a peek inside the fishbowl

The power of the internet – the power of people – is amazing. Friends of the Fishbowl have collectively donated $1,170.00 to the Youth Services Bureau of Ottawa Charitable Foundation. This is 47% of my goal. THANK YOU! You have made a difference in the lives of those who need it most. If anyone else would like to donate or read more about my involvement with YSB, click here.

Yesterday was one of the weirdest days on record. To say that I was shaken up would be an understatement.

• BB died.
• There was a window-rattling earthquake (Sarah was in class, Emma was on a fieldtrip, I was on the phone.)
• We bought a car, and …
• I almost ran into a deer on the way home (in the new car!)

Freaky.

The car wasn’t an impulse buy. We’d been talking about it for months, but the process took on a whole new meaning when the engine light came on in our 1999 Mazda Protegé. It was time.

We have a long history with the Protegé. We bought it after Emma was born. We figured that getting in and out of a two-door Honda Civic wasn’t going to cut it with a baby, and we were right.

Since then it has seen over 190,000 kilometres worth of pavement. It has been to the Maritimes and back, and all over Ottawa and much of southern Ontario.

We are a one-car family, and we used it for everything.

We’ve been looking at the Toyota Prius for awhile. It was the prime candiate for Operation Replace the Car. We liked its extreme fuel economy and low emissions. It looked like the perfect car for city-driving people like us who are looking for ways to reduce their footprint.

We went to test drive one about a month ago and were so annoyed by the salesperson we were paired with that it almost (almost!) turned us off this car completely. His lack of product knowledge was stunning. For example, we asked him what the letter B on the gearshift meant. He didn’t know. We learned later that it stands for BRAKE, and is intended to be used to slow down the car in a steep descent. (!)

We went to another place a few weeks later and test drove the car with a knowledgeable salesperson. It made all the difference in the world. He actually knew what he was talking about.

Colour-wise we were looking at a dark gray. I originally thought the colour was called gun-metal gray (ooh, flying around town like a bullet!) but recently found out it was actually WINTER GRAY. Fer crissakes. Don’t people know that winter is only this colour in March when the snow has melted and the drifts of road salt, sand and dirt are revealed?

I am insulted by the naming of this colour! :)

I was also annoyed at the pricing of the extra accessories. Some of them were ridiculous. Can you imagine paying $400+ for an iPod interface (which really is just a wire) ? Also among the “extras” were all-season floor mats and similarly overpriced first aid/emergency roadside kits.

So allow me to give you the good news/bad news scenario.

The good news: After much discussion (and the realization there were some great rebates to be had) we bought the Prius. It is ours. It is an amazing little car. When other cars are idling at a stop light the Prius is silent. It glides around barely using any gas or spewing emissions. (This Globe & Mail review pretty much sold me on this car.) As the author points out, this kind of car represents a new driving paradigm. The future of cars, of our society and the things we buy, create and consume, must be about small, it must be about conservation, otherwise our time here on the planet will be cut short. It may not happen in our generation, but it will happen. The days of big and bloated have to end.

The bad news: we had our Protegé checked out and we don’t have a hope in hell of selling it. It needs a new transmission (an estimated $3200+) and the book value of our car is something like $1500.

SO. If there is anyone out there with a spare transmission and feels like taking this car off our hands, please let me know.

As for today, I’m getting ready to go poke around a lovely home for an upcoming issue of Ottawa Magazine. I hope I won’t be running over any moose/squirrels/cats on the way there. And when I get home I’m going to bury myself under the covers.