Car Smart

I drive a little red Smart car.  It is cute and fits my style quite well.  I have been driving this car for over 2 years now, and I have somewhat of an opinion about this car.  First, though, a little history.  The first time I was introduced to Smart cars, I was sitting on a tour bus somewhere in Europe.  I had 5 teenagers at the time.  My heart lept as I exclaimed to those around me, "I need 6 of those!"  I inquired as to the price and found them to be very reasonably priced around $10,000 new.  But, alas, they were not available in the United States yet.

Flash forward 10 years.  Smart cars were available in the United States.  I think I already had several married children, and the ones who were home were not going to get a brand new car out of me.  Also, since there were more than 2 people living in the home, a Smart car didn't make sense (it only has 2 seats).  Two years ago, though, Paul/husband got the idea that we needed a Smart car.  He called me one day and "asked" me about a payment on a Smart car and would we have enough money for a down payment on a lease.  As I tried to talk him out of the purchase/lease, I discovered that the deal had already been done.  We were leasing a Smart car.  I wasn't ready for the change, and he promised that I would continue to drive my preferred car and he would tool around in the Smart car.  That lasted maybe 6 months, maybe less.  Since I commute constantly, it has become my car of choice.  But I have some thoughts about this car that I would like to share (in no specific order).

1. Parking - This little car is amazing.  There is NEVER an issue with parking anywhere.  It fits between nearly any 2 cars around.  I can make a 3rd space where 2 cars are filling 2 spaces.  I can park on the smallest of curbsides.  It is great.  If I am going downtown, this car is a MUST.  The doors are a little larger than expected though, so I have to hold them when I open them so they don't ding the car door next to me.

2. Transmission - OK, I had called my brother to ask if he liked his Smart car.  He said, yes, that he liked it but had to get used to the "weird" transmission.  The first time I drove it, I immediately understood what he was talking about.  It has a semi-automatic(?) transmission.  This means that you must finesse your foot off the pedal when the car wants to change gears.  I worked on trying to be good at this foot art.  I can do it, but, honestly, don't really care if the car jerks forward and back every time it changes gears on its own.  Sometimes it is drastic, most times it just kind of jumps a little.  I hardly care.  If you were my passenger, though, you probably would hate it.  Sometimes the things hanging from my rearview mirror swing a lot and bang back against the dash.  Oh well.

3. Gas mileage - I feel a little gyped here.  I thought I could get at least 50 mpg going on the freeway.  I have tried everything from fancy foot finesse to keeping it under 60 mph.  Nothing, I say nothing, has ever gotten me over 40 mpg.  But that is really ok.  I usually get about 35, even with my crappy, speed demon type driving.  So it is acceptable, but not as optimal as I had assumed it would be when we purchased the car.

4. Temperature - This is the biggest let down of the car.  The air conditioning feels cold, but I think because the windows are so big, it is nearly impossible to get the car cool in the Summer.  Not only that, the vents on the dashboard have limited direction.  I cannot move the air to below my face.  You know how some days you just want to cool off your armpits?!  This is not an option in my car.  AND to top that off, when I put the air to the floor, only about 1/8 of the airflow is available.  I don't understand it.  It is frustrating.

5. Cute - It is cute.  It feels bigger inside that outside.  Sometimes when I see other Smart cars I think that they surely must be smaller than mine because mine feels so big.  Then other times I am reminded that I really am driving around in a clown car!

6. Speed/wind - Because it is so small, there is an issue on a windy day on the freeway.  The car goes plenty fast.  I have driven over 85 mph before without problems.  However, if it is windy, it knocks the car all over the place, and I can't drive more than about 60 mph.  Sometimes too, big trucks can cause this wind disturbance that floats me about.  If I have to go more than 30 miles on the freeway, I drive the other car.  It is just more conducive to freeway driving.

7. Indicators - I am currently dealing with this.  This is just laziness on my part, and probably isn't fair that I put it here.  When a tire is low, or the car is up for maintenance, it flashes a little indicator light on the dash.  I guess because the dash is so small, it must cover up something else.  I have had a low tire and the maintenance has been due for over 2500 miles now.  I have NO IDEA how many miles I actually have on the car.  The indicator lights cover up the mileage.  It's annoying.  I should just take care of it, but haven't.  Boo.

8. Stop lights not changing -  I had a similar problem with this when I drove around on a moped.  The car is small and lightweight.  It doesn't always trigger the lights that are censored by weight.  This happened to me 2 times the other night.  I could not get through 2 lights because the light "gods" never registered that I were there.  One light particular was frustrating because it had cameras for people who did things wrong.  I had to sit and sit, watching the lights cycle 3 times before someone else came up behind me to set me free.  One time I had to sit at Taco Bell for the same reason.  It was sad.  I finally just drove around.  They laughed at me.

Middle of the Night

It is 3:54 am.  And I am awake.  Not necessarily happy about that.   I woke up to the olympics playing on the TV.  An American girl (16yo) tied for first place in a swimming event.  It was such a crazy event that the TV blared about it for a while.  It was pretty incredible to watch.  The problem is, now that I am all jazzed up about her tying for first, I cannot get back to my "happy state" and fall back asleep.

So here we are, together in my blog.  I will write about the things in my heart. Every morning I say my prayers and thank my Heavenly Father for the things I get to do.  In fact, I actually get to work a little early, and I spend a few (3-5) minutes in my car just contemplating the day.  My prayers are not only full of thanksgiving.  I pray every day to be clear minded and to be able to learn quickly.  I also pray that I won't make mistakes and that I will catch others' mistakes.  This is important in my world of chemotherapy.  Then I pray for my family.

Oh, I love my family.  I miss being with my kids.  They have all gotten married and have kids of their own.  A few of them have moved quite a distance.  I have not been attentive to those who even live close though, either.  No excuses (though I have them).  I am changing that though.  I am beginning to make the effort to reach back out to them and let them know I will be there for them and that I love them.  In short order, things will be right.

Sorry you had to hear my middle of the night ramblings....I am going to try and go back to bed now.