Bringing Up Bobbin

Values

Driving around town in the smart car in recent weeks, I get the thumbs up from just about everyone who looks my way. By far though, the biggest surprises have been the motorcyclists and the preteen girls who wave, smile, and yell out "I LOVE YOUR CAR!" The preteen girls in particular actually have engaged me in conversation about the environmental impact and gas mileage. Kudos to them, and their parents.

Today on my way to the Seahawks game, with Bobbin sitting next to me, I found myself slowed to a crawl on I-5. A combination of southbound 405 being closed, the Seahawks preseason opening game, and an accident just south of downtown made for a hellish drive. It took us an hour to get downtown and that was taking the fast route.

As I creeped along at 5 miles an hour along with everyone else, a giant white Ford Excursion started approaching in the left lane, which was moving every so slightly faster (as Murphy's law dictates it should). There were two adults in the vehicle - both "men" (really, their behaviour does not warrant that mature a label) who looked to be in their mid-20's. Like I said, it was slow, so I got a good look inside and nary a car seat to be found. The back was full of crap near as I could tell. It looked like a single guy's vehicle. As he passed me in the left lane, the driver actually reached over his passenger and stared straight at me and gave me the finger. I have no freakin' clue why. He then drove on, but barely ahead of me. I got the opportunity to pass him a few minutes later, still slugging along at 5 miles an hour.

Had I not had Bobbin in the seat next to me, a string of explitives would have passed my lips and I would have rolled down my window, shouted "What the FUC|<, A$$HOLE?" and reciprocated the gesture. Of course doing so can get one shot here in the grand ol' U.S. of A. So I probably wouldn't have rolled down my window and stuck my finger out at him, but I definitely would have been cursing loudly and gesturing angrily below the dashboard.

Well, I'm not sitting beside Bobbin right now, and even if she was here, I'm pretty sure she can't read yet, so MR. D|(KHEAD WHITE EXCURSION: Here's to you and your CLEARLY superior intelligence and maturity. And while you're pouring over $550 a month in gas into your guzzler and barely scraping enough together to cover your rent/mortgage, monthly car payments, season tickets, and Monday nights out drinking with "the guys", I'll be tootin' merrily along in my 40mpg Smart Car, spending one quarter of that same amount in gas per month and squirreling enough away to pay our mortgage off early AND send Bobbin to Harvard.

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WOOOP WOOOOP WOOOP! BACK AWAY FROM THE VEHICLE WITH YOUR HANDS UP!

The Smart car security alarm is a pretty intense sound. But even it doesn't compare with the likes of Bobbin when she sees someone entering what she considers to be too-close-for-comfort proximity to our car.

I take Bobbin to the coffee shop every Saturday morning for breakfast. We park the Smart in one of the front stalls and sit at the window where we can see it. Actually, we sit by the window because Bobbin loves to people-and-dog watch. Whenever someone walks too close to our car - or worse; has the nerve to touch it - Bobbin stands up in her chair in the middle of the coffee shop and yells "THAT'S MY SMART CAR! DON'T TOUCH MY CAR!" This is all her, totally unprompted, unencouraged and uninfluenced. People in the coffee shop turn around to stare at her and then at our car and then start laughing. The perpetrator of the "crime" outside usually doesn't hear or see any of this.

I do admonish her whenever she does this. It really isn't proper behaviour. I proffer the usual speeches with appropriately stern facial expressions and tone of voice: inside voices please; we do not shout inside; it's ok for people to be curious - they're not hurting anything. But inside I'm laughing hysterically and giving her two-thumbs up :-)

This reaction only started with the Smart. She could have cared less if someone was jumping up and down on the hood of the Audi or smashing the windows with a crowbar. It's gotta be the fact that it's almost her size that makes her especially fond of the Smart.

