In the beginning I was a lonely wolf child in the woods with
a father who made me eat trees and roots and stuff. I caught dinner, killed it, cleaned it, cooked it, then washed
the dishes and took the compost out back and buried fish parts in the
garden.
In my current life, my car was dying a painful death and I
had to get a car fit the grown-up wolf child.
Here were my priorities:
American-made, affordable, simple, 2-door, hatchback, good on gas, 360
visibility, red. This all seemed attainable
until I went car shopping. I started
testing everything and hated everything... until that magic moment when I saw
it and fell in love.
Okay, it's 4-door, but it's still a hatchback for the stuff
I need to cart around. I don't know
what that stuff will be yet, but now the possibilities are endless. It's on the "10 most American
cars" list, with a Mexican engine and a Canadian something or other, but
the rest of it's US and assembled in Michigan. People laughed at me when I said I wanted an American
car because they think everything is made somewhere else, but it just doesn't
seem right to make a gas-efficient car then ship it around the world
for me to start saving gas.
My Ford CMax is a hybrid.
I don't have to plug it in; it knows when it wants gas or electric. So far it mostly wants electric, and my gas
gauge hasn't moved off FULL even though I've been trotting around all over the
place this week. It's silent in
electric mode and it gives me "efficiency leaves" for driving
responsibly. It recoups electricity
from the wheels every time I brake and gives me credit for good braking
too. I love constant positive
reinforcement with leaves -- it absolutely makes my inner wolf child very
happy. I think it's as "natural" as I'm going to find in a car.
And did I mention that it's red? Not just any red; it's the absolutely perfect shade of red (ruby
red metallic or PMS #201 metallic if you prefer).
I was sorry to let my old car go, but a bad transmission was
the last sign that it was time for something new. It was 10 years old, and a lot of those years were spent driving
to the west side and back through Cleveland's rush hour traffic and some years
when I didn't have enough $ for proper maintenance. RIP or blessings in your new home.
I had to go through the old car for all my treasures before
handing over the keys. I put some of my
lucky stones in the new car, but I'm a bit undecided if I should put my
feathers in the new visor or search for new feathers. I know I have to take my office out for a ride, so I haven't put
the minnow bucket in the back yet with my nets. My office mates don't know about my inner wolf child and I don't
know if they'd understand.
Since the new car is bigger than the last, I'm considering
putting the rest of my survival gear in too.
You never know when you'll need a tent and sleeping bag. I have maps too because with 50 mpg, it
seems like there are roads as yet untraveled that need exploring. Aawoooooo!!!
Survival tip:
Dealerships sell you more car (or house) than you can comfortably pay,
so they extend loans for years. If you
pay extra towards the principal, you shorten your loan because your
early car payments are mostly interest on the loan. You actually pay for what you bought at the end, but if you add
even $5 or $10 to your car payment at the beginning (clearly marked "for
principal"), you'll get rid of years of interest payments. If you get a tax refund, put that on the
principal too and you'll save a ton of money.
