See this?
This means I’m a bad driver.
Oh, it may look innocuous enough.
A plain, old dashboard.
However, it’s those numbers and letters at the top that tell the tale.
12.3 MPG
You’ll remember, this used to be Real Man’s truck, before he bought the Jeep.
When I inherited the truck, it was getting 13 MPG, and in the five months I’ve been driving it, I’ve been watching that number steadily decline.
I’m a rev-er.
I can’t help it.
I always give it the extra gas.
My first thought was, “Well, I drive Tiny to his sitter’s house every morning and it is one huge uphill drive to get there.”
Then I remembered we used to live at the top of a street called Mt. Way, and Real Man drove up that street…every day.
My next thought was, “Well, I do a lot of stop/start driving, since all of my stops are local…I don’t really get going anywhere so the mileage doesn’t have a chance to even out.”
Then I remembered that Real Man takes most of the same roads to and from work.
So, it just comes down to me and my lead foot.
I’m working on it…I am.
In my next car, I want the feature that Real Man has in the Jeep.
When you are driving economically, a little green light that reads “ECO” pops up on the dashboard.
When I drive the Jeep, it’s a game I play with myself to see how well I can drive it.
I need the visual reminder of how I’m supposed to drive.
Without it…
Well, without it,
Here we are.
You are forgetting one thing. You stop & start more often. You stop & shut off the car to drop off & pick up Tiny Monkey. You stop, shut off the car when you pick up the kids. You stop, shut off the car when you stop at ACME. Each one of these stops means you are restarting your engine, which takes gas. More, than just driving the same roads as the hubby.
You could idle the car, but that takes gas & its bad on the environment.
Give yourself a break.
And – check your GPS – it may have an economy driving feature, too. Similar feature with showing a green leaf, if the car is driven in an economic style.
Comment by ckcorcoran — January 17, 2012 @ 11:48 am |