Category: On my mind

“We’re Prius drivers. We’re a special breed.”

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I was feeling like crap from being so dehydrated at Red Rocks last night, so I got to work around 11am. When I pulled into the parking lot, I was hoping to park in one of the highly-coveted shady spots under a tree. Thankfully, one was available and I grabbed it.

As I parked and looked beside me, I saw that I was parked next to the newer model Toyota Prius.

Here’s a shot of my first gen Prius next to the larger second gen model:

The first gen and second gen Prius

I read that something like 57% of people who have the new hatchback-looking Prius said they like the car because it “makes a statement” about the driver. In other words, it’s like a badge proclaiming that they care about the environment. Only 25% said they liked the car because of the lower emissions.

This is exactly why I wanted the kind that looks like a regular compact car. I care about the environment, but I’m not trying to prove anything with the car I drive. (See: Ted Danson in “The Anonymous Donor” episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm.) I don’t want to be like the hybrid-driving hippies in the “Smug Alert” episode of South Park. I love my new car so much, but I don’t ever see myself being one of those people who talks with my eyes closed while saying things like, “It’s just great to be part of the solution and instead of part of the problem.” I mostly wanna save gas money in my short drive to and from work every day.

There are a whole series of ads mocking the self-righteous Prius driver over at hybridcars.com. They’re pretty damn amusing. (If you check them out at that site, be sure to read the comments below. They’re funny on an entirely different level.)

My favorite is:

Ads mock the self-righteous Prius driver

In case you can’t see it, the text says “Well, at least he drives a Prius.”

By the way, the quote at the top comes from Larry David in the “Wandering Bear” episode from season 4 of Curb Your Enthusiasm.

Best Birthday Ever!

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I am always miserable on my birthday. Growing up, no one was ever around to come to my birthday parties because of summer break from school. When I got older, I had work or other obligations that prevented me from doing whatever I wanted.

This birthday broke that tradition in a big way!

For my 24th birthday, I got myself something that I haven’t had since I was about 17… a car!

My mom and I live just a few block apart and have been sharing a car since we moved to Denver in 2006. It was fine and good when I worked at the World Trade Center downtown because it was only about 5 blocks from my building. Now that I work a little farther away (at the best job ever!) I needed my own car.

I researched and debated for a few months, driving myself and all those around me totally insane in the process, before I settled on the Prius. It’s supposed to be better in town than on the highway and 99.9% of my driving is on the crowded streets of Denver. It’s much smaller than the Honda CRV my mom and I shared, so my inability to parallel park should be relatively cured. Not to mention the gas mileage, of course!

I tried every dealership for 100 miles and came up with nothing but an 8 month waiting list. I didn’t want to completely wipe out my life savings and have to wait almost a year for a car! So, I turned to Craig’s List.

It was there that I found a little white 2003 Prius that looked like the perfect fit. I’ve never been a huge fan of the newer hatchback look for the Prius, so the opportunity to get an old school model that looked like a car was just too good to pass up.

I purchased the car yesterday (after a very generous loan from my mom) and managed to get in and out of the DMV in less than 20 minutes… a miracle in itesef!

Since then, I’ve been loving every minute of it! In fact, I’m driving it up to Red Rocks this afternoon for Film on the Rocks.

My lovely 2003 Toyota Prius

Thoughts of the evening

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I saw two rather unusual things while driving down Colfax today on my way home from Target.

First, there was a big, tall, blond girl in a non-hooker cocktail dress who was flashing her ass at cars a couple bocks from the Bluebird. I know what you’re thinking, are you sure it wasn’t a dude? The answer is yes. I’m almost certain it was not a dude. Though I don’t know how certain I can be considering I was driving by and only caught a glimpse of this bizarre display.

Another amazing Colfax observation today was a morbidly obese man–like the kind of obese where you’re on the Discovery Health Channel for not being able to leave your house–quickly walking across the street around the same location. It was a bit shocking because usually when you see someone like that on tv, they physically can’t walk across the street.

No word on whether the obese man and the butt-flashing woman were somehow related.

There’s a website that has a giant collection of old TV theme songs. It’s pretty awesome. You can check it out at www.televisiontunes.com.

There’s a guy named Patrick who has a website about cartoons and kids shows of the 80s and early 90s. It too is pretty awesome. patrickdf.com/cartoons/patcartoons

On a related note, I really dig retrojunk.com.

This concludes my arbitrary thoughts of the evening.