It Really is a Small World

The other day I stumbled across an AP story on the Chicago Sun-Times web site that represents one of those odd intersections of interest and personal history.

The story -- Tax breaks rolled out for hybrid-car buyers -- is from January 1 of this year. It is about the new tax breaks for hybrid cars, including the Prius, which I drive.

I found it when I was reviewing Performancing statistics on my blog. I like to see what web-searches have led people to my site.

In this case, I noted that someone had found me by searching Google for John Krivit. That's the name of one of the members of my rock band in high school. That search led someone to an entry I had written back in 2004 about Googling for my old friends from The Ramblin' Beach Guys (RBGs).

Just below that on the search results was a link to the AP story about the Prius tax break. John Krivit is quoted as a Prius owner, which is a fine coincidence. What really freaked me, though, was that the story is by John Heilprin, our old drummer.

Now It's Half Way

I rolled 50,000 miles in my Prius on my commute home the other day. I was just coming into Five Points and was able to take this photo while waiting in the left-turn lane to head towards Lewes.

I figure I'll keep this car until just before I hit 100,000 miles. It has taken me about 20 months to roll 50,000. Next Prius in 2008?

This mileage stone isn't as fun as when I hit 22,222 or 44,444, but worth noting anyway.

This View of Hybrids Bugs Me

There's a story on hybrid cars in the Business section of today's News Journal. The article -- Can hybrid cars really save you money? -- takes the line that most of these articles have seemed to take lately. That is, now that gas prices are rising, are hybrids really a good way to save money?

It's a valid question, but it ignores the main reason that I and many other early-adopters had for buying our hybrids: air quality. I love the higher mileage that my Prius gives me. I've long wanted a way to cut my personal use of a non-renewable energy source. But my chief concern was, and is, to reduce the amount of air pollution that I create. And my Prius does that quite well.

To be fair, this particular article does allow that the environmentalist angle remains valid, but it quickly goes back to busily debunking the notion of hybrids as a way to save money on gasoline.

That's fine, and may be a valid point (though I note that they focus mostly on the Honda hybrid), but I have to insist that gas mileage is not the main reason to own a hybrid.

I Used to Be Unique

A report from R. L. Polk & Co. confirms what I've been seeing out on the road:

Nationwide registrations for new hybrid vehicles rose to 199,148 in 2005 -- a 139 percent increase from 2004 according to R. L. Polk & Co. For the second year in a row, Toyota Prius led the segment commanding 52.6 percent of new registrations. However, with more models entering the market, hybrid share for any given vehicle is being challenged.

I used to be one of the only folks out there in a Prius. Lately, there are more and more of us. I don't mind; I think it's good to have more low emissions vehicles out there.

I do miss that sense of being special, though.

From The Other Side of The Lens

I got to meet one of my favorite photographers this evening. Kevin Fleming, one of Delaware's best known photographers, stopped by to get a shot of me in my car for a story on commuting for the Delaware Beach Life magazine.

I have become a sort of serial subject for commuting stories over the years. I think it started with Terry Plowman, publisher of Delaware Beach Life, who did a commuting story (I think for the Delawarean) some time back, before he started his own magazine. That story included an off-hand comment about "the Zen of commuting" that caught the eye of a reporter working on Zen thing for the Washington Post some time later.

Recently, a writer working for Terry's new magazine called to ask me some questions for a new story about commuting.

I stayed away from the metaphysical this time.

And so, this evening, I got to meet Kevin Fleming, who came by for a quick photo shoot. He set up a timed exposure of me driving past him in my Prius. The end result looks like it'll be a neat-looking smear of car and background with me, a bit more in focus, behind the wheel.

It was a great pleasure to meet Kevin, and fun to watch him work.

Halfway Through?

I reached 44,444 miles on my Prius this morning. It was just as I pulled out of the driveway, on my way to drop off the recycling.

It's been 268 days since 22,222. I missed 33,333 somehow, but it's been a busy 8 months, 25 days.

Here's an Idea I'd Like Delaware to Consider

In New York, it looks like drivers of low-emission, clean, fuel efficient cars are going to get a discount on tolls. A story on timesunion.com ( Green' cars worth greenbacks on Thruway) says that the state of New York will issue Green Transponders to cars that meet certain efficiency standards and that those transponders will mean discounts on tolls on the New York Thruway. My Prius and I would like that idea to spread.

A Pair of Prii

My car has a twin that also lives at my office building. Mine is on the left; it is the dirtier, more dented, beat-up looking car.

There's a third Prius whose driver works at my building. That one is that nice blue color. It doesn't rank as a twin. I think of it as my car's brother from another mother.

And there is an older cousin, a Honda Insight, that parks nearby.

I think the four of us should get a special parking area.

Pimping My Prius

Yesterday I added a Sirius satellite radio receiver to my Prius. It was an anniversary gift from Miss Karen, though I did the research on which satellite radio system to go with and which receiver to use.

I choose Sirius over XM based largely on Sirius’ programming content. They had more NPR and other public radio choices and they had more of the sort of “hippy music” and folk music that I like.

I do regret that Sirius doesn’t have the same access to baseball games that XM has. Sirius sells on having broadcasts of every NFL game. XM sells on access to all baseball games. To me, baseball is a great game to listen to while driving; football doesn’t work so well on radio. In the end, however, music and news were the deciding factors.

