More new wheels

Well, I ended up adding two more new wheels to my garage this week. And I should say that I am more excited about this purchase than that of four new wheels last week. After a lot of analyzing my options, I ended up buying the Cannondale F7 XL bike this week. Unfortunately, I have not been able to take it out for a ride, yet, due to the business travel this week. I am hoping to go out today and over the weekend. Should be fun!

I did find it funny that I was a lot more excited by this purchase, rather than that of a $31k automobile. Life is weird indeed. I guess what adds to it is the fact that buying a car in the US is not much different from walking into a grocery shop to do your weekly shopping!

Gimme a Brake!

Momentum; was everything to me while driving a car. And I drive A LOT! I would hate anything that would make me come to a stop, losing all the momentum. I used to think of all the energy I wasted by applying brakes and bringing thousands of pounds to a halt. I had thought on and off about getting a hybrid, but never really made the move. My Honda was less than two years old, and was in great shape. I saw my brother give up his Lexus SUV and go green with a Toyota Prius. That was inspiring, but was not enough to trade in my relatively new car, yet.

Very surprisingly, my car started having issues a couple of weeks back. Our roadtrip to VA was filled with maintenance issues. I had to shell out over $500 to get it serviced and get all the six spark plugs replaced. The problems somehow did not subside in spite of that. Instead of taking it to a dealer for repairs, I figured it would be easier to get a new car. Going by my brother's feedback (and first hand experience), I figured I needed something a little bigger and a bit brawnier than a Toyota Prius. I did my research and found out that Ford Fusion was rated very high, and best in the Midsize Sedan category. I have never owned an American car, but was willing to try it out, especially given Ford's recent track record. And none of the Japanese makers seemed to have a model that could compete effectively in this category. I took it for a test drive with the family and we liked it. After a couple of days and a bit of shopping around, I traded my Honda in for a fully loaded, White Ford Fusion Hybrid. The first couple of decent-length drives gave me about 47mpg, bringing my guilt level down (for burning so much gas).

So, the red lights and stop signs do not frustrate me as much as they used to! Also, I realized that the car has changed my driving habits a bit over the last week. I am a tad slower, and not aggressive at all. It also seems like I am no longer on the left most lane!