DELETE DELETE DELETE.
Sat down to write this morning, got 300 words written and realized Jo doesn’t *have* her car for the rest of this book, so I had to go rewrite the entire end of the last chapter (not done with that yet) and change a bunch of stuff around which is probably okay because the things I’m putting in are things I was thinking last night needed to go in during rewrites, at least, and well, hey, look. Rewrites. o.o Anyway, so I made my quota but it’s a mess. A mhess, I tell you. I sort of suspect the original end of ch. 29 is going to end up being in ch. 31, because… because that’s what I think will happen. :)
Hey! It was GETTING LIGHT at 8am this morning! YAAAAAY! *dancie dancie dance*!
I actually *went* to the SinC meeting last night, and it was pretty nifty. With one exception, a woman in her … it was hard to tell. Thirties, probably, but a hard thirties. Anyway, with that one exception I was the youngest person there by at least fifteen years, maybe twenty. :) They seem like a bunch of nice people, and they have a lot of cool projects that they support and participate in. Including a fundraiser at the Fly By Night club on April 10 — anybody want to go see Springtime in Spenard with me then? Non-smoking night at the bar! *hopeful look*
(this is the part where it’d be useful to know more than two locals, huh?)
I want to buy a Toyota Prius. Anybody got twenty grand to spare?
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I’ve got a 2004 Prius, and I love it.
But, one caveat: it’s not going to perform as well in Alaska as it does in California.
I’ve discovered this winter that the electric half of the engine, because it is extremely efficient, does not generate much excess heat. Which means that when it’s below 40 out (which has been frequent in Seattle this winter), it has to run the gas engine in order to heat the cabin. This pretty much means that the mileage for the first 5-10 minutes in the winter totally sucks (by which I mean 30 mpg.)
Longer trips, once it gets warmed up inside, it does fine. I got between 47 and 49 mpg driving to and from Oregon at Christmastime, and it was cold then.
I’m not sure how much worse it would be in the true artic conditions.
On the other hand, the emissions are still wonderfully low, and it looks neat, and it’s the quietest car on the market, particularly when it shifts into electric mode. I can hardly wait until spring, when the winter warming effect fades.
And, by the way, it has plenty of power. No trouble passing folks on the highway, or going up steep hills. It’s not a race car, but there’ll never be a normal situation where it doesn’t have enough oomph for the job.
Waaaaaaah. I still want a Prius. But I can’t really afford the extra few thousand of debt I’d have after trading in my Camry and well. O.O
Yah, I know the winter mileage wouldn’t be as good, although, y’know, 30mpg doesn’t exactly suck. :) Also, if I garage it in the winter, the engine won’t get as cold, so perhaps that’d help.
Not that I have the money to buy one. :)
I really want one too. I’ve BEEN wanting one since the darned things came out. I got my car because it’s the closest thing I could get that was in my price range. I still look at it occasionally and ask it when it’s going to grow up and become a Prius. It just sits there in its perky Echoness and laughs at me.
The other hybrids might be okay, too, but I want a 4-door car. The Honda Civic looks pretty decent, but I want an automatic and it’s more or less the same cost as a Prius. Fnrt. Someday.