I went with a receiver from Factory Interactive that installs permanently in the car and uses the Prius’ in-dash touch-screen as an interface. Many folks like the portable units, which can be hooked up to radios in several cars and in the home. That’s a cost effective way to go, but I understand that you make a slight sacrifice in sound quality. I like the idea of having a system that works as an integral part of my car’s sound system. The mounting hardware of the portables also might be a problem. In practice, at home I use my laptop and the web to access music; at work it’s not an issue. Eventually, I may look into a portable – or another installed system – for the van. But that is a decision to make after living with satellite radio for a while, to see if we really want to go in this direction for the long haul.

Installing the unit was an interesting challenge. It ate up all of Saturday morning. The unit came with written directions and a DVD containing a step-by-step how-to video. I watched that video all the way through back at the start of the week when the radio first arrived. Yesterday, I put the laptop on a chair in the garage and followed it faithfully, step by step.

I would watch the fellow on the video – Jon – take the first step, hit pause, and go do that step on my car. Then back to the laptop for the next step. In some cases I would stop what I was doing and go back to watch again. Better safe, and slow, then sorry.

The interior construction of the Prius is fascinating. The dashboard comes apart in sections, each held in with pressure clips and, in a few cases, a few screws. Bits just “pop out.” Wires plug in. Everything fits together.

For an experienced person, the installation probably takes less than an hour. For those comfortable taking their car apart, a first time installation would probably take an hour and a half. I am a beginner. I was careful. I took three hours.

I had thought about photographing some of the steps, and posting shots of the interior of my car. Doing the installation, though, was challenge enough.

So far (I’ve only made a few short drives), I’m happy with what I’ve heard. The folk channel gave me some tasty Dylan covers yesterday evening, vintage Arlo Guthrie, and several of the new artists that I like but who I rarely hear on broadcast radio, especially here in southern Delaware. I switched over to the Jam-Band channel at one point and hit on a nice, live, acoustic version of El Paso, by the Dead.

This will work.

Odometer Milestone

I rolled 22,222 miles on my Prius today. I noticed while on a back road, so I was able to safely snap a photo. When I rolled 20,000 the other week, I was out on the highway and not able to pull off in time.

Harmonic Personal Convergence on West Wing

This evening's episode of The West Wing featured a story line which neatly encapsulates two of my current interests -- weblogs and the Toyota Prius.

In this episode, as the West Wing web site notes, "Josh (Bradley Whitford) test drives an oversized SUV and crashes into a hybrid car resulting in bad publicity for The White House." What does he hit? A Toyota Prius.

The episode starts with Josh car-shopping and discussing the Prius with a salesman. I was interested to note that this (fictional) dealer admits to marking-up the cost of the car by several thousand dollars and justifies this by pointing out that other dealers are jacking-up the price even more. I'm fairly sure that my dealer (CF Schwartz, Dover, DE) resisted that temptation. I was also amused at the notion of only an eight month waiting list; my wait was almost eleven months.

There was much discussion of the possible motives for buying a Prius -- environmental holier-than-thou-ism, monetary economy tied to fuel economy, "striking a blow" . . . For me it's more simple. The Prius is a cool car, with lots of hi-tech fun built-in. It was cool in 2001 when I bought my first; it is even more cool now.

The story line continues with Josh running afoul of a fictional Capital Hill gossip blog that takes up the issue. I think that blog was likely based on Wonkette, the tart DC blog that has become a cultural icon of late. Like the real bloggeur, the author of the West Wing version is also a woman.
This all got me thinking: there must be some Prius Blogs out there. And there are, but only a few. There are plenty of blog posts about the Prius.

295 Days Later: A Prius

Today I took delivery of my new 2005 Toyota Prius. This replaces my 2001 Prius, which I traded in at 99,617 miles (if I remember correctly). I am thrilled with this new car.

Of course, I was very happy with my first Prius, which was one of the first to arrive here in Delaware. In that car, I averaged about 48 miles per gallon. It was comfortable, fun to drive, and had enough gee-whiz geekery to satisfy my techie soul.

This car promises to be even more fun. I've only driven about 100 miles in it, so far, but here are some first thoughts.

It's bigger and "stouter" than the 2001 Prius. It is somehow more solid-feeling than the '01. I had heard that this was a bigger more powerful car that got even better mileage. We'll see about the mileage; today was a very wet and windy day, so I would expect lower mileage results. My average today seemed to be about 47 MPG, so I have high hopes.

This car is very comfortable and seems a tad roomier. The girls were pleased with the back seat and reported that they had more room as well. The "Smart Key" is very cool. It's a key fob that I can simply leave in pocket. When I approach the car, the car reads a signal from the key and the door unlocks; when I get in, I can leave the key in my pocket and simply press the "start" button. Very cool.

I had hoped to post a photo, but today was too gray and rainy. I'll take a snapshot when the sun returns and add it in.

I placed the order for this car on January 14, 2004. I took delivery today, November 4. That's 295 days. Or, 10 months and 3 weeks (I think). That's a long wait, but appears to be the norm for ordering the Prius these days. With my first Prius, I think I ordered in November of 2000 and had the car by the end of March 2001.

That earlier version of the Prius was a hit. This version, which was a new redesign starting with the 2004 model is an improvement and it has been very popular. The wait is not likely to shrink. The dealer told me that many folks waiting for their Priuses to come in are getting antsy and a little upset with their dealers. He was grateful that I'd been so patient.

This is a nice treat. It's been a disappointing week otherwise, and I have been looking forward to having this car. Tonight, I'm starting to feel happy again.