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Even the cops aren't immune to her charms

My fourth of July weekend was like a million others this year; Bobbin and I watched a local parade, we went to the big annual celebration in the park, ate a lot of hot dogs and drank a lot of lemonade, stayed up late and watched fireworks, etc. etc. But there were a couple of small anomolies where the Smart was concerned

First I was kicking myself as I watched the parade - there was a section (as there always is) of the parade dedicated to the big-engine, midlife-crisis, fuel-inefficient sports cars, and I TOTALLY should have anticipated and figured out where the parade route started so that I could have tootled along behind them in my little Smart. I'm pretty sure I would have received the lion's share of the applause. And I likely wouldn't have had to even put my foot on the gas - the pace was about the same or slower than the 12mph I get just by starting up the car. The thing wants to move :-).

Next year, this will be my cunning plan. I'll even buy a bag of candy for Bobbin to toss at the parade-goers from the passenger side of the car.

Later in the evening we headed over to the main festivities to meet up with Tim, who was working sound at the event, and to partake of the usual activities - Bobbin wanted to jump in the belly of the giant, air-filled alligator and eat corn on the cob and watch the kites and the boats. I was fortunate enough to have secured a "friends and family" parking pass, thanks to my darling husband :-) Otherwise I might not have ventured over.

We arrived at the park and found the production lot, and I proceeded past the gate. They told me to park anywhere; the lot wasn't even half full; so I beelined for the very end slot right next to the arched entrance way to the main festivities. Always good to be able to make a quick entrance and exit when travelling with a preschooler! Also a bonus to have an official police car nearby to ward off the really curious... or worse, on a holiday weekend - the really drunk and curious.

As I pulled into the stall, I saw two (very large) police officers approaching my car from the corner of my eye. I looked around for "reserved" or "no parking" signs and saw none, but was prepared nonetheless to prove my worthiness of parking in the production lot, and if need be to park elsewhere. I rolled down my window as Bobbin peered past me curiously.

"Excuse me, but could I ask you a few questions about my car?" one officer politely asked. I smiled and replied with a "sure, not a problem". I guess his wife has been keen on purchasing one; he's had reservations about the safety, especially freeway driving, given its size compared to the massive SUVs, monster pickup trucks, and Hummers that abound in this neck of the woods. I answered his questions, told him the mileage I was getting, why I felt safe in the car and even more, why I felt safe transporting my daughter. Let him check out the interior, and put the roof down, etc.

He was pretty satisfied but had one final request. Would it be ok if he snapped a picture of the car, with me standing next to it giving it a thumbs up so he could show his wife? what the heck - it's not often I get asked to pose for pictures :-) So somewhere out there, a police officer's wife has a picture of me and Bobbin and our little blue smart car, parked in the sunshine on 4th of July.

Bobbin seemed rather amused and fascinated by the attention the car was getting from the policemen and talked non-stop the rest of the evening about "why that policeman took Mommy's picture", and "why that policeman was axing so many questions about our car" and "why is our car so cool, Mommy?"

Because we go farther on less gas and spend less money, honey!

Later on when we were ready to leave, Bobbin and I drove back out the production lot entrance, which was half-baracaded by a steel gate. As one of the attendants moved forward to open the gate, the other said "Nah! Don't bother - she can fit through here!" pointing to the narrow opening that remained. And sure enough, she did. I smiled and waved.

I had to drive at a snail's pace until we got out of the park area as streets were crawling with pedestrians. It was still hot even in the evening sun, so the car windows were down and I had the roof open. As I passed by a gaggle of scraggly teenagers one of them pointed at the car and laughed and said "see that? Now that's just GAY. What a retard car". I said nothing, and smiled to myself, thinking of the money I've been saving in gas since we got it. I may have even edged a bit closer to the group so they could get a better look at my gay little car - and get the hell out of my way (even in the smart car, I still out-weigh and out-accelerate them :-)) . Bobbin looked at me and said "Mommy, what that man said about our car?" and I replied "He was just admiring it honey; he thought it looked like a happy car". Bobbin replied immediately with "Our car is a SMART car".

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Smart Daughter

Bobbin loves the Smart car. I think I've mentioned this previously. The convertible top, the fact that she's sitting next to me, the size ("It's MY size, Mommy"), and the 6-CD changer that lets her alternate between Sharon, Lois and Brahm and Laurie Berkner at the touch of a button (my touch; her seat's way too far back to touch the dash with her hands although I've had to tell her that it's off limits anyway since she realized she can reach it with her toes).

