Soul of the Matter

Kia Soul, to be exact. The Special Edition Ghost Kia Soul, to be even more precise. I have nothing more to say. Except that it wasn't my fault. I am the victim. And, no, it isn't white. I think it's new name is Casper. And he was one of only 1,000 or so released in the United States. I guess there are only 999 left. Here's a nifty click-n-drag picture for giggles.

DRIVING MISS DAISY -- a.k.a. Do I Look Like Morgan Freeman??

Hey! Got your attention, I hope. Because I've got a serious question for you: Do I look (even remotely) like Morgan Freeman? Come on now, be honest. Because that's what I feel like sometimes. And, as long as I'm asking pertinent, probing questions, does my honey bear any resemblance to Jessica Tandy? Because that's what he probably feels like sometimes too. Oh, I know most of you've seen it...you can't deny it....the movie, that is...Driving Miss Daisy. I'm whistlin' that catchy little diddy of a tune in my head even as I'm writing. You see, our relationship has gone through numerous ups and downs, pretty times and pretty damned ugly times. And plenty of plain old odd/strange/freakish stages. And one of those is this: I am the chauffeur in our family which is why I feel like I'm channeling Morgan Freeman many days. I know you probably won't believe this, but in our nearly 11 years together, I've never been a passenger in a car driven by my (sweet, loving, devoted, caring, kind, happy) husband. And there are times here and there that give off the distinct illusion that I'm driving around in a Hudson or Cadillac just like Hoke did in the movie. (Only there's a little caveat in our 2008 relationship.....I insist that my honey lets me stop to make water).

Back to my Honey: He gave up his driver's license many years ago while living in the Castro and Mission Districts of San Francisco. He didn't need the car. And from there he migrated to downtown Seattle and eventually to downtown Portland. If you've been to Portland, you know full well that a car is not necessary living here...we've got, arguably, one of the best transit systems in the nation. So, no car or license for hubby. Wild and wacky, I know. And he does too. It's odd to watch the faces when people find out that he doesn't have one. "Oh," they say. "Really?" No, like I'm making this crap up just for your enjoyment. It's for real. And, like I tell him, why in the world would you get a license now? You've got an Academy Award-winning actor, film director and narrator driving you around. I wouldn't get one either!

But there are times in our lives when I feel like that's what I've been relegated to....driving. Like that's a good chunk of why I'm put on this earth and all I'm good for. And, don't get me wrong, I like to drive. In fact, I'm in love with cars. And the few times I've actually taken him out in the middle of nowhere and demanded that he drive me around a vacant parking lot has made it clear that it is very possible that maybe I don't want him driving. He swears that he'll "jump the curb and wrap the car around a telephone pole." I tell him that's what the brake pedal is for -- to avoid that sort of ill-gotten situation. And I'd do anything for him. He knows that, I know that. We have numerous buses next to our home and he does a great job of going wherever he wants to. But sometimes, even just once, I'd like to be in the passenger seat. In fact, unless someone else is driving our car for us, I will never experience the passenger seat or the back seat.

And so, the Morgan Freeman-Jessica Tandy duo continues. Only hubby's not Jewish and I'm not African-American. But we do play one on TV.

39 MPG Anyone ??

Anybody else care to join the "Upper 30's MPG Club"? You'll recall that I asked you all about this a while back. And it's finally happened. These are very difficult to find cars. This one came onto the car lot at 11:30am and was ours by 3pm. Wild! It's beautiful and an excellent ride. Plus, the Hybrid technology is very cutting edge -- really teaches the driver how to accelerate, coast, brake to achieve the best MPG....you can actually see what your slightest movements on the accelerator pedal are doing to your MPG. So, the tank should get us around 550-600 miles instead of the 225-250 we were getting. Plus, it's emissions are far less. It's all over and tucked nicely into our parking garage.

Today is our old neighborhood's block party. It's rained a little over night and not overly warm, but tolerable (sounds like most of the year here in Oregon, quite frankly). We're taking the tortellini pasta I talked about the other day (only this time I'm turning it into a cold salad). Plus, we're taking a yummy, horribly easy, and horribly white trash dessert -- just put two bags of your choice of frozen fruit in a greased baking dish and add a box of your favorite cake mix to the top, dry with no water. Bake 350 for about 45 minutes (depends on the water content in the fruit you've used). I'm using chocolate fudge cake mix with one bag of dark cherries and one bag of peaches. We're expecting close to 75 people....maybe a few more than last year.

Wishing you all happy returns and a great weekend. From Portland, I send you happy Hybrid dreams!

Hybrid-Be or Not To Hybrid-Be ??

Anybody else getting tired of saying, "This is the most I've paid for a tank of gas...ever!"......and you keep on saying that week after week after week? We're at about $70 per tank each week (250 miles on a tank...15 mpg). We've got an SUV that we love to death...it has everything on it and hauls all of the things we need to think about (walkers and wheelchairs for our parents, dog things, camping gear, airline suitcases). But I got to thinking that we spend about $280 each month to go 1,000 miles...and the future for gas prices going down is not pretty. It's a cost that will continue to rise over the long-term. So, we've been hashing about the possibility of switching vehicles. And I'm picky, I might add. I absolutely hate giving up the hauling space/capacity and I love sitting up nice and high in the SUV. We owe about $13K on ours, the payment is reasonable. So, if you know me very well, you'd know that I've traversed the Internet over and over, inside and out, looking, comparing, reading reviews, etc. I always do my homework. We've come up with several possibilities that have ended up with these on the top: 2009 Toyota Camry Hybrid and the 2009 Saturn Vue Green Line Hybrid. Both would cost us a chunk of change to get into....around $30K. But the fuel savings and emissions-lessening is huge. So, our monthly payment would go up pretty well but our monthly gas bill would lower dramatically. The Camry is a beautiful car, we looked at one the other day to check out the trunk space. It actually gets around 33-35 in the city, more than double what we get now. The only reason the Saturn Vue is on the list is that it's the least expensive SUV hybrid around right now with some fairly decent ratings. The other deal is this: You can hardly even find a hybrid on a car lot right now. And they only stay there for a day or two. The Saturn dealer told me that there are only 200 hybrids in the entire nation right now. And the Toyota dealer told me that there are no Prius vehicles at all right now....and that they aren't even taking orders. This is just wild! So, your opinions? Thoughts? I thought I'd toss it out there for your good, balanced, responsible ideas.