Blogging seems to be all the rage, so what the heck? I'll follow the lemmings over the cliff too! It probably won't get me elected President, but maybe some interesting discussions will come out of it... Beware, however: I speak my mind here, and I'm pretty frank and open. Some may be offended at the content and/or opinions. If you're easily offended, you might want to look elsewhere for reading material.

When/If you post a comment (and I hope you will!), be sure to put in a URL --- even if you just use mine (http://alan.batie.org/) --- if you don't, your email address will get put in as a link on your name, and you'll suddenly find yourself on Spam Central. Not my doing, I promise you! They scan websites for embedded email addresses. You've been warned --- I really don't wish spam on anyone (well, ok, maybe the spammers themselves)!

Finally, if you want to be notified when I post the this blog, signup on the lemmings mailing list.

November 09, 2004

New Toy

They say the difference between men and boys is the price of their toys. Well, my Ford Escape Hybrid arrived last Thursday. Early! if you can believe it. I hate to say it, but I miss the Explorer. The Escape is a little downscale, and is missing some minor amenities, though the biggest problem is the seat: it's killing my back. Why do seat/chair designers think you need extra support in the shoulders and none in lower-middle back? I'm going to have to find a pad or something, as that's another thing the Escape doesn't have that the Explorer did: lumbar adjustment.

Oh well, the hybrid is cool, though I wish you could tell it to run on electric as much as possible and minimize gas engine use, even at the expense of lower power. And the nav system is cool, though what I want to do to the Ford lawyers (and the juries that make them necessary!) is unprintable. Every time you turn it on, you have to push the Accept button that says yes I know I need to pay attention to the road and not do something stupid. And even then, they've disabled some of the useful features like "find the nearest X" if the car is moving. Hello!? Passenger/Navigator!

But I'll get used to the minor bits, and probably start liking it. Until the Highlander Hybrid comes out...

Posted by abatie at November 9, 2004 06:53 PM
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