And we talk about it on the way to school and work.

Bobbin: Mommy, why is this a Smart Car?
Me: Because it's small and fuel efficient!
Bobbin: Whats fool essence?
Me: Fuel Efficient means it uses less gas.
Bobbin: That's what makes it smart?
Me: That's one of the things!

So it was with great amusement and pride the other day that she came running over to me as she overheard me talking to a friend about our car, and volunteered in her little pipsqueak voice

"We drive a SMART car, you know that? Our car is SMART. Do you know WHY it's SMART? Because it uses LESS GAS!"

and then she skipped away merrily, having done her part for the Smart.

I looked at my friend, smiled, and replied "See, it's true? Even a 3-year-old can tell you this is the right thing to do"

Anyone know if my daughter can start receiving commission on referrals and sales?

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I have arrived! And smartly, no less.

I have been inducted. I am One of the few. The proud. The smart.

I was heading towards the freeway; he had just gotten off. We saw each other from a distance - two cars, identical in colour and model. Our roofs were both up; it looked like rain. As he passed me he flashed me a peace sign. I waved excitedly back at him.

A fellow smart car driver on the road. I've heard they are out there but had not seen one. Until today.

A coworker (the one who put me onto the smart car in the first place) had told me that by driving a smart car I was also becoming a member of a growing but still small and close-knit community, and she had informed me there's an unspoken but well known (by smart car drivers) etiquette involved when you see another smart car driver on the road. I think I might have been slightly off-etiquette with my excited spastic wave in response to his cool peace sign, but I'm a newbie. I'm sure I'll be forgiven.

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Two things you shouldn't do in a Smart car

1) Pick your nose
2) Park too close to the curb end of a parking space

I don't actually go around picking my nose in my car. But it occurred to me today, after the second person in less than 5 minutes hung their head out the window of their SUV and gave me a thumbs up as they passed me in mine, that I'm being watched.

A guy at PCC and his wife actually got OUT of their own car and snapped a photo on his camera phone of me and Bobbin getting out of the smart car. I know from the angle at which he was standing that Bobbin and I are in the picture.

Complete strangers stalk me from the parking lot into the grocery store or coffee shop and approach me thinking that they've maintained their stealthy cover by walking down a separate aisle, asking me how I like my car, where did I get it and where is it made. And "Is it electric?" which is the by far number one question I get about the car.

People standing at bus stops do double-takes as I drive by. People on the other side of the street stop, point, and shout to their friends.

And the car is covered in hand prints that I know are not my own or Bobbin's because they're on places I don't usually touch - the front, the top sides, the little rear window.

And so, I realized, that stuff that would have gone unnoticed before while I drove my audi is going to be front page news when I drive the Smart Car.

As for the parking tip. Twice now I've come out of a store into the parking lot to see someone turning into my space, slam on the brakes just before the rear end me, and back out and drive off. It's true that if you're not paying attention, like most people these days - talking on their cell phones, sipping their starbucks, reaching back to swat at their kids' legs - you might not realize that my car is in the space until it's too late. So I've taken to parking my car a little closer to the outside end of a parking space just to be on the safe side.

Even with these two minor learnings, I'm still loving the car! It can't take hills like the Audi can, but it's got its own pep and now that I know just how gradual I need to apply the accelerator (the claim is "0 to 60 in 12 seconds" but it's a little longer than that :-)) I'm not jerking forward with each automatic shift.

Into the second week, and it's still a great car! Just not quite as shiny where people have been putting their dirty paws all over it to check it out.

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Its a sunny day in our smart car

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Some smart mileage

I filled up the tank on the Smart car for the first time today. I thought it appropriate to post some stats.

I've had the car for exactly 1 week. Seven days.
I'd put 290 miles on it by the time I rolled into the gas station.
I pumped 7.7 gallons into the 8 gallon tank, at a cost of $4.61 per gallon.

So I'm averaging about 37.6 mpg in the car so far, and about $35.50 a week in gas.

