Car talk

I finally figured out how to turn on a hybrid! You press the button to turn on the electricity and...wait. The lights and music come on immediately, and somewhere between 5 to 20 (very LONG) seconds later, the engine might turn on. Usually. I turned on my rental car (yes, I chose a hybrid again and sat in it determinedly, pressing all the buttons until the darned thing came ALIVE!, mostly because I am stubborn, but also because it was the last red car in the lot) for the first time by accident, but I was able to start it on pretty much reliably for the rest of the week (the few times I couldn't, though, were definitely filled with panic-laden moments of what the HELL am I going to do if I'm stuck in Nowhere, CA with a giant red radio?). I really liked the gliding motion when the car switches over to electric only. It felt like I was driving a hovercraft (maybe I was! I'm inside the car! I can't see for sure how it works!!) and the steering was ridiculously easy - a nice break from my heavy-turning behemoth. Now that I am a mistress of the hybrid technology, I would definitely choose it again for a rental.

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Ah, that Click and Clack! Still going strong after god knows how long! Love the sound of home...

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I took my car in for a long-overdue oil change. I was using a coupon from a mailer, and, last minute, decided to take advantage of the fall maintenance special (since it was on sale!). I asked them to check the tires, and got a definitive reply. Since we were making a long drive, I brought it in to the tire folks the next day, surrendering to the inevitable - plus I'd heard that the Jersey Turnpike was already seeing "weather" (i.e., freezing rain and snow), and better safe than very, very sorry. $700 later, it was less "Happy Birthday to Me" than happy day at the spa, little car! Love the new tires! So that's what treads are supposed to look like!

As I drove out of the lot, I was alarmed at the difference in handling. What had they done to my baby? I barely had to touch the wheel to turn!, and that was NOT (see above) what I was used to! I made a call:

Me: My car! Is different!

Him (clearly thinking, that was the point, dipsh*t): Um, different how?

Me: It is so light! The steering is so tight!

Him: Well, which is it? Light OR tight?

Me (slight wail): What did they do to her??!! It's both - the steering is so LIGHT! The turning radius is so TIGHT! This isn't how my car feels!!! Is it broken? Should I take it back?

Him (possibly stroking his beard): Well, actually, that is all good. Did they happen to say anything about what they did, other than the tires?

Me (consideringly): Well, they did say something about the alignment...

Him (wearily): What did they say?

Me (gears turning): I...uh...wasn't really paying attention. They...fixed it? The numbers were...big? Would that have something to do...

Him: YES!!

Me (small voiced): Oh. So everything is...

Him: OK. Good. Wonderful. The car is fixed.

Me: Oh, huh, well good. I'm not complaining - I was just weirded out by how DIFFERENT it feels - it turns fast and feels like it is sticking to the road and -

Him: Well, I told you to take it in ages ago!

Me: Yeah, yeah, so the car is...

Him: Fixed! Enjoy. Look, I really have to get back to-

Me: OkayThanksBye!

ZOOM ZOOM :)

(It's nice having a boy around. Can you imagine how humiliating [yeah, sure! I'm an independent and perfectly competent, grown-up person!] it would have been to have had that conversation with my dad?)