this. This is completely my fault." I just stood there and looked at him. "Where can I call the sheriff? My phone isn't picking up a signal." The gal pointed up the left road. "You'll have to walk up that way to get a signal." He and his buddy headed that way.

"Are you sure you're okay? You look shocked."

"I am in shock. I just bought this car. I have to take paperwork to my bank to get the loan fully signed. How could this happen to me?"

"Oh my god. I am so sorry," she said and gave me a hug. The guy from the roller said, "Look, we saw the whole thing. It is clearly his fault and I'll tell the sheriff that."

Given where the accident occurred, it took the sheriff 20 minutes to get there. I sat in the car and read. The crew chief showed up and went over what happened, asked if I was okay and radioed for a tow truck. I heard him say the tow truck takes priority over any other vehicle so the road could be reopened since you couldn't drive on the right, on the new asphalt.

The sheriff who responded was very nice. He explained, after talking with everyone, but not me, which I thought was strange, the driver would be cited for failure to securely back-up and one other road infraction which escapes me, at this time. He hung around until the tow truck came. We took the car back to Wehr's. He said I was the calmest person he has ever met in an accident. I told him there was no point in screaming at the guy. It's clear what he did. Screaming won't make the car any better. I said I knew he was going to get cited and it might cost him dearly. My focus was on getting the car taken car of and being upset wasn't going to help that. He looked at me and said I was the smartest person he'd ever met under these circumstances. I had a hard time processing that because, to me, it seemed clear what I needed to do.

The driver of the tow truck was very nice; a good ol' boy from these parts. He knew the Wehr's "real well. Good people, them." Wehr's was aghast when we pulled in, but we agreed they would take responsibility for the car since it, technically, wasn't mine until the bank had signed off on it. They drove me to the LaCrosse airport where I rented a car and drove home. It wasn't until I got home that I burst into tears.

Renting a car was going to be an expense I had not counted on in the budget, but then, I hadn't counted on needing to buy a new car. I had already made reservations for a rental car to take me to Virginia in mid-July. It was a lot to process. The good thing now was I was home. My boss had said to come in when I got the car handled in the morning. I would make a follow-up appointment with the 3:30 pm homeowner for the following week, since July 4th was looming and this would get straightened out. It was this guy's fault and I was positive the dealership was going to go to bat for fixing the car. I still wanted it, even with the accident, because it was a good car for me. I just had to trust things would be okay.

Yeah...about that.

Beverage:  LaCroix Berry Seltzer

Deb

They Do Exist

Pam and I went out for dinner last night. We had to swing by the tollway authority's headquarters because she got a new car and she needed the velcro strips to affix her transponder to the windshield. If you've never driven through the Chicago area, we have toll roads. For those of us who find ourselves traveling on those roads quite frequently, the desire and need not to have lots of change for tolls means we get an I-Pass which is filled with a pre-determined amount of money. This must be affixed to your window and it automatically removes the toll cost whenever you pass by a toll booth. People with I-Passes play less money in tolls than those tossing in coinage. Plus, we can use our I-Pass on the Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York and Florida turnpikes. This makes driving east to see Carole a lot easier on the wallet.

So, we pulled into the lot and Pam went inside the building to get new velcro strips for her I-Pass while I waited in the car. Looking to my right, I was surprised to see this.

This is an electric car charging station. I'd heard rumors there were some in the Chicagoland area. This is the first one I've seen.

An electric car is somewhat attractive as the cost for ownership is a bit less although the cost for the car itself is more. But the current available electric cars don't have a battery that goes the distances I need them to go without recharging. And the lack of recharging stations is a factor in where you can go. This is, however, a good sign, even if it is a novelty.

Beverage:  Lady Grey tea

Deb

Boy Toy

I was standing on the corner with a bunch of guys next to Michigan Avenue on Thursday. We were discussing this project and what Doug and I needed to get done. One of the guys said, "Oh man. Take a look at that," and then he rattled off the make, model and year of the above vehicle.

I'm impressed by how good it looks just because the owner obviously gives it a bath more than I wash my Jeep. And I do like the color. I've always been dismayed that car colors aren't "colorful". I remember Henry Ford's comment, "They can have any color so long as it's black." As our cars tend to be extensions of our psyche, the fact that the predominant colors on the road seem to be black, white and silver doesn't, to me, say much about us.

Soooo, okay, it's a red car and it's an older model that's been cared for. To me, it's not drool-worthy, but I present this photo for those for whom it is drool-worthy. I would imagine the owner would want you to drool from the sidewalk and not next to the car.

Beverage:  English Breakfast tea

Deb

The Final Day

After a late breakfast at Bob Evans and under heavy gray skies, we waved goodbye to April and Perry and headed back to Interstate 80. West of Cleveland, we found the sunshine.

This continued all the way back to my house. 

Ohio, when you are wanting to get home, is a very long state to drive through. Add the random lane closures and that increases the perception that it's taking a longer amount of time to go east to west than it did to go west to east. I don't think we lost that much time with the random lane closures, but it sure felt like it. 

We saw a couple of cars on the route. This one was quite distinctive for its color, never mind that it's a restored auto.

The next one was on a trailer and I didn't get a good shot of it. 

I don't really know car models so what kind these are is unknown to me. They were neat.

At 4:45 p.m. on Tuesday, May 24th, we pulled into my driveway. Mom still had another 4 hours ahead of her on Wednesday, but we were done.

