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Car Culture, Sarah

Favorite KC car washes?

May 9, 2013

Photo via Flickr Creative Commons

The one time a year I get my car washed (Bye-bye, winter salt.), it’s usually at one of those old-fangled, drive-thru car washes. But last mont, I was the lucky recipient of a $15 gift certificate to Waterway. So despite my intimidation at surrendering my car to this massive assemblage of rag-wielding young men and whirring washing machinery, I went for it.
I waited until expiration date of my certificate, put on my big-girl pants, and followed the other cars into the assembly line. Luckily for me, the facility was equipped with signs that read things like, “Pull up here and get out of your car now.” I followed fellow drivers who seemed more experienced than me into the building, where I paid witness a fight between two drivers about cutting in line. It’s a cut-throat world, people.
Next, I waited on the curb watching the teenaged boys vacuum out the Goldfish crumbs from my backseat. Looking around, I realized that everyone had a wad of cash in their hand. Tip! I need to tip. How much? What if it’s a gift certificate? Ahh! Siri to the rescue! Angie’s List says that $2-3 is acceptable, so I dropped off a $5 because I am awesome, and you know, the car wash was technically free to me. So though I’m not sure I’ll be paying $15 anytime soon on my car, Father’s Day is just around the corner; I know a certain car in our family that could use a deep clean… What is your favorite car wash place in the KC metro? Do you prefer automated or the personal touch?  
LWTK’s mommy blogger, Sarah, is attempting to be a good mama to little Henry, wife to Shea, full-time employee and part-time grad student all while avoiding making dinner from a box every night. In her non-existent free time, she’s running, eating popcorn and blogging about it all at The Gatsby Diaries.
Car Culture, Sarah

The future has arrived.

May 3, 2013
As automotive engineers build smarter and smarter cars, it only makes sense that our roads would get smarter too, right? Well, not so much. Until now.
Big brains are on the job. Dutch engineers will launch an amazing project later this summer, and we’ll see some mind-blowing technologies implemented there. Think The Jetsons. If you want to see it in action, you can check out the video simulation here.
Some of my favorite features:
  • – Smart road paint. This stuff is charged by sunlight and headlights and glows in the dark. Not only that, somehow the paint knows which glow color is most visible for the current road conditions. How’d they do that?
  • – No more wondering whether that’s black ice or harmless rain; this road sends you illuminated messages on the street itself to alert you to the exact road conditions.
  • – Road lights powered by roadside pinwheel generators. The draft from passing cars lights them up.
Here are a few other cool features that are currently in the works stages around the world:
  • – Parking lots which could charge electric cars while they’re sit in parking lots or at rest stops. Could we have the same technology to charge cell phones and laptops while our car sits in a parking lot?
  • – Traffic lights that can gauge the number of cars in a turn lane and adjust its green arrow appropriately.
  • – Street lights that switch off if no one is in sight and turn on when someone approaches, saving energy.
  • – Or how about a highway that can sense an out-of-control / drunk driver and transmit that info to police? Or better yet, it could throw up a spiked barrier to stop them in their tracks.
OK, Dreamers. Let’s consider the possibilities. Which features would YOU add to a highway of the future?
LWTK’s mommy blogger, Sarah, is attempting to be a good mama to little Henry, wife to Shea, full-time employee and part-time grad student all while avoiding making dinner from a box every night. In her non-existent free time, she’s running, eating popcorn and blogging about it all at The Gatsby Diaries.
Good Works, Sarah

