A random post about my car and the price of gas

I change vehicles the way some people change underwear: daily.

Which car I drive depends on my mood. If I need to feel tough, I drive the Xterra, which is rugged and has enough clearance to allow me to drive over pretty much everything (trust me, I've done it). Also, if it's raining, I take the Xterra, because people in SoCal do not know how to drive in "Weather" and if I'm going down, I'd take the bigger of the two cars to go down in.

On a day I need to feel pretty, I drive the Audi (I drive the Audi almost every day). I don't know why this makes me feel pretty, other than to say there's something about putting the car in sport mode and zooming past everyone else on the freeway that makes me feel hot. Maybe driving a car to feel pretty is the female version of the male need to drive a big truck to prove that he has a big...heart.

On a day I want to feel compassion, I drive my scooter (this rarely happens). While I feel all sorts of green and environmentally-friendly for driving something that gets at least 80 mpg, I feel all sorts of scared at the same time, because there are a lot of jackholes out there who don't know how to drive and who don't see motorcycles. I don't want to be on the losing end of that situation. Plus, I can't take my scooter on the freeway, which means I have to take back-roads, which tacks on about 20 minutes to my otherwise 5 minute commute. It's kind of a no-brainer.

When I want to feel really good about the environment, when I'm feeling cheap, and when I'm feeling lazy, I force myself to ride the five miles to work on my bike. I don't do this as often as I used to, because, as with my scooter, I don't take that shit on the freeway, and my commute becomes 25 minutes instead of 5. Also, I have to ride my very nice, very expensive bike though gangsta territory to get to work, and I have heard more than one story about gangsters taking peoples' bikes. While in theory I think I'd win a fight against a gangster, the truth is, I can't be 100% sure I wouldn't just pee my pants and hand over the bike willingly.

I used to pride myself on being able to go a month or more without putting gas in my car, because I would ride my bike or scooter everywhere. But now, pure laziness and a lack of being willing to leave my house 20 minutes earlier in the morning has me, along with the rest of America, filling up my tank almost weekly. With gas prices expected to soar, I may have to rethink this, but for now, I choose to bask in the laziness and convenience that is uniquely American.