Compare that to the 18 mpg I was getting in the audi and about $60.00 a week in gas.

I'd say I'm getting my money's worth.

The dealership and other drivers that I've spoken to say to expect the mpg to increase after I've got about 1500 miles on the car. Something about the smart car engine settling into its groove. I dunno. I'm not a car expert. I just use the car to get from point A to point B. A colleague is currently getting about 45-50 mpg and averaging $17 per week in gas. She does more freeway driving than I do though.

Still - I've doubled my mileage and cut my weekly gas expense in half. Off to a good (smart) start, I'd say.

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Four more reasons why I love my Smart Car

Better Miles Per Gallon is the main reason I love it, and you always hear about how great they are for parking in tight spaces (or no spaces) but since I've had it there have been a few other little perks that I've enjoyed with the Smart Car:

1) Oil changes every 10,000 miles. Of course, I don't think I changed the oil in the Audi any more frequently than 10,000 miles but it wasn't quite as tolerant of my neglect.

2) It takes literally 5 minutes to wash thing thing by hand. It's so small, it's like nothing to wash it. I gave it its first bath today to wash off the bird poop that had splattered all over it yesterday when Tim was using it. Bobbin helped me. She could practically wash the entire thing herself - there's only a little bit on the top she can't reach :-)

3) I'm much better at keeping it clean inside than I am with bigger cars. Of course part of this is due to the fact that it's a brand new car and as such, a brand new start for me as a car owner, and I want to keep that smell and pristine look as long as possible. But another factor is that it's so small I can't possibly cart around all the crap that I used to in the big car. Less space = less stuff.

4) Bobbin enjoys the ride much more and is much more entertained. There's more for her to see "up front", and she doesn't have to yell for me to hear her and respond to her questions, which means I'm actually much less stressed than when she used to be in the back seat which in turn probably actually makes me a safer driver too :-)

I'm down to 2 gallons; looking forward to calculating the mileage after this first run.

Here's one to ponder: I've seen a few smart cars on the road; they're pretty scarce but they're there. But I've NEVER seen one at a gas station. I think that just may be my next "Smart in strange places" photo opp. A smart car at a gas station. How rare!

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Smart in Strange Places: Husky Stadium

Tim did sound for UW Graduation at Husky Stadium today. He asked if he could take the Smart car, and I said yes. I've been monopolizing it since we picked it up wednesday, although I did let him take it for a spin to PCC later wednesday night on the condition that he came back with some chocolate for me :-). He's selling his car so that we can afford this, so it seems only fair that we share its use :-) I still have dibs M-F though :-)

At any rate, this is the photo he returned with.

I have no idea how or why the car was actually ON the field, or whether it was "authorized" to be there. This is probably just the first in what will surely be a multi-photo series of strange places in which the Smart has been photographed.

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Paying for itself already

We picked up the Smart car today after work. What a blast :-) Bobbin was just head over heels giddy with the notion that she'd get to ride "up front" next to Mommy in her car seat. And when I put the convertible roof down after we got off the freeway, she was just beside herself. "Mommy! Look! Look up at the SKY!"

We logged over 50 miles before the first "gallon" disappeared from the 8-gallon indicator. Pretty smart start, I'd say.

Of course we needed to see that, after the $4K that we ended up dropping into the mechanic's wallet when we went to pick up the Audi; they ended up replacing the transmission.

Tim's car is officially up for sale, so if you're looking for a 1990 Corrado G60, look no further!

Salient points of interest:

• 137K miles


• 5 speed.


• White with Black Leather interior, Corrado floor mats.


• New front windshield installed,


• stock radio.


• Momo shift knob.


• Wing still works perfect.


• Sun roof, all lights, power windows and power mirrors still work.


• Still runs strong


• Comes with trunk of extra parts that Tim's had no time to install.

$3000.00 obo Serious inquiries only

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A smart buy

Today Tim and I took a short jaunt down to the south end, and ended up purchasing one of these.

We get to pick it up and take it home Wednesday!

