July 16, 2005 - Saturday
This is the car we should have had on our big trip (July 2 - July 14). It's the car we planned to have anyway, and the reason that we ever started thinking about a big car trip. The dealer promised, had confirmation it was on its way, we sold our Subaru, got more conformation. Ooops. A mix-up. A misunderstand about inventory. Well, at least the dealer rented us a car for a month to make up for it. And, although the little black Chevy Cobalt was an underpowered, under-featured, economy nothing of a car, it had enough room inside and got us through a great trip (and probably did so with less worries about some brand new car).

We bought this car to vote with our wallet. Sure, we'll get a tax credit. Sure, we'll save a little on gas over the years, but I think it's highly unlikely that any of that will make up for the cost of the Hybrid engine. We bought this because we think a bigger car for driving with grandparents and boys, for driving with boys and friends, will be more comfortable. But we couldn't stand the thought of buying a car that got less than 20 mpg (this should get about 30 mpg). Mostly we bought this because the government has done nothing about fuel efficiency, even after the energy crisis in the 1970s. I think that's shortsighted, criminally negligent, and stupid. I want Harry and Jeremy grow up respecting others and respecting the earth and, call me a tree hugging liberal if you must, to me they are one and the same.


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