Mission Accomplished (w/o Flightsuit)

Well…back from The Big(ger) City^TM by way of Cannon Airplane Patch. The Green Hornet has been dropped off and is in the (hopefully) loving care of Rembrandt Auto Body, the temporary ride has been picked up and exercised a bit (more about which below), and the delayed major shopping run has been done. All completed satisfactorily, as well.

The TempRide (pictured below) is a 2007 Chrysler Sebring and is better than I thought I’d get. “Better,” of course, being a highly relative term. Better than what, you might ask? Well, better than any low-end bottom-of-the-line GM-Ford-Chrysler product…such as a Neon or a Cobalt. No offense meant to anyone who just might drive…and like…either of those products. I, too, wouldn’t mind a Cobalt…as long as it had “Sport” appended to the end of its name. Same for the Neon, as I know Chrysler makes a pocket-rocket flavor of that car. But…AFAIK the rental car companies don’t buy these things.

The Sebring is OK. It’s quiet, relatively comfortable, and has enough power to get out of its own way. The sound system leaves a lot to be desired (but does have a CD player, Thank God), the steering is numb in that Amurican Car kinda way and it wallows. But other than that? Yeah…I can live with this thing for the next week or three. The best part? The cost is fully within my insurance policy’s rental reimbursement rates. There shouldn’t be any monies due from YrHmblScrb when this is all over.

Ah, but there’s the long pole in the tent. “When this is all over” will likely be the first week in December. The holidays knock out two days next week and the parts more than likely won’t even be ordered until this coming Monday, at the earliest. I hope it doesn’t take longer than that, coz I’ve got somewhere to be over Christmas and I intend to drive. One way or another, but I’d really prefer to do it in my own car. Much better sound system. {insert smiley-face thingie here}

One final note. I made the trip over to Clovis at a snail’s pace (compared to my usual speed), which is to say 50~55 mph. I know I irritated the Hell out of at least four people who got stuck behind me due to oncoming traffic. The back road between P-Ville and The Big(ger) City^TM is a two-laner and although it’s posted at 65 mph, the usual, customary, and reasonable speed varies between 75 and 80 mph. And there I was, creeping along at 55. I felt like I could get out and push the Green Hornet faster than that. But…watching the hood flutter every time one of those big-ass 18 wheelers blew by me gave me all the incentive I needed to hold it down. And so I did: speed down, stereo volume up. And I arrived safely, albeit eventually...compared to normal.

I got to thinking while I was creeping along…specifically about the first Great Oil Crisis/Revenue Opportunity of 1973. We all were supposed to “Drive 55” back then, which no one could or would actually DO, and which gave the state highway patrols and various other law enforcement agencies one of the greatest revenue windfalls of modern times. It was about that time I went out and bought my first radar detector (such as they were). The Fuzzbuster and an eagle eye kept me out of trouble with the gendarmes, but Dang!! It sure was painful, having to slow down when in the company of a black and white. Let’s hope the gubmint ain’t prone to relive the past when the next Oil Crisis hits, because that 55 mph speed limit was the absolute height of stupidity. Ha. Talk about wishful thinking… I AM talking about the gubmint.