There is an 18-20 month waiting list for ordering these cars. A coworker of mine ordered one over a year ago, but she ended up purchasing an "orphaned" model that had come in earlier (orphans are cars that people had ordered but ended up not actually taking; usually because another car had come in earlier or because they just decided to go another route - eg hybrid, etc). , and so the one that she ordered that arrived this week, suddenly became up for grabs. So we grabbed it. After doing appropriate research to validate the safety, gas mileage, consumer ratings, environmental claims, etc.

Right now I'm filling up my Audi (when it's not in the shop to get a new transmission; but that's another blog entry) with a full tank of gas once per week. I did the math after tracking my consumption and costs carefully for several weeks and right now in my current car I'm averaging about 18 miles per gallon total; and I'm spending about $266 per month on gas.

$266 per month on gas. I tell you, I get SO ANGRY these days when I have to fill up my car. Actually angry. I used to just be mildly annoyed but willingly accepted it as a necessary cost of choosing to own a car. But now I'm just angry. Outraged. And not just at the industry or the companies or governments involved . I'm angry at my own lack of foresight and bigger picture thinking. I didn't need to buy the Audi in October 2000. I could have chosen to buy a more fuel efficient car then. But I didn't, because I wanted to endulge myself, and now I'm shelling out $266 in gas. And as a result of wanting to be self endulgent I'm an enabler of those prices continuing to climb and our dependancy on oil continuing to grow. Unless I decided to change something. And at this point I'm so fed up with the state of my gas consumption and the money I'm literally pouring into the tank of my car that I decided I needed to change something. And fast.

So you might say this car was a (well-researched) impulse buy. But I think it really was the smart (pun intended) decision for us.

Most of our weekday driving takes place in 2 cars. Tim drives his car to work which is usually up north. I drive Bobbin to daycare and myself to work which is in the opposite direction. I definitely need to have a car at least for the daycare portion of my commute both ways, so being a 1-car family would be more of a challenge than I'm willing to take on at this point in our lives. I'm open to changing the non-daycare portion of my commute to reduce the gas consumption if I can find some viable options and I'm researching that now. But I still want to have a car that I can use to get me where I want to go when I want to go in the time that I have to get there.

This seemed like the answer. My first and primary concern however, was about safety.

1) It's tiny. How would it hold up in crashes with big vehicles

2) It has no back seat; would it really be safe and responsible of me to transport Bobbin in this car, which would be the primary purpose.

Tim and I did the research and found the answer to #1 to be pretty impressive. It is a small car and so crashing in a small car is definitely different than crashing in a big car. But the safety design, features, and technologies are impressive and thorough and the actual video that Tim found online was convincing.

I also confirmed that it was legal to transport children in a front seat in a car seat if there was no rear seat in the vehicle. The airbag automatically deactivates when there is less than 80 lbs in the seat. We'll need to confirm this and test it out for ourselves (will Tommy fit in Bobbin's carseat? Hmmm... that could be interesting) to be sure, but everything we've read and seen seems to indicate that the vehicle is safe enough to be granted the honour of transporting our most precious cargo - namely one little Bobbin.

I took a test drive last friday and it definitely feels different - especially on the freeway. The automatic shifts aren't nearly as smooth as they are in the audi, and the braking feels different (wheels are smaller & the car feels different) but in terms of roominess, I forget that I'm driving in a vehicle that is essentially as long as most cars are wide, until I step outside and look at it.

I can't wait until Wednesday! And I can't wait to see Bobbin's reaction to the new vehicle. Although I'm prepared for her to be less than enthused about this purchase. She has a special attachment to our cars and we're going to be selling Tim's white 1991 VW Corrado (which is in excellent condition, btw) to help finance the smart car. I expect she may express some sadness over the loss of Daddy's car. I expect to witness something similar to the emotion my sister expressed when she learned that our Dad had traded our Volvo in for a 3-person pickup truck when she was just a couple years older than Bobbin is now. As long as Tim doesn't shave his facial hair at the same time, I think she'll recover quickly.

Mostly I can't wait to see how much mileage I get after the first month, and what my monthly spend on gas turns out to be :-)

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