A month later, I look back at this trip. When Carole announced a destination wedding and that destination was Virginia, I knew I would be driving. As gas creeped up to $4.55 per gallon, I honestly felt I was being priced out of the trip. To take the Jeep was to add an extra stop and extra fill-up per day of travel. That would be an extra $240 for 4 days of travel and I hadn't saved that much. I felt defeated.

But we were meant to be there. Using mom's husband, Dale's, car cut down on our expenses. It was comfortable for both of us. She would not have been able to fly. She would have had to do that on her own. My mother is incredibly resourceful but flying alone would have been overwhelming. Driving allowed her to be at the wedding, something that meant a great deal to both Carole and my mom, and gave her a trip she is not likely to take again.

It was a perfect wedding, perfectly reflecting Carole and David. The little oopses; a melting cake, red wine on the dress; add character to the event. We might not remember all the people who were there, but we'll remember the line dancing and the Blue Moon ice cream.

Now, we move on to the next stage of life. It was a wonderful demarcation of change.

Beverage:  English Breakfast tea

Deb

BIFF! POW! ZAP!

This would look so good on me...

It costs ONLY $150,000.00, and only 8 are made each year.

Yes, I would give up my Jeep to tool around to construction sites in this.

Seriously.

Here's the link to the story.

Beverage: Tea (I used up about 3 bags that were on their last cup.)

Deb

Another part of history is disappearing.

I stumbled across this while reading various links...

"Check The Manual (Transmission): Stick Shift Cars Going Away

Usage In U.S. Drops Below 10%

By Kirk Seaman, AOL Car Correspondent.

The ability to drive a car equipped with a manual transmission is becoming a dying art. The sales numbers tell the story: In 1985, according to Ward’s Communications, 22.4% of all vehicles sold in the United States came with a manual transmission. By 2007, the number had plummeted to 7.7%.

A quick check of vehicles for sale on AOL Autos tells a similar story. Of the 4,391,747 vehicles recently listed for sale, only 241,560 -- or 5.5% -- came with a manual..."

I learned to drive on a tractor and then when dad got us one of the first "mini" van models released to the public. All of our cars in the last 1960's and early 1970's were stick shift models. Dad said the automatics had him worried. He didn't trust something that claimed to shift for you.

I go off to college and marry a guy who doesn't know how to drive a stick. All the cars we owned in the first 10 years of our marriage were automatics. I would long for the days of shifting. It is a point of honor if you know how to drive a stick shift.

When we got a second car, that car had a stick shift. I loved it. My ex never drove it except once, in the church parking lot. When it came time to replace it, I got a Jeep which has a stick shift.

"The reasons for this situation are many. First, driver’s education classes simply aren’t teaching students how to drive a manual. We spoke with Eric Tunell at the Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving, perhaps the most well-known and highly regarded performance driving schools in the country, to get his perspective.

'With the teen drivers who attend our programs, their family car doesn’t have a manual transmission, so they don’t need to learn,' he explained. 'We also find that parents are mainly concerned with the safety of their teen driver and a manual is one more thing to distract them from focusing on driving.'

Another reason is fuel economy. In the past, manual transmissions got better fuel economy than automatics. Improvements in automatic transmission design, however, has helped them equal the fuel economy numbers of manuals, or at least come very close.

Modern traffic conditions have also helped contribute to the manual’s demise. In today’s stop-and-start traffic, the constant clutch-and-shift action is tiring. Combine that with the creaking knees of the aging baby boomer population and it’s no wonder manual transmissions are going the way of the dodo."

I think about replacing the Jeep and I can't imagine NOT having a stick shift. I feel I am more actively involved in the mechanics of driving because my car's not doing everything for me. I am more aware of what's going on around me because slowing my car means applying the brake AND downshifting. Is it a pain to continually shift to 2nd or 3rd and back to 1st when driving out of the city in rush hour? Sure it is, but I figure I'm exercising my legs.

I also feel that a person who drives a stick shift can drive out of any situation. Need someone to move that truck? I can do it. I know a lot of new trucks have automatic transmissions in there, but many do not. While I would be hard pressed to back up a truck with a trailer, I can drive pretty much anything because I can drive a stick shift.

Yet times change and we should adapt with the times. If I'm the only 89 year-old in the US driving a stick shift, well, somehow I think that fits right into my odd-ball personality.

Beverage: Huckleberry tea

Deb

Maybe if I tilt my head sideways.

I'm enjoying reading Perry's Twitters. I don't get the full conversation, but I don't actually mind. Some of the comments are very interesting and can lead an imagination like mine on some very interesting tangents.

Last Friday, he posted "Looks like neither of our cars will qualify for the "cash for clunkers" federal incentive. Not clunkified and gas guzzelish enough." This is a straight enough comment except that I read "cars" as "cats". Reread the sentence substituting "cats" for "cars" and you can see my confusion.

First of all, Perry and April love cats. They just lost Jenny last month and have adopted Carly in her place. They have Clark, the almost wonder cat, not quite as fast as a speeding bullet. Why would they trade in their cats? And just what kind of lame deal would you get for trading in a cat? To reference an earlier post, you certainly wouldn't get the contents behind curtain number 3.

Secondly, I am generally aware of what's going on in the world, in terms of news, and although I'd heard of the "Cash for Clunkers" program, I didn't think it involved cats.

But, I'm dyslexic. Generally, it involves numbers. I talked about my mild dyslexia back in June. Sometimes, it involves words, particularly words that are very close in spelling, hence the "cats" for "cars" program.

I don't know that I'm ever going to see this "Cash for Clunkers" as what it really is. It's always going to be the program where you turn in cats to get different cats.

Beverage: English Teatime

Deb