Gettin' Earthy

April 25, 2013

Photo via Flickr Creative Commons, user wetwebwork

Happy belated Earth Day! Seems a little counter intuitive on a car blog, right? My next car will be a hybrid. Or if my husband gets his way, the completely non-carseat friendly Smart Car. But that’s years down the road when our current cars punk out and there’s a good amount of money in the savings account. Being environmentally friendly sure isn’t cheap. Not surprisingly, Kansas City drivers don’t show up on this list of the most green car shoppers. But there are definitely ways your current car can be more green, even it runs on old-fashioned gasoline. I’ve scheduled my car for an overdue oil change that includes a tune-up and properly inflating my tires, which could improve my fuel efficiency by as much as seven percent. Then I am going to get the yuck of winter off by taking it to a commercial car wash which is actually more environmentally friendly than trying to wash it at home. I love when having someone else do the work is actually better for the environment! Unfortunately biking to work or taking a bus just isn’t an option, but I do try to combine my errands on the way home from work to avoid extra trips. On this earth celebration week, what can you do to make the planet a little bit cleaner?
LWTK’s mommy blogger, Sarah, is attempting to be a good mama to little Henry, wife to Shea, full-time employee and part-time grad student all while avoiding making dinner from a box every night. In her non-existent free time, she’s running, eating popcorn and blogging about it all at The Gatsby Diaries.
Sarah, Uncategorized

Go home, Kansas weather. You're drunk.

April 11, 2013
A few days ago I was out in the yard playing with sidewalk chalk and bubbles. Later, we walked to the Plaza and got iced coffee. Two days later, I’m cuddled up under a blanket, and tonight I’m making soup. The joke around here has always been, “if you don’t like the weather, wait a minute.” It’s such an emotional tease, though! The excitement of 75 degrees in early April only to be disappointed when dragging out the sweaters a day later. The weather has been the talk of social media; here’s some comedy in the midst of the crazy:

“the only reason i have trust issues is because of Kansas’ weather.” @camkline09

“Saturday I was wearing shorts & playing slow pitch, and today I’m wearing ear warmers & overalls to check cows & do chores in. #kansasweather” ‏@charby1542m “Go home Kansas weather, you’re drunk.” @TylerDreiling9 “Kansas City weather needs to make up its mind already, is it #yogapantsseason or #shortshortsseason? I’m ready for the latter.” @AYelt4449h “C’mon Spring…you can do it!” ‏@BurritoBrosKC4 Soon, friends, we’ll be wearing shorts, flip flops and packing away the winter clothes. If I were you, though, I’d keep a couple of  sweaters on reserve, just in case. So what about you: Do you appreciate this crazy weather, or does it drive you nuts?
LWTK’s mommy blogger, Sarah, is attempting to be a good mama to little Henry, wife to Shea, full-time employee and part-time grad student all while avoiding making dinner from a box every night. In her non-existent free time, she’s running, eating popcorn and blogging about it all at The Gatsby Diaries.
   
Sarah

Study says we're not as awesome as we think.

April 4, 2013

dmv.org

When I first read this article from AutoWeek showing half of licensed drivers would fail a written driving test, I was shocked. Who ARE these people driving around next to me? Not only that, but more than 60 percent of drivers fail the test the first time they take it? I know who you are. You are the no-idea-what-to-do-at-a-four-way-stop drivers. But then I took the quiz suggested in in the article and found that apparently driving rules are quite tricky. I scored 85 percent, which is considered passing, but I can’t deny that I had a few lucky guesses, too. Here’s what  learned: A parent or legal guardian can request a driver’s license be taken away for drivers under 18. What? Holy parental power! You are required to signal every time you pull away from a curb. I guess this makes sense but not a rule I really thought about until now. You should not use your horn to alert other drivers they did something wrong. Just kidding, I got this question right. But I would really like to be friends with someone who thought horns were for public shaming. To further shake your driving confidence, you can view Missouri driving test sample questions here. Just make sure you know a) where the DMV will get your address for a reminder postcard, b) the speed a tractor trailer can drive on a highway, and c) what FACT stands for. Also, apparently “No-Zone” is now the term for “blind spot.” Consider me humbled. How did you score? Would you have to give up your license if the state gave you a written test today?
LWTK’s mommy blogger, Sarah, is attempting to be a good mama to little Henry, wife to Shea, full-time employee and part-time grad student all while avoiding making dinner from a box every night. In her non-existent free time, she’s running, eating popcorn and blogging about it all at The Gatsby Diaries.
Car Culture, Sarah

Personalized driving

March 26, 2013

Really?

  I’ve never had a personalized license plate, mostly because I think my DMV bill his high enough in money and time wasted. But I do enjoy reading other drivers’ plates and guessing what their chosen message says about their personalities. The Pitch recently ran a list of the least classy applicants for vanity plates, including BALLZ, BUSHY, and RUMP.

Really? You had seven characters to express yourself, and that’s how you want to be judged?

If I ever did go the personal route, I waver between what’s really in my head when I am driving like “BACKOFF” for the tailgater, HAPPY to bring a little peace to the world, or GOCATS to show my team pride — all messages of which are taken in both Kansas and Missouri, by the way. My goofy friend Ashley says she would go with the more obscure with either UN1C0RN or TEAREX. They are both up for grabs, go figure! My creative friend Johanna would probably go with KNITTER or YRNGIRL. The hubs would go with GOTWINS to show his Minnesota team allegiance. Turns out there are actually a lot of rules for picking out your plates. In Gegoria, vanity plates are actually a huge point of contention when they decided to ban thousands of plate messages this year. If you need some inspiration or just a good laugh, check out hilarious plates from around the country here. Instead of standing in line at the DMV, you can check whether your desired name is already taken for Kansas or Missouri. What would you want your license plate to say about you? Or would it be a message to the drivers among  you?
LWTK’s mommy blogger, Sarah, is attempting to be a good mama to little Henry, wife to Shea, full-time employee and part-time grad student all while avoiding making dinner from a box every night. In her non-existent free time, she’s running, eating popcorn and blogging about it all at The Gatsby Diaries.
Sarah

The snow that kept on coming

February 28, 2013
 

This is how we felt about all this snow after it just kept coming.

Last week when I found out work and daycare were closing due to the impending snow dump, I was ecstatic. There was hot chocolate, snowmen, train building, long naps and laundry catch-up on the list! Then the next day everything was closed. And then another day. And another. Playing in the snow and eating warm bowls of chili was great. So was homemade pizza and snuggling on the couch. But shoveling, digging out cars, shoveling again, pouring ice melt, shoveling again, putting on and off boots, finding matching mittens, shoveling again and not leaving the house for four days was not so great. Did I mention we shoveled? A lot? Tomorrow brings back the routine. You can finally see the pavement of our driveway, and the mailman no longer worries about breaking his neck when he approaches our porch. Most of you return the kids to school Thursday and life will get back to normal. Spring has to be around the corner, right? How did you survive your snow days? Were they filled with relaxation or chaos?   LWTK’s mommy blogger, Sarah, is attempting to be a good mama to little Henry, wife to Shea, full-time employee and part-time grad student all while avoiding making dinner from a box every night. In her non-existent free time, she’s running, eating popcorn and blogging about it all at The Gatsby Diaries.
Car Culture, Sarah

Women get the better deal

February 17, 2013
  I have bought three cars in my life. The first, from a family friend who sold me their 1986 Chrysler LeBaron for $1,800. The second car I bought during college with my mom by my side. The first dealership we went to, not one sales person came out to the lot to ask if we needed help. The second dealership, we went to we found a nice salesman who ended up selling me a red Ford Mustang. We even took a picture with him when I signed on the dotted line. The third car I bought all by myself. Still in my top independent-woman moments, I bought my Mazda6 from a Minnesota dealership that advertised a policy of no negotiations. It was like the grocery store — the sticker price was what I would pay. Good deal or not, it was that simple process that gave me the confidence to go through the paper work, make the decisions, finance a loan and trade in my old car without a sidekick. I didn’t want to deal with the back-and-forth game. An undercover investigation in Great Britain using mystery shoppers revealed that women got a better deal than their male counterpart at 6 out of 10 dealerships. Good, right? But to get that good deal, women were subjected to long explanations, idle chit-chat and sleazy compliments. “While women may be able to negotiate a better deal, they may find they’re subject to long, patronizing discussions in showrooms, with some sales staff even resorting to sleaze,” Steve Fowler, editor of Auto Express magazine said. I wonder if this is because women have a different relationship with their cars than men? As long as everything is solid under the hood (which I would have researched before setting foot at a dealership anyway), these are the things that interest me: Will my car seat will fit rear facing? How often am I going to have to fill up for gas? How much is it going to cost to replace my tires? And please, can I get some heated seats? Still, it warms my heart that women were able to negotiate better deals in a place traditionally thought of as a man’s world. Do you think men or women are better at negotiating deals?   LWTK’s mommy blogger, Sarah, is attempting to be a good mama to little Henry, wife to Shea, full-time employee and part-time grad student all while avoiding making dinner from a box every night. In her non-existent free time, she’s running, eating popcorn and blogging about it all at The Gatsby Diaries.
Behind the Wheel, Sarah

Kid cars, crazy cars

February 13, 2013

Family cars hold a special place in our memories, don't they?

A friend of mine recently told me that when she was a kid in the early 70s, her family had this jalopy of an old silver station wagon. It was a beater even back then. The kids would put the seats down flat during long road trips — forget seat belts! — and bicker and roughhouse for hours as their parents smoked (windows rolled up, of course) and drove them to visit state parks. Sure, the view was nice, but all the kids really cared about was avoiding getting stuffed under those foldable seats and locked in the cargo space by one of their evil siblings. They were feral children, to say the least. That was a long time ago, and since then, U.S. News has developed different ideas about what makes a good family car. Earlier this month, they published their annual list of the very best. Here’s which cars came out on top: For 2012, the Honda Fit and the Honda CR-V topped the list in the car and SUV categories. The Honda Odyssey topped the minivan list. The features that pulled in the voters were rear-seat entertainment systems and even wi-fi hotspots. Really? I didn’t know you could get wi-fi in your car! Talk about taking your office with you. We’re still rolling around in our sedans and even with one kid, I sometimes wish for more space and easier car seat access. Add in another kid and car seat someday and things are going to get really complicated. So when I see parents changing their kid’s diaper in the flat, roomy back of an SUV or van while I am huddled in a sloped backseat of my Mazda6, I can’t help but get envious. Then there is trunk space. My parents’ hybrid Camry as the tiniest trunk because of the battery in the back. When four adults can barely cram in suitcases for a weekend trip, adding in a pack ‘n’ play, high chair and stroller isn’t even part of the discussion. I know I’m kind of old-school; I still read books written on actual paper. So one of the things I really love in a car is back seat reading lights so my entertainment doesn’t end when the sun goes down. I perhaps naively hope my kids will use the reading light someday instead of a built-in DVD player. So if ranking my best family car for 2013, reading lights, trunk space and a roomy backseat top my list. What tops your list? What’s the best family car you’ve owned, and why?
LWTK’s mommy blogger, Sarah, is attempting to be a good mama to little Henry, wife to Shea, full-time employee and part-time grad student all while avoiding making dinner from a box every night. In her non-existent free time, she’s running, eating popcorn and blogging about it all at The Gatsby Diaries.
   
Behind the Wheel, Sarah

Precious cargo

January 29, 2013
I’m guilty. That’s all I could think as I read the latest studies about the mistakes parents make while driving. I’m guilty of turning around to offer a pacifier, handing back crackers or holding a little hand to curb screaming while also steering a moving vehicle. In fact, I spend a lot of time driving one-handed with my other hand stretched to the back to hold his hand. Until my hands get tingly and fall asleep. I’m guilty of talking on my phone, taking conference calls while driving in between baby music class and the grocery store run. I’m guilty of driving sleep deprived. Really sleep deprived. (The study says I’m not alone. Apparently, many of us parents drive on less sleep than truckers!) Turns out, moms compete with teen drivers for accident rates. We’re just distracted, tired, and multi-tasking, and two-thirds of the women surveyed said they found it difficult to concentrate on one task since having their baby. Perhaps driving with a screaming child in the backseat should be a requirement for getting a driver’s license. I don’t know about you, but when Henry is screaming mad in the backseat, 75% of my brain shuts off and all I can think about is doing whatever I can to help him. All that said, I know I could do better. After all, I am driving around pretty precious cargo. What driving distractions are you guilty of?   LWTK’s mommy blogger, Sarah, is attempting to be a good mama to little Henry, wife to Shea, full-time employee and part-time grad student all while avoiding making dinner from a box every night. In her non-existent free time, she’s running, eating popcorn and blogging about it all at The Gatsby Diaries.

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