Hybrid Hysterics

Posted on November 2, 2013 under Storytelling with 2 comments

I am not your typical male.  I don’t have a passion for cars.  And, until recently, I knew only the basics of driving a car.  I know where the ignition is located; I can find the steering wheel.  Ditto for the brake, gas pedal and clutch.  I know a vehicle has an engine and four tires.  It goes forward and backward … most of the time.   All of these things I know are true.

I never really thought much about my carbon footprint.  Nowadays carbon offsets and carbon credits are terms as ubiquitous as Kentucky Fried Chicken and Lassie were back when I was a kid.   I wonder if Lassie left a carbon footprint along with a pile of doggy do?

My first car was a Volkswagen Beetle which I bought for about the same price as I paid for an iPad mini recently.   It was a great car and you really had to squeeze the nozzle to get $3.00 worth of gas into it.  I lived in Victoria at the time and alas, my “bug” met its sorry end one weekend when I flew back to Nova Scotia to visit my family.  Apparently my car was smashed into; not once but twice in a matter of days while it sat outside on the street in a quiet neighborhood.  When I got back after my trip, I had to search high and low before locating the crumpled remains in a junkyard.

Hybrid vehicles are now all the rage.  A friend of mine and I were discussing hers the other day.  She had had her eyes on the Prius for quite a while.  Her husband was nonplussed about her choice but humored her nonetheless as they took one for a test drive in a neighboring town.  After many years of marriage, humoring your wife is as important as breathing.   When they finally decided to purchase the vehicle and it came time to drive it home, she was too nervous and her husband reluctantly took the wheel.  By the time they had pulled into their driveway she had to pry the steering wheel from his hands.  Pry us from the Prius, as it were.

A few years ago, we accidentally rented a Prius at the airport in Tampa. This was the substitute for the “four door sub-compact” vehicle that we had booked.   I didn’t know anything about Hybrids at the time as my subscription to Motor Trend magazine had run out … around the same time as my subscription for PC World ( that’s “personal computer” and not Progressive Conservative ).  Actually, the only subscription I pay for these days is Chirp magazine for our granddaughter.

We picked up or keys and struggled with too much luggage, a common problem on these southern jaunts.  We approached the parking lot where our rental car was waiting.  We loaded up the trunk, gained entry and sat.  The car would not start.  I mean, even I, as mechanically challenged as I am, can start a car.   Fearing a battery failure we returned to the car rental desk, a good ten minute walk.  We walked away sheepishly when we were informed that the car started by pressing a button.

Somewhat flustered, I followed the instructions, waiting to hear the familiar throaty sound of an engine purring.  Nothing.   Nada.   I stepped outside the vehicle and the thought crossed my mind that a good swift kick might get things going; another kind of footprint.   Just then, a knowledgeable and kind soul came by and, a few minutes later, I slipped the car into reverse and we quietly exited the parking lot.

A friend of mine owns several antique VWs.  I’m thinking of paying him a visit to see if we can work out a deal.

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