New Car Observations

Hello,

I heard Leroy tell someone our car still had that new car smell and sure enough it does even though it is almost two years old. Must be those miles that take away that smell. We will just have to drive it more.

I drove that car to work today. Saturday seemed like a nice time since the traffic is not so heavy. It was nice to have much of the road freed up. I did find that I tended to speed. I try not to speed. Back in the old days I used to drive five miles over the speed limit and figure that was my privilege and right. I then took a class for renewing my teaching certificate. Part of that was about doing what is right. After much thought I decided that the speed limit is a law and I was breaking the law. I think the speeding today is because there was not as much noise as I am used. I did not realize I was going as fast as I was until I glanced at the speedometer. On the way to work I do not use cruise control because with the ordinary volume of traffic I want to be more in charge. Also this car seemed more responsive to both the gas pedal and the brake.

When reversing, I did pay attention to the back camera, but still looked over my shoulder, especially if the sun was shining on the screen I needed to see more clearly what was possible.

It was quite nice to have a working car radio once again. The radio on the oldest car has not worked for several years. We did not fix it because we really do not need that in order to drive.

We are selling the old car. I just saw an article about the disparity between rich and poor and traffic fatalities. One of the reasons is, of course, because poorer people cannot afford to buy many of the latest safety features. Leroy struggles some with selling something that is not the best for others, although I suspect even at a junk dealer they might sell it to someone to drive because it still works. Also when talking to someone else about what to accept from someone for this car they stated, “Cash only. If they cannot get together that small amount of cash, they are not a serious car buyer.”

I think about some of the people in my neighborhood. I suspect that small amount of cash would be a lot to them. I do not think they could scrape it together. It is possible to survive in this country without a car, but here it is harder than in some larger cities with more frequent public transportation. We could give it away, but just who could use it, who can drive a manual shift, and how would we give it away without insulting them?

Paula