Insight and the art of Crappy Blog Updating Maintenance

Did you ever see the show Banzai? Well, if you have seen it you have just likely sat back from your computer and sighed to yourself in positive elation. For those of you who haven't, watch the following video link - Banzai Granny Wheelchair Chicken.

Rachael and I saw that Honda Insight on the road on our way to Chapel Hill, NC on a college visit last weekend. Despite our blog and interested in "Greenify-ing" our lives the first thought that came to my mind was not how many lbs of carbon emissions Mr. Honda Insight driver was saving our planet, but rather it concocted the next great Banzai challenge!


(Pictures to Scale)

In my head I pitted this poor little Honda Insight vs. the Peterbuilt Semi, hauling 40 tons of Chinese made goodies, that was trailing behind the Honda. If you notice the the sign in front of this picture imminently mentions a steep downward grade off a mountain pass in Western Virginia (ain't to be confuse' wit' West Virginy).

Now the Banzai scenario I depicted was not if the Peterbuilt would collide and destroy the Insight, but rather at what point down this steep incline it would happen. At what mile marker will Mr. Green B. Inconcscious's Honda be splattered on the grille of Mrs. Haw L. Nass' Semi. Would it be mile market 1, mile marker 2, or mile marker 3? Place bets NOW!!!!



Ok, so this didn't happen. But I do see a lesson within this train of thought. 1) I was built up as a consumers and haven't thought about it enough or put into practice as a whole, being more conscious of our limited resources. This is evidenced in my initial response to the sight Honda Insight. I find that this is not because my parents didn't raise me right (Rachael seems to think they did a great job) its because our psychy as American consumers is built this way

Going green comes at a cost, whether it be financial, social, or dangerous, like when your car is too small to be noticed by runaway Semi's.

What do you think?

My dead car

My fiance Rachael and I just had a downer this week. My car, a 1996 Buick Regal Gran Sport*, died this past Monday. It had been doing so well for the last five months since I returned from my seven month excursion abroad, not a problem at all. Tragically, as I was driving from my home to pick up Rachael and go to visit our good friends, the Wilsterman's, the car's engine exploded. Now it wasn't a big boom, it was more like a crack, pop, and fizzle. This was not the best time for it to explode. And it certainly was not expected.

I had the car towed and walked back to my apartment in the snow. Rachael met me on the walk back and we trudged back to our apartment complex cold and frustrated. What would we do now? We didn't even have a car to take us on our honeymoon to Florida.

Luckily, our families chipped in and they are letting us borrow a car. Also, this spring we are likely to get the help of our family, the money made off my dead car, and our own savings to buy a new vehicle. Awesome, right?

Certainly, now we have some time to ponder what car to buy, but we already have one in mind. A used Hybrid. We have both wanted a hybrid for a while. Both of us wanted one initially because the Regal got only 17MPG in the City, the small-midsize Hybrids get over 30 (some over 40). Now we looked into it and they sound really appealing and a 2003-05 with low miles looks about in our price range.

Its nice to be able to use up less gas and with gas prices likely to rise again in the near future, our bank accounts could definetely benefit from the reduced cost.

Also recently, we found that the car emits less CO2 than other cars. We both have been pondering how we could "Go Green" and this might be our first step, albeit a big first step....

As a Boy Scout, I was trained on how to reduce my impact and Rachael and I are going to try to use this philosophy in our married life. Scouts Honor.


We found Cars.com 's hybrid buying guide to be very useful. Check it out at http://www.cars.com/go/crp/buyingGuides/index.jsp?aff=national

*Gran Sport essentially means a cool two tone and "